The Alpha Who Cursed His Mate novel Chapter 2

Ignoring Nina, I smile at May, who blushes, and then I acknowledge my brother, sister, and the others. We eat our meals in silence, but Flint and Josie snigger and elbow each other.

"Care to share with the table what seems to be so funny?" Ryker asks them.

"We were just talking about how Magnus went for a swim today and got washed away and that it's probably the cleanest he has ever been," Josie says and bursts into laughter along with Zak and May. I slam my fork down and cross my arms. I want to glare at Nina but remind myself to never look at her ever again.

"Kids, that is enough. Eat your dinner, or you can go without food. Your choice," Astrid says with a firm voice.

As we quietly eat our meals, my Dad talks about Vanessa and Alice, who fled from Shady Crest when I was born.

"The emerald pack caught sight of two female rogues and a young boy rogue in their territory and are certain the females were Vanessa and Alice. They followed them to another pack that is not on record and thought it may be a bunch of rogues creating their official pack,"

"Shall I send warriors after them, Alpha Ryker?" Leon asks.

"It's been ten years since they fled, and they haven't seemed to have caused any more trouble. Ten years on the run is already quite the punishment,"

"Well, if they are further south and keeping to themselves, I don't see the need to pursue them," Astrid says.

Dad kisses her hand and nods in agreement.

The next day I walk past Nina and ask May if she wants to climb some trees with Zak and me. I can see Nina's eyebrows crease in confusion out the corner of my eyes as May and I have rarely spoken to each other, nor have we ever played together.

"Sure," she smiles.

"Okay, let's go," I say and wave for her to follow.

Nina stands there watching us, then runs after us, "Hey, I want to climb trees too, you know!"

I stop and face her, "No, only my friends can join," 

"What are you talking about, Magnus? I'm your best friend?"

"You were never my friend," I growl and regroup with others.

Nina's face turns sombre, with a hint of confusion.

"That's harsh, don't you think, Magnus? You and Nina have been the best of friends since you were both babies," Flint says.

"No, our parents forced us to be friends, our mother's planning constant playdates every day, and if she were my best friend, she wouldn't be getting me into trouble every day. Nina no longer exists to me," I argue.

Flint and Josie flinch and give each other a sad look. 

"You are welcome to join us as well, just not Nina," Flint and Josie hesitate at first but decide to follow us as May grabs my hand with a smile and drags me towards the trees, "Come on, guys, let's see who can climb to the top first," May giggles.

"Sorry," Flint and Josie say to Nina, "We want to go with them too."

May blushes and casually looks away.

"Last one down is a rotten egg!" Zak yells. 

We all quickly swing down and drop from one branch to the next.

"I won," I smirk.

"You only won because Nina isn't here. We all know she is the fastest of us," Josie pouts.

"If you mention her name to me again, Josie, then you can join Nina and become non-existent to me, too."

Josie has a hurt look on her face and steps back while Flint glares at me.

"Let's go to Shadow Lake for a swim before we go back to the Packhouse," May suggests.

I nod in approval and head towards the lake. With May by my side, Josie approaches and walks by my other side.

We arrive at the Lake. I pull my shirt off, then my socks and shoes, and dive into the cool water. Zak and Flint join me in the deep end while May and Josie roll up the legs of their pants and stay in the shallow area. 

We duck under the water and hold our breaths for as long as possible. Zak is the first to swim back up for air, followed by Flint. Then, feeling like I was not enjoying myself as much as I usually would, I decided to swim away from them and hide behind a large boulder in the lake. I pull myself up for air and peek over the top of the boulder, watching Zak and Flint waiting for me to swim back up.