Page 66 of Mated Exile

There's Glass blood in the ground of Juniper, and Glass wolves have watched over the pack for centuries. I can't just let that go and move on—I have to figure out the curse and lift it from the land. If only there was more time, or the reading was going easier, but I have to believe that I'll figure it out. There are nine days before the new alpha will arrive for the Summit, and I'm going to make all of them count.

Gertrude thanks us for our help by sending us off with a dozen chocolate chip cookies. Once we're back in Finn's car, he starts the engine and sets the air on high, while I pull out my dad's old notebook and run down a list of things to do.

"We picked up trash in the woods behind the square—gross, and something my dad really should've hired out to do, so I'll find some way to get that taken care of." I tick off the list. "Then we filled up the Rivers' family freezer with meat, ran errands for homebound Mr. Skinner, and paid Gertrude's bills for her. The only thing left is... patrolling for vampires. Again."

Finn tells me encouragingly, "We'll find something. There has to be a sign of them somewhere. They haven't up and vanished—they're just lying in wait."

"Right now I'm more worried about the curse," I confess. "There's barely any time left to fix it."

"I'm confident you'll figure out a way." Finn sounds so certain that it almost makes me feel the same. "Every curse that's cast has an undoing spell. You'll find the right one somewhere, and even if you don't, we can always stop it for another seventy-seven years, just like last time. A single mating ceremony with a strong female like you will stop the death until you get the chance to undo the curse some other way."

I have no doubt of that, but I can't stop the unease blossoming inside me. Every chance I get, morning and evening, I grab the two books of curses from Kieran's Aunt Tabitha and crack them open to read their words. But the spells within settle uneasily on my skin, strange and eldritch, and by the time I'm done I have to wash my hands all the way up to the elbows to get the itching sensation off my skin.

It's for the best, I'm sure, that dark witchcraft is hard to learn and harder to practice. If anyone could crack open a book of spells and steal their ex-lovers' tongues with a single word, we'd all be in trouble. I can't help but hope that I'll find the right curse, and its matching undoing, very soon. The longer I spend staring at those dark leather-bound pages, the worse I feel, even as the spells slip from my mind like sand through parted fingers.

"It's good that I'm getting to know the families my dad helped out," I tell Finn, changing the subject to something a little lighter than vampire hunting. "If they know me better, they'll be more likely to accept me into the pack. And there's something reassuring about finding out there are actually elders who remember the last round of the curse."

"Plus, we get to hear about little Willy." We come to a stop at a red light, and Finn looks over at me, a question dancing in his eyes. "I know you've talked about wanting to lift the curse and become part of the pack, and you've mentioned dating. But have you decided yet if you'll choose a mate after the Summit?"

Sucking in a breath, I admit, "I don't know." Licking my lips, I consider his words, my pulse racing. "Normally werewolves get four years with their intendeds before they cement the mate bond."

"Normally werewolves do it when they're fourteen," he points out. "They barely know what they want at that age."

My mouth quirks up. "True. But—I don't know if I'll be ready for the mate bond that quickly."

"And if it's the only way to stop the curse? Even for just seventy-seven more years? Your father seemed to think that you would survive becoming mated."

"Then I don't know." The light changes, and Finn sets his eyes on the road, foot easing on the pedal. "It's a big decision. But I guess the answer is yes, I would settle down with a mate, if the alternative was letting the curse fester further. The pack can't survive much longer like this, and I—I won't turn my back on saving it, even if I'm not certain I'm ready for a mate bond."

Musing, Finn says, "I've never really understood the emphasis on the mate bond."

Blinking, I look at him askance. "Really?"

"Really. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in the pack. In the human world, you know, marriages tend to happen much later in life, and they don't last forever."

"They don't come with side effects," I point out. "Mating is more than just marriage. It's a bond of the souls, a connection between two wolves' minds, emotions, and bodies."

"It just seems like a lot to center two peoples' lives around." We reach the road in front of the house, and he clarifies, "Don't get me wrong, I can understand the gravity of it. I'm far past old enough, and mature enough, to consider that kind of close relationship. But my own bond with my intended was tenuous, and it only cost a hundred bucks and ten seconds with a witch to undo it. The thing hardly felt like something monumentous."

I stare at him as he parks the car in front of the house. "The only reason why you don't understand its importance is because you've never really felt its effects."

"Oh yeah?" He raises an amused brow out to me, reaching over to curve a warm hand around my neck, his touch soft and intimate. "I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

"Or, I can show you now." Glancing at the dashboard clock, I tell him, "We've got forty-five minutes until patrol, and the house is empty—Cat took Bastian out to eat sushi since he's never had it. That's plenty of time to give you a miniature demonstration."

"You can do that?" Finn runs his thumb along the space beneath my ear, until I shiver with anticipation. "I didn't know anyone could do that."

I'm pretty sure I can, but part of me is bluffing. The rest just wants to get some alone time with Finn.

"Take me inside and strip my clothes off, and I'll show you," I tell him, shooting a grin across the space between us. "We have to make up for the chance we missed after our date the other night. Because how am I supposed to decide if I want you with me in the Mating Circle if I haven't felt you close while I have my wolf."

"You don't have to convince me." Leaning forward, he drops a kiss across my mouth, the taste of him sweet and smoky. "Lead the way, Dollface."

* * *

I feel as nervous as a middle school girl as I lead Finn inside the house, awkwardly making a beeline to the fridge for a glass of filtered water on ice. He watches me with amusement dancing in his eyes, a heated smirk curling up his lips. Butterflies do all kinds of ridiculous things in my stomach.

Even though we've done this before, it felt light and fun then. Now it feels loaded with intent, and something about that changes a little fooling around into more.

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