Page 68 of Moon Cursed

My nose told me what my watering eyes couldn’t. “T-Tracy? What the hell!”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“You’re sorry?!” I shrieked over Orion’s raucous belly laughs. “You just punched me in the fucking face!”

“I didn’t mean to! I mean, I didn’t want to!” Tracy whipped around. “It—it was a command! From an alpha,” she cried.

“What alpha?” I blubbed, tears stinging my eyes as I hauled my broken cartilage back into place. An awful necessity unless I wanted it to speed-heal crookedly.

“I... I don’t know. I didn’t see them, I just heard it. A voice from another room. They said to punch you.” She clapped her hands over her mouth, crying as much as me. “I’m so sorry, Daze. I can’t believe some alpha bastard made me do that. What is wrong with them! I swear, they’re worse this week than they’ve ever been.”

“They really are,” I muttered, the pain beginning to clear in my nose, but pound harder in my head—Orion’s howling making it worse. “It’s okay, Tracy, it’s not your fault.” I flicked down to the water bottle in her hand. “Just do me a favor and we’re even?”

“Anything.”

“Let me have your water bottle for a second?”

“My water? Oh, yeah, of course.” She handed it over.

I took it, popped the top, and promptly dumped the water on Orion’s crotch.

“Hey!” he bellowed, laughter drying up quick. “What the fuck!”

I walked off without another word, done with the whole damn day and it was only eight o’clock in the morning.

Going up to my room, I jumped in my bed and crashed. Everything I was failing at wouldn’t find me in sleep.

***

“DAZE? DAZE, WAKE UP.” Firm hands shook me. “Get that fine ass up already. Paxton’s waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me to kill you for waking me up?” I snapped from the bowels of the comforter. “Tell him I’m about to grant his fucking wish.”

Chuckles floated through the silk and cotton. “Such a sweet pussy on someone with such a foul mouth.”

My hand flashed out and swatted his thigh.

“Stop trying to get something going and get up already. I told you, Paxton’s waiting. You’re going to be late.”

“Late?” I stuck my head out from under the sheets. “But we gave up on that dating stuff a week ago.”

Edric shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. All I know is he says he has a surprise for you. Something you’ve been waiting for.”

It was curiosity more than anything that got me out of bed.

I got up, raised my brows at the clock that I fell asleep for nine hours, then left my room. I veered for the staircase that led to the main hall, but Edric called me back.

“He’s waiting for you in your office.”

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

I went back the other way, and trekked down the back staircase leading into my office. Paxton got up when he saw me, a smile already stretching his lips.

A pang of guilt went through my heart at seeing that smile. How could he be happy to see me when I not only told him he didn’t do it for me, I also gave up on both of our lives.

I wanted to live. I really, really wanted to live, but unless Luame eased up and spared me, I didn’t see how that was possible. As awful a person as people believed I was, if these were Paxton’s last days, I couldn’t spend them leading him on. He should spend his time finding his own happiness, while I focused on my sole purpose in life—making Wolf Nation safe for Hope.

“There you are,” he said, coming and popping a kiss on my cheek. “You were almost late to your own forum.”

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