Page 16 of Cursed Wolf

Nikos holds my hand and draws me up the steep path. Crius takes the lead. Ragnar, Stone, and Jae should be behind us, or perhaps they passed us when we stopped for the night. I don’t know, but I pray they’re safe.

One step after the other, I keep pushing, even though my thighs sting, considering we’ve been climbing for what feels like hours. Muscles quiver the farther we travel, and it has everything to do with the anxiety knotting in my stomach.

My thoughts spin out of control. What is Lyra doing with my sister? Are they in my mother’s house? What are they doing to her? Are we too late? What if we can’t stop her?

I clench my jaw, needing to shut down my thoughts before I freak out. I don’t need to be hyper-wired up. I’ll need to concentrate to use my magic.

Nikos’ large hand around mine squeezes as though he can sense my tension. He glances at me with a tight smile, catching my gaze.

“Should we rest?”

I shake my head. “Let’s just keep going.”

By the time we finally reach the top of the mountain, where the path spears out in several directions, I’m breathing rapidly. Each direction vanishes into the woods, and there are small orbs of lights bouncing in the distance, telling me the local wolf pack is out and about with lanterns or torches, going about their lives.

I’ve lost the idea of what normal feels like. It seems all I’ve done is run since escaping with my sisters from the Storm Wolf pack.

The wind doesn’t blow, the trees are still, and there are no bird sounds. Tension sparks in the atmosphere tonight, as though the night knows something’s wrong in these woods.

We’re in the Wolf Mountains village, which sits mostly on the side of a mountain. There is no one-governing alpha in this territory. It’s a place for anyone to take residence, regardless of status. It might very well explain why no one went on a mad hunt when people started disappearing in the village. All those poor victims my mother killed and locked in her basement to drain their power.

My skin crawls, and I fight the urge to recoil from this place. My mind fills with what I’ve been told about my mother’s basement holding the dead people she drained. Am I ready to see that? I hesitate, staring at Crius sprinting down the path ahead of us. Nikos tells me we’re waiting until Crius checks if the path is clear.

“What do you think Lyra wants with my mother’s body?” I whisper.

“To siphon her power, I guess. Your mother was using her blood mixed with magic to reanimate your father, so it could be blood. Although so much time has passed, I don’t know if there will still be magic in your mother’s body.”

Staring as Crius darts back toward us, I chew on my lower lip, convinced Lyra knows what she’s doing and that there’s something she needs from my mother that will make her more powerful.

“Path ahead looks clear.” Crius waves for us to follow him. We leave behind the smell of food cooking and the bopping lights, yet I fail terribly at leaving behind my trepidation.

Despite the woods shielding us, the sharper cold bites into my skin. I pull the sleeves down my arms and remain close to Nikos, who radiates warmth, yet nothing warms me up.

When we finally hear the familiar gurgle of the river that runs across my mother’s property, my ears perk up. I can’t stop the memories pushing forward of my mother removing our curse by drowning us, then fed off our energy. That’s how important I was to her. She killed my men and me despite the small chance we might not come back or return as zombies.

With Nikos’ hand on my back, I remind myself I’m in a better place now and push those hurt emotions aside. They won’t help me.

An owl calls across the night, and I flinch.

Nikos glances down at me, smiling. “It’s okay.”

“Not sure I’d say that.” Regardless, we keep moving and soon catch up to Crius, who’s stopped ahead of us.

“What’s going on?” Nikos asks quietly.

We emerge to an open yard, cleared of trees, where the river comes into view about twenty feet away. My mother’s house sits in the shadows like an oversized wolf crouched low.

I can’t move—don’t want to move.

I stare at the wooden cottage made of timber logs. Darkness yaws from within the windows, and there’s no smoke curling up from the chimney. It’s silent…too silent. No sign of Lyra or even any of the neighbors. Mother’s house is completely isolated, and I suspect this was exactly why she selected this location.

Shivers run up my spine to be standing across the yard from where she’d been living for so long while my sisters and I were stuck with the Storm Wolves. She left us alone and in danger. Her words flare in my mind, bringing me no comfort.

I don’t blame you if you don’t forgive me for your father’s death, for leaving you and your sisters. At the time, I did what I thought was best for you three. You have always been my priority.

I can’t stop the sensation of betrayal squeezing my chest. Fisting my hands by my side, I draw in a deep breath, needing to remain focused to save my sister. Mother is dead. Nothing can bring her back to change the past. The longing for what could have been doesn’t leave me, so I turn to both my men, my new family—my future.

“What do you think? Maybe Lyra hasn’t found the place?” I ask.

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