Book 1 – The Lycan’s Curse Raging Vortex

Alastair regained consciousness, already lying on his bed. His heart still raced as the images from earlier replayed in his mind. He stood up quickly and opened the window. The air outside felt much colder against his skin. Without hesitation, he jumped through the window, landing smoothly on the ground, unfazed. He ran swiftly, like a gust of wind, making his way to Meteora City.

Once there, he sat on a bench, alone, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on him. The burden was too much to bear. People passed by, glancing at him, but he didn’t care. The busy highway buzzed with honking horns and screeching tires, yet none of it seemed to bother. After a minute, Kai, Anthony, and Rio appeared in front of him as if out of nowhere.

“Hey,” Rio whispered softly.

Alastair sighed and pressed his lips into a thin line. “We’re really sorry for keeping this from you,” Rio began, his voice filled with guilt. “We were just trying to protect you from what will gonna happen. We knew you’d find out soon enough, but we couldn’t stop it. If we could’ve… we wouldn’t be dealing with the Lycans right now. We wouldn’t be facing them at all because I know you’ve figured it out…. ”

Rio paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I know it’s going to be hard fighting them. He’ll stand in your way, try to stop you, make you doubt yourself, and he’ll use the pain—your pain—against you.”

Alastair glanced at Rio, his face expressionless.

“ We know the gravity of the situation,” Rio continued. “That’s why we wanted to figured it out yourself first, before making any big decisions.”

Alastair stood up, his back to them. “How can I reject him?” he finally asked, his voice low.

“You’ll need to go to him and say it to him. ” Rio replied.

Alastair clenched his teeth, his jaw tightening. “I’m going to kill him,” he whispered.

“Then you’ll die too,” Rio said, his tone grave.

Alastair turned to face them, his brows furrowed in disbelief. “What?”

Rio nodded solemnly.

Alastair let out a frustrated growl, anger rising. “Then screw this werewolf curse!” he shouted, his voice shaking with fury. “If I could just rip it out of me…”

“The only way to get rid of it is if you’re willing to become human again,” Rio explained.

Alastair’s eyes widened, realization dawning on him. “Are you serious? How am I gonna supposed to defend myself then if needed?”

“You could still learn magic,” Rio suggested.

Alastair sighed, exasperated. “Fine. If that’s what it takes to stop this, let’s do it.”

“But first, we’ll need to find an ancient witch to perform the ritual,” Rio muttered.

Alastair cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “And how are we supposed to find one?”

“We’ll have to do some research,” Rio offered with a shrug.

“I’ve met one of them,” Kai muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. “But she lives in Mexico. She managed to become immortal through an ancient spell. She owns one of the original spellbooks created by the first generation of witches,” he continued.

Rio raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about this?”

Kai shrugged. “We’ve moved from country to country over the past centuries. She has a large coven near a lake and Eddie knows her for some reason, I guess they were old friends.”

Kai sat on the bench, pulling Anthony down with him playfully, while Alastair let out a heavy breath.

“Let’s head back,” Rio suggested.

Alastair shook his head slightly. “I’ll be home later. Just… give me a damn minute alone.”

“Are you still mad?” Anthony asked cautiously.

“I was never mad! Not obviously,” Alastair replied sarcastically. “ Promise me two things, starting today.”

Rio looked at him wearily. “What is it?”

“No more secrets,” Alastair said, his voice stern. “No more lies, no more shenanigans…. In our pack, or coven… whatever the hell this is.”

He clenched his jaw, his frustration evident. Rio, Kai, and Anthony exchanged uneasy glances.

“I wanted to tell you a long time ago,” Rio said, defensively. “But Aliyah stopped me. Blaze too.”

Alastair clenched his fists, trying to calm the storm of emotions building inside him. The weight of what they had all hidden from him felt too much to handle. He quickly disappeared from their sight. Rio sighed.

“Can we eat something? Or drink something?” Anthony prompted.

“Coffee?” Rio suggested.

“That’s a very Asian thing to do,” Kai muttered. “By the way, I am Japanese,” Kai chirped as if it wasn’t obvious.

“Let’s go,” Rio said, raising his brows playfully.

“About the mating thing or imprint thing, are we gonna experience it too?” Anthony suddenly asked. They all nodded in response, and Anthony’s eyes widened.

“How?!” Anthony exclaimed in disbelief.

“We are tribrids now, imo,” Kai retorted, laughing.

“But what if it’s a man?” Anthony asked again, and they jokingly drooled in response.

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Rio replied, crossing his arms uninterestedly.

“You’re not gonna be the one choosing that,” Kai said. “It’s random shit in the werewolf world,” he continued.

“I just can’t imagine waking up in the morning next to a dude, both of us naked and hugging each other,” Rio said in disgust. “I’d rather be mated to myself like dude, we both have swords and sword needs a scabbard. ” Rio said playfully.

“Quit it, it’s getting out of hand already,” Kai said, rolling his eyes.

“But what if the same thing happens to you, Rio, like it did to Alastair?” Anthony prompted.

“And look at what’s happening to him right now? I’d be worse than that,” Rio chirped.

“I don’t get it, that whole mate bonding thing is abhorrent,” Kai muttered.

“Me neither,” Rio added.

“You’re not allowed to choose your own girlfriend or wife, just like the rest of the supernatural beings,” Kai said in disbelief, and they all nodded in agreement.

” That’s a werewolf thing, ” Rio said in a playful tone. ” It is what it is. “

They reached the 24/7 coffee shop, stormed inside, and ordered take-out cups of coffee.