Page 31 of Cursed Wolf

Narah’s face pales.

“That’s why we need to do this fast,” Stone explains. “The moment she hits the water, Narah will cast the spell. It should go quickly from there.”

“You make it sound easy,” I say sarcastically.

“Hopefully, it will be,” Ragnar adds, his brows pulled together. Goddess, it’s worse than I thought. They’re petrified this won’t work.

“I’m ready,” Narah states bravely. “I can’t keep going over it. It’s stressing me out.” She’s huffing for breath, and I worry about how worked up she’s getting and if casting such a spell will put any pressure on her pregnancy.

In our dream state, it felt as if she was due any day, so does it apply to real life? She’s waddling when she walks and puffs when she moves around too much. In any other situation, I’d have her lying in my arms and taking it easy, but as the only sorceress among us, she is our own savior, and there’s no reasoning with her when it comes to saving her sisters.

Narah rubs her belly, and my gut clenches. Answer is to get this fucking spell done and pray it works. When I look over at Jae, she’s crying. As much as I’d like to take Jae away from here, the stubborn girl already made it clear she’s not leaving. So, we all need to be extra alert in case the witch inside Kaira attacks. Reluctantly, I turn on my heel and march toward the house.

“Show time, buddy,” I call out to Crius. “We need to bring Kaira out.”

Crius leaps to his feet, cracks his neck, and marches in after me. “I’m ready.”

In the bedroom, we stare at Kaira, still slumped in the seat.

“What’s the best way to do this?” Crius asks, holding his axe in his hand.

“We leave her in the chair. I’ll take the back, and you pick up the two front legs.”

“Right…” He cuts me a deadpan look. “So, I’m in the firing line should psycho witch come back.”

“Only fair we take turns. I carried the legs on the last one. Now you take one for the team.”

“Fuck you. Let’s flip for it.”

“Not happening,” I say, but he already has a coin out of his pocket.

“You calling it?” He lifts his gaze just as he flicks the spinning coin in the air.

“We’re not flipping,” I repeat louder.

“Fine, I call heads.”

I roll my eyes as he catches the coin and slaps it on the back of his hand. I can’t help myself and lean toward him. I don’t trust him not to cheat. The moment I see the coin, I grin.

“Tails. The front feet are yours. Now, stop dragging this out.”

“Fuck.” Crius glares my way with a half grin. “Next shit job, I get to choose what side I’m carrying.”

“Works for me. Now, get cracking. I want this done. Narah needs to rest. She looks ready to drop off her feet.”

“I was thinking the same. Jae’s all kinds of messed up. She’s so stressed, I worry about her state of mind if this doesn’t work.”

“It’s gonna work… it has to.” Mentally, I scramble for something to shut down the terror of what we’ll do if things turn to shit, how to protect everyone if Lyra awakens and attacks.

“Okay, you ready?” Crius asks after using his axe to lacerate the rope that chains the chair to the bed. The mood becomes somber.

Nodding, we get Kaira and the chair in our grasp. In silent prayer, we move like the wind outside and make a mad dash for the river. My heart’s pounding, and by the time we reach the river, I’m drawing in shallow, raspy breaths.

Ragnar is by my side in seconds, knife in hand.

Narah and Stone stand a few feet behind us, and the prick of magic is already tainting the air. I feel it licking the back of my neck.

Ragnar doesn’t waste a second. He makes fast work of slicing the ropes around Kaira. Crius and I are there, catching her as she slumps forward and right out of the chair.

---