Page 36 of Cursed Touch
Now she really felt confused. “Congratulations?”
Peter waved a hand between Carter and her. “You two? Together? An item? Fate? Soul mates? Destiny?”
She faced Carter. “Heknows?”
Carter put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Keep an open mind, sweetheart.” He kissed her temple before telling Peter, “Why don’t you get started before she vomits from nerves?”
“Hey! I don’t vomit from nerves!” Vanessa replied.
Peter chuckled, drawing her attention back to the large man. He made her apartment feel so small. She barely fit on the couch with Carter to her right and Peter to her left. “All right, all right. First things first, a reminder,” he said, his voice deep and radiating a power she never noticed before. “You are to repeat none of what I’m about to share with you, am I clear?”
A shiver of fear trickled down her spine. This man could break her in two, and not in the sexy kind of way she wanted Carter to. Authority and strength came off Peter in waves. He was not a man to be trifled with.
Vanessa leaned into Carter. “Yes…” She inwardly groaned at the tremble in her single word. Her stomach rolled, and she handed Carter her mug to set on the side table.
The cushions next to her shifted. “Look at me, Vanessa.”
Something about his tone and words made her want to do anything but look at him. With her eyes cast down on her lap, she was thankful for Carter’s presence. She had never believed a woman needed a man, but damn if it was not more comfortable with him at her side.
Sucking in a breath, she forced her spine to straighten before meeting Peter’s gaze—his very-much-glowing-yellow gaze. She froze, and her lower jaw unhinged at the sight. Her mind flitted through all the information she had been given the night prior, but she failed at holding on to a single thought.
“I’m the Alumbra werewolf pack alpha, Vanessa,” Peter stated before his eyes switched back to normal.
She blinked her eyes a few times before turning toward Carter. “Did I just…”
He chuckled, and she was tempted to elbow him in the gut. “Yes. His eyes glowed yellow for a few moments because he’s a werewolf.”
She twisted in her seat and sucked in another breath, determined to keep herself calm. “Can I see all of you?”
Peter chuckled, and Carter growled at her side as his arm dropped from her shoulder to her waist and drew her impossibly closer to him.
“Careful, we don’t want Carter to get any ideas and turn me into a cat,” Peter said jokingly, as if he’d told her he was going for a stroll and not his status as alpha to a werewolf pack.
Alpha. Werewolf pack.
“Wait, can you do that?” she asked, meeting Carter’s serious gaze.
His face softened at the question before he looked at Peter. “I’m not sure, but I’ll figure it out soon if this conversation doesn’t get moving.”
“You’ll have to excuse him. It’s hard to fight the protective streak when it comes to your mate, at least that’s what I’m told. I’m sure you’ll understand how he’s feeling right now when the first single female gets near him.”
“You don’t have a mate?” she asked Peter.
A shadow crossed his face. “I don’t.”
Carter’s grip around her waist loosened. “Why don’t we talk about the elephant in the room?”
Peter nodded. “Look, pipsqueak… You’re in real danger from what I hear. The worst of it is that we have no ideawhoposes this danger. The Brodericks have already let you in on their secret to protect you. As a human, you are more curious than the rest of us. It’s your observant and curious nature that flagged you. There are plenty of supernatural beings who aren’t keen to having humans know about them. Carter has let me know that my secret and my pack’s secret needed to come out too. It wasn’t his place to tell you. As part of that, there is another special person in your life who was unable to share her secret with you…” He said the last part slowly, giving her brain a moment to catch up.
Secrets. Place to tell. Special person in your life. Secrets.
Her brain processed his words in fragments before a bulb turned on in her head. The reason she even knew Peter was thanks to Georgia.Is Georgia hiding something from me?she wondered.
“Georgia?” she whispered, confusion coating the name.
Peter nodded and lowered to a knee before her. Even with his size, she found herself looking up. “Yes, pipsqueak. You see, long ago when you two refused to end your friendship—”
“Excuse me?” she blurted.
