It's been exactly three days since Cyrus called me his mate in front of his pack members. Yes, you heard that right. A mate.
I looked it up, and apparently it's a life partner kind of thing where you are mated to one another for life. And you mark one another by biting down on each other's neck. Very animalistic in my opinion. But who am I to judge?
I later asked him why he would say that because I damn well knew I wasn't his mate because, according to all those crazy fictions, I'm supposed to feel the mate bond too, and I sure as hell didn't.
He said it was to be keep me safe in the pack because, in his words, and I quote, "No one will dare hurt you if you're mine."
I was pretty weirded out, to be honest, but I understood what he meant. I'm not a werewolf, and apparently werewolves can smell humans and tend to feel predatory urges towards us.
So it indeed is the best decision for me to pretend to be Cyrus's mate—who, by the way, is an Alpha of the Moonstone pack.
Yep. He's the boss. He's the big bad guy.
Though it didn't come across as a surprise to me because he does have that aura—the intimidating but very reliable one.
That night after being told I was the mate of their Alpha, almost every single pack member treated me like royalty. It was a bit weird at first, but then I got used to it. It felt good to have people take care of you.
I know it's not morally good to take advantage of people's goodwill, especially when it's built upon lies, but I can't help it.
I'm a bit selfish if you can't tell.
Anyway, that's not the point; the point is I met so many pack members—most of whose names and faces I don't remember, but the ones I remember are Rowan—beta of the pack and also Cyrus's cousin.
And he is beautiful. He has that classic beauty about him—tall, broad, beautiful dark eyes with eyelashes longer than mine, a tall, straight nose, and a beautiful smile. And to make things better, he's actually more friendly and approachable than his cousin.
I think the eyelashes are genetic, though, since Cyrus also has those long, thick eyelashes, but I digress.
I also met Doctor Catherine and her husband, Tristan. And they are couple goals. Both of them are extremely kind to me, especially Catherine. She answers every question of mine and brings me food. She keeps me company and listens to me.
Not like someone who completely ignored me the moment he brought me here.
There's a knock on the door before it opens, revealing Catherine. She offers me a warm smile before entering.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come early; I had to tend to the patients." She gives an apologetic look, and honestly, it should be the other way around.
She has a lot on her plate, and on top of that, she has to keep me company.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about me. Come on, sit." I assure her and pat the empty chair by my side.
"It's starting to get cold these days. I have ordered some warm clothes for you. They should be here by tomorrow," Catherine informs me. Now that she has mentioned it, I don't really have many outfits to wear.
Winter is just around the corner, and I can already feel it with how warm and comforting the sunlight feels. That's the reason why I was lounging on the balcony to sunbathe. But sunbathing alone isn't going to protect me from the bone-chilling cold of this place.
"Thank you, Catherine! I don't know what I would do without you." I mean it. Catherine is the only one who's actually careful about my needs here. Even though everyone else seems to want to help, they don't quite know how to.
"Cyrus, about him—" Catherine hesitates. I peek at her, and she sighs, looking ahead.
"He doesn't know how to show care, but he cares. He had a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders when he was just a child, and he is still carrying those." She looks down and smiles sadly.
"He lost his mother the day he was born; 2 years later his father followed because of depression. He used to cling to his father those 2 years and was a very happy and affectionate kid. But the late Alpha couldn't fight for life for his son. He overdosed on sleeping pills and never woke up. Cyrus woke up next to his dead father." My heart grows heavy imagining little Cyrus going through so much pain so early in his life.
I myself was adopted and don't know my parents, but at least I didn't have to witness their death. Grandpa Victor and Grandpa Christopher were my guardians, and they made sure to fill my life with rainbows and sunshine. And honestly, I never knew hardship in my life because of them.
They were financially loaded, and they have left it all to me, so I don't have to worry about money either.
"After his father's death, I and Tristan tried really hard to fill that void in his heart, but we never could." Catherine chuckles sadly, and I hold her hand.
"The pack had a lot of expectations from him. They saw him as their savior. Someone they could lean on. Someone that they hoped would find a cure to the curse." I frown at her last word.
Curse? What curse?
"Though our ancestors came up with solutions to counter it, they never quite found the cure. Up until the late Alpha's reign, the pack members were relieved with just the solution, but when the Alpha lost his life because of the very curse that almost wiped out our clan, the pack grew restless. Tristan and I tried to convince them to do it the old way, but they refused, and that's when Cyrus stepped in. A 9-year-old little boy promising to find the cure to our haunted past." She might as well be speaking gibberish because I don't understand anything.
"Wait. What haunted past? What curse?" Her brows furrow as she looks at my confused face.
"Cyrus didn't tell you?" She asks, perplexed.
I shook my head at her.
"No. Tell me what?"
She takes a deep breath. Her eyes filled with uncertainty. A shadow falls over her eyes as she utters those words.
"The curse of losing the fated mate".