Darkest Wolf(19)

Mating happens for a reason.

He ignored his wolf. “You know what happened almost forty years ago. My father, who was alpha of our pack, got together with a man named Claudius. They hatched a plan to make more of us, to create soldiers or something. I’m not sure what their ultimate goal at that point was. I was the youngest. Well, sort of. It turns out I have a sister I can’t remember but she was just a baby.”

An emotion he couldn’t identify flashed through her eyes. Elizabeth was such a consistent mystery to him. “Go on. Please.”



“They couldn’t get the pack’s support.”

Elizabeth interrupted. “I thought alphas had supreme rule.”

“They do. But there is an advisory committee of elders. If they all get together to go against the alpha, they can out rule him.”

“More democratic than I would have thought.” She mumbled her words and looked out the window.

“You have to understand how nearly impossible it is for a wolf to go against his alpha. Those elder wolves would have to feel in their hearts a huge amount of agony to even say no. It’s so hard on them.”

“Then only a very bad decision by an alpha would make the elders act.”

“Correct.” Rex rubbed his head. He felt tired down to his bones. “My father didn’t accept that decision. He found a witch. They paid her.”

“And?”

Her gaze had shifted to his face. He had her full attention now, which was good. She needed to understand how he felt about witches, about what one had done to his entire existence. “She put a curse on the island, on all of us. For a time, a male could not be mated. If he was, he would become consumed with the need to kill his mate. And that is what happened close to forty years ago. All of the mated males on Westervelt killed their women.”

“No witch would…”

He slammed his fist down on the steering wheel. “I assure you. One did. I heard you earlier when you insisted no witch would. I can promise you, this woman did it and there are others working for my father doing equally horrible things now.”

“Then they aren’t legitimately practicing the craft. The goddess does not want evil from us. It’s a perversion of the gifts. To do so would be to go against all we are taught.” He wanted to be moved by her words. How nice it would be to believe her. But all Rex could think was she was naive. Horribly and truly unaware of the nature of life even as she walked through her days with a curse distorting her features, put on her by the same group of people she now diligently defended.

Elizabeth held within her a good soul. She deserved better than to be paired up with him. Nevertheless, he had to take what fate had given him and make it work. At least until Westervelt was safe again.

You want her, Rex. Why deny it?

I want lots of things. I get almost none of them.

His wolf harrumphed. Yes, but you actually got this.

“Well.” He forced his mind back to the present. “It happened. The witch cursed us.

All but two of the mated men killed their women. Two of my uncles managed to kill themselves instead.” And Rex had admired them more than anyone else in his whole life.

They were strong and they hadn’t let anything—even a powerful curse—make them hurt their women.

“So all of those men have just been living with the knowledge they killed their mates all this time?” She sounded horrified, and he hated to tell her it was much worse than she imagined.

“We can’t live without our mates, once we’ve found them. Not for very long, not without agony. My aunts, the ones who weren’t killed, managed to endure for a while to keep the pack together but it was hell for them. When our mates die, if we do not die with them, we commit ritual suicide to join them. It’s a compulsion. We must be together in this world and the next.”

“By the goddess!” If he’d thought she’d sounded horrified earlier, he hadn’t understood the definition of the word. Her voice took a pinched quality that made him wince. “You’re kidding? Who botched up a mating spell and put a death compulsion in?” He shook his head. She just didn’t understand and who could blame her? He was likely to get his mate killed. Or, if his brothers were to be believed, kill her himself. Who knew how dark his soul had turned?

I do. Would you like an actual answer?

He tuned out his wolf. Sometimes it was hard sharing a mind.

You’re telling me. His wolf snorted.

“It’s just how it’s always been.” He sighed. “I can’t explain it to you, Elizabeth.” He had to admit, he really liked saying her name. “Because I’m not really certain of exactly how the connection is made. Mated pairs never discuss it. There’s no rule you can’t, but no one does. It’s like their mating brings out some compulsion not to discuss it with others. I’ve tried asking and no one ever tells me. Also, they become part of some club the rest of us in the pack can’t belong to. Like they’re somehow more trustworthy than they were before the mating.”