Chapter 42. Ritual
Doreen
My mother could turn into a bear?
My mother was a supernatural?
I can turn into a bear?
But what happened to me in the barn then?
And what will happen if my father would find out that I am one of those creatures he has been chasing all these years?
Did he know about my mother being one?
“I’m sorry, I know that I should have told you before. But some woman had to slap me first, to make me realise I had made a mistake.” I shook my head and looked up at Jack again. He had been fighting a woman? What woman? Has he spend his days with another woman? Who touched my man!?
“Breathe love, it was just the Luna of this pack and she just slapped me across the face.” He chuckled, reading my angry expression.
“She should have slapped you harder!” I suddenly yelled with a croaked up voice and slapping my own mouth with both my hands in shock, as I hadn’t wanted to say that out loud.
Jack looked at me with a shocked expression, but then suddenly began to laugh. “Finally, you are talking to me.” He said and I crawled back into my ball of heat. “Sweetheart, I know you have been through a lot, but we have to be strong. Eventually we are going to get our pack back again, but we have to prepare ourselves for it.” He said and I blushed in shame of remembering that he had been dealing with bad things as well.
“I’m sorry!” I whispered while I softly cried. In all my wallow I had been forgetting that he was being tormented by the loss of his pack. “In my selfishness I had forgotten that you are in pain too, I’m sorry.” I explained myself and he just looked at me worried.
“Don’t be, love! I will become the Alpha again of my pack, I’m sure of it! So, dry up your tears, we are going to train you.” He said and I looked at him in shock.
Train me? What if I turn into that raging bitch again if I take the necklace off? I can’t do that!
“Oh don’t look at me like that.” He said to me. “Your body just didn’t know what to do with your fury, as you have been wearing the necklace ever since you were young. You are just not accustomed to shifting and controlling your primal instincts, that’s why you went into that rage, I’m sure of it.” He said but I wasn’t convinced.
Besides, I still hadn’t told Jack about the ghost I had been speaking with. The one that told me to keep my necklace on, for protection. The grey haired… Oh wait! “What did the witch look like.” I asked Jack and he looked at me surprised, not knowing what I had to do with that information. But I urged him to think about her features and finally he spoke up. “Uhhm, she was old and had grey curly hair.” He answered me and then everything clicked.
The ghost had been the witch! If only Jack had indeed told me earlier, I could have told him about me being haunted and things would have been so much easier!
But now that I know that the person he had been talking to, had been the spirit I had been listening to, it gave me a sudden feeling of relief. As if I knew now that everything would turn out to be fine in the end. My episodes were probably far from over and I probably had to face a lot of sleepless night until I was completely done with it, but if it is true that I could possibly be able to turn into a bear, I have to start living again instead of burying myself in that bathroom!
“Alright, I’ll go back to training, but there are a few things that I have to do first.” I said and Jack’s face couldn’t be happier.
Jack
So far, she has been eating two stacks of pancakes, ten slices of bacon, a large bowl of yoghurt with fibres, three glasses of orange juice and she was now feasting on a plate full of chicken wings.
Maxwell had been sitting at the head of the table and was looking at her with wide open eyes and mouth, not knowing how she could put all that food into that tiny body of hers.
She had been talking to him too, thanking him for all the help he had granted us and I could see that her communication skills were going to come in handy when she would take up the job as the official Luna of my pack. Even though we are not there now, I’m still very proud to have Doreen as my mate.
Then, we returned to the room, which had been cleaned up now and she made me rub her complete body with lotion, as she had been scrubbing her body numb with all the soap and washing cloths that she had used. I had to rein in my hard-on as she didn’t want to get me all riled up now, as she explained that she would help me with it, later this night. So, I kept my urges restrained, because who am I to go against my Luna?
Then, she forced me to take her to Bertha, where she had spend a lot of time talking with, to get rid of all the build-up confusion, anger and fears from her latest experiences. Bertha had been calmly listening and gave some wise advise on how she should think about everything. Then, at the end of the day, Bertha had taken her laptop and made the call to the witch while Doreen was sitting in front of the screen. The old woman instantly answered the call and Doreen and the witch both smiled towards each other.
“Hi there, wailing ghost.” Doreen said and I gasped at her comment.
“You can’t call an elderly lady that!” I yelled to her, but the woman had only been laughing. What is going on here!?
“Don’t worry Jack, Doreen and I have a history. And I’m glad that she has returned to her happy self again.” She said and Doreen nodded. “Well, almost, I hoped you could put a spell on me to get me into a good night’s rest, because I still need my energy to mend my thoughts. I mean, I hope you can, because you certainly are not a ghost!” Doreen snapped and the woman laughed again.
“Could anyone please explain to me what the hell is going on?!” I shouted and now the women both laughed.
They were both taking turns in explaining what had occurred between the two, and it made me feel even more stupid for not deciding to tell Doreen at least that I had been talking to a witch. Because, now Doreen thought that she had been haunted by a benevolent spirit, a ghost!
But when they were done explaining themselves and Doreen had been asking some more questions to make sure that it had been true that she is truly a descendant from a royal family, I had a question myself as well.
“Giselle,” I asked for the woman’s attention, after I learned her name as Doreen had asked about it. “why is it that you still wanted her to keep her necklace on, even though she had saved me when taking it off?” I asked and she took a deep sigh before turning towards Doreen.
“Well, Doreen, it is going to be hard for you to say this, but there might be a chance that you can’t shift into your bear.” She said and Doreen sighed. “Your mother knew, that when she wanted us to create the necklace, there was going to be a side affect to it. It could have been dangerous for other people to know off your existence and your ability to shift, but it is equally as dangerous to embrace the power that you can emit when you take the necklace off after all these years.” She said and I frowned, but knew what she was talking about.
“Yes, we have noticed, because she wasn’t aware of anything that went on around her when the fury consumed her. But we can practice that with her, right? She just has to get used to it.” I said while hugging Doreen and smiling lightly towards her.
“I wish it could have been that easy.” Giselle interrupted my happy thoughts. “The spell that we have put on the necklace is a strong one and over the years it has been permeating her body slowly but steadily, prohibiting her from having a clear mind when becoming angry without the necklace.”
“So, can’t you get the spell out of her?” I asked and Doreen looked hopefully towards Giselle.
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry, there aren’t enough witches alive anymore, to perform such a ritual.” Giselle replied and Doreen slumped her shoulders down.
“But there might be another way, although you are not going to like it.” She said and Doreen and I looked towards each other.
Doreen
I don’t know what I had to do yet, as Giselle hadn’t explained it to us, but I didn’t care what it was going to be. A few weeks ago I had decided to never leave Jack again and I wasn’t going to give up now. Because of me, even though I couldn’t have prevented it, he had lost his pack. Our pack. So, I had decided that I was going to do everything in my power, to face this evil spell that lurked inside my body and use my strength and my ability to shift, wow, against Dennis and my father’s hunters!
“Let’s do it.” I said to Jack.
“Are you sure? I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He said, trying to comfort me.
I sighed, knowing that I haven’t said it before, but this moment is feeling as right as any other moment. “Yes, I love you and I would do anything for you.” I said and his eyes grew wide.
“Did you just… You know, say that?” He stuttered and I smiled.
“Aaawwhh, how sweet!” Vic suddenly chimed in while rolling her eyes. “Get a room!” She continued and Jack didn’t have to listen to that command of his sister, twice.
He picked me up, while Giselle was still online with the video call. “Wait!” I said to Jack and he lowered me. “Giselle, could you come here and help me with it?” I asked her. “Yes, I will, and later this night I will visit you as a ghost to grant you at least one good night of rest.” She replied and Jack pulled me away from her sight. “Thank you!” I hollered and I heard her chuckle, together with the rest of the people in this room.
“Are you fucking serious?” Jack asked Giselle as she stood in front of me, after waiting for two days for her to arrive.
Two nights ago, Jack and I had been having a great night and afterwards I had met with Giselle as a ghost, putting a small spell on my mind to get me some sleep. But last night had been awful again, as I had to go through the episode three times.
Besides looking at the things that I had caused, over and over again, I was starting to get used to it, how weird that may sound. Of course, I had been yelling in my sleep and woke Jack up every time I did. And afterwards I had been throwing up, just like I did the other times. But at least I wasn’t being terrified anymore. I knew what would happen and where it had come from. I knew now that I had been in that fury, because of the curse of the necklace, because that prevented me to think rationally.
So, I knew that it wasn’t my fault to have acted like that.
“Yes, I’m afraid so.” Giselle replied to Jack’s question.
I looked at the tank of blue burning liquid in front of me and worried about all the things that Giselle had just explained.
“She is not going to do that!” Jack yelled and they both faced each other, Giselle softly explaining everything again and Jack scolding her for being crazy.
My mind was set upon getting rid of the curse that my mother had put on me, indirectly. So, whatever I had to do next, or even had to repeat until I succeeded, I was determined to get through it, no matter how much it would hurt me.
There weren’t enough witches to do a safe ritual, so there was only one way to get rid of this curse. Boil it out...
I took my robe off and took a few deep breaths. Jack and Giselle were still yelling at each other, not being aware of the fact that I’m going through with this. My hands grabbed each side of the tank and as I hovered above the slow burning oils and herbs, my mind already objected to get into it. The smell of the burning herbs was invading my brain, nearly making me gag as the combination of basil, patchouli, wormwood and what not more, was not pleasant to experience.
I lifted my leg and dipped my toe in it, instantly feeling my skin burn from the blue fire that hovered on top of the water. I started to scream and my mind wanted to pull my foot out of the water, but I had to fight that, I had to push in further!
Jack suddenly stopped yelling and ran over to me, wanting to pull me out of the tank.
“NO! Don’t!” I yelled and proceeded to willingly let the blue fire burn my leg.
Tears were streaming down my face, I yelled and screamed as I could feel every single hair on my skin shrivel to the flames, blisters started to form and pieces of skin fell off… And worst of it was, was that I knew the pain would only get worse, because I had to fully submerge myself underneath the blue flames…
A/n: Ouch! 💛🐻💛