Page 89 of His Curse

“No,” I whisper-shout. “Don’t move.”

She looks at us and nods, but I don’t think she would have moved an inch no matter what because my guess is that’s the twin’s bedroom she’s standing in front of, and like any fierce mama, Cora is not about to give a perceived threat access to it. Even if it means risking her own life in the process.

I inch forward slowly, my mind racing as I move toward the beast that I’ve only seen in the flesh once. The mangy, silver-white fur that sits on a body full of lean wiry muscle, a body bigger than any wolf I’ve ever seen before. Colton’s true wolf is by far the biggest I’ve seen, but this beast, thismonster,is at least double that, and the six inches of razor sharp claws on each paw confirms that this creature was created for one purpose alone.

To bring death.

I keep advancing though, and don’t let my fear or the physical pain I’m feeling slow me down because if I can get it focused on me, I might be able to gettheotherdistracted enough to allow Havok to go past both of us in the narrow space on either side of it and take Cora into the twin’s room so they can all be safe until this passes.

Orthe otherwill be too busy killing me to notice and unless it can open doors now, Vok will be able to get his mate to safety with their young.

Either way, this is my game and they both need to let me play it.

The othergrowls again, and all of the hair on my body stands on end. I’m shaking, shaking so hard but I keep moving forward, especially when I see Cora’s eyes so full of fear as she flattens herself protectively against the door.

“Lark,” Vok whispers. “Lark, what are you—”

“When I say, you run past and get inside the bedroom with Cora.”

“No. No, I will not leave you out here alone with thatthing.It’ll be the death of you and your mate would have my ass for that. Not to mention, I genuinely care for you and would sooner gnaw off a limb than allow you to face this alone.”

“While I appreciate that…” I take a few more steps towardthe other. “This isn’t my first rodeo with it, and I’m not going to let my mate deal with this onhis owneither.”

“Yourmate? What in the hell are you—”

“Hey!” I shout as I stop close enough to grabthe other’stail. “Hey, you! Remember me?”

Its giant head whips around to face us, and Vok and I gasp in unison.

Silver eyes. Mangled snout. Teeth nothing but rows of fangs almost longer than its claws.

It’s just as horrible as I remember, and whenthe other’slips peel back further into a sneer, that sense of recognition inside of me starts trying to scratch its way out.

Snout in the air,the otherturns slowly, his gaze shifting between me and Havok for a beat before it settles on me completely. It growls again, the sound so distorted it makes my ears ache, but I ignore it because I got what I wanted.The otheris solely focused on me and as soon as it’s close enough, my friends can run to safety.

“That’s right, asshole. Surprised to see me? Thought you got the better of me all those years ago, huh?”

It snaps its teeth and continues toward me.

“Disappointed? Downright bummed out that you didn’t manage to kill me? Didn’t leave me with anything other than a few souvenirs the day you tried to separate me from my mate?”

Another growl, another snap of those knives in his mouth.

“I’ve got news for you, buddy. Colton and I mated, we are one, and because of that we are stronger than ever. We are going to make you sorry for rearing your ugly as fuck head in our family’s home, and if I were you, I’d be tucking tail and heading back to wherever it is you came from real quick.”

The otherlowers into an attack position, the bastard ready to pounce on me all over again, and just before he does, I glance at Cora—who looks like she might shit a brick any second—then back at Vok and yell, “Go! Go now!”

And before I know it, I’m having the worst case of deja vu ever.

The other’spaws dig into my shoulders as it lands on top of me, his snout close enough to smell the death on his breath, to feel the fire-hot drool as it froths and drips from his mouth. Despite every cell in my body seizing in terror, I look this bastard in the eye and don’t back down for one second.

“Colton, honey, I know you can hear me. You heard me before and you fought then, so you fight now. You fight and you come back to me.”

I hear Havok as he finally reaches Cora, hear them argue for a beat beforethe otherchuffs in my face. It leans down so close that I feel its nose against mine,the othergrowling as he sniffs my skin and scars. I’m not sure why it hasn’t tried to hurt me yet, but I’m not going to complain. Fighting it is useless and something aboutthe otherprevents me from shifting when it’s this close, but I’m not really looking to try. I’d lose in a heartbeat even as my wolf, and for some reason, I know this isn’t going to end up like the last time.

So I strengthen my resolve and look this fucker dead in the eyes. “Colton, I love you and I want you to fight.” Then I smirk. “And I want my mate back, you son of a bitch, so you’re going to hand him over right now!”

Then some even weirder shit happens.

---