Page 33 of Cursed Touch
“Georgia?” he asked. “Oh,well shit. Little Vanessa Rayne is your mate? I haven’t seen her since she was a teen. We warned Georgia to drop her, but she refused, promising our secret was safe. Even did an oath promise.”
“Oath promise?” Carter asked.
“She literally can’t tell Vanessa the truth about herself. If she breaks the promise, she’ll be shunned by the pack and on her own.”
Carter whistled. “That’s rather harsh.”
“It’s pack,” Peter stated firmly. “Pack law is something you’ll never understand.”
“Obviously,” he muttered.
Peter sighed. “Things are different with Vanessa, now that we know she’s your mate. Georgia still can’t say anything, and I’m sure by now you’ve realized she’d die for Vanessa. Those two have been thick as thieves since they met. So, we don’t know who the threat is or if they figured out where she lives? My guess is whoever it is, is probably a demon. They tend to get their panties all up in a bunch when a human learns about our world. I’m guessing it’s because it makes it harder for them to sucker humans when they know the truth.”
“All right, do you have a plan? Brandy suggested keeping Vanessa at my place, but—”
Peter’s deep laughter gave Carter pause. “Brandy suggested holding Vanessa hostage? Pot meet fucking kettle. That woman…”
“Well, she never said hostage,” Carter said, frowning at the thought.
“No, she didn’t because that’s wrong. Keeping Vanessa close—like Ryan and I did with Brandy—is the way to go. Why isn’t she at your place?”
Carter recapped the events from only an hour ago. “So I set up wards in her apartment, and now I’m sitting watch.”
“Smart move with the wards, but, Carter, you’re not Ryan. You have a job that relies on you. You can’t spend every waking moment by her without, A, freaking her out and, B, losing your job. Georgia can’t be there right now either. I have her out on assignment, which means I’ll either have to bring in someone to tail her or I’ll have to break the news to Vanessa.”
“But won’t that shun Georgia?” he asked, expressing concern over the snarky werewolf best friend of his mate.
Peter chuckled. “Aw, you and Georgia becoming BFFs?”
“Shut up, you ass. I can’t get on Vanessa’s good side by having her best friend kicked out of her pack.”
“You’re a good man, Carter. Don’t worry about Georgia. The oath promise only matters if Georgia says something. Once I’m done talking to Vanessa, Georgia will be free of it.”
Relief filled him. Pushing Georgia away would only make him lose Vanessa, but in the short time he’d known Vanessa, he found the infuriating werewolf to be a friend. Losing Georgia would devastate both of them, and he could not do that to the women.
“Sounds good then.”
“Do you work tomorrow? If so, I can get someone out there to watch her apartment for you.”
He shook his head, then remembered Peter could not see it. “No, I’m off tomorrow.”
“All right. If you need anything before then, just give me a call. Be safe,” Peter said, and Carter gave him his good-byes before ending the call.
He called Georgia back and raised the phone to his ear.
“Please tell me she changed her mind about your place,” Georgia said by way of greeting.
He chuckled. “I wish. That was Peter who called.”
“Shit,” she muttered.
“Short story? Tomorrow he’ll go with me to Vanessa’s, and we’ll drop the information bomb. Not sure why you didn’t bother telling me about the oath promise.”
“I couldn’t.”
He sighed. “I understand,” he said, even though he really did not. Werewolf law and procedures were something he knew little of.
“Damn it, she’s going to be so pissed at me,” Georgia muttered, and for the first time, he heard the devastation on her voice at the potential fallout.
