Page 62 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

“Yes to that as well.”

“And that’s not something someone can be turned into?”

“Not to my knowledge,” he said. “I’ve only ever heard of curses that turn someone into a werewolf, like you, but not a shifter. Then again, there are a lot of crazy things that go on in this world that I don’t know about, so who knows?”

I laughed. “Ain't that the truth.”

“Changing someone into a shifter sounds more like a gift than a curse, not to sound like a pompous ass.”

My smile widened. “I’m pretty sure I said something very similar to the psychic.” Then I frowned again. “But I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me any of this last night. It would’ve been nice to know that I wasn’t completely alone in all of this craziness. ”

“I know. And I wanted to give you that sense of security, but…” He trailed off.

I drew in a deep breath. “I don’t think you realize how scared I was to tell you the truth, and when you took off like that… I didn’t know what to think. I thought I might never see you again.”

He looked away, visibly upset. “It was wrong of me to do that. I felt fucking awful about it, and that was even before I learned that you had been taken. Now, it feels like the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life. I almost lost you.”

When he looked back at me, I saw that his eyes were moist, and it was obvious that he was telling the truth—that he might never forgive himself for not staying with me last night.

“Then what sent you running?”

“My family.”

“Hmm?”

“The reason I left without telling you the truth,” he explained. “Was because it’s not just me that I have to worry about. My friends—the only people in the world that I can still call family—they are shifters, too. In case you haven’t already put that together. They have just as much to lose as I do if the wrong person were to find out the truth about us. I didn’t feel comfortable making the decision for them, and I was worried that there would be no way to just tell you the truth about me and not have you suspect them of being shifters as well.”

I thought about this for a second and shrugged. “Yeah, okay. You’re probably right about that. I would’ve likely made the leap. But that doesn’t mean I would do anything to hurt them! It took a lot out of me, revealing the truth to you like that. It would’ve been nice if you shared your secret with me in return. You hurt me. Just leaving like that.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I was shocked, worried, I needed to process. I needed to warn my family. And I handled it all wrong. I wish I had stayed with you.” He raised a single brow. “But, to be fair, you didn’t trust me with all your secrets, either. Not that that’s an excuse for me leaving.”

I drew back against the lumpy pillow behind my head. “What are you talking about?”

“Nic did some research on you,” he admitted. “She found out that you were lying about who you were. That your real name is Daphne Pearl and that your parents are on the run from the IRS.”

“Oh.” I gently took my hand out of his. “That.”

He laughed. “Yes. That little white lie.”

“I was going to tell you,” I said, sounding a little more defensive than I meant to. “But for the same reason that you wanted to protect your friends, I also wanted to protect my family. I’m not nearly as close to them as you are to your friends, but they’re still my kin. If you were to find out who I was and take that information to the police, they could try to use me to find my parents. My sister. I couldn’t risk that.”

“I understand. But I would never put you in that position.” He took my hand again. “Please tell me you know that now.”

I smiled through the tears that were now falling down the sides of my face. “Yes. I do. And I hope you know that I would never do anything to put you or your friends in harm’s way.”

“I do.”

We shared a smile, and then a wave of exhaustion washed over me with little warning. I must’ve looked tired, too, because Rory had the nurse come back around to double-check that I was okay.

“This is common with the cocktail of drugs she was dosed with,” the nurse said after giving me a once-over. “Your test results came back about an hour ago, and the doctor will review everything and hopefully come see you shortly. Oh, and the cops are waiting to speak to you in the lobby.”

“Can they wait a little while?” Rory asked. “She needs more rest, and you know they are just going to force her to relive the whole ordeal.”

“That’s fine. She can take all the time she needs,” the nurse said. “But you need to come out and give your statement, sir.”

He nodded, and she left.

I shot him a worried look once we were alone. “What are you going to tell them?”

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