Page 47 of His Curse

Frankie nods slowly. "Is that where you were trying to end up?"

"Ashland, Oregon?" My heart starts beating a little faster as my rules about telling her anything fly right out the window. "Am I in Ashland?"

Another nod.

"And you have dragon shifters here? A clan of sorts, created by them?"

"Yes..." Now Frankie looks likeshedoesn't want to tellmeanything and I can't have that, not when I so desperately need her to tell meeverything. Even if I do admire her for protecting her family.

Something else confirmed when I ask, "Is there a wolf here? One named Colton? Colton Paddock?" And Frankie doesn't do anything except purse her lips and scowl.

Fuck.

Fuck, I need her to talk to me.

I need to know that I made it to my mate, that I'm in time to warn him, to warn all of them and start planning a way to rescue the others.

Too much time has already been wasted, so I relent and do what my wolf suggested and tell her my story. "Yes, yes I was trying to get to Ashland. I need to be in Ashland for about a million reasons, but I'm looking for Colton and his pack.” I shake my head. "His clan, whatever it is he calls it. I've been looking for him for a long time but I wound up stuck in Jackson, Wyoming for forty-five years, and getting here was really hard but super important. Please tell me I'm in the right place. Tell me I’m where I need to be.”

"How were youstuckin Wyoming?"

I take a deep breath and scoot around so I'm facing her. "I was taken from a diner by a very crazy group of people, a very dangerous group of people."

Her brow lifts again. "Taken where?"

"To a lab. They experiment on shifters, vampires, banshees, sirens; anyone who has superhuman abilities. They're running all kinds of tests, basically torturing the people there, and they've successfully wiped out several different species just as recently as a week ago. It's a horrible place, one I've tried to escape from multiple times, and it's really important I find Colton. I have to tell him he and his people are in danger.” I take another deep breath but don’t slow down. "They know about the dragons, know there's a centralized group of shifters living together in Oregon. They don't know where exactly, but it's only a matter of time before they find out, and when they do, they are going to come for every last one of them."

At this, Frankie's face pales but her spine stiffens and her expression grows fierce.

And that shit tells me I'mexactlywhere I need to be. It tells me I've finally found my mate as well as more than I originally bargained for.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Like I said, I was there forty-five years, basically the beginning of Kentworth Labs, and I’m the only one to survive that long. The head of the facility shares way too much information with me because of myseniority, and just before I got out he told me about dragons, at least a half dozen that his men pinpointed to somewhere in Oregon."

"But how did you know to look in Ashland?"

"Because..." I bite my lip, then fight the sudden onslaught of emotion, the years-buried tears that threaten to spill at any second. “Because Colton is my mate and I've been looking for him for a very long time. I met someone the night I was taken, someone that knew him and his family, knew all about Ashland because he was a shifter too and he had family there. Over the last few years, through the various purge and collection periods, I've come across others that knew about Ashland, knew about the dragons and their war. Please, please tell me I made it, tell me I'm where I need to be. I have to warn my mate. Warn him and his people.” I grip the wooden bird a little tighter as I all but beg. "And I need his help. There are others, lots of others still held captive at the lab, and I need to get them out. I was looking for my mate because he's all I have left. I need him, gods, how I need him, but not just because I love him, which I do, so much. I need Colton because he's my only chance at setting the others free, at protecting the very few of us that are left. Please, please tell me I finally found my mate."

Frankie stares at me for a few minutes, an oddly hard look on her face, a protective look, but she finally nods and gives me a small smile. "You're where you need to be, Lark."

"Colton's here?" I quickly sit up straighter and try to smooth out my horrible hair like an idiot. “Where is he? Can I see him?"

"He's nothereat the moment, but he lives here, lives close."

My stomach churns with a swarm of butterflies the size of elephants as my wolf howls, trying to call out to our mate. "Can I see him? Does he know I'm here?"

Frankie gets to her feet and gives me a small smile that somehow makes me uneasy. "He's... Colt is gone right now. Not on the property. He knows you're here, though, he saw you when Ronny brought you in."

"Oh,” is all I can muster as those butterflies turn to stones and drop in the pit of my empty gut hard. Of course he knows I'm here, he would have felt it, and since he knows and didn't stay, I guess that means he still doesn't want me. I can't blame him, not really. Colton rejected me so many years ago and while I thought I knew why, thought it was because of that hideous wolf that lives inside him, I must have been wrong. My mate didn't want me for no other reason than just not wantingme,and now that I look like someone took a hacksaw to my face I'm sure he wants me even less.If that's possible.So I sigh, fight the tears harder and try to change the topic. "Who's Ronny?"

"Colt's nephew. You lucked out when you climbed into the bed of his truck."

I nod as I fidget with the wooden bird. "I scented him."

Frankie leans toward me and reaches for the pitcher, pouring me some more water as she continues. "I figured. Do you remember what happened to you before you found Ronny? If you were in Wyoming, that's like a thirteen, almost fourteen hour drive."

"I escaped when they took me for testing. It was my second attempt in about a month and I didn't think I'd make it but I did. I stole a Hummer and got as far as I could before I dumped it.” I take a long drink and swallow the cool liquid—and my tears. "Did that a couple more times until I was deep in Idaho, then went on foot until I found the other wolf."

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