Alec’s

Alec.

I was still reeling from whatever the fuck Raven had done to me when her words penetrated my throbbing brain.

Fuck, I shouldn't have antagonized her, but in my defense, I wasn't in the right headspace. Things haven't gone the way I'd pictured them today. I was stressed and on edge. That wasn't a good combination. "A confinement spell. What does that mean?" Sadie asks. She couldn't hide the tremble in her voice.

"Exactly that," Raven explains, a certain edge coating her voice. She pulls her gaze from Sadie and fixes it on us. "You thought that it was a curse that was eating this pack, but it's something else."

Rubbing my temples, I try to ease the migraine that had worsened because of whatever voodoo shit Raven did to me.

For the hundredth time, I curse this day. It keeps getting worse instead of better. It's getting on my fucking nerves.

As if it wasn't enough with the confrontation I had earlier with Sadie. Then finding out that she's adopted and now this?

I grew up being told that our pack was cursed. A curse that's so severe it's draining the life force of our pack members. Since I was old enough to understand the true meaning of what that means, I've worked my ass off trying to find a solution. Trying to break the damn curse so that we can be free.

No one said otherwise. My grandfather, my dad, the elders, everyone said it was a curse, now Raven is saying it's something else. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?

"So, you are saying it isn't a curse?" Elder Martin asks. He looks skeptical of what she is saying.

I get him. I fucking do. Like I said, it was imprinted in us that it was a curse. To find out that everyone had been wrong this whole time, is a major blow. It's akin to saying that we could have found a solution long ago had someone pointed us in the right direction. Meaning our pack would have been saved from the damage that had been inflicted.

Raven folds her hand across her chest and starts tapping with her foot. "I'm not sure, what I know is that I did trace the spell, trying to find the remnants of the kind of magic used. The remnants I found don't have the same markings as the ones that are usually found in curses."

"You said that it's a confinement spell," Sadie asks in a taut voice. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Confinement spells are exactly what their names suggest. They are used to keep, bind or tether someone to a specific place," She explains.

I lean forward at my desk, and place my elbows on top of it. "You are saying someone bound something in this pack?"Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Raven's eyes turn and glare at me, but she answers. "Not something, someone. Confinement spells don't work on objects."

"Meaning the spell that was used, was used to imprison someone here?" Sadie starts pacing much like Raven did a few minutes ago.

"Yes," Raven answers with a sigh. "It would also explain why your pack is getting weak. Confinement spells need loads of power. The spell is probably draining power from the land and its people to sustain itself given it's tethered here. You are all getting weak because the spell needs power to keep whoever it is, imprisoned."

Fuck! I don't know which is worse. Believing that it's a curse plaguing us or this. Either way, we are fucked because the bottom line is, this spell is slowly killing us.

"But the text said it's a curse," Elder Gabriel argues, his voice almost whinny. "It never mentioned anything about this."

Raven sighs, her eyes shifting to him. "Maybe it didn't mean an actual curse, but whichever way you look at it, it is kind of like a curse because it's killing this pack."

"So how do we undo this?" I ask. My stress levels just went up a thousand folds.

It was bad enough, thinking it was a curse. Knowing it's a confinement spell and that it is draining us just made everything a thousand times worse. We need to find a way to undo it.

"I'm not sure we can," Raven whispers, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Why not?" I growl, my anger rising. I could barely think straight. "I want it fucking undone!"

Micah walks towards me and places a hand on my shoulder, feeling my frustration and anger. "I get what she means. Think about it, Alec. It's a confinement spell. You only imprison someone who has committed a serious crime."

"Exactly," Raven takes over from Micah. "Meaning someone went to great lengths to keep someone imprisoned. The fact that they've been imprisoned for decades and the kind of power used means they don't want that person getting out. Do you seriously want to mess around with that? Do you seriously want to undo this not knowing the kind of person you'll be unleashing?"