Page 48 of Curses and Casualties
We cook together, and briefly it feels normal. Like we’re just a couple making dinner, not fugitives with ancient spirits and a curse to break.
We offer food to Scarlett and Ethan, who take bowls to their rooms. Alone again, we sit at the worn table where I pick at my pasta, nerves tangling my appetite.
“Could you ever see us doing this for real? Just... normal life?”
Ryan looks up, surprised, then smiles. “I can see it. Our own kitchen. Less panic, more carbs. Maybe a garden for some herbs. A place to just... be.”
I laugh. “I’d like that. Tell me something about you that has nothing to do with wolves or curses.”
I want to peel back his layers, not with magic, but with questions. I want to know him the way people used to fall in love—slowly, one detail at a time.
“You want to know what I was like as a human?”
“You know that’s what I’m asking. You’re in my head.”
“And you’re in mine. So you already know everything.”
I blush. When our bond advanced and memories shared, we learned everything instantly. Overwhelming. But I long for slow discovery, conversation by conversation—the human way.
“Humor me.”
He tears off bread, chewing thoughtfully. “I was training to be a firefighter. EMT certified, halfway through the academy.”
I close my eyes and slip into his memory through our bond. Suddenly I’m there—him at twenty-three, cocky, running toward danger. In turnouts reeking of smoke, gear grinding his spine, hauling a kid from a window as flames lick behind. My heart pounds with his adrenaline. He’s alive, feeding off chaos because saving people is the best drug.
“God, you loved it. Adrenaline junkie.”
He laughs, embarrassed but pleased. “Yeah. You’ve seen the highlight reel?”
I nod. “Why didn’t you go back after being turned?”
His eyes meet mine. “You know why.”
“Luna.”
“When I turned. I was compelled to return to Whisper Valley. To find my pack, to find Luna. I wasn’t a firefighter anymore. I was a wolf without his mate. At least until I found you in the cave. After that, I was just yours. The bond makes everything else... less.”
The truth hits hard. There’s mourning in Ryan beyond scars. I hear Kane’s echo:We live in the now, so the past won’t kill us.
“I can’t imagine how hard it was. Bonded with Kane but not whole. They told you Luna was gone, but you waited.” My voice shakes. “I was lucky—you were there the moment I entered this world. But you lost everything becoming Kane’s vessel. Then spent ten years without your mate.”
He covers my hand with both of his. “It wasn’t just loneliness. For a wolf, losing your mate is starvation. Something gnawingfrom inside. Even when I tried filling life with other things, nothing worked. But now—” he leans in, forehead touching mine, “I can’t remember being empty. You’re so deep in me it’s like you’ve always been there.”
I kiss him, pouring everything unsaid into it. He responds immediately, pulling me close until I’m practically in his lap. The bond flares golden-silver.
“Shower?” he suggests, eyes dark with promise.
“Together?”
“Very much together.”
The bathroom is surprisingly luxurious—clawfoot tub, river stone shower heads, towels smelling of lavender and magic. Everything shimmers slightly. I’m examining bottles of liquid starlight when Ryan’s arms wrap around me.
“You’re thinking too loud,” he murmurs against my neck, and I shiver.
“Can’t help it,” I admit, leaning back against his solid chest. “My brain doesn’t seem to have an off switch lately.”
“Let me help with that.”
