Page 66 of Cursed Wolf

“Oh, look at you.” I massaged the fur at her scruff, then stroked down her back. I had to blink tears away and couldn’t stop marveling, couldn’t believe my luck that this was real. “You’re such a beautiful, vicious thing, aren’t you?”

Emmaline’s wolf snorted and gave a playful nip of my fingers. She was on the smaller side, as most females were, but my wolf sensed a ferocity in her that he immediately adored. She was scrappy, a cunning predator that had already won her first fight. This pretty little thing had been lying dormant, caged up for too long, and there was a snappy reactivity in her.

“You’re safe with the pack,” I assured her. “Anyone who tries to fuck with you is a damn fool, aren’t they?”

She nudged her nose into my palm and licked me there with a soft whine. Her body language was clear. It’s not me I’m worried about.

“No one’s coming after me either.” I scratched the side of her neck. “The vampires want access to the angel’s city for some reason. I think Thorne found you and it was the most convenient way to try to strike a deal.” I frowned at the thought. Our business with the vampires and angels wasn’t over.

Emmaline shifted back to her human form. Now, as a naked woman lying next to me, she brought her hands under her head to use as a pillow. “I went looking for Stout & Spirit because I needed to talk to someone about what you showed me.” She let out a little scoff and rolled her eyes. “I thought I could follow the same path you took on the bike, but that was a really stupid idea, in hindsight. I guess I took a few wrong turns and yeah, ended up in a city of angels.”

“So Thorne did find you there?”

She nodded. “I told Derric everything. I stumbled across Thorne in a really seedy area, in a dark alley.” She curled up, bringing her legs toward her chest. “Derric explained that vampires are violating some kind of agreement by sneaking into the city.”

“That’s right. Now that we have a reliable witness in you, and the fact that he tried to cut a deal with me, we know for sure something’s going on. And we can support the angels better.”

Emmaline scooted closer and higher up the bed until her head rested on my shoulder. “I would’ve killed him. I wanted to kill him. I woke up and saw...what he did to you.” She let out an adorable little growl that I knew was her wolf speaking her agreement. “Derric explained that the fight took place within the bounds of the vampire territory. He stopped me because the vampires would retaliate if we killed their leader on their home turf.”

I chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair. “Sorry you didn’t get your kill. We’ll go for a hunt as soon as I’m cleared by my veterinarian.”

Emmaline laughed. “I’m still blown away by how fast you—I mean, we—heal. At this rate, you’ll be good as new by the end of the week.”

“Excellent news.” I ran my thumb along her jaw, tilting her face up toward mine. “What I don’t understand though, is how you were able to shift. I thought you needed a bite from me.”

“Yeah, that took a lot of people by surprise.” She laughed lightly. “I talked with your Gran, who talked to a bunch of other witches, and some of the elder wolves. Their theory is my wolf forced her way out when she realized your life was in jeopardy. She—I, we faced a very real danger of losing you, and that triggered a reaction that gave her dominance over my human side.” Emmaline cocked her head. “Apparently it’s happened before, but it’s incredibly rare because it has to be triggered by very specific, dire circumstances. Your Gran said there was a document over a thousand years old that seemed to allude to a similar thing, but it’s in a language hardly anyone speaks anymore, so no one is certain.”

“So what you’re telling me is,” I gazed at her face, stroking her cheek. “Not only are you brilliant, brave, and beautiful, you’re also a miracle worker.”

“Nothing of the sort,” she scoffed. “I just couldn’t afford to lose you.”

“And I couldn’t let him take you,” I said. “Thank the moon you could hold your own against him. He was not fucking ready.”

She chuckled. “No, he wasn’t.”

We were quiet for a few moments. Emmaline slipped under my blanket and sheets to nestle against me, her bare skin radiating the heat of a fully-realized shifter.

My mate, a werewolf after all.

As joyous as the thought was, it also gave me pause. Emmaline seemed happy and content now, but I couldn’t forget the last time we had seen each other. The fear and bewilderment in her eyes when I shifted in her apartment.

“How are you feeling about all this?” I asked with a tight throat. “Being a shifter yourself, knowing that vampires and angels also exist. You were pretty overwhelmed the last time we talked about it.”

“I was,” she said softly. “But the shock wore off pretty quickly, and once it did, I wanted to know more. I wanted to understand. That was why I went looking for Stout & Spirit, I wanted to talk to others about it. Mainly Riley, and maybe Shiloh too. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see you, I just wanted more perspectives.”

“Sure, that makes sense,” I hedged.

Emmaline rubbed absently over her sternum. Our fate thread glittered like a silver-lined rope as her hand passed through it.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had been hearing and listening to my wolf ever since I met you,” she went on. “I felt this…restless presence inside me that always pulled me to you. I heard a voice that felt like my own thoughts but also separate from ‘me’, you know?”

“Welcome to life as a shifter,” I chuckled. “It’s like sharing a body and brain with an imaginary friend. Only that friend is also you, kind of. There is some overlap between you and your wolf, but it’s totally possible to have completely separate desires from each other.”

“That’s exactly what it was. She must have sensed your wolf and constantly wanted to get close to you. To…bite you.” Emmaline blushed. “But my human side was trying to be cautious and not rush into things.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, either,” I said. “We can still take things slow. Date and see each other the human way. I’m happy with whatever you want to do.”

The words seemed to punch their way out of me, leaving a painful ache where they left. After everything we’d been through, the slow, human way felt like torture.

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