by Elle Lincoln
A few cards sit in pockets, accounts the lawyer already gave me access to. In other pockets sit store cards. In the center, Dad had a couple hundred in cash, preferring to always pay in cash so he didn’t overspend. But it’s the business card I’m pulling out that catches my eye.
It’s one of those moments that my brain pings with an otherworldly awareness. Before this week, I would have dismissed it as just caution or a brain blip. But now? I’m not so sure. The white card is just that. White. No markings. Nothing.
“What is this?” I turn it over. There’s nothing on that side either, just a simple white business card.
I glance at each of the guys, who are all sitting there staring at the card with perplexed expressions. I put it back in the wallet, but it feels wrong, like it just doesn’t want to be in there. So I tug it back out and put it in my back pocket.
That’s it. Nothing else in my dad’s black bag of death. Feeling a little better, I stand and allow the blood to rush back to all my body parts, making the sting increase. But it’s a pain that I embrace. Without it, I would be nothing but a shell. Feeling the pain reminds me I’m still okay.
“What now?” Feeling uneasy, I shuffle from foot to foot. “You mentioned you’d show me what it means to be a wolf.” Not that I’ll ever turn into a wolf, but the change in atmosphere and subject is more than welcome.
“You’re right, I did.” Athos stands with a frown on his face. His eyes flicker to Christian, who gives him a nearly imperceptible nod. “Okay, little cub. Let’s get you out of here.” Athos straightens to his full height, towering over me. It’s the perfect change to the darkness that just spilled through me.
I easily take his hand as he leads me from the room, the others staying back for a moment. “Dad’s things?” How do I tell him I don’t want his clothes?
“His clothing may help the pack tonight on our run, his wallet and knife will be brought back to the house shortly,” he hedges, looking at me as though there’s something there he isn’t saying. I let it go as he leads me out into the midafternoon sun where it sits high in the sky.
Our steps clip along the sidewalk where I pause. “Thank you.” I squint at him through the sun. His handsome face is haloed by the brilliant orb.
“For what?” His brow furrows, and little wrinkles line his forehead.
I wave my arms back at the door. “That. This. Waiting for me to process everything. Giving me privacy to do so and then standing with me when I was ready.”
Athos nods, turning toward me and blocking out the sun. “That is what mates do, Sabina. It is so much more than a simple marriage in human terms. It is a bond like no other. To not stand beside you would pain me. Hearing your anguish, seeing you suffer is not a scene I wish to witness for the rest of my days.”
I gift him a half smile, holding back slightly. His words strike a chord inside me, a wish for all of that and everything he will give me. And yet... the world, the universe, is a cruel mistress.
“One of these days, you’ll tell me why you deny this bond.” His palm rests over my heart, his proximity damn near breaking down my walls. Especially as his palm presses against my skin, his fingers dipping inside my top to tease my nerves, not in pain but pleasure.
“Let’s just get to know each other first,” I retort, pulling away from him. “I don’t know you well enough yet, but every day I’m finding I want to know more, and what I do learn, I like.” It isn’t the promise of forever he wants, but a promise of right now.
Friendship.
A light goes off inside my mind, white hot and burning. What if... what if I can figure out if my family truly holds a curse? What if I can break it?
“Tell me, little cub, what just ran through your mind?” Athos inquires, as he steps into me. Behind me, I hear the other guys come out of the building, their voices murmuring in soft conversation.
I chew my bottom lip, unsure if I’m willing to give him that bit of information. His eyes glimmer with so much hope, I can’t imagine dashing them with the silver blade of my tongue. But their help could change not only my life, but the lives of all the women in my family.
I lick my lips, pressing my tongue to my cheek as I struggle to find the right words. “I want to learn more.” I wiggle my nose. “If I’m going to understand what really happened to my father, I have to learn what he knew, I need to know everything about this world.”
Athos pulls back just a bit, a flicker of concern on his face before it falls away. “That’s a tall order, Sabina.”
I cock my head at him, the numbness finally falling away, allowing my spirit to feel and breathe in unknown emotions. I grab onto it as tight as I dare. “Seems simple to me.”
“That isn’t what he means, Damsel.” Christian walks up to me to stand beside Athos. His expression is serious, which only alarms me mildly. I’ll get what I want, no matter what. No matter the cost. “It means you are asking us to tell you all of our secrets, give you access to information that our enemies can use against us. Now tell us why we would do that for our mate who’s rejecting us.” He slowly crosses his arms, and with each word, his voice deepens, lacing with anger. Clipped and icy.
“I didn’t reject you.” I frown, running back through that conversation. A blush creeps up my face as I realize just why he would think that. I said no.
“You did though, don’t you recall?” Liam literally fucking pouts as he speaks.
“I—” What am I supposed to say? They aren’t wrong. They are right. I’m only pouring gasoline on the wound then watching as it burns like acid through their flesh. I swallow, unable to hold their gazes anymore.
“That’s what I fucking thought, Damsel.” Christian shakes his head, walking away, his hand batting the air as he leaves. “I’m out, Alpha.”
I watch as he strolls away, my eyes staring at his back while inside my stomach churns and my heart pinches. I rub the ache away, but it doesn’t leave. It burrows deeper, digging like claws into my chest.
He’s denying me. I can feel it in my core as the call that began splinters away, fraying at the edges. But I lash out, not telling them what I’m really feeling, not telling them why I can’t accept them—strangers that my heart and soul have already claimed.
“I can’t, you arrogant asshole!” The words fall from my lips as tears once more build behind my eyes. “I don’t even know you! I don’t even know any of you.” I stomp over to the truck, swinging open the door, only for it to bounce and slam into my hip, causing me to glare at the door in betrayal.
“Sabina, wait.” I turn to Athos and the plea in his tone.
“They left too.” I stare at the vacant spots where Liam and Nix once stood. I can almost feel the heartbreak in the air. Lingering and taunting.
“They did.”
“So much for learning how to be a wolf today,” I snark, climbing up onto my booster seat, which only makes me snarl again.
Stupid short legs.
“I’m still willing to take you where I planned.” He wedges his lean frame between the door and me. His close proximity warms me, and although I shouldn’t want more, I can’t help but lean in.
“Why?”
“I have a price, Sabina.” He reaches out but then thinks better of it, resting his hand on the seat behind me.
“Okay.” I just don’t want him to leave me too. The pinch in my chest hurts, it aches as they all pull away. “Why does this hurt?”
“Little cub.” This time he caves, his palm cupping my face. “I know you don’t understand, and usually a mate doesn’t deny the call.”
“Who do you even mate with if there are no women?”
“Other species.” His lips tip up at my curiosity.
But look what happened when cats got too curious. They died, and those furballs have nine lives.
Still, I just nod like that makes all the sense in the world, and maybe it does.
“Usually they accept the call, they return it.” His thumb brushes behind my ear in a soothing circle. I�
��m about to go full putty on him.
I restrain myself, just barely. “Return it how?”
He raises a brow, leaning in just a little more. My eyes practically roll to the back of my head at his touch and proximity. His smug smile tells me he didn’t miss that look, and his other arm comes up to rest on the steering wheel. He’s savoring my reactions to him, devouring them with his unsated hunger.
“Your heart beats for ours, and then we fuck.” Those are words I expect from Christian, not him. Yet as they fall from his mouth, my body melts a little as arousal swishes in my belly. “We’d never take from you unless you offered it, but no mate has ever denied the call, which makes you even more of an oddity.”
“I don’t want to just spread my legs and let you pump me full of seed to repopulate the wolves.” I shake my head, not denying him but the archaic thoughts. “I want to get to know you, I want to learn more and fall in love.” I can’t help the words as they tumble from my mouth, and yet the truth of them rings like a gong in my soul.
So what if fate chose these men for me?
Hell, I accepted lycans are real. Probably because that means magic is real. Meaning this curse is real and I can break it.
But... and it’s a big but, fate can drop me in the middle of a world I knew nothing about, but that only takes me so far. I want to accept them, but not until I know them. Who they are. How they grew up. What their favorite foods are. Movies. Just life.
“How can you fall in love if you keep holding yourself back from getting to know us? It’s two steps forward, one step back with you.” His thumb brushes the sensitive skin of my ear once more. “Tell me what you fear, Sabina. Trust me enough with just this to face it with you.”
His voice is so calm and sturdy, full of honor that men no longer abide by. Are they just pretty words? Or is it more than that? I want to believe, I want to trust.
Which is why I nod, hold his gaze, and allow my secret to spill. “My family is cursed.”
Chapter 14
Athos’s lips twitch slightly before he gains control of his features, holding back what he really thinks of my bold statement. I’m thankful for that little bit of willpower, and I can tell he sees that I am utterly serious. That doesn’t mean he believes me.
“Your family is cursed?” he repeats slowly, enunciating each syllable. “That’s why you won’t allow the mating to form a bond?”
Aka have sweaty, scandalous wolf sex.
“Yes, and I do want to get to know you guys.” Why do I feel like he thinks I’m full of shit? That curse is real, and I do want to get to know them and not just between the sheets.
“The universe chose you for us, you are perfect for us in every way. We have lifetimes to learn each other.” His voice is soft, placating, while his eyes drift over me, no doubt falling down the same gutter I’ve landed in.
It’s annoying, and my face flushes in anger. He’s dismissing my concerns while focusing on other ones. It doesn’t matter that my mind went there too. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Sabina, curses are rare.”
“Didn’t you guys tell me Zeus cursed you into a wolf and Selene altered it?” I growl back at him.
“Yes, but—”
I hold up a finger to shut down his argument. “No. Shush. If Zeus cursed men to be wolves, why is it so hard to believe that they also cursed my bloodline?”
“But it doesn’t just happen, Sabina. Curses hold power to them. Selene gave lycans purpose. We have a duty to fulfil. What duty is there in cursing a human family?” His thumb makes little circles again, but I’m too annoyed for him to touch me and turn my head away. His shoulders sag, and he sighs. “Why don’t you tell me about this curse instead, and I’ll see if there’s something that makes sense. Reassure you that there is no curse.”
“I need sustenance first.” I’m not telling him. That’s for damn sure. I just need to evade him and redirect his attention. Food is one way to accomplish this task.
“Slide over, I’ll drive.” When I pop over on the bench, he eyes my booster seat like it offends him. He tosses it in the back, then eyes my seat once more. “I can’t even get in.”
“Just adjust it from there.” Admittedly, I have the seat all the way forward and sitting straight up so I can see over the steering wheel. He can’t even fold himself into the seat, it’s so far forward. Perfect for me, but not so much for him.
With a grumble of irritation, he yanks the seat back until it clicks and he can sit comfortably. “Tiny little human,” he mutters under his breath.
“Well, we aren’t all hulking giants over here.” I cross my arms after clicking on my seat belt. “What’s your purpose?” Damn you, curiosity! Coming back full circle to taunt me with things I want to know.
“Sabina, I can’t tell you everything.” He shakes his head, his man bun flopping around.
“But you want to.” Tell me. Tell me. If I mentally will it, then it will happen. At least that is what Nessa tells me to do. I’m not so sure she’s correct that it works.
“Let’s make a deal.” He glances over at me as he pulls away and out of town.
“Are you about to negotiate a mating ritual?” All I can think of is the five of us in the woods, naked while they chase me around trying to mount me. The worst part is, I can’t decide if that is something I’d be down for or not. The heat in my nether regions says yes, but the flutter in my belly says hell to the no.
Athos rubs his forehead before running a hand down his face and giving me the side-eye.
I cut him off before he can speak though. “Seriously, how does that even work? I make the call, you guys touch me, essentially answering that call, and then what? We fuck in the woods? Rut like rabid donkeys?”
“First of all, I’m a lycan, not a fucking donkey.” His thumb taps the steering wheel in displeasure while a little wrinkle forms between his eyes. “Second, there is a mating ritual.” The look he darts at me is all heat, so I only need one guess as to what that involves—sex, and a lot of it.
“I knew it.” I tap my chin. “Is bigfoot involved? Is that who confirms the mating?”
He looks at me like I’ve damn near lost my mind. “What? No!”
“So bigfoot exists?” He never denied it.
“Are you always like this? Is this your normal?” he asks incredulously. Yet that smile on his face never falls. At least I’ll keep things interesting for him.
“Sometimes?” I can’t usually help the shit that falls out of my mouth. I frown, feeling somewhat put off. They went on and on about how the universe picked me for them. What if the universe was wrong? What if he just finds me annoying and hates my personality?
The others already tried to break that bond, or they at least thought about it when they walked away from me earlier. And despite my reservations, the idea of multiple men serving me like a queen suits me.
“Whatever you are thinking, stop,” he growls in that sexy commanding tone, claiming my attention.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” I reply as demurely as possible.
“There’s steam coming out of your ears.” He smirks.
“Did you just make a joke? At my expense?” My shoulders ease down a fraction, relaxing as he takes the tight road out of town. He shoots me a smile that makes my insides warm up and my face blush. “Can others see this road?”
“Humans shouldn’t be able to, no.”
“How is that possible?” I lean toward the window, pressing my forehead against it to roll it from side to side. Finally, I catch that weird haze that looks like heat rising from asphalt. As we near it, an odd sensation creeps over me like I’ve walked through a spiderweb. “Magic,” I whisper, my head jerking over to Athos.
His grin slips as he glances to the side. “You can see it?”
“The distortion? Yeah.” I spin in my seat, watching it as we travel away.
“Tell me about the curse.” He’s looking at me differently now, his brow pulled low and his tone serious.
I squint right back at him.
“Tell me about your purpose,” I counter.
“Dammit, woman,” he growls, then chuckles with a shake of his head. “You distracted me, and I completely forgot what I was trying to say.”
“I have that effect on people.” I face the front of the truck as he pulls onto Route 666.
“Not me, I’m the alpha. I can’t afford distractions. Not even by my own mate.”
I frown at his admission. “Why?”
“I’m not telling you.” His body tenses as we pull onto the highway, becoming more rigid. Aware. I watch as his eyes scan the road again and again. They dart to the rearview mirror, the side mirror, to me, then the front.
“So when we leave Lunar Mile, your duty begins.” I hum, wondering if I can discern what it is wolves do. What their purpose is.
“Sabina, leave it.” He tries to relax and fails. “If I tell you more and help you with this curse, will you consider us as your mates?”
“I thought the universe already took care of that?” I snark, still annoyed that fate has any play at all in this fated shit. Oxymoron, sure, but I’ve never been known for my logic.
“Sabina, humor me.”
“You’ll help with the curse?” I bite my bottom lip as I watch him nod in agreement. “You won’t just dismiss it?”
“No, Sabina, I won’t. You believe it’s true, and you were right, I dismissed it easily, but that isn’t what a mate does.” He gives me a side glance, the sun hitting his goatee just right so it looks golden. “Do we have a deal?”
“What happens when you discover there really is a curse?” Again, worry eats at me that their lives would be forfeit if I accept them.
“Then together we will work through it.” He sounds so confident, so sure of himself that for a moment, a brief moment, I allow myself to believe.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Is that hope or snark in his tone? I can’t decide.
