Page 46 of His Curse

I have a funny feeling I'm not going to get any information out of this woman without giving up some of my own first.

Just what Ididn'twant to deal with after waking up convinced I was dead.

"Who was the other woman I heard?"

A light red brow lifts. "What other woman?"

I roll my eyes so hard they might fall out. "I heard you two talking when you thought I was asleep."

"Why were you pretending to be asleep if you were awake and listening to us?"

"So, there was another woman?" I quirk my own brow in challenge.

"And you were in fact awake as long as I thought."

We stare at each other for a beat before I sigh. Obviously I'm going to have to give a little to get anything in return. "I was having trouble opening my eyes, and I was pretty sure I was dead."

Frankie smiles. "She's my sister-in-law. Cora."

"Do you live together?"

"Sort of."

I frown. “Who else lives here?"

"Our family."

"Which is a lot of people, or just a few?"

"A lot."

I huff, take a sip of water, then toy with the wooden bird in my lap. "Where ishereexactly?"

"Where were you trying to end up?"

"Anywhere that wasn't where I came from."

Now Frankie rolls her eyes. "We aren't going to get anywhere like this."

I lift my eyes and smirk. "Probably not.” My finger strokes over the smooth wood and I smile a little. "Who made this?"

"My mate’s…friend.”

My gaze finds hers again, my brow furrowed in confusion.

For someone who is distinctly human, using the wordmateis a little odd.

And that leads me to believe she knows I'm a wolf, a shifter at least, which also means she's familiar with us enough to use that terminology. Something that could definitely mean she’s a spy for Kentworth.

The way she referred to the talented woodworker is a little odd too. If he was really her mate’s friend, she would have referred to him as her mate’s brother because that’s how most shifters refer to close friends within the pack. Then again, Frankie might have said friend instead because brother doesn’t work here, because he’s not a brother-in-law based on the way she referred to the other female, so that must mean they're close but not actually related or share any kind of pack or familial tie.

Of fucking course.

Duh.

Obviously my brain is still slow as fuck.

The females mentioned dragons earlier, which explains the familiarity with mates and shifters because male shifters that are close often refer to each other asbrotherwhether there’s a blood relation or not, but using that term didn’t feel right to Frankie for some reason. Which is why there was a weird inflection in her tone, as if friend didn’t cut it but using something more commonplace didn’t either, so she opted to use something else entirely, proving her comfortability with shifters and things along those lines, andthatmeans... "Am I in Oregon?"

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