Page 88 of Curses and Casualties
I laugh despite my shock. “Thank god for Honey’s creativity.”
“So I called her and Owen. They confirmed every impossible word you told me.” He shakes his head. “Spent the next month rethinking my entire worldview.”
Ryan steps forward, extending his hand. “Good to finally meet you properly, Jason. Things were a little intense last time we talked.”
Jason shakes it, studying Ryan with that investigative journalist look I know too well. “So you’re the werewolf who stole my sister.”
“Jason!” I protest.
“What? That’s what happened, right? He bit you or something?”
“He didn’t bite me! I absorbed an ancient wolf spirit from a crystallized heartstone that sliced my leg and—” I stop at Jason’s expression. “Right. That doesn’t sound better.”
Ryan chuckles. “She stumbled into my world and changed everything. I’m grateful she’s as stubborn as she is.”
“She definitely is,” Jason agrees. “I remember when she spent three weeks convincing Dad she absolutely had to go to geology camp instead of dance camp. She made a PowerPoint and everything.”
“I was eight! And rocks are infinitely more interesting than ballet.”
“You came home with twelve pounds of samples and a presentation about igneous formations.”
“It was an excellent presentation,” I say with dignity.
Scarlett snorts. “This explains everything about you.”
My chest feels tight with emotion—relief, joy, the overwhelming rightness of having my brother here in my new world. But underneath, something else stirs. A flutter of anticipation, like standing at the edge of a cliff.
“How long can you stay?” I ask.
“Just today. Have to head back before dark—mountain roads are tricky enough in daylight.”
One day.It’s not enough, but it’s everything.
“Come on,” I say, tugging him toward the cabin. “Let me get dressed properly, then I’ll show you everything. Prove I’m not living in some cult compound.”
“Dad’s still convinced you joined a commune,” Jason admits. “Mom thinks you’re secretly pregnant and hiding from them.”
“I’m not pregnant! I’m just magically bonded to a former hermit werewolf. Much more reasonable.”
Jason’s laughter follows us inside, and for the first time in months, I feel like all the pieces of my life might actually fit together.
Chapter 33
Georgia
After I throw on actual clothes—jeans and a comfortable sweater that doesn’t scream ‘I was just rolling naked in the forest’—we settle in the kitchen. Ryan’s already pulling together lunch with the practiced ease of someone who’s gotten used to feeding a mate with supernatural metabolism.
Jason takes a seat at our pine table beside Scarlett. “So tell me how this all works. Pack dynamics, Soul Bonds, the rainbow eyes and that glow you get.”
Over sandwiches thick with local honey and stories thicker with magic, we paint him a picture of our world. The victories and ongoing challenges, the beautiful and the terrifying.
“You think you’ll ever tell Mom and Dad?” he asks eventually.
“Maybe someday. When we’re all more ready.” I fidget with my water glass. “It’s not exactly a conversation you ease into.”
“Your secret’s safe,” Jason promises. “Though Mom would love Ryan, supernatural or not. He makes you happy. That’s all she’s ever wanted for you.”
“Maybe we could visit,” Ryan suggests, surprising me. “Just as regular people. No mention of the wolf situation.”
