Quinn
When we were younger, we had a nanny. She was human and she loved fairy tales. She would always read them to us. Her favourite of all those stories was The Beauty and the Beast. She knew we were werewolves and felt that we would be able to relate more to that.
I was always annoyed anytime she read the story and felt like she was mocking us. Why else would she call us beasts who would be eager to have a beautiful girl love them to save them?
I had been so happy when she finally resigned to start a family of her own, grateful that I wasn’t going to listen to the story again.
It wasn’t until we grew up a bit more that I realized that our nanny was trying to tell us about ourselves. We were alike with the beast. We were werewolves who would have to be mated to a woman. We were definitely going to be more patient and hopeful she loved us than the beast had been with Beauty.
At the moment, feeling trapped and unable to move an inch of my muscle, I felt more like the beast than on any other day. I could imagine how he must have felt when he had been cursed by the witch and changed from a handsome man to a gruff and scary beast. It wasn’t a nice feeling.
The only difference between the beast and us was that he had been turned against his wish while we had shifted into our wolf forms on our own. I growled low in my throat, glaring at the dark wizard where he was, looking as if he was having fun at Mia’s expense.
I wanted to check on my brothers but I couldn’t even move my head to do so. I couldn’t even turn my eyes. I was completely frozen in place as I knew they were as well. I hissed inwardly. If only I could break free from the magical bind, I would love to sink my claws into the skin of the dark wizard and tear her open, flinging her head off to the road for vultures to feed on.
I calmed down, reminding myself that it was the same uncontrolled anger that I was feeling at the moment that had landed me and my brothers into the mess that we were in. We shouldn’t have lost it so quickly. We should have waited for Mia to handle the situation just as she was at the moment.
I was trapped but I could hear everything that was going on outside the bind we were in. I sighed, sadness engulfing my heart as the dark wizard asked Mia what her concern was if we lived or died and she couldn’t reply. How hard was it to say that because she cared? She didn’t have to say because she was our mate, I wasn’t expecting her to declare us as hers so soon but she could at least have told the dark wizard that she didn’t want us to die because we were her brothers.
That wasn’t so hard to say, was it? After everything we had shared, I didn’t think she would still hate us. Why didn’t she reply and tell the dark wizard that she didn’t hate us?
The dark wizard was right. He had read her right. Mia certainly knew how to hold a grudge.
It felt so odd to admit to myself that I was the beast and I needed the beautiful girl to love me after spending so many years denying that reality.
I hated being trapped and helpless like this and wondered what the dark wizard was going to do to us? Was he going to kill us and take Mia with him?
I thought of dad and felt pity for him. He would be so dejected at our loss that it would be easy for the dark wizard to kill him.
What would he even tell Vanessa? How would he tell her that her daughter had been taken away by a wizard he had been in a war with for two decades?
I couldn’t let my dad be that pitiable. I fought the bind but it wasn’t yielding. Maybe I could beat the bond with my mind if I couldn’t move my body. I summoned all my willpower and directed ot at the bind, trying to force a crack in it and get my way out.
If I could get out and weaken the bind, my brothers would find it easy to be free. I was the strongest of the three for a reason. Now was another opportunity to make use of my strength.
I gasped, choking for breath as the bind tightened around me, crushing my ribs. I couldn’t see my brothers but I knew they must be feeling the same way that I felt. I felt guilty, knowing that I had caused this. The dark wizard must have sensed that I was trying to break through the bond and reminding me to know my place.
“What are you doing? Are you going to kill them?” Mia shouted in the distance, her voice echoing with panic.
She cared. Goodness, she cared about us. I smiled as I let her panic wash over me, bringing relief to my heart.
She might still hate us but at least, she didn’t want us to die. That was enough for me. For now.
Mia
I was getting annoyed with the dark wizard. This was getting too prolonged. I knew he was having fun but I was not. I was annoyed that this dreadful scene couldn’t be broken by anyone as no one passed through the route except me. It was indeed not safe for someone to live far away from society.
I saw the concentration on his face and noticed that the ball of magic the boys were compressed into was getting smaller. I could see through it and noticed that they were struggling in there. They couldn’t even move so they had no choice but to endure the torture or await their death with patience.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of them dying. No, I couldn’t have that.
“What are you doing? Are you going to kill them?” I shouted at the dark wizard, my voice echoing with panic.
The dark wizard ceased his torture and relaxed his grip on the boys. I exhaled and let out a sigh of relief. His eyes darkened with amusement.
“No, I’m not going to kill them. Why would I kill them when the fun is just getting started?”
I scoffed at him. “You think this is fun?”
He nodded. “Of course, it is. The wolves act like they can get rid of me. I am bored as there isn’t much to do after I got out of that damned dungeon. I need to play with them for a while before killing them off.”
“They will be the ones to kill you.”
He laughed. “You think? You little human know nothing about powers.”
I squared my shoulders, standing up taller to look at him in the eyes. “I know that they will kill you. I don’t think. I might not know of powers but I know of courage and strength and I haven’t seen anyone with more courage than the boys.”
“Nonsense.” He hissed. “Okay, I have had enough of this. This is getting boring to me. Let’s move on to what I came here for.”
I moved back, afraid of what he meant by that. I hope that he wasn’t here to kidnap and force into being his bride as he had offered earlier. He should rather kill me here.
He raised his hands to the sky, and a ball formed in his hands. He twisted the ball for a while and then slammed it against the bind that the boys were in.
The three of them screamed and I glared at him. “What did you do?” I yelled, my panic rising as I saw the three of them who couldn’t move earlier suddenly start to stretch and kick but it didn’t seem like they liked what was happening to them.
“Relax.” He chuckled. “It’s only a curse.”
“A curse and you want me to relax. Who would do that?”
“I know what you fear but they are not going to die.”
“What did you do to them?”
“I cursed them to be evil wolves on every full moon night. They would shift and lose their humanity, killing everything and everyone in sight.”
“What!” I gasped. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I just did.”
“Why?” I began to sob.
“There is a cure though.”
Just as he hoped, he had my attention and he smiled as I snapped my head up to look at him.
“What do you mean? What is the cure?” I would go miles to find it for them. I couldn’t imagine the boys losing their humanity and wreaking havoc anywhere they were. They were strong and deadly enough with their humanity.
I shivered. They could kill me if I was around them when they shifted and would live in regret forever when they turned back into their human forms and saw my corpse. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let them live their lives in eternal regret.
He moved closer to whisper it in my air but we both knew that the wolves could still hear.
“I know the boys are to have one mate. Do you know who that is?”
I snorted. What had that got to do with breaking the curse?
“I don’t know.” I lied. “It’s not as if we share diaries with one another and we are not close enough to swap secrets. You have been told that I don’t like them, haven’t you?” I said to make my lie more believable.
He nodded. “Fair enough. I wasn’t expecting you to know.”
I hid my snort to myself. How could he claim to be all-powerful when he couldn’t detect lies?
He continued. “It’s hard enough for them to get a lady who would love the three of them so I added a little spice to the pursuit. What do you think their mate is going to think if she finds out that they go crazy every night of the full moon?”
I kept quiet, knowing that he was going to keep on talking.
He did.
“She is going to freak out and leave. They are going to be trapped as evil wolves forever. Isn’t that enough to break poor Daddy Albert’s heart? This is a good revenge, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know about that. What if their mate didn’t freak out and wants to help them?”
“Then she dies.” He said without hesitation.”
“She dies?” I squeaked.
He nodded. “She will. The cure is quite twisted.” He laughed. “They will only be able to break free from the curse when their mate appears, she falls in love with the three of them and is marked by them on a full moon night.”
I wondered what he would do if he realized that they had already found their mate and he was talking to her.
“That sounds easy.”
“It’s not. Imagine a lady being seduced into liking three boys.”
“I’m glad you said seduced. My brothers are quite the charmer. I’m sure my sister-in-law would be glad to have them.” I said with a smirk on my face. I wanted to frustrate them.
“It’s not easy.” He yelled at me. “Imagine how impossible it would be for them to be cured. Even if the lady likes the three of them as you say, how can they mark her when they are in their wolf forms and had lost their sanity on a full moon night that they are to mark her? I bet it with you that they would kill the lady with their teeth by themselves before they could mark her.”
I sighed. He was right. That was a risky move. They would be a threat to me on a full moon night even if I was willing to be their mate and be marked by them to save their souls. He had indeed cursed their souls. My heart felt heavy at what had been done to the boys. Albert would be crushed if he heard of this.
He saw my expression and laughed.
“You didn’t think I was a fool, did you?” He laughed and turned to the boys. “I wish you luck in getting your curse broken.” He kept on laughing till he dissolved in the air and left.