Page 6

“I admit it, I made a mistake, I made a mistake. But now we know that, we should make some progress, I promise.”

Mal looked up at the doctor in surprise. Rocky had been in his wolf form for two days and seemed perfectly happy so long as Mal was within touching distance.

They’d had walks in a heavily warded garden outside the facility a couple of times, and the staff always brought Rocky raw meat in a bowl, even though he didn’t stop sniffing at Mal’s human food.

Some things hadn’t changed. Rocky still seemed to think he owned all the bed, even as he was nudging Mal toward the hospital mattress, which wasn’t as comfortable as the recliner, in Mal’s opinion. But curling up with Rocky at night reminded Mal of happier times when he and Rocky were alone against the world.

Back in Arrowtown, Ra had put the word out, and everyone was working hard to identify where Rocky went when he left town roughly once a month. Even Mrs. Hooper didn’t know for sure, but Ra did report that she was certain Rocky hadn’t been out getting laid the way he claimed. “He always looked too clean and tidy when he came back into town,” she said firmly.

Simon was working with Trent’s brothers, as well as the phoenix brothers, and Dion and his friend Eagle to go through Shifter Council records to try and determine Rocky’s original pack. They weren’t confident they could find anything as Rocky was born before shifters came out and historic records were sparse, but they were trying. Doc Farriday supplied genetic material from Rocky, for the council, in the hopes of getting a lead through DNA. Again, a long shot, but worth the effort for a friend everyone loved.

Meanwhile Mal was going through his journals. He still read some of the stories out loud to Rocky who always listened intently, oftentimes nodding when Mal said something like “did you have to do that?”

“Of course you did, even when you were worrying the crap out of me.” Mal would shake his head and within seconds the big wolf would be nudging his hand with his head, looking for pets.

It was relaxing in a lot of ways – if Mal excused the fact they were in a special facility and Rocky couldn’t shift back to his human form. But Mal hadn’t realized how tense the past months had been until he had a chance to stop. Enjoying the quiet bustle of their room, Mal finally felt like he could take a breath.

No, Rocky wasn’t healed, and Mal still worried that he might never be the same again, but the wolf still loved him, and Mal had to believe that Rocky the man did too. In the meantime, he got as much rest as he could in between fielding demands from Rocky for attention and the texts and messages from their friends.

The last thing Mal expected to be confronted with was a flustered doctor. Looking more closely at the man, Mal could see he dark smudges under the elephant shifter’s eyes, and he was sure Doctor Nelson had been wearing the same shirt the day before.

“Are you saying that Rocky’s not cursed? Why did he have such a strong physical reaction to the word, then? He was choking.”

Doctor Nelson shook his head. “No, Rocky is definitely cursed.”

“Then what?” Mal put the journal he’d been reading aside, reaching to stroke Rocky’s fur. “You’ve found out he and I aren’t mates after all? That’s not going to change how I feel about him.”

Rocky whined, pressing closer to Mal’s body and showed his teeth at the doctor.

“What he said, but put those teeth away.” Doctor Nelson pointed at Rocky. “I’m certain you and Rocky are fated mates.”

“Then what is it? What mistake?” It was amazing how quickly all Mal’s fears and worries could come flooding back in an instant. “I just want him well.”

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you any further distress.” Doctor Nelson sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I’ve had no sleep, waiting on results from the lab about the bloods, and responses from a few of my colleagues who are familiar with curses as well. But first, I need to ask, have your friends heard anything more about where Rocky came from – his original pack.”

Mal glanced at Rocky who was focused on the doctor. “There was an email waiting for me this morning,” he said quietly. “Simon managed to track that lead with help from our council friends. Doc, our doctor in Arrowtown, sent Rocky’s blood to a contact he had at the Shifter Council, and they matched it… to samples taken from a cadaver. That’s a dead end, literally a dead end.”

Rocky stuck his nose under Mal’s elbow, but not all the way. It was as if he was hiding his eyes. “Hey,” Mal said softly. “It’s all right. You’re here with me and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“It was the Shiloh Luna Pack, wasn’t it?”

Mal looked up to meet the doctor’s eyes. Doctor Nelson already knew. He nodded.

“That fits.” The doctor stabbed his paper with his finger. “That absolutely fits with my hypothesis that Rocky was cursed before he met you. The whole pack was. This is incredible.”

Doctor Nelson looked so exceptionally happy, but Mal didn’t see why. “According to Simon’s email, that whole pack died, Doctor. Every single pack member from the alpha to the smallest child died within a year,” he snapped. His wolf could sense Rocky’s distress. “Is it any wonder Rocky never told me where he came from? I don’t know the details…”

“But I do. I studied this case decades ago, and I can only blame the passing of time for not remembering that pack situation when you first came in,” Doctor Nelson said. “And I’m sorry if this is causing Rocky distress but those details are important. They could be the key to freeing Rocky from his curse now.”

“Simon didn’t have any other details, or at least he never gave me any.” Mal blinked suddenly as his vision blurred. “What happened to that pack was decades ago…”

“Back when Rocky would’ve been a child, yes. His survival is genuinely a miracle.” Doctor Nelson referred to his notes. “According to what the Shifter Council learned, the alpha of the Shiloh Luna Pack was an arrogant SOB who was trying to take over the land owned by a small coven. Witches, not vampires. They conducted a ritual and cursed the entire pack, the main focus being that for as long as the wolves stayed on their lands they would all die out. The alpha didn’t believe in curses and he and his enforcers killed the whole coven, but then his pack members started to die off.”

Mal latched onto the one shred of information that killed his hope. “If the alpha killed the coven that laid the curse, then there’s no one to break the curse for Rocky now.” He couldn’t even look at the poor wolf, not wanting to show his tears.

“I’m sorry, that was clumsy of me,” Doctor Nelson said quickly. “That case was a long time ago and to find a survivor of that curse now… From an academic perspective it’s fascinating.”

“While realistically, it’s a death sentence for Rocky and me, if we’re mates as you claim. I won’t survive Rocky’s death, and you said yourself if he stays in wolf form, he’ll lose his humanity. You can be as fascinated as you like, but forgive me if I’m not happy dancing about it.”

Mal’s heart broke. He thought his heart had broken before, every time Rocky went out for the night, but sitting in the bland hospital room, knowing there was no hope for his dearest friend, was more than Mal could stand. Flinging his arms around Rocky’s neck, he couldn’t have stopped the tears if he tried.