The Lycan’s Curse
Chapter 2

Cassius

The urge to turn around and run hits as I'm forced once more to meet with yet another alpha. I know I am to soon be ruler over them, but it is constantly the same at every stop. Girls throwing themselves at me attempting to become my mate, while the alphas kiss my a*s in attempt to gain favor with my family. That my father sent me out on this trip knowing that I will never be able to replace a mate is almost as great a punishment as that of my curse.

As though I need another reminder of it when my name is a constant one. Cassius, meaning hollow, just as I am inside. Cursed to walk this planet for eternity alone.

My father meant it as a mock on the curse not thinking it real. He messed with the wrong witch centuries ago, dumping her cruelly in front of his friends. She not only cursed him, but his child as well, dooming him to have but one heir-me-that would be the end of our line. One that went back to the first of the shifters that ruled over all beasts alike, regardless of species, the Lycan.

The witch knew exactly what she was doing when she cursed my father. He'd never felt love, only took a mate to secure his heir when he was four hundred years old. A Lycan may only rule for five hundred before he must relinquish the throne to that of his eldest child. Should he have none, a challenge to claim it would be allowed. It was the one thing that would anger my father the most, seeing the throne go to a non-royal or worse, a non-Lycan.

It was not that his only child was cursed to walk the earth alone for eternity, unable to die, which Lycan did only upon the oldest of ages, praying to the gods that they would return for another life. It was not that his only child would remain hollow, unable to feel joy or happiness, or pleasure of any sort. It was only knowing that his throne would fall to outside hands that truly enraged him.

It had him attempting to impregnate any woman he might, any species when before he refused to breed but with a Lycan like many of our kind. Over the years the number of Lycan has diminished, while shifters had grown in numbers. Trying many times to overthrow the Lycan rule, in order to come out of hiding and dominate the humans. They have yet to succeed, but when our line ends after my rule, it is possible they might.

That knowledge was what led him to forgetting his desire for a pure Lycan heir to continue the royal line, but all his attempts failed. His anger at that was immense and upon me turning fifteen, it only worsened.

When Lycan's turn fifteen, our sexual needs blossom, allowing us to freely indulge with any that we wish. When I did, it was discovered that yes, the witch's curse included me being unable to become aroused, to even create the needed sperm to procreate. The only way to break the curse was to replace a star-blessed mate. An impossibility as none existed any longer. Again, thanks to witches.

Millenniums ago, they placed a curse, not on the star-blessed mates, as it was impossible to penetrate the blessings bestowed on them, or that of the men that adored them, fought for them, but on the women of the world, of every species, human and supernatural.

It evoked the jealousy that women felt towards these special mates, making them mean and cruel, to the point that mothers would kill their own daughters if given the chance. All because once, a star-blessed mate happened to choose a powerful magician they all wanted.

The curse made other women, mated or not, mothers or not, so jealous of the innate pull the star-blessed mates possessed, that they would do anything to hurt them. Any woman, especially those with male children, would feel the jealousy magnified ten times, and with shifters, that jealousy turned to brutal beatings.

Star-blessed mates were weak until they chose a mate, given a choice unlike other beasts of who they wanted to be with, become. Which hastened their demise.

They were often thought of as deformed, as amongst shifters, their animal form was distorted, quite indistinguishable. That was to allow them to easily transform into whatever animal their mate was, to be equal to them.

Upon mating, their powers were beyond words, stronger, faster, more cunning than most, leading them to alphas and the like that could match and protect them. This only heightened the other women's jealousy over the star-blessed mates, causing them to continually attack them until they were wiped from existence.

The perfect curse. Impossible to break, as every female on earth would have to die to stop it. Over the years, people, even shiften forgot what star-blessed mates were, becoming more and more enriched in the curse, not knowing that the few that were born, were special, to be cherished and protected.

No star-blessed mate born within the last millennium had survived to come of age. No parent or pack had presented their child to the great healers with questions as to what was wrong with them. For centuries now, there were none noted having been born. "We will be there momentarily, Prince Cassius," my driver said, bringing my head up to meet my bodyguard's gaze as he sat across from me in the back of the small limo. It was the one luxury my father allowed, and the bodyguard was a requirement whenever a royal Lycan left the palace grounds.

"How many more of these things before I can return home and stop the pretense?" I ask Dominic hoping we're nearing the end. I haven't been home in over a year with all of the visits, including overseas to the various packs that remain outside of North American soil.

I have no wish to hurry home to see my father, but at least my mother has always loved me-even when I've been unable to reciprocate the feeling. She understands it's not my fault, but it's difficult when others watch me oddly while there. I don't always react the way a normal Lycan might, a normal person might, but only a few know the truth of the curse.

Others would talk, perhaps try to challenge me upon taking the crown, or prior to it even, if it were widely known and that I won't allow. My father must step down in just under a year on the summer solstice. It's too near to risk anything getting in the way of taking over ruling to make necessary changes.

"Another month at least, we still have the packs in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota to see before we finish with the remaining Lycan camps on the way back to the palace," Dominic answers and I hold in a groan wishing to end this ridiculousness now. "I too will be glad to return home."

"You wish to return home because the pretty wolf shifter that works at the palace will be eighteen in a few months and you want to claim her," I return, a smile on my lips but no real feeling behind it.

I've read enough facial cues to know that when one is trying to joke and be humorous a smile or smirk is often useful. I began using them decades ago after people worried that I was worse than my father and would create a far stricter rule than even he-which could not be further from the truth. Despite how I am, I do not wish my type of existence on anyone.

I have never felt the desire to laugh or joke around, to snort with the hilarity of a situation. The only feelings I have ever felt are that of anger and resentment. Ones that would continue to deepen the hollowness inside me.

"That I do," Dominic agrees before opening a folder letting me know where we are today and who I'm to meet as we pull through the gate of what appears to be a mere neighborhood association. It will be a relief to stretch my legs after the long drive.

The heat of the early July air is like an attack after the coolness of the limo, and I straighten my jacket moving up the steps of the packhouse. For once, no one is there to greet me, and questions fill my head wondering why.

We me move into the packhouse and I spot a tall man moving quickly down the steps inside the space, almost skidding to a stop spying me.

"Prince Cassius, I apologize for the unceremonious reception," he says bowing to me. "I am Alpha Matthew, and I am afraid this is a rather inconvenient moment for our pack. My gamma and his mate will be here momentarily and will be able to attend to you. I must leave for a time."

More questions hit and I lift my chin, not stepping aside to allow him to pass. "What seems to be the problem, Alpha? Your mate is not available nor that of your beta or his?"

"My mate is with our son; he has fallen strangely ill. The healers have not been able to ascertain that which is ailing him yet. My beta has not found a mate and is joining me as we are trying to locate a missing pack member. She has been missing for nearly two weeks, having disappeared upon her birthday-her coming of age. If she had simply found her mate, she would not have just left without returning here first and as I am sure you are aware, no other packs live within a short distance of us," Matthew says, and I nod seeing Dominic's brow lift a bit as well.

"Please allow us to help. When was the last time you saw this girl?" I ask as the pack's beta comes into the house behind us, stopping short with his irritated speech.

"Prince Cassius," he says bowing at me. "It was just before eight-a.m. on the twenty-first. I drove her to work as I had business in town. She went inside and that was the last we have seen of her. It was not immediately noted that she was missing as it was normal for Larissa to not come to the packhouse on a daily basis. She regularly went for walks in the woods and would return to her guardian's home late after they were asleep as well."

"Guardians?" Dominic states before I can manage.

"Larissa was accepted into our pack when she was fourteen. Her mother died soon after her birth, her father when she was three," Matthew says bringing my chin up as the questions floating through my mind deepen. "She spent years being shuffled from pack to pack, never truly accepted, and when she arrived here, she was badly beaten and malnourished. I was able to confirm with other alphas that Larissa was treated poorly or shuffled to the next as they didn't like the disruption her presence caused. She was never the healthiest wolf, and we are very worried about what happened to her."

"Her guardians were an elderly set of fraternal twins, neither who had ever mated," Samuel adds. "We felt it best for her to be the only child and not with a family where other children might be jealous, even being just grandchildren. For her peace of mind as well. While elderly, they were both capable of caring for a teenager."

"You have searched the woods to ensure you have not simply missed her somewhere? Have checked her home multiple times?" I ask and they both nod.

"So, you believe something happened to her the day of her birthday?" Dominic expands and they again both nod. "And you feel that how?"

"It is custom for us to give a potion of health to pack members when they come of age, I had given Larissa hers that morning at breakfast, after which Samuel took her directly to work. Upon a search of her room, we could not locate it nor her bag that she always has with her, except when she would go for a walk in the woods," Matthew answers and that alone has us moving out the door with the two men, getting back into the limo to head into town.

"Were you able to track her at all from her place of work?" Dominic asks once we're back through the gates.

"We have been through town multiple times in the last few days, but we have yet to catch her scent. There were lingering hints of it around the café but that's it," Samuel states.

"She has been missing for nearly two and a half weeks now you surmise, yes?" I question sharing a glance with Dominic when they confirm. "In all that time has anyone from her job called looking for her?"

"Not to Elijah and Elisa's no, but they may have tried to reach Larissa directly through her cell phone. We have not been able to reach her on it or track it either," Matthew responds, flooding me with sudden irritation. No one should be able to be gone for two weeks without being missed. It doesn't sound as if this girl was wholly accepted into the pack if no one, not even her guardians knew she was missing for so long.

"Take us there first, I'd like to speak to her employer," I dictate. They will not argue with me in the least, they wouldn't dare.

The café we reach is small and I move inside, glancing around as a hint of sweetness lingers in the air. It's not of food or drink, but it wraps around my senses, waking the slumbering Lycan inside me. He's been angry, angrier than even I that his base urges are impossible to feed-the need to couple and mate fuel our Lycan, giving them greater power, and without it, he's nothing but seething anger. He's been dormant for the majority of the last year and that sweetness is the first thing to stir him.

"Hi there, can I get you something or would you like a table?" a tall, slim woman asks picking up a menu. She's not what I expected to replace working here. The outside of the café looks preppy but this woman with a pixie haircut showing off the edges of a tattoo moving down her neck, under her top and out beyond the short sleeves of her top, is nothing of the sort.

"I'm looking for the owner of the café."

"I'm Nora and that'd be me, why?"

"I'm here looking for any information on one of your employees, Larissa," I state, making the woman's brow rise a bit. "She hasn't been seen in two weeks, you haven't by chance seen or heard from her, have you?"

"No, not since she came in to get her last paycheck. She just said she was going to look for her birth mother and knew her adopted family wouldn't understand," the woman responds, stopping me short as she moves behind the counter.

I don't need to be told she's entirely human and knows nothing about us, not part of the pack in any way. Keeping ourselves secret from humans is one of the most sacred laws, the other being to honor the mating bond. Evidently Larissa told her a lie, as I cannot see a weak shifter lying to an alpha easily.

"Are you Matthew?" she adds distracting me from my thoughts.

"Yes," I lie seeing the envelope in her hand.

"She left this for you then," Nora states handing it over and once more, that sweetness hits.

It's wafting from the envelope, and I curse the delays that kept us from being here weeks ago. I would have liked to have met the owner of this sweet scent. A child abused and neglected...was something I could relate to and even if there was no chance of mating, the sweet scent might just be a comfort to me if it kept my Lycan awake. In return, I would have taken her home with me, ensured that she was safe and accepted, not hurt once more.

I go back to the limo, gaining the alpha and beta's attention and slip into the cool air as Dominic joins me first. I meet his gaze and tell him before the other two arrive, "She left of her own accord."

"And here I was hoping for something to do to assuage the boredom," Dominic says with a huff that I fully understand.

"This was left for you Alpha," I tell Matthew once the door is shut, handing over the envelope, albeit with great reluctance. I want to keep that sweet smell near me, if nothing else than to keep my Lycan awake. The run, the shift is the nearest thing to feeling fulfilled I've ever had, and with that scent nearby, I might have managed to do it more often.

Matthew opens the letter, his brows furling before he lets out a sigh, handing it to Samuel before looking my way. "It is from Larissa. She has renounced her spot in our pack."

"Never felt she belonged with us, was accepted by the pack?" Samuel states with a glance towards Matthew. "Were we wrong in giving her to Elijah and Elisa?"

"No, but I was wrong to not ensure that she was happy. It is not what I wished to hear, but it is far more pleasant to know than worry about her safety. Call off the search parties," Matthew says as we return to the pack.

"Now it seems all that is left is to determine what is wrong with your son," I state when we arrive once more to their packhouse. "May we see him?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Matthew agrees.

One glance at the boy proves he is in agony but nothing of his symptoms make sense. I am nearly a hundred years old and not once have I seen a shifter in this state.

Dominic's eyes narrow on the boy before shaking his head pulling me aside out of earshot of the others. "That wolf is dying and if I'm not mistaken, it's because he's rejected his mate. I have seen it once or twice before while on tours with others from the court, though most do not recognize the symptoms, thinking it a poison. Curious now, isn't it? The girl leaving on her birthday saying she never felt she fit in with the pack and the alpha's son now wasting away? His father said she was never the healthiest, if she'd felt the pull growing, knew he already felt it, but he rejected her for being weak....if she left before scenting him on the official day of her coming of age, she may have escaped the force of the bond. As he was already eighteen, he was unable to and just one more hint of her scent after she was eighteen..."

"Would solidify it for him," I state, thinking over the wolf's pain. "She might feel a twinge of it urging her back but without his scent it wouldn't be enough to make her sick."

"And if he dies, it breaks that bond and would allow her to choose anyone to mate with without fear. You would tend to see her then accept a male that lost his true mate, the bond won't be as deep, but it can be built if handled with respect over time."

"If that is true and he rejected her, refused to accept her, then I do not feel it appropriate to request that other packs be on the lookout for her and return her here quickly to prevent his potential demise. He rejected the sacred bond; therefore, he forfeits the right to demand it be sought to save him. I doubt he will be forthcoming with the truth, but it is possible that his friends perhaps might. I trust you will discreet?"

"Of course, when have I ever not been discreet?" Dominic returns letting me head down to deal with the normal bowing and pandering while he goes to discover the truth. If the boy stupidly rejected Larissa as his mate, someone with such a sweet scent, a painful, agonizing death was the least he deserved.