Page 5 of Blood Brother Cursed

Her emotions spiked, causing the sprinklers to trigger. This distracted the other three people, giving Astrid time to slip out. She wasn’t happy about leaving since she had had a bite of her sandwich – and wasting a perfectly cut piece of salmon was paramount to a crime in her eyes. Also, the hot chocolate came in a mug instead of a to-go cup, so she couldn’t take that either.The entire meal was a loss, so she decided to do the only thing she really could do in the situation – run.

There was an emergency exit behind her, so Astrid bolted toward it. The sound of blaring alarms quickly became a distant noise as she ran toward a nearby park. She only slowed when she was in a heavily wooded area. After a quick scan to make sure there wasn’t anyone close, she shifted. Her speckled patterns shrank and stretched as she set a new pace. Her large eyes noticed small movements as her tail kept her balanced when her paws hit stone. As an ocelot, the world looked and smelled much different.

Running into the national forest outside of town, Astrid considered the risks of returning home that night, and her initial assessment was that it wasn’t a good idea.

It’s not that much of a loss. I doubt I’ll even be able to sleep without fearing that the boxes are going to fall on top of me and kill me in my sleep. It’ll probably be more comfortable if I hole up out here for a while and consider how to handle the mess in the house.

She looked for a cave where she could curl up for the night but found that all of the ones that she thought would be the best were already taken. There was no point in kicking out the animals, particularly the families. She just needed a place for the night. By the smell of the caves, most of them had built homes there. While disappointed, she understood. She had felt the blasts of cold along the beach, and the whole place was considerably colder than where she used to live, especially now that the sun was setting. Escaping the elements was a logical choice.

Although not ideal, she decided to make her way up a tree. Sleeping on a branch wasn’t the best way to spend the next few hours, but Astrid wasn’t about to leave a trail back to her place for the other shifters to follow.

I haven’t met a shifter since Evander died. What were the odds that the day I move in here I end up running into…

“Hello?”

The voice was rich and deep, but it wasn’t one she knew. Hoping that it was someone who had just gotten lost in the woods and was trying to find his group, Astrid stayed nearly motionless on the branch nearly 10 feet off the ground. The only thing she couldn’t stop was her tail, which flicked hypnotically over the side of the branch. It had a black tip, so she hoped it wasn’t too noticeable.

“I know you came out this way, and I want you to know that we won’t hurt you.”

That was probably the worst thing the guy could have said, and it immediately set Astrid on edge. However, she wasn’t ready to give up her spot because any movement would give away her hiding place.

Please don’t be a wolf or bear. Please don’t be a wolf or bear.

The plea kept looping through her head as she listened to the stranger.

“Look, I know you are scared. Your kind always are. But that’s how we can help you until you learn how to control your abilities.”

Astrid narrowed her eyes. Why on earth did this guy think she needed help with her abilities as if she were some ignorant kid and he was superior to her.

Still, he continued talking to the air. “We’ve been working on establishing a foundation in the area to protect and help your kind. The office here isn’t quite off the ground yet, but we have a project manager who is really keen on helping more people like her. I know a lot of you come from broken homes and are ostracized for…”

Astrid felt her annoyance rising, and listening to him was only going to make things worse. Fortunately, he walked away from her. When his back was turned, she ran along the branch and leaped to the next tree, then scrambled down to the ground and bounded off toward the ocean. It was the one place she knew she would have a distinct advantage – she would just have to deal with the cold.

Sure enough, the noise and movement attracted his attention, and she could hear the man calling to her. To her surprise, Astrid had managed to come within a few minutes of the ocean after fleeing the town. The strong smell of the salt water was inviting as she raced toward it.

Despite the cold, she shifted and strode up to the water’s edge. With regret, she removed her shoes and placed them on some driftwood, then walked into the ocean. The water lapped at her ankles when she heard the man talking behind her.

“You don’t need to do that! I swear to you, we can help.”

Astrid turned around; her expression was one of disbelief. “What exactly do I not need to do?”

Standing at the edge of the woods was the taller man, the one the bakery woman had called Phoenix. He was holding his hands up, almost like he was trying to talk her down off a ledge. “You don’t need to walk into the ocean to drown yourself.”

Her eyebrows dropped, her eyes widened, and she scrunched up the left side of her face. “Drown myself?”

“Right. I promise you, if you come with us, we will give you a place to stay, safety, security, and food; whatever you need.”

“You are a lousy salesman,” she said.

This got a half smile. “Yeah, I know. This really isn’t my area of expertise.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Clearly.”

“Despite my ineloquence, please don’t do it.”

“You mean, don’t kill myself?”

He looked at her for a moment, then said, “Yes?” Then he dropped his hands. “You aren’t trying to kill yourself, are you?”

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