Page 113 of Roaring Flames

My disbelief must show on my face because he folds his arms over his chest and grunts out, “It happened here.”

“You need to be a wee more specific,” I say, frowning.

“This…” A muscle ticks in his jaw, drawing my attention to a few scars lining the skin there. “This is where that bitch cursed me.”

The implications of that statement slam into me with the force of a semitruck. I gape at him, unsure if I heard him correctly, his words playing on a loop in my head.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

At least, I think I ask. My voice is practically a whisper.

Reid looks away, his arms still folded over his chest and his customary scowl firmly in place. That expression on his face should terrify me. It probably would scare anyone else.

Yet I feel safe with him.

It’s strange. On paper, Reid is every red flag I can think of. Large, gruff, mean, rude, and curt. Maybe I’m just a damn bull attracted to that color, willing to run headfirst into the unknown.

Or maybe there’s more to the wolf shifter than what meets the eye.

“Michelle,” Reid grits out at last. “She cursed me.”

A thousand questions pop to life, but I bite my tongue to keep from asking them. Instead, I stand there, waiting for Reid to get his thoughts in order.

“We never dated,” he says at last. “But not because she didn’t want us to. She became…obsessed, to put it mildly. Thought we were soulmates or some shit.” That scowl of his deepens. “She began to stalk me. Hurt people. She came onto me after footballpractice one day.” His eyes turn glazed, trapped in a memory—a nightmare—only he can see. “I was showering, and she stepped in after me, butt-ass naked. Started trying to touch me.”

A shudder reverberates through him.

Blinding rage tints my vision red. My hands curl into claws at my sides. All I want to do is find this bitch and pull her eyes out.

“Reid…” I whisper, but he continues as if I hadn’t spoken.

“I pushed her away. Told her I didn’t feel that way about her.” He turns towards the horizon, every muscle in his body held taut. “I used to come here all the time to think. Be alone. She stalked me here on more than one occasion, but I thought… I thought she understood that we were nothing. That we haven’t ever been anything. I was wrong.”

I venture a step closer and place my hand on his arm. I don’t know if my touch provides him any comfort, but it’s the only thing I can think to do.

“She confronted me with her older brother. She told him I…hurt her.” He shudders again. “That bastard may have been the one to technically curse me, but it’s her fault. She did this to me.”

“What did she do, Reid?” I whisper.

“She took away the two things that mattered most to me—or, at least, the two things she believed mattered most to me.” He blows out a breath. “My looks and my wolf.”

“Your looks and your wolf…?”

“She had her brother curse me to be this ugly, disgusting creature.” He releases a sharp, self-deprecating laugh that causes my stomach muscles to tighten painfully. “And, more than that, she took away my wolf. I can’t shift. I won’t ever be able to until her brother lifts this curse from me.”

Forty-Four

REID

Water pelts my face as I tilt my head back, a muscle in my neck aching.

Practice was brutal today, but I don’t blame Coach. We have playoffs next week, and we need to be prepared.

Coach thinks we can go all the way.

A smile tugs at my lips.

Of course, the coach is unaware that he has three supernatural beings on his team. Between me, Ashton, and Emery, we’ll be unstoppable.

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