Page 55 of Cursed Wolf

“Fair point, but here’s a question.” Sawyer stepped into the open area in the middle of the room. “At what point do we get involved? By the time a vampire kidnaps an angel victim to feed on, it might be too late.”

All the murmuring fell silent. Everyone knew he was thinking of his own mate, Riley, who had been a vampire’s blood pet for over a year. She had been fed on for so long and lost so much blood, she almost didn’t make it.

“I’ll encourage Camael to keep in touch with me about any developments,” Derric said, looking earnestly at Sawyer. “We’ll do everything we can to prevent it from getting to that point.” His jaw set in a hard line. “I will not make the same mistake again, Enforcer.”

Sawyer jerked his chin down in a nod, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

“Waste of effort if you ask me,” Ruse muttered. “Angels, you know. Everything’s gotta be dramatic with them.”

“Camael’s not being dramatic,” I bit out. “There is something going on between vampires and angels.”

The Alpha narrowed his shrewd gaze on me. “Did you see something?”

I told him about the puncture marks and blood I saw on Laylah, and everyone’s face paled. As for the red-gold fate thread running from her to the vampire territory, I kept that to myself. If she truly was destined to be with a vampire, there was nothing I, my pack, nor the angels, could do to sway fate.

“Fuck.” Sawyer rubbed his jaw. “Do we tell Camael?”

“That’s risky,” Ruse said. “He’ll lock her up like a prisoner.” The VP focused on me. “Could it be a warning?”

“I truly don’t know.”

My visions changed based on circumstances, and sometimes they were more symbolic than literal in nature. For example, I always used to see a type of shield around Sawyer and interpreted it as him guarding his heart. Until Riley, he never let anyone emotionally closer to him than a friend. Once she came around, his shield started falling away. His fated mate had gotten past his armor to the heart of him.

In any case, my visions always came true in one way or another. And what I saw on Laylah looked pretty fucking literal.

“The plan stays the same for now,” Derric announced. “I’ll touch base regularly with Camael, and if anything more concrete turns up, we’ll go from there.” He lifted a hand from his armrest, effectively dismissing us. “That’s all. Keep your noses and ears sharp on your perimeter patrols.”

The crowd of werewolves dispersed, some shifting immediately as they headed outside, others retiring to various rooms.

“Hey, Tryn.” Sawyer caught up to me and grabbed my shoulder in a friendly squeeze. “When’s your mate coming back? Riley’s been asking. She wants to gush over some book series they’re apparently both reading.”

Well, fuck. So much for being effectively distracted.

Sawyer must have noticed some change in me, because he narrowed his eyes in confusion and didn’t let go of my shoulder. “Shit, Tryn. What happened?”

I removed his hand from my shoulder and started up the stairs. “Something I should have seen coming.”

Chapter 19

Emmaline

As someone who usually made decisions without anyone else’s input, I found it really, really difficult to not talk to anyone about what Tryn had told me. What he’d shown me.

I thought about talking to Annika or Joey, but my head was so messed up, I was terrified of saying too much and potentially exposing Tryn.

God, I saw him turning into that wolf, my wolf, every time I closed my eyes.

After the initial shock wore off, I became less weirded out every time I pictured it. And wasn’t that weird, that it was becoming less weird to me?

He was still a man. That was the conclusion I kept returning to. A tall, gorgeous man who was funny, warm, sweet, and an incredible kisser. A man with secrets, yes. Secrets that he did tell me, at the risk of his home and safety of his people. Was it really so bad or strange that he could turn into a wolf?

The ache of missing him never left. The sense of wrongness caused by his absence was my constant companion. As time went on, the ache only grew worse.

I felt desperate to talk to someone but would never betray my promise to Tryn. No one could know about Vargmore or what he was.

Except for the people who already lived there.

An idea wiggled into my brain and wouldn’t leave. I paced on it, wearing a path down in my apartment, then walking the trail around my complex. The idea took root in my head until my fingers itched for my car keys, ready to take action.

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