Page 33 of Cursed
Nori looks at the group and says, “She doesn’t know.”
Adele gently asks, “What do you remember, Nori?”
Nori’s eyes flick to Ryland, then return to Adele. She frowns and stutters, “He...He was so angry.”
She covers her face, releasing a couple of sobs. Trying to regain her composure, she wipes her tears with her sleeve and clears her throat. Her voice trembles as she struggles to catch her breath. “S-so m-much angrier than I thought he would be. I told you he’d be mad, but this was so far beyond...” She trails off, her breaths hitching.
Nori glances at Ryland, watching tears roll down his face, his chest heaving, as he mutters, “I’m so sorry; so very sorry.”
“After that, there was yelling and accusations, and then...” Nori pauses, trying to remember; she sucks in a sharp breath. “The Alpha Order,” she whispers, rubbing her chest. “I can still sort of feel it rolling around in my chest.”
Bade, concerned for Nori, forces Ryland’s head to look at her. Angrily, he yells at Ryland, “You need to rescind that order, you unbelievable asshole!”
Ryland immediately complies. Using his Alpha Influence, he says, “I rescind my order for you to reject the Mate Bond and to return to your Alpha.”
Instantly, the pressure from the order lifts off her chest. Finally able to take a full breath, she mumbles, “Thank you; that’s better.”
Garek looks at her suspiciously. “How in the world are you able to withstand his Alpha Order?”
Nori points her thumb at her chest and simply says, “Alpha Daughter.” She shifts her gaze to Ryland. “And, possibly, the Mate Bond that isn’t fake.” She almost regrets her biting tone when she sees him flinch.
Nori turns her gaze back to Adele. “I’ve told you all I remember; now what has happened to freak out my wolf so thoroughly?”
chapter twenty-two
Adele mentally prepares herself for the information she has to deliver to Nori. “When Ryland issued that Alpha Order, commanding you to reject the Mate Bond, his curse attacked you.”
Ryland winces, stunned at how thoroughly he lost control and almost killed them both.
Adele sighs and runs her hand through her hair. “According to the rules of the curse, Ryland may not force the Mate to reject or accept the Bond. Otherwise, the curse will kill the Mate, and very likely Ryland, too.”
Nori frowns. “Why? Why would it kill him?”
“When a wolf kills his or her Bonded Mate, the severing of the Bond is supposed to cause such unbearable pain that no one can survive it.” Adele stops for a moment, letting Nori process the information.
Nori cocks her head and asks, “Why am I not dead?”
“Oh, you were absolutely dead. Well, your heart stopped for a few moments, anyway.”
With tears in her eyes, Adele continues, “The moment he said the words, Ryland realized his mistake. I saw it on his face. When you collapsed, he cradled your lifeless body on the floor, shaking with grief. He was rocking you back and forth, saying he didn’t mean it over and over.”
Ryland lets out an involuntary groan, recalling Nori’s look of confusion when she called his name right before she stopped breathing. He’s certain there is no scenario where she will ever forgive him. Hell, he’ll never forgive himself for what he’s done.
Tears spring to Nori’s eyes from Adele’s description of Ryland’s grief. She’s angry he almost killed her and broke his promise to her. But seeing this giant Alpha male, sitting on the floor hugging his knees to his chest, makes her heart ache. She nods for Adele to continue.
“Then something weird happened. A strange golden light surrounded you. It flashed so bright, blinding us like a bolt of lightning. The moment it faded, a blast of power rippled across the room, and suddenly, you coughed,gasping for breath. You were definitely dead, Nori. And now...well, now you are not. What is this power?”
Nori speaks to Aylin in her mind, “What the hell is she talking about? What kind of power has a golden light?”
“I have no idea, Nori. Is this the power mom was trying to hide?” Aylin replies, calmer now.
Nori leans her head back against the wall and decides to tell them what she can. “We do not know what this power is. I think my mother may have known, but she’s dead now.”
She pauses to consider her next words. “All I can remember is, before her death, Mom constantly told me that we were special. Every day, she warned us never to shift in front of anyone. She never told me why, though.”
When no one says anything, Nori asks the group, “How did he find out I am from Starfall, and why did he keep telling me I have another Mate?”
Zayne’s eyes narrow on Nori, his anger growing by the second. She’s the reason he nearly lost his brother tonight. “Your Beta, Malrik Blackstone, sent Ryland a note.”
