The Lycan’s Curse
Chapter 3

Larissa

The sun is setting as I finally replace hints of shifters in the air. It's been three long weeks of travelling to get here-replace here.

All I had was a general idea of their location, north part of North Dakota. It still encompassed a wide area, taking longer to arrive while ensuring no one would be able to follow my trail.

It didn't help getting caught by a few groups of girls at each spot that I checked. Small towns are worse than bigger cities, despite them having more women in them. There it's simpler to avoid them, or at least, groups of them while checking things out. They don't instantly stand up against me to try and keep their men to themselves. Because unlike small towns, they don't know everyone there.

By the time I finally see anything resembling a house the sun is down. Soft glows of light dot the large open space and I shuffle towards one before someone grabs my arms, jerking me around wildly.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman demands, her eyes glowing a bright bluish silver in the darkness. "What are you doing here?"

"Marie, let her go," a deep, husky voice demands nearly as quickly as the woman's attack began. "Now. Go back to your home. It has nothing to do with you."

The woman acts like she wants to refuse but at a deep, growling, snarling snap, she releases me and stalks off into the darkness. My heartrate falls back to normal but my arm tingles as the tight grip begins to bruise.

"Please forgive Marie, she didn't scent that you are like us," the man says, moving closer to me. His eyes are a dark purple, completely different from any shifter I've ever met.

"You could scent it?" I ask because the mask shouldn't have worn off yet. I applied it just after I got off the latest bus before beginning my walk towards these woods. That was three hours ago, it wouldn't have worn off that quickly even with the wildest of exertion, which I certainly didn't perform.

"Yes, it's faint but you are a shifter," he replies stopping in front of me and I can see him despite the present darkness around us. A set of long jagged scars run down his face and neck into his shirt. He's tall as well, taller than most shifters I've met, and I wonder if perhaps he's a bearen. I've heard their sense of smell is greater than even that of a wolf.

"I am, but I was using a mask to ensure others didn't follow," I tell him, sending a brow upward as he studies me. "I'm looking for refuge, just somewhere that I can reside safely."

"I'm Kai, and refuge is what we provide for those not facing trial," he states, stopping me before I can reassure him that I'm not running from anything like that. "I do not see a young one like you running from that, especially not easily. You are just of age I presume?" "Yes, I renounced my pack on my birthday. I just..." I let out a short wheeze as I step forward wrong, jarring my aching side. A hint of fire burns inside me, and I wonder if perhaps the last attack didn't break my ribs.

"You are hurt, come, let me help," Kai says, lifting me into his arms before I can begin to protest. He moves towards a large cabin, the light hurting my eyes for a moment after the darkness, but the heat of the evening is less inside, and I can breathe a hint easier because of it.

Cool blankets cushion me as he steps back, checking my skin temperature before getting some water from a compartment in the floor that looks like a natural way to keep things cool. It's refreshing and I try to sit up feeling better. "No, lie still," Kai states putting a hand on my shoulder as his door opens and another man comes into the space. "This is Torin, he is as near to a healer as we have out here."

"What seems to be the matter?" the slightly shorter man says, his eyes narrowed on me until he steps to my side. "You are shifter."

"Mask," Kai tells him pulling a nod from Torin.

"I met a group of women that didn't like me," I tell them, regretting my attempt to sit up this time as it jars my side once more, leaving me gasping for air.

"Hey, hey, easy," Kai says, moving to my head, gently lifting it before bringing it down onto his muscled knee. "It will be alright, please allow us to help."

I nod, unable to stand the wheezing a moment longer.

"These are not all recent," Torin says as he lifts the end of my shirt up to just below my breasts, baring my entire stomach that is covered in a myriad of bruises.

"My wolf...doesn't heal quickly," I wheeze out as his hands move to my side. They nearly wrap around me with their size, reminding me how small I am once more. It's useful when I'm trying to hide, not so much when I'm trying to defend myself.

"Kai, hold her still," Torin states a moment later, his hand on my side, nearer my back now. "This will hurt I'm afraid..." he adds looking back to me, his brow a bit furled.

"Larissa," I tell them before a scream falls as he presses hard and fast on my ribcage. The pain is excruciating, blinding white lights bursting through my vision. My breath stops for a long moment until it fades. My poor wolf may not heal quickly but she can erase pain, a blessing I've always thought. At least if I can't erase the injuries, I can stop the pain from them.

"You're okay," Kai says gently wiping the tear that escaped from my face. "It is easier to breathe now?"

"Yes." My voice is weak, tiredness settling in now after the trek here.

"Rest then, we will talk in the morning," Kai states guiding the water to my lips once more and I barely have the sip down before exhaustion overwhelms me, sending me into a dark sleep.

When I open my eyes, the sun is rising higher in the sky and I sit up, taking note of the bed I'm now in. A quick glance around the space says I'm alone and I swing my feet over the edge of the bed, moving to get up. There's still a soreness about my being that is typical. It's not pain, more like dozens of irritated insect bites on the skin itching all at once, only inside me.

My hand touches my middle, feeling thickness underneath my shirt and I lift it seeing something wrapped around me.

"It's a compress, to help expedite the healing process," Kai says from the doorway pulling my gaze over to him. In full light he's more impressive than he was last night. Those purple eyes are the darkest blue, hinting at the purple even now. His short black hair glimmers in the sun almost iridescent as the light hits it.

"Thank you, I didn't mean to inundate you last night with my problems. I just wanted to replace somewhere safe," I tell him, moving closer when he steps aside, holding out his hand towards the door.

"We are not a pack such as those you left, the ones that run on orders and demands. Ones that force you to service yourself solely by your birth position. That does not mean that we do not look after one another," Kai says, helping me down the steps. "We are, however, mostly male," he adds, before motioning to the small building. "This is our shower room. We use very little in way of electricity, preferring to live off the land, but the shower room is our biggest exception. Very few of us could go back to living prior to the invention of modern plumbing. There are four spaces inside, each an individual room, take your time. When you are done, Torin will rewrap your injuries."

I don't take overly long in a shower, mostly just getting rid of the days of travel, and washing my hair in the cooler than warm water. It's not unpleasant as I typically run hot though. It was common for me to be at least ten degrees warmer than the rest of the pack at any time, but it also meant I could survive the deeper cold easier than they. It saved me from a violent beating a time or two.

With a clean outfit from my bag and my hair braided to stay out of the way, I move outside again, spotting Kai and Torin with a group of about thirteen others. I don't see the woman from last night and only one of the other thirteen is a woman. She turns to stare at me as I slowly move towards the group, the narrowing of her eyes saying she's not about to like me any more than the other woman had. Avoiding just two of them is likely to be easier than avoiding dozens and it's not about to run me off now. "Come sit and eat," Kai says, motioning to the table. My stomach rumbles at the smell of deliciousness and I take the seat that he indicates, thankful when the other woman moves as far away from me as possible.

"Would you prefer to wait for the wrap until we are somewhere more private?" Torin asks, kneeling next to my seat as Kai begins to fill a plate with food.

"It's fine," I assure him, knowing none of the men here are likely to just jump on me. None of them are my mate and even if they might want some companionship, they wouldn't try anything in this setting.

The tingles are deeper now, growing worse as I move my arms to lift my shirt slightly. Silence falls over the group and I lift my chin, seeing that everyone has stopped their movements and are staring on in disbelief at me. "What caused that to not heal?" one of the shorter men asks, his tone rough and angry. I can see several marks that look like stab wounds, the skin puckered, telling me that they didn't heal properly, likely due to salt. "Some shiften have a slower healing process than others, it stems from how much shiften one has in them," Torin says calmly as he finishes the wrap, the tingling once more manageable.

"What happened?" another man asks as Kai sets a plate in front of me, moving to the seat beside me.

"My peers never liked me. They thought it amusing to gang up on the adopted member of the pack. My parents died when I was little and I was shuffled off to live with my aunt," I state, not a lie, just not the whole truth. "Larissa came here to replace refuge and that is what we will provide," Kai adds, and no one seems to want to argue against it beyond the woman there. "Do you have something to say, Nicole?"

"I think she's lying. How do we know she's really a shifter? My sister said she didn't smell like one last night," the woman replies still glaring at me.

"She used a mask to cover her scent as many of us have in the past to leave no trail to where we reside," Kai returned.

"Her wolf pressed forward last night when I reset her ribs, she's capable of shifting even if her healing is slower than others," Torin adds comforting me. They're the two largest of the group and with them behind me, I feel that I don't need to worry about someone suddenly attacking. No one from my pack should be able to replace me. They can't force me to return to finish the mating bond with Noah.

I can only imagine the pain he's in currently. If it's even a tenth of what I felt last night when Torin set my ribs, then it's what he merits for what he allowed his friends to do to me, what he wanted them to still do to me.

The others don't argue letting me eat in peace. Nicole storms off as soon as things are cleared away, the rest of the group there refusing my help which I'm not upset about. Kai leads me back to his cabin with Torin following.

"Now that you have met the group, if you wish to stay, you are welcome," Kai says once we're settled in. "The winters here can be harsh, and we tend to live mostly off the land in terms of food. We maintain chickens for eggs and meals, the group goes hunting in the woods for meat, and we store vegetables that we grow during the spring and summer. While you're healing, we wouldn't expect you to overdo it, but everyone is to help out to make things work."

"I understand and yes, I would like to stay. I don't have any fears from the men in the group."

"But you do with Marie and Nicole," Torin guesses, pulling a sigh from me.

"It is not uncommon for women to not like me," I admit, resting a hand on my middle. "I don't know if it's me or them. I don't purposely do anything to provoke them but..."

"But they come after you regardless," Torin says, and I nod.

"We will do our best to keep Marie and Nicole separated from you. They know we do not abide by attacking others and they tend to live more secluded than the rest of us," Kai states calming me further. "We have an open cabin, it's not much, but it is yours for as long as you'd like. It has a fireplace for added warmth during the winter as needed."

"I run warmer than most other wolves I know so I should be fine. I'm used to not having much more than a room and a bed and working for what I need. I can pull my own weight."

"Your aunt did not provide more for you?" Torin asks and I let out a long sigh, before telling them most of the truth.

"You don't wish to try and replace a mate? It's quite unusual for someone as young as you are to be willing to give it up so easily," Kai says when I'm finished.

"I...don't have any fears about not replaceing him. It's more fears of him replaceing me." The words come out without consciously meaning them to, and I tell them the rest, simply wishing it to be bad dream.

"You feel no pull on the bond urging you back?" Torin asks and I shake my head no. "It's unusual but not impossible if you did not scent him on your birthday."

I don't bother admitting that I did in fact scent him on my birthday but still felt none of the pull towards him. It was as though something was blocking it and I was thankful for it.

"We would not force you back under normal circumstances let alone what you've described," Kai says resting his hand on my shoulder. "We will keep this between ourselves. Should anyone come searching for you, I can get you out of here quicker than most. Whatever possible pull you might feel towards him will break eventually."

Upon Noah's death he means but as he was willing to kill me instead, it doesn't upset me though normally any pain evokes my sympathy. I know what it's like to be abused, to be in pain, and I never would intentionally cause it, but this is different. If he had simply left me alone, I might have gotten past the rest, but sending his friends after me, long before that night doomed him to his hell.

I wouldn't save him even if it meant me dying alongside him. I hope every bit of pain is excruciating for him, that it deepens over the years, and he can't fight it off. The majority of rejected mates die within five years, those that don't mostly go mad. Some attempt to stave it off by taking another as their mate, thinking that their bite upon them will sever the connection. It typically doesn't if both are aware of it prior to that.

Sometimes, a shifter may take a mate and later replaces their true mate, causing them to lose their mind as well insisting on claiming them. It doesn't always affect the free mate, as the connection towards them is blocked by the prior bond. Most often though, the true mates end up together, leaving a broken bonded mate in misery.

No matter what Noah tries to do now, he'll never live the way he wanted. He'll always be in pain. And that is exactly what he deserves, a miserable existence until he dies.