Cursed (Howl, #6) (14 page)

Chapter 20

When Samara met her grandfather later that night, she couldn’t help but feel angry with him. “You know, you gave me terrible advice last night,” she said, putting her hands on her hips angrily once she approached him as he waited for her.

Grandpa Joe’s amber eyes pored through hers, studying her face. “Oh, yeah? What advice was that?”

“You said I should just ask Luke to tell me the truth,” Samara replied. “It ended up turning into a huge fight
, and now we’re not speaking.”

“This is only just a minor setback for the two of you, I’m sure,” Grandpa Joe said. “Did h
e tell you the truth, though?”

“No! I didn’t even get an answer out of him, but he found out about some of the things that I was lying to him about,” Samar
a said with a frustrated sigh.

“Well, why did you lie to him about them in the first place?” Grandpa Joe asked. “That’s the question you
really need to ask yourself.”

“I don’t know,” Samara admitted
. “I just felt like I had to.”

“What is it wort
h it?” Grandpa Joe questioned.

Samara stared back at him blankly. “What
do you mean was it worth it?”

Her grandfather huffed with annoyance. “I thought you were going to be the smart grandchild, but I have to explain everything to you. Even though Luke’s mad at you for lying to him now
, was it worth it at the time?”

Samara thought back to the night before the wedding and the kiss that she and Declan had shared. It had been one of the best kisses she’d ever gotten in her life—of course, she only could compare it to the kisses she’d share with Luke, but for a moment in time, it had felt like everything was perfect in her life. If she could go back and not hav
e that experience, would she?

No, Samara decided. She wouldn’t take the kiss back. And, more importantly, she still would have kept it from Luke. Even though she hated knowing that she had hurt him, it was still one of
the best moments of her life.

“I can tell it was worth it
,” her grandfather said with a small smile. “Everything will work itself out in the end, Samara, and if it doesn’t work out in one way or another, then it’s not the end yet.”

Sama
ra nodded. “That makes sense.”

“We have a lot to talk about,” Grandpa Joe told her. “But I just want to remind you that you’re not allowed to go back and repeat any of this to your pac
k members yet. Not even Seth.”

“I won’t,” Sama
ra agreed. “You have my word.”

Her grandfather studied her face for a moment before nodding. “Good.” He sat down on a large boulder and glanced up at the sky, folding his hands. “When I was the Alpha of the Vyka, I was the strongest and most powerful werewolf, as you obviously know by now. And there were two groups of people: the ones who wanted to be me so much that they settled for being my best friends instead, and the ones who wanted to be me so much that they made it the
ir life’s mission to kill me.”

“But no one actually
succeeded?” Samara questioned.

Grandpa Joe glanced over at her with raised eyebr
ows. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Samara shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if you were a spirit or a werewo
lf at first.”

“I’m a werewolf,” her grandfather replied. “I almost became a spirit, though. You see, someone hired one of the were
wolves in my pack to kill me.”

“Finn Mc
Clellan, right?” Samara asked.

“That is correct. This other werewolf asked Finn McClellan to kill me. What you should know, though, was that Finn never would have done that. Pigs would have to fly or it would have been the end of the world for him to kill me,” Grandpa Joe explained. “He was my best friend, ever since we were kids. He was the whole reason I moved down to Pennsylvania from Alaska. And Finn did his best to try to protect me from this other wolf. In fact, he’s the only reason I’m alive. We had to lie to the whole entire Vyka pack and make them believe that I was truly dead, even though what I really did was move to Arkansas. I went into
hiding with my wife, Mollie.”

“So, everyone except for Finn thought you were dead?” Samara questioned, somehow feeling surprised by this whole story so far. It contradicted everything that Eddie Williams had told her. He’d made it sound like Finn was the bad guy, when it really sou
nded like he was the good guy.

“That’s right. I moved away, and Finn remained a part of the Vyka. He became the Alpha of their pack, but it was only long after I died when I heard the news that Finn was killed, too,” Grandpa Joe explained. “There were a lot of rumors out there about who did it, but I knew right away who it was. To this day, I would bet my life on who did it, even though I don’t have any proof. It was the same werewol
f who wanted Finn to kill me.”

Samara hesitated before as
king, “Was it Darren Jackson?”

Grandpa Joe laughed. “No, it wasn’t Darren Jackson. At that time, Darren was still fairly young, and he wasn’t as evil as he is now. We actually got along. We were friends, me and him, even though he was an Ima and I was a Vyka. So, no, it wasn’t him. The werewolf who hir
ed Finn to kill me was Orkos.”

“Orkos?” Samara felt her own eyes widen with surprise.
“But he was your best friend!”

“I know it,” her grandfather replied, licking his lips. “Orkos and I went way back, but he got extremely jealous when I left Alaska to start a new life. I think a part of him was always jealous because he wanted to come with me, but he was too set in his ways. He didn’t want to leave behind the traditional werewolf traditions and rituals to live somewhere more modern. It was
more than just that, though.”

Samara stared at her grandfather, waiting for him to explain further. When he didn’t say anything, she prompt
ed him. “What else was it?”

“Orkos was my half-brother, Samara. We shared a mother, but not a father. What he doesn’t realize, even now, was that my power came from my mother’s side of the family. It didn’t come from my father’s side. But he seemed to cling to the idea that maybe, just maybe, he could become as powerful as me one day. But there was no way Orkos could ever become the most powerful werewolf in history when his powerful half-brother was still alive,” Grandpa Joe explained. “The only way he could become the next most powerful in line was by having me killed. When he thought that Finn killed me, he knew that he had to kill Finn so the news didn’t get out that he was involved in my death. Even more than that, though, he also had to kill Finn so that he could becom
e the next Alpha of the Vyka.”

“I’m confused about something, though. Well, a few things, actually,” Samara said, interrupting her. “Why was Orkos so nice to me when I went to visit him? And how come he had all of the things that I needed? He knew about the wolfsbane and everything, but he never actually did anything with it.”

“Orkos knows about wolfsbane,” Grandpa Joe explained, “But he would never tell that information to anyone else—not even the members of the Koto pack—because that would mean that they would have the potential to become as strong as he wants to be. He keeps that information to himself, which is a good thing for us.” Glancing over at her, he added, “As for why he was nice to you and why he took care of Nuka and everything else? It’s all an act. He has to do those things because the Koto pack knew that he was my half-brother and my best friend. It was expected of him, and he would never want them to know that he was bad.”

Samara nodded understandingly. “That all makes sense. But how long
was he the Alpha of the Vyka?”

“He’s actually
still
the Alpha of the Vyka, but none of the members of the Koto are aware of it. And if you’re wondering if Kyana has any idea that her father is involved in all of this, I can tell you that she doesn’t,” Grandpa Joe explained, twisting a gold band around his ring finger. Samara couldn’t help but notice how old and leathery his skin looked; even though he only appeared to be about sixty or so, visibly, it was easy to tell that he was actually much older than that.

“How can Orkos be the Alpha of the Vyka if he lives all the way in Alaska?” Samara questioned. “I thought that Alphas n
eed to live near their packs.”

“It’s not a requirement,” her grandfather explained. “Most Alphas do choose to live near their pack members out of sheer convenience—and due to pack loyalty—but it’s not necessary for them to be around. The members of the Vyka still respond to him when he gives them orders, the same way the
y would with a regular Alpha.”

“How is he an Alpha if Darren Jackson is the new Alpha?” Samara asked, feeling even more confused about all of this the more she thought about it.
It didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Well, you know all about the fact that Orkos was injured,” Grandpa Joe explained. “From what I can see in my visions, you were there when he was beat up by the two we
rewolves who came to his den.”

“Yes,
I was there,” Samara replied.

“Well, he gave up on the notion that he could become the world’s most powerful werewolf,” Grandpa Joe explained. “He handed over his Alpha position to Darren Jackson willingly, in hopes that at least someone could keep the Vyka alive and active for at least a little longer, but he’s going to come back to claim his pack as his own. In fact, according to my visions, we have until this
Saturday when Orkos arrives.”

“That’s why Kyle’s watch was set f
or Saturday,” Samara murmured.

“Oh, the watch! You figured out how to use it,” her grandfather realize
d, beaming with happiness. “I hoped it would come in handy.”

“It was a very useful gift,” Samara replied. “In fact, all of your gifts were useful. I do have one question, though.”

Her grandfather met her eyes. “What?”

“Why did you leave all of the money to me? Why didn’t you leave it to Seth or Kyle?” S
amara questioned.

“Because I had visions of what would happen if I left the money to Seth or Kyle,” Grandpa Joe said
, chuckling. “I saw that Seth would become a gambling addict and Kyle would spend it on too many nice vacations for him and Silas. You are the only one who’s responsible with money, so I hoped that you would be able to take care of everyone as they need it. And that’s not to mention the fact that I saw you would be Alpha. With power comes the need for money.”

Samara nodded understandingly. “I get it now. I thought it had something to do with me being the most powerful future werewolf, but as you said last
night . . . that’s not true.”

“It’s possible that you could become very powerful, Samara,” her grandfather replied. “In fact, I believe that you will be. It hasn’t even been a year yet since you’ve become a werewolf, and you’ve already had to deal with more bullshit than some of us have to deal in the course of a lifetime. Just be patient. Your abiliti
es will strengthen with time.”

“I guess,” Samara mumbled. Glancing over at her grandfather, she said, “Will you ever let my parents know you’re still alive?”

“Eventually, yes,” Grandpa Joe replied. “It’s not going to be any time soon, but one day, I will come clean. They already know about the whole werewolf thing, right?”

Samara nodded. “Yeah, it came as a shock to everyone. My dad always knew about you, though. An
d my Aunt Rae obviously knew.”

“I miss Rae,” her grandfather said sadly. “Hell, I miss Reed, too. I miss them both. I’ll tell them as
soon as I can.”

“So, what happens now?” Samara questioned. “Orkos is going to be making an appearance on Saturday. What are we going to do until then?”

“I want you to do whatever it was that you were planning to do when the Vyka attack the Tala.” Her grandfather hesitated before explaining further. “I don’t mean to scare you, Samara, but the day Orkos attacks you is also going to be the day the Vyka attacks. I saw that in my vision, too.”

“So, we’re going to need to be doubly prepared,” Samara said, piecing toget
her what he was trying to say.

“Precisely,” her grandfather agreed. “Don’t worry too much, though. I will be making an appearance on Saturday. So, I just need you to keep my secret until then, and I w
ill help you win this battle.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Samara replied, feeling slightly relieved to know that her grandfather wasn’t leaving it to her to fight off their enemies. She would have the help of the world’s most powerful werewolf, which, she hoped, meant that her pack would have a greater chance of survival. Although she couldn’t seem to ignore the fact that som
eone was supposed to die . . .

Grandpa Joe stared at her intently before
asking, “What’s on your mind?”

“Someone’s going to die,” Samara said. “I don’t know who it is, but . . . I have a bad feeli
ng that it might be Saturday.”

“I see.” Her grandfather looked at the ground, as though he were considering the possibi
lity. “Do you want my advice?”