Page 52 of Cursed Magic

“Speaking of which, I’m not happy with you about that.” Briar crossed her arms and glared. “I get that you’re my alpha, but you’re still my sister and the only family and pack member I have left. I should’ve been informed, at the very least. Put yourself in my paws.”

She might as well have punched me in the gut. Once again, I hadn’t made the right call. What an amazing alpha I was turning out to be. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Being the older sister and alpha, my gut instinct is to protect you. But you’re an adult, and I should treat you like such. After all, you’re my beta.” I cut a piece of steak off, noting that it was medium rare. Still, my stomach wasn’t enthusiasticlike it had been ten minutes ago. I placed the fork and knife down and dropped my hands into my lap.

“Okay then.” She pursed her lips. “I wasn’t expecting you to agree that easily. And I’m your beta by default.” She stuck her tongue out but then placed a hand over mine. “I’m assuming this feeds into your argument with Ryker.”

I toyed with the straw in the cup. “Partly.”

She straightened, concern etched on her face. “What’s going on?”

I wanted to loop her in, but it wasn’t only my story to share. “All I can say is that I know something he’s kept secret from his own pack. I wish I could tell you more. I want to, but it’s not my place.”

Laughing, she tilted her head back. “Why is he so upset if he’s the one keeping secrets? What right does he have? It sounds like he’s taking it out on you.”

“He’s not the only…” The temptation to just agree with her was there. I did believe he was taking out some of his frustration at being caught on me, but he wasn’t the only one in the wrong. Something I had to see and admit, even if I didn’t want to.

All mirth vanished from her face. “What do you mean?”

“I’m doing the same to all of you,” I replied softly, feeling the sting of my admission.

She blinked. “So…both of you are being hypocrites. What haven’t you told me?”

That was the problem. I couldn’t tell her without ratting him out. My head bowed, feeling the weight of everything even more. “He called me out just before you came in.”

“What are you going to do?”

I rubbed my temples, trying to quell the renewed pounding there. “I don’t know. Yes, I kept something from him, but it was only because the thing I found out was whathe was trying to keep from us.” For a second, I felt like I was back in high school.

She leaned over and squeezed my hand before letting go. “Well, it’s a damn good thing you have me. You’re not alone this time. I’m here, and we’ll figure all of it out together.”

That did provide comfort, but my wolf and heart still ached. I stared at the food without touching it.

Briar picked up my fork. “You need to eat.”

I sighed and took the utensil from her then ate a bite of warm steak.

“You’re lucky you didn’t die of blood loss.” She crossed her legs and watched. “Maybe you want to starve yourself because you feel as if you did something horrible, but you’re not allowed to do that when lives are on the line.”

The meat lodged in my throat, so I took a sip of the putrid drink she’d made me. It washed the steak down, but the combination tasted like ass on my tongue. Still, the one forkful had my appetite slowly returning, even though the knot in my stomach was still there.

Right now, I had to focus on getting better and figuring out our next steps. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of lives at stake. I didn’t have time to figure out a man who kept things from the people closest to him.

So I tried like hell to push him out of my thoughts and heal.

Three days passed, during which Ryker and Kendric avoided the house like the plague, staying in the woods to help the vampires guard the perimeter.

Gage told me that Ryker had informed their pack aboutthe spell placed on him, and it had caused a divide and a ton of tension among them.

Each night that Ryker and Kendric didn’t return caused my heart to splinter more. The only comfort was that Gage, Xander, and Briar were with me, so I didn’t feel alone.

However, I didn’t have time to focus on Ryker doing everything he could to avoid coming back to help us. He’d been keeping in touch with Gage and Xander, giving them updates, and they returned the favor begrudgingly.

The two of them, Briar, Raven, and I, were in the study, surrounded by ancient books, maps, and a laptop on the long oak table. We were trying to pinpoint where additional witches who might provide us with information might be.

Briar tapped her pen against her notepad. “I don’t get it. It’s like these witches just disappear into thin air.”

Across from me, Raven typed on the laptop, her fingers dancing across the keyboard. She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. “That may be exactly what they are doing. There are several remote locations historically known for witch activity.” She paused, eyes flicking toward me. “During times of unrest, it’s common for them to retreat, especially if they sense danger or seek to avoid getting entangled in power struggles.”

“They’re out there, but they won’t be easy to find.”

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