Page 100 of Wolf Cursed
“They’re my family.” He studied me. “You’ve never had family you stuck by, even when they became someone you didn’t like?”
Yeah, he had me on that one. “Okay, I get it. But this is no way to live, Kai. They’re going to end up doing something they can’t take back.”
Like kill me. Which I admittedly wasn’t a fan of.
“That’s why we’re going to break the curse. Then we can all tether to an alpha, and their wolves will settle. No more chaos.”
“Is that what you want?” I asked. “To break the curse?”
“Of course. Why would you even ask me that?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe you liked things this way. Wild. Independent. No one to answer to.”
His expression darkened, and his gaze turned far away. “The pack needs order,” he said. “We’ve run rampant for too long, and too many of us have been hurt by it.”
I wanted to ask what he was thinking, but suddenly, his expression cleared, and his knuckles brushed my cheek. His voice softened, and I knew whatever memory had swept him up was gone. “We won’t survive without it,” he added.
I blinked, a little dazed at our closeness. His touch. The way he looked at me. Forcing my thoughts to focus, I took a breath.
“Okay,” I said. “So, we break the curse. But…how?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, and my hope deflated. “But I think I might know someone who can tell us.”
One look at his face, and I knew exactly what he was going to say. An idea I’d been playing with for a while now. “Who?” I asked.
“The hexerei.”
Chapter Twenty
Kai hadn’t lied. Oscar was alive and breathing and already waiting at home by the time Kai dropped me off. I closed the apartment door behind me and crossed to where Oscar stood at the counter, drinking a beer. Without a word, I put my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened and then slowly brought his free arm around to pat my back. I pulled away, smiling at his awkwardness.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, looking him over.
He didn’t have a scratch that I could see.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said with insult in his tone. “Of course I’m not hurt.”
I shook my head. Of course, he’d be insulted over my concern.
“And Silas?” I asked.
“The fucker will live,” he said darkly. “Which is more than he deserves.”
I put my hand on his arm. “Thank you. For protecting me.”
He shrugged me off. “What about you? Everything okay? No trouble with Kai, right?”
“No trouble with Kai,” I assured him, my skin still buzzing from all the not-trouble we’d just had together.
“Good.” He paused and then eyed me with a knowing glance. “He’s a good guy deep down. Rough on the edges but has a good heart.”
I stepped back and busied myself with getting a glass of water. Now I was the one avoiding. Kai had made me swear not to tell a soul about the mate thing. The fewer people who knew, the safer we were. I knew Oscar wasn’t a threat, but a promise was a promise. And I was still getting used to the idea of it myself.
“Why exactly are you telling me this?”
Oscar just shrugged. “Just giving you some information.”
I glanced over at him. “Right. Information. Thanks.”
