Warnings: Read the first chapter heading and base please. Also reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as are questions if you're confused.

I own nothing, literally.


Cursed Chapter 8

Caught up in the future and it's implications to his life it takes Kurt a few minutes before he puts his hand up, unconsciously mimicking Finn from earlier.

"Yes Kurt," Paul turns to him.

"So what happens now? I mean, tonight, tomorrow, school, and having friends over?" He's still dazed from everything.

"Well tonight you sleep in your new room, with David, just be firm and say no if he asks for anything physical, I don't think he will, we've explained you won't be interested for some time. Tomorrow you're free to do whatever you want, please feel free to explore, I like the roof top garden and I know Vi is partial to the swimming pool at the back of the house. School is school, the only addition will be David in Glee Club with you. Friends," the man hesitates, "Kurt I'm sorry but we have to protect the family, you can't have friends over."

No friends?

"But what about sleepovers?" He's shocked and upset at not being able to be with his girls.

"While you're at the beginning of your mating it's best not to leave David at night, and if they came here they'd know David was Cursed," Paul tries to explain.

"Why?" Finn asks, "It's a hotel, tell 'em you're doing it up and we'll say something's wrong with the house, and you let us stay because Dave was a dick to Kurt."

That makes sense.

They all stare at Paul who's startled, "Um..."

"Hey," Now Finn's excited, "We could have Glee parties here, and pool parties, they'd have to get to know Dave, and we're so unpopular no one else in school's gonna come here," looking like he's just solved world hunger Finn settles back and grins.

"Um..." Paul shrugs, "I don't know Finn, letting others into their den, their most closely guarded territory, is a big thing for them. They only caved on yours and Kurt's family because they can see that it's two packs joining as one through mating."

"Leave it to us," Anton smiles and glances at Penny, "If we do it right and make sure we have the right plans in place to limit people coming here, to get them background checked and stuff then it means Vi can have friends over too."

"That's a great idea," Penny jumps on it, "And maybe Kurt could have a sleepover at a friend's as a trial run, Dave can see if lurking outside protecting him is good enough to satisfy the mating, and maybe Vi can start spending time with her friends."

This has the ring of a very familiar argument and Kurt watches Paul struggle with it, shoulders slumping, "Fine, but you're telling Di, I'm not touching this one, I'm not having my mate territorial and angry at me."

"What about saying only a few friends are allowed over at a time?" Puck joins in, "And now that Dave's suddenly gay, with Kurt living here too we don't want the jocks and homophobes to know where the house is, no one in Glee will breathe a word of it. Hey," he leans forward, "What if the reason the Hudmels had to move out was because of those idiots? So Kurt's here incognito?" And the teen is just as pleased as Finn had been.

"It's a good cover story," dad adds, "It gives a valid reason why we left a perfectly good house, why you'd offer us a permanent roof over our heads, and I'm assuming Kurt's going to be hanging around law enforcement when Dave has to work, so it's an ongoing covering story. The Glee kids are good kids, they tried to step up and protect Kurt from Dave, they'll watch Kurt's back at school and Dave's just because they're living in the same place now."

That makes much more sense. Kurt wants to add some arguments of his own but keeps quiet and lets the others fight this, he can join in later if he's needed.

"I…" Paul thinks it over and then says weakly, "But if those jocks and homophobes do come here…"

"Put the gate on," Anton leans back into the sofa sighing softly, "The damn agencies have all been hassling us for years about it, just let them man the gates, they already have surveillance all around the outer and inner fences." Laughing the red head adds, "And you know how much fun those four have when they sneak in and out just to annoy the agents manning the TV screens. Hell the President's probably on a par with our security."

There were surveillance cameras up?

"Wondered what those were for on the front gate," Puck mutters.

"Cameras?" Carole's startled.

"Hmm? Oh yes," Paul seems calmer now he's back in lecture mood, "Only on the fences, nothing in the den, or on the outside walls, there are about three 'walls', the obvious outer one, a middle one with no fence, and an inner one a few hundred feet into the woods." Chuckling the man says, "And yes the four of them love sneaking up on the cameras and then sticking their faces right up against them, they normally do it in pairs with one lurking outside the surveillance room to listen to any new agents screaming in surprise."

"Do you remember the guy who fainted?" Anton's laughing, "They had to get an ambulance in and the director of the agency did a video call to ask Kitty not to do that again."

This mating thing all seemed so easy when they're all laughing and happy. Then they got serious and started planning how to get it past their mates, to talk the Cursed into letting his happen without triggering their protective instincts.

"They live in the 'now'," Paul explains, "Some of them can make plans, and if you can talk them into turning whatever it is into a type of hunt they'll spend hours working on it, otherwise they don't want to know and get bored really quickly. We have to convince them this is all really boring, and then give them the main highlights covering every angle that could lead to an intruder, or one of us getting hurt in anyway."

Checking the stopwatch Paul mentions they don't have a lot of time left before they'll be back and they have to do this with a united front, Cursed tended to find weak points and would then prod them until the whole thing fell apart.

"You could play up the rumour that everyone thinks Dave's mom is in the military," Puck suggests, "It would give a reason why no one ever normally goes to Dave's home, why no one really sees Diane, and how you can afford this fucking huge hotel."

"Language," dad corrects automatically, it bounces off of Puck, at least dad tried.

"That could work," Paul's excited, "No one would have to see the Cursed, only David, they'd be happier about that."

With a few more adjustments to the plan, they end up with the teens feigning ignorance of the exact nature of the threat causing the Hudmels to move, Karofsky's mom would be 'away' most of the time, and Kurt would have to pretend to live in the suite with his family when friends were over. Other than access to the roof, the fifth floor was off limits to anyone not already in this room or the four Cursed wherever they were.

It takes a little bit of arguing but Kurt convinces them to let him call Mercedes later and fill her in on the new living arrangements. They'd need her help on Monday when Karofsky joined New Directions.

Sighing Kurt's still annoyed that the boy is going to be there, it's supposed to be Kurt's club to get away from everything, at least he doesn't have to be so afraid of the jock anymore, and the difference in Karofsky's behaviour from how he was at school was startling, but probably since the Cursed had won the mating fight he felt he could relax.

Glancing out of a window Kurt wonders where they are right now.

The sun is warm on his scales and Dave lifts his head to gaze into the water rushing past, he'd love to just spring into it's depths and glide through the water but it'd wash Kurt's scent off of him too, and it smells far too good to give that up.

Winter was nearly here and this might be the last time he got to come out here now he's mated but he wants to get back to check on Kurt, he trusts the other mates to take care of the boy, he just wants to be the one to do it and maybe earn a petting or two.

Lazily getting to his feet he snakes his head down and under to grab the ruined clothes with his mouth, they smell tasted like a heady mix of Kurt and the rest of the family.

The other three have shifted to stare at him. Backing up slowly and being careful not to stare at them so they won't feel challenged he shakes himself and spreads his wings to let them know he's going to the den.

Getting to their own feet they do the same and they all look to mom who takes a few steps before she runs for the rock they'd just been laying on and uses it as a spring board to jump up and gain height as she sweeps her wings down and starts to climb into the sky.

Marcus and Kitty line up to go and Dave waits his turn at the back, he knows he could fight the others for a higher position in the pack but no one really cares where they are, except mom who's the leader, and Dave really doesn't want that position.

Running he leaps upwards and takes off easily, normally there tended to be handy thermals that helped to gain altitude, and they soon settle into formation and turn towards home winging their way steadily through the air.

Familiar glints of sunshine from the swimming pool that was out the back and they circled to land, here they have the space to come to a running stop. Folding his wings back he trots ahead of the others, he really wants to see Kurt again soon.

Grabbing the door handle with his claw he's careful how he turns it and then he trundles in to his spot, there he falls to the floor and hurries through the change. Bones and muscles twist and shift in his body and he reabsorbs the scales until he's naked on the tiled floor.

Standing up he waits for them to get in and he closes the door behind them. Pulling on his clothes he snatches the tatters of cloth that Kurt had been wearing and reluctantly puts them in the bin.

Running noiselessly through the den he heads for the humans and makes sure he gets there in time so if they were being sneaky they wouldn't get caught out.

And he was right they were being sneaky about something, he points to his ear and then back the way he'd just come, "We're back, they should be here soon, did you have a nice lecture?"

Sitting on the floor near Kurt he drops his head back onto the sofa.

"It's been productive," dad says, and they've been really sneaky. Mom and his sibs would know something was up and he's sure dad's about to hit them with it anyway. "Did you have a nice time too?"

"Yeah, the flight was easy, my sunning rock was warm and the sunshine was nice, I miss it in winter," Dave smiles contentedly.

"It'll be here again son," dad says gently, "And until then you can play in the snow, this year Vi should be big enough to stay out longer, she loved the piggy back rides you all gave her last year."

"They were awesome," Dave agrees as he turns his head having heard the others, they stalk into the room and he smirks, "Beat you, what kept you?"

Marcus snarls softly, "Little cubs shouldn't be rude, just because they're mated now," and then spotting Penny the Cursed bounds over in one jump, he collapses with his head in Penny's lap, the human obliges and pets the back of Dave's sib's neck. And Marcus' purr's loud in the room.

"Show off," Kitty snorts and gracefully gets to her knees to let Anton pet her.

"Cubs," mom struts to dad and wraps her arms around him, he hugs her back, "I hope all the children behaved."

"Of course they did," dad reaches up to pet mom who sags against him.

"My Sweet, the sun was so warm, perhaps you would like to go up to the roof, and I could sun myself some more, I promise to wrap a wing around you so you'll be nice and warm too as you read," she tries to tempt him.

"Maybe," dad hedges, "But we have something to discuss first darling."

It was interesting to watch, Dave sits back and lets it unfold, the way the mates were careful how they explained it cutting off each argument the Cursed could come up with. As he's been out among the humans the most he knows they need other humans, some more than others, and he'd wondered if Kurt would pine without his friends.

The mates and family have set it up so that the Glee kids could ask but wouldn't get any answers and they would assume the reason was that the younger Hudmels and Karofskys hadn't been told the answers. None of them would try to ask the adults, and if they did they'd be turned down.

Neat.

Turning to smile at Kurt he says, "Hey that means you can talk to Mercedes today then."

Looking down at the Cursed resting on the floor, his head lolling on the sofa Kurt blinks in surprise, it seemed his mate wasn't fighting this. Karofsky even appeared to be amused, but then the fact he'd gotten there first and warned them the other three were coming was interesting too.

This was not the same boy who'd bullied him in school, though he now knows the Cursed had been trying to start mating with him, it had still been scary to live through.

"Yes," Kurt agrees and he really wants to talk to his friend, even if he can't tell her everything.

In the background the three Cursed are losing quickly, Kitty is the first to give way, followed by Marcus and then Diane huffs and struggles before she puts a few more stipulations in, that visitors had to be announced first.

"It's a pity we can't tell them we have dogs," Karofsky mentions, "That way we can keep an eye on our 'guests' and they'll never suspect, and we can move about freely whenever we want to."

Diane gives in at that point and Kurt smiles at the jock in gratitude, he can have his friends come to visit.

The meeting breaks up and Vi finishes her program noticing the Cursed are back and comes to hug her dad, watching Marcus with Vi Kurt has to blink and wonder just what Karofsky would be like as a dad.

Turning the girl notices the jock and squeals, "Unca Davie!" She throws herself at him and Karofsky hugs her and rocks her as she clambers all over him.

With Vi in the room they take it in turns to explain what's going to happen now and about the only thing the girl concentrates on is that she gets to go to sleepovers now and can have sleepovers too. Excited she bounces about beside herself and wanting friends over and to go over to theirs all at the same time.

In the end Penny steps in and picks her up so she can have some quiet time before lunch, otherwise she could make herself sick.

Anton volunteers to cook a light lunch and Kurt gets told to rest after lunch, he's only just completed the mating fever he should give himself a rest. Annoyed he crosses his arms but then his dad gives him a look and Kurt can almost hear the reasonableness as he gets a 'talk' so he gives in with very bad grace.

Huffing he lets Karofsky pick him back up and take him to the elevator to their room, or rooms really. Once safely inside Karofsky whispers, "Do you wanna walk on your own?"

Relieved that someone wasn't treating him like an invalid Kurt nods, his knees are a bit wobbly and the Cursed boy hovers nearby but Kurt's still walking on his own and he opts to walk into the bedroom, then through the study to his wardrobe.

Paul was right his clothes had all been delivered and were hanging on various rails. Makeshift cardboard shelves were up against a wall and he rummaged a bit, grudgingly he admits whoever had done the moving were professionals because there was not one crease on anything. His shoes and boots were lined up neatly, his hats were stacked in their boxes or were on a hat stand.

He has no complaints and nods to himself.

Dave leans against the doorframe and watches his mate move slowly about the new room, he poked and prodded and then finally nodded. He liked it, he really liked it.

Visibly weakening Kurt staggers slightly and Dave walks slowly towards him holding a hand out. To his shock Kurt only eyes it up for about a minute and then accepts his help.

He's done something right, his mate was not screaming in fear at his touch, it would take lots more time though for Kurt to want more. He's read rubbish romance novels, frankly the women in them were crazy and the men idiots but it always took time for the women to change their minds and fall in love, or the men 'coz Kurt's a dude, he would have to prove to Kurt he's a good mate. And he remembers that it took time for his dad to fall in love with his mom, he's confident that it'll happen eventually.

At least Karofsky hadn't done anything more than hold a hand out and Kurt leans on it hating to be so weak. He leads the way to the sitting room and collapses onto a sofa.

The other boy's head has jerked up and the jock says, "Lunch is here."

And then Anton is there with the nice caddy. "Here brought you some pasta, fruit, and your phone," the man winks, "Enjoy talking to your friend and playing with your wardrobe, oh and Paul's persuaded Di into letting your friend come over tomorrow as it's Sunday, just don't blurt out anything you shouldn't."

"Thank you Anton," Kurt smiles feeling much more hopeful, and starts to get his food as the man leaves.

Tucking into his pasta he looks over at Karofsky who's still staring. "Sorry was some of this for you too?" Though the portion is only big enough for one.

"No, I ate a day or so ago, I'm good," the boy settles more into the chair, "Once you've eaten I'll take the tray downstairs and you can have some privacy with your friend."

"Thank you," Kurt's startled at the boy's thoughtfulness, yes maybe this can work out for everyone, he might have to stay in Lima, but it won't be all bad.


A/N: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.

Sorry if the last chapter was a little fuzzy around the edges, and I have been asked: Dave mated to Kurt - a human. Did he have a choice? What casued it?
It didn't seem like he chose it, but if not, what determines who a Cursed
gets mated to? It sounds like Dave's family are all (now) mating with humans
after previously mating with other Cursed.

Answer – Mating to a Natural Cursed is purely instinctive, they can steer it a little, ie the urge to have cublings will cause them to more receptive to other Cursed which could trigger them to start mating other unpaired Cursed and pursuing them. Or, in the case of Dave's family they can 'prefer' humans having had bad experiences with other Cursed (death of their cublings), but humans are so much more fragile that they usually don't survive the mating process and the fever can kill them if they are not taken care of (Kurt likened it to flu).

So in a sense Dave did have a choice but he's in a family unit with a young child, all of his family are happily mated to humans, he has a strong bond to his 'Dad', and as we know Kurt might be outwardly a cold bitch (defences) but he's a marshmallow to his dad and often to his friends. Dave's older and in Cursed terms he's an adult capable of having cublings and Kurt's grown up since last year and Dave's instincts kicked in zeroing in on Kurt and driving Dave to Mate with him.

I hope that wasn't too fuzzy but the answer is No, it's instinctive, and Yes they can steer it a little to a more preferred Mate.

Also I've posted a related story called 'Cursed Prisoner' under the tags of and , it' covers a little of the back story where Paul and Diane met (the those who haven't found it yet), it's not essential to the story but you might like it.