Page 25 of Cursed Wolfsbane

I shrug but don’t respond. People don’t generally like me. Instead, they tend to forget about me. I’ve worked hard to blend into the background and leave little to no lasting impression. The less people remembered me, the less likely they were to notice anything wrong. I don’t need to hide what Patrick did anymore, but I don’t know how to break the habit.

Bastian grabs my hand and pulls me along after him. My hand’s so much smaller than his, but it fits perfectly in his rough, calloused one. I pick up my pace so I’m walking even with him. Once I’m by his side, Bastian drops my hand to sling his arm around my shoulder, and I lean into the embrace.

After walking down the stairs, Bastian steers me to one of their formal living rooms. Vale, Abbie, Malachi, and Xander are there waiting for us. Aunt Abbie pulls me into a lingering hug, and Uncle Vale gives me a wide smile while he’s talking on the phone. Malachi waits until his mom is done before tugging me to stand in front of him. He pulls my back flush against his front and winds his arms around my waist.

Xander looks everywhere but at me. Things have been… tense between us since Monday. Who knew making me come and then saying he’ll never be with me would make things awkward? Apparently, everyone but Xander because he still decided that would be a great course of action.

Today’s Saturday, and he’s still avoiding me. Fed up with the situation, I tap Malachi’s hand. He lets me go, and I make my way to Xander. “You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to,” I whisper once I’m next to him.

“What?” Xander reels back like I slapped him. “Of course I want to go with you. Do you not want me to?” He stares down at me with uncharacteristic vulnerability on his face. Usually, he’s so closed off that I have no clue what he’s feeling. Right now, I can read all of it flitting across his face.

“None of this is about me not wanting you, Xander,” I tell him with a sigh. Feeling drained from just a short conversation with him, I turn to go.

I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to talk to him in the first place. What did I expect? For him to apologize for being a moody asshole? I barely contain my laugh at the absurdity of that ever happening.

I don’t get far before he snags my wrist and pulls my back against his front, much like Malachi just did. It takes me a moment to realize I didn’t flinch from the sudden touch. I guess my subconscious trusts him. He won’t hurt me physically, but he crushes my heart without thought all the time.

He leans down until I can feel his warm breath brush against my ear. “Is this about Monday?” I shrug, not sure how to answer him. It is and it isn’t. Monday’s just the latest example of his hot-and-cold routine. “I’m sorry, Briar. I let my wolf take over and handled the situation poorly.”

I grind my teeth at him blaming his wolf for touching me. Xander the man would never stoop so low. “Oh, so it was your wolf who wanted to make me come?” I hiss, trying to keep the volume down so everyone else doesn’t hear our conversation.

It’s super cool being able to hear more now that I have my wolf. It’s less cool when the only father figure I have left can also hear me talking about coming with one of his sons.

“No, that was all me. I wanted to make you come so hard you’d never think about another man again,” he snarls. My eyes widen in surprise. I mean, he kind of succeeded. He has more skill than all the other guys I’ve been with combined. “But I let my possessiveness override my sense. Regardless of what you think, I don’t want to keep hurting you.”

“Then why do you?” My voice breaks on the last word. I close my eyes, hating that I’m showing him how much he hurts me.

“I don’t know,” he rasps. “You deserve so much better than me, sweetheart, but I’m not strong enough to let you go completely.”

Before I have a chance to ask him what he means, a circular rip in the space-time continuum appears next to Uncle Vale. Purple sparks ring the opening. “Holy shit,” I whisper. Xander lets his arms fall away from around me, so I wander toward it to get a better look.

When I’m standing right in front of the mage portal, I see clapboard and brick buildings smushed together. I’d guess that the colorful storefronts date back to the seventeen or eighteen hundreds. They also look like they’re Greek Revival, but I’m not sure.

I’m almost tempted to jump straight through the obvious death trap just to get a closer look at the historical architecture. But, alas, I still have a little self-preservation.

If there’s a cause I’m willing to die for, though, it’s definitely cool architecture. I can already see my headstone.Here lies Briar, admirer of architecture and blind leaper through sketchy-ass portals. May she make smarter choices in the next life.

I was so caught up looking at the beautiful buildings that I missed the redhead staring at me on the other side of the portal. Emmy’s mouth is tilted up in a half smile. “I see you still love the architecture of Main Street.”

“Yeah,” I confirm, not knowing what else to say. It’s strange having people know things about me when I know nothing about them. Emmy seems to sense my thoughts, and her eyes fill with a sadness that makes me ache just witnessing it.

After dipping her head briefly, she looks back up and surveys the room. “You guys ready to go?”

Hell no, I’m not ready to go through a portal, but that’s the fastest way to get to Hawthorne Grove, so I’m just going to haveto suck it up. “Be honest with me, is the portal going to murder me or transport me to a burning hellscape?” While I’ve been through a portal before, I’m still wary of them.

Emmy tips her head back and lets out a genuine laugh. Her amusement is infectious, as I can’t help but smile at her laughter. Once she gets her giggles under control, Emmy shakes her head at me. “Nah, you’ll be fine. Even your wolfie guys will be all right. I’ve already sent them through once.”

Sighing because I just need to get it over with, I take a reluctant step toward the portal. Before I can get any closer, Malachi steps in front of me with his back to Emmy. “There’s not a chance in hell you’re stepping through that portal first, baby girl. It should be safe, but I’m not risking you like that.”

He turns around and walks through the portal before I have a chance to object. Sighing at his overbearingness, I call over my shoulder, “Anyone else want to jump in front of me before I go through? No? Great.”

Taking a deep breath, I take the first step through the rip in space. I immediately feel covered in sticky pine sap. It takes what feels like an hour, but is probably only thirty seconds, to fight through the dense air. When I pop out on the other side, I take a deep breath of normal air, glad to be free of the mage-preferred method of transportation.

I glance around the cute downtown area. Red cobblestone sidewalks sit in front of a jumble of brick and clapboard buildings that are tightly packed together. All the businesses have hanging picture signs, like something you’d find in the eighteenth century.

Bastian and Xander follow me quickly. With a wave to Uncle Vale and Aunt Abbie, Emmy closes the portal. It makes a whistling sound as it disappears.

“Sorry I’m late, Emmy. Nan had eight million errands for me to do before leaving.”

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