Curse of the Alpha (Full Moon Series Book 3)

by Mia Rose

  “Hello, Declan,” Noelle said, shaking him from his reverie.

  Declan turned around and saw Noelle standing before him wearing tight leather pants with knee-high boots and a red tank top. There was noticeable cleavage, with a deep v cut in the front. He let his hungry eyes graze over her and take all of her in. After he met her eyes, Declan realized that she was moving flawlessly, without her crutch.

  “You’re healed?” Declan asked, astonished at how much better she was walking.

  “Yes, I went to the doctor and he gave me something that really helped me heal quickly. I’ve just been resting since the day I last saw you,” Noelle responded. Declan watched her as she spoke and he noticed that even though her body was moving closer to him, her eyes looked to be somewhere else, entirely.

  “Noelle, what’s wrong?”

  “What do you mean?” She laughed. “I’m all better. I’m fine!” She accentuated the last word a little too much, and did a small cough to cover it up. “I just missed you.”

  “I’ve called you a few times and you never answered. I tried sending you messages and you didn’t respond.”

  “I know. To be honest, most of the time I was sleeping and I really just needed some time to figure things out, Declan. I mean, my entire world just got turned upside down. If a person ever deserved a little bit of space, don’t you think it’s now?”

  “Yes, I guess I can understand that.” Declan nodded, still keeping his eyes glued to hers. “Listen, about your family…”

  Noelle cut him off by putting her fingers to his lips. She said, “No more talking,” in a low whisper. Noelle closed the space between them and placed her lips on his tenderly.

  Declan felt something off about the kiss, but she ran her fingers through his hair and brought his face to hers again, kissing him with more urgency. Noelle teased his lips apart with her tongue, and finally, Declan gave in to her. All of their anger toward each other, toward life, toward their situations —everything was poured into this kiss. Their tongues wrapped together, doing a dance that they knew, only too well.

  Without stepping away from each other, Declan reached for the bottom of Noelle’s shirt and tugged it over her head. She pressed her body against his; only the sheer fabric of her black bra separating him from her luscious breasts. With one hand, Declan reached around to the back of her body and unclasped the bra, releasing the hold of the fabric from around her body.

  He kissed her chin and trailed it up to her ear, letting his tongue play with the sensitive skin there. He could feel the goosebumps rising on her skin as his fingertips ran along her smoothness. Perfectly, he felt the tug of the fabric on his pants that began straining against him.

  He sucked gently on her neck and let his lips find their way to the crevice between her breasts. He cupped each of her breasts and licked at her nipples. Declan smiled when each nipple responded to him, signaling that she was becoming aroused. He kissed her down her stomach, all the way to the waistline of her pants.

  Taking the zipper in between his teeth, he pulled down expertly. He reached down to her boots and peeled each of them from her legs. Declan stood up again and kissed Noelle passionately, backing her up against a tree. She could feel the bark scraping her skin, but the pain only served to bring more pleasure. Declan pulled down her pants; all the way, revealing a pair of sheer black underwear.

  He licked his fingers and walked them to the center of her thighs, letting them explore the smooth folds of her skin. He rubbed the patch of skin that he knew would make her moan with pleasure. Noelle ran her fingernails down his back, unable to stop the moans from escaping her lips.

  Noelle reached down to take Declan’s shirt off, but her hands were trembling from the anticipation of what was to come. Declan brought his hands to the collar of his shirt and in one swift pull, he ripped the fabric in two. His bare chest rippled with strength and desire.

  “Noelle!” Declan breathed as he put his fingers back inside of her.

  He pulsed them in and out of her, and he could feel her pulsing with him. Noelle grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer to her chest —his bare chest met her in a spark of heat.

  “Declan!” Noelle gasped as his fingers sped up.

  She pushed him away and she felt herself growing closer and closer to coming. Noelle looked at him —this was Declan. The same Declan she had met at the coffee shop, the same Declan who had come to forgive her after killing his mate, the same Declan who had visited her at her house to make sure she was healing.

  Noelle closed her eyes and her entire body tightened and exploded around his fingertips. Her legs trembled, but Declan did not wait for her to recover. He reached down to his own pants and let his hard cock spring free.

  Declan grabbed Noelle and turned her to face the tree. She grabbed onto the trunk weakly as he grabbed her hips and dove inside of her. He pushed his hips back and forth, pushing himself as deep as possible inside of her. Noelle cried out in pain and pleasure. He could feel his own body getting ready to come and he pushed himself harder and faster against her.

  “I’m going to finish,” Declan said, and he pushed himself into her as deep as he could, exploding inside of her.

  Declan hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her shoulder. Noelle felt sick. She hadn’t wanted it to go this far —she had only wanted to keep him there long enough for her plan to work. She needed to leave.

  Noelle pulled away from Declan’s embrace and she could see the confusion on his face. She gave him a half smile and pulled on her pants. She found her shirt lying in the dirt and pulled it on over her head.

  “Okay?” Declan asked. “What am I missing here?”

  “Nothing.” Noelle tried to smile, but failed. “I’m just a little tired. I’m glad we had the chance to see each other.”

  “Why are you saying that like it’s the last time we will be seeing each other?” Declan asked.

  “I’m not, I just —I have to go.”

  Declan watched as Noelle sat on the ground and pulled on her boots one at a time. He had known that something was off and maybe this was it —maybe she had no intention of seeing him again after tonight. This was her closure for everything and she wasn’t going to let him know.

  “Are you serious, Noelle? This is it? This is the last time we are going to see each other, and this is how you want to leave things? You don’t even have the decency to tell me to my face that this is over.”

  “Declan.” Noelle sighed. “I can’t tell you what you want to here because I’m not sure it’s the truth. I’m not sure that this,” she said, as she pointed between herself and him, “will ever truly be over.” Declan stared at he as she walked out of the clearing, leaving him alone once again.

  Edmund drove to the area that Noelle had written down on the paper. As much as he wanted to say he was ready for this, it had been a long time since he had battled a werewolf and he had never done it on his own. Although he was named after the original hunter, he couldn’t help but feel that he didn’t pick up many of his skills.

  Edmund parked along the clearing and noticed Noelle’s car parked there. He got out of the car and walked toward the woods when he saw Noelle emerge from the trees.

  “Hey,” he called out to her. She looked up at him and gave him a weird smile.

  “He’s here,” Noelle said, “and no other wolf is with him.”

  “You’re sure about this?” Edmund said.

  Noelle didn’t answer, she just continued toward her car. Edmund watched her as she climbed inside of the driver’s seat. She paused for at least a minute before slipping the keys into the ignition and pulling out of her space.

  Edmund walked into the clearing slowly carrying the crossbow in front of him. He didn’t see anyone there at first, but then he caught sight of a man sitting by a tree.

  He couldn’t see the man’s face and he had no idea as to whether or not this was the werewolf that Noelle wanted him to kill, but he didn’t see anyone else there. He strung an arrow into
the crossbow and steadied it in front of his face, taking aim at the figure. He pressed the trigger and the arrow was released from its position and rocketed across the clearing toward the man.

  Edmund missed by a few feet and the arrow landed above the man’s head, plummeting into the tree. The figure stood up quickly and Edmund realized that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Edmund looked around the clearing, and further up he saw a shredded piece of fabric lying on the ground.

  “He must have transformed back into his human form,” Edmund mumbled under his breath. When Edmund looked back at the figure, he realized he was no longer standing there.

  “Hello,” a voice sneered from behind where Edmund was standing. And when he turned, he saw an enormous wolf standing there, saliva dripping from his hungry lips.

  “You can speak?” Edmund took a few steps backward as the wolf neared him. “That means that you’re the…”

  But he wasn’t able to complete his thought as the wolf lunged toward him. Edmund felt a stabbing pain in his upper chest and looked down to see a gaping wound. But just as quickly as the wound had opened, it started healing itself.

  Edmund stumbled backward and dropped the crossbow on the ground and the wolf laughed at him. “First time hunter?” asked Declan.

  “Not quite.” Edmund backed up into the open space of the clearing, pulling out a small container of liquid.

  He looked up and saw the wolf staring at him. They were both bathed in moonlight and Edmund could make out every detail of the wolf’s eyes and something struck him as being very familiar. The wolf looked down at Edmund’s chest where the wound was just moments before and he saw that it was nearly completely healed.

  Before Edmund could open the bottle, the wolf turned back and ran from his position. Edmund didn’t chase him, instead he poured the bottle of pure silver into the dirt watching as the soil melted at his feet.

  Edmund now knew two things for certain. Firstly, that Noelle had asked him to kill the alpha wolf, and secondly, that the alpha wolf was Declan.

  “I’m not sure that this will ever truly be over.”

  Chapter 8

  Promises

  “The irony doesn’t escape.”

  Declan raced home after his encounter in the woods. “Edmund?” he yelled to no one. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, right now. The one guy who is supposed to be helping me out, turns on me.” Declan slammed his fist into his car dashboard, cracking it underneath the pressure of his fist. “And how in the hell did he heal like that?”

  He glanced down at his dashboard and groaned, rubbing his car he said, “Sorry, baby.”

  He drove home with all of the night’s events swirling together in his mind. Every ounce within him told him to turn back to the woods and kill that man where he stood, but Declan needed that cure. He wasn’t even sure Edmund had any idea about what he was doing as a hunter, and watching him stumbling around the trees was actually comical in a way.

  Declan recalled his moments with Noelle; the way that her skin felt against his; the way her lips knew his so well. He closed his eyes and willed her to realize that they shouldn’t be apart.

  Suddenly, Declan was struck by a thought —Noelle had been acting off the entire time they had been together, especially after they had sex. She’d left hurriedly, and with no excuse. Minutes later, he got attacked by Edmund.

  “It was a trap,” Declan growled. “That bitch set me up.”

  Declan pressed on the gas even harder, sending his car flying down the road. In that moment, he swore to himself that he would never again trust Noelle. The irony did not escape him that this was not the first time he had made himself this promise.

  Declan arrived back at the apartments and he noticed Gabriel standing by the entrance. He turned off the car and opened the door, letting himself out. Declan closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down before anyone asked him any questions.

  “Hey Declan,” Gabriel said, walking over to him. “Long night?”

  “Why do you say that?” Declan asked a little too defensively.

  “You just look tired, man,” Gabriel mumbled.

  “I am, sorry, just have a lot of stuff on my mind.”

  “Yeah, that’s actually what I wanted to talk with you about.” Gabriel stopped walking and ran his hand through his hair.

  “What is it, Gabe?”

  “Well, about the money that we need for that doctor guy —I may have an idea.”

  “Okay?” Declan asked. “What is it?”

  “Well, as you know, before I turned I was going to college and was playing on the lacrosse team and all of that.”

  “Are you thinking to have a lacrosse fundraiser or something? Because I really don’t have the time for any of that.”

  Gabriel laughed and shook his head. “Not quite.”

  “Well then?”

  “Okay, well anyway, my parents had set up this account for me with some money as an incentive for me to graduate. The agreement was that I would be able to access the account either when I graduated with my degree, or when I turned twenty-four. It’s set up for whichever came first.”

  Declan nodded his head, looking at Gabriel. “Okay?”

  “I know you have been crazy busy and stuff, but yesterday was my birthday, and I turned twenty-four.”

  “Oh my god, Gabriel. I am so sorry! I completely forgot. Happy belated birthday, man.”

  “It’s all good.” Gabriel smiled. “Well, the good news is, now I can access the account and withdraw the money.”

  “How much is in there?” Declan asked.

  Gabriel smiled and said, “Half a million dollars.”

  Edmund drove back to Noelle’s house. He wasn’t sure yet what to tell her because he needed to have killed this wolf to prove himself to her, but he couldn’t do it. Not because he wasn’t capable, but because he could feel that there was something bigger going on —something that he needed to get a handle on before acting on anything.

  That was the type of person Edmund was —he needed all of the facts about things before making any type of decision. He thought back to the day his father told him about their family’s history, and Edmund’s own destiny to fulfil, as well.

  Edmund had always known that there was something significant about his family. When he was a young boy, he used to dream that maybe his parents were super heroes or secret agents trying to take down a criminal. Once he got older, he quickly realized that those two options were highly unlikely, but still, he wondered.

  So, the day that his father sat him down and told him about their family, Edmund wasn’t altogether shocked or surprised. The werewolf bit of it threw him for a loop, but other than that, everything seemed to fall right into place. Or so they thought.

  Edmund went through hunter training school and he joined his folks on hunts, but he never enjoyed it. Then on one hunt, his father pinned down a wolf and he made Edmund kill him. That was the first and last time he had ever killed a werewolf.

  He announced to his family that he would not be hunting anymore and would instead, take on a different role. At first, they hated his decision, fighting against it tooth and nail, but soon after, he gave them his first elixir —the pure silver. They used it successfully in their hunt, they saw a new purpose behind his obsession with science and research.

  That is exactly how he ended up at Boulder University where his father sat on as a member of the board. He influenced the university to fund Edmund’s research project, claiming that it was both innovative and groundbreaking. Once Edmund presented his findings, the school quickly realized that they had been pouring their money into a project which was, in their eyes, pointless.

  They kicked him out of school and unanimously voted his father off the board. Edmund had transferred and dedicated himself to becoming a doctor. He had tried so hard to forget about hunting and werewolves, and everything he had seen and learned about them —until Noelle.

  He pulled into her driveway and got out of the car. He had been so
lost thinking about his own past, that he still hadn’t thought about what he would say to her. He walked up to the door, but before he could knock, Noelle pulled it open and jumped into his arms.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe!” Noelle said, hugging him tightly. “I was so worried. I shouldn’t have been worried at all. Look at you! Not even a scratch.”

  Edmund thought back to the injury he had received on his chest and rubbed absently at the invisible wound. The jacket he had thrown on in the car successfully covered up the tear in his shirt. It would have been very difficult to explain to Noelle why there was blood on his shirt but no cut on his body.

  “Noelle,” Edmund said pulling back from her, “I didn’t kill him.” Edmund was shocked that those words flew from his mouth so quickly. He didn’t want to lie to her but he had no idea what the truth would lead to, either.

  “That’s okay,” Noelle said to his surprise, “as a matter of fact, that’s better. I think I have been going about this in the wrong way. I’m just glad you’re safe.” Edmund nodded as she pulled himself inside the door, closing it behind him.

  “Noelle, I think we should talk,” Edmund said. “This whole thing has just gotten way out of hand, and honestly, I don’t care to be involved any more than I have to be. I will do my best to create the cure for your family, but you need to know that if they have already transformed, it is too late. And to do this, I am going to need my lab —I’m going to need money.”

  “How much money?” Noelle asked, taking a step back from Edmund. His tone had changed considerably and she wasn’t quite sure where this new attitude was coming from.