I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]
Chapter 171: Mysterious Bloodline

Chapter 171: Mysterious Bloodline

A few minutes later, they both sat by the table. Steam was slowly rising from the two cups of freshly made fragrant herbal tea. The cold wind outside was picking up, whistling in all the nooks and crannies, as it tried to enter through the poorly isolated windows...

Which was the only sound that could be heard inside. Although Remi had promised to talk, minutes had passed, and he was still sitting quietly with his mouth shut and an uneasy expression painted on his face.

Eventually, Felix got tired of waiting. "So?" He lifted his brows. "I’m listening."

"Yes, well..." Remi rubbed his hands on his thighs. "I don’t know where to start..."

"From the beginning," Felix scoffed, almost rolling his eyes. "How did you get this curse? And how is it connected to me?"

That was the most puzzling part. Before he had run away, he had spent his whole life in the Moonhill Pack, and so had his mother. His grandmother... he wasn’t sure, but probably as well. Besides, his maternal grandmother, the one with the golden eyes, had passed away long before he or Remi were born. They had never had any dealings with any fox shifters. Nor any witches. So, it made no sense that Remi’s curse would be related to them...

But, Remi soon explained, "The curse is hereditary. I inherited it from my father. As for how we got this curse... It all dates back to centuries ago..."

"Now, I’m not sure how much the story is true, since it’s all been just passed down by word of mouth," he continued after a moment. "Probably some details were changed, or exaggerated. Since it comes from my ancestor who had been cursed, it is likely that he had changed the story to push all the blame onto the person who had cursed him, while hiding his own faults..."

"It doesn’t matter," Felix interrupted. He didn’t care if one of his ancestors from centuries ago was slandered with fake accusations. Even if the story was fake, that was all that they had, he still wanted to know. "Just get to the point."

"Right. Right." Remi nodded his head, licking his lips nervously. "Well, the story goes like that... Centuries ago, my fox ancestor was freely traveling the lands, when one day, he met a beautiful female Omega werewolf with golden eyes by the pond deep in the forest. She was a fair maiden of marriageable age, looking for a mate. And the moment she saw my ancestor, she set her eyes on him..."

"But my ancestor didn’t reciprocate. Beautiful as the maiden might have been, she was a werewolf. Destined to lead the pack. If my ancestor chose to be with her, he would have to stay in the pack with her... And he didn’t want to give up his freedom. The world is so vast, how could he spend the rest of his life in one place? So, he rejected her."

Felix quirked his brows. Was this ancestor of Remi’s really so innocent? Or... Could it be that he seduced that fair maiden first, before dumping her? He was a fox, after all!

He didn’t say anything, though, and just let Remi continue.

"However, what he wasn’t aware of, that the maiden wasn’t just any werewolf. She was the descendant of the Moon Goddess, gifted with mysterious powers..."

"Wait, hold on." This time, Felix couldn’t help but interrupt. "The descendant of the Moon Goddess?"

"Yes."

"Is that... Is that really the truth?"

"I don’t know," Remi shook his head lightly. "That’s just how the story goes..."

Felix went silent for a moment. The story of that meeting in the forest was one thing, but this... This part was truly hard to believe.

It’s not like there weren’t any tales about the Moon Goddess’ descendants circulating around. There were plenty of stories like that, from fairy tales to the partially historically accurate accounts of ancient werewolf Kings and Queens. However, they were all just TALES, no Moon Goddess’ bloodline had ever been confirmed. And most importantly, no one would dare to claim to be the Goddess’ descendants, not even the leaders of the supreme packs. It would have been treated like a heresy, and any such person would... Well, Felix had actually no idea what would happen to them, since he had never heard of such a case.

Either way... His being a descendant of the Moon Goddess, carrying the Goddess’ bloodline? That idea was even more ridiculous! That fickle Goddess had already bestowed upon him the ’blessing’ of the fated mate bond twice, both times against his will! And while Kade might have still been acceptable, if it wasn’t for his circumstances... Jared was someone Felix had always hated. It was a terrible match. And until this day, he still hadn’t managed to break that bond!

So to say that he was the Moon Goddess’ descendant? As if that would ever be possible!

Still, even if that part of the tale was false, there might still be something special about his bloodline and his golden eyes. At least they were connected to Remi’s curse somehow. So, he gestured at Remi,

"Continue."

"Yes. The maiden, hurt by my ancestor’s rejection, decided to curse him... And all of his generation, restricting us to the fox form." Remi paused, taking a sip of his tea. "And that’s it. That’s the story... At least all that I know of it."

Felix nodded his head slowly. "Restricting you to the fox form... But you can still transform."

"Yes, but... Not for long. It depends on the phases of the moon, most likely because the curse caster was the Moon Goddess’ descendant..."

"And if you want to stay in your human form after the time is up, then what?"

Remi shifted in his seat uncomfortably. It was clearly something he didn’t want to talk about... But, since he had already promised to explain, he let out a quiet sigh, and said, "Then I will be in pain. It will feel like my body is burning up from the inside, while I’m being stabbed by countless needles... The sensation is difficult to describe. But, after a while, it gets too painful to endure."

Felix’s eyes darkened. Although Remi had been deceiving him for so long, stealing his blood in secret... He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t care about this fox of a man. So, listening to Remi talk about his curse and what he had to go through naturally affected him as well. He didn’t want the man to suffer...

And his heart got even heavier when Remi added, "The curse gets worse with age. I can still transform now... But looking at my father, by the age of thirty, or maybe even earlier, he couldn’t shift to his human form at all, not even during the new moon..."

"...And then what?" Felix couldn’t help but ask. "How is your father doing now?"

"He... passed away."

Remi didn’t say why, but that only made the answer even more obvious.

It was the curse. The curse had killed his father.

Felix bit his bottom lip, chewing on it as he pondered about everything he had learned. They sat in silence for a long while...

Before Felix finally decided to ask about the most important thing.

"My blood can bring you relief, but it cannot undo the curse," he said slowly. "Then what is the cure?"

Remi lowered his head, not saying anything.

Felix’s chest tightened, to the point that he felt he might suffocate.

"It’s... my life, isn’t it?" he asked, his voice barely audible. "You need to take my life if you want to be free from the curse..."