Page 19 of Cursed
Aylin growls in Nori’s head loudly, “Who the hell is she calling a little mouse?”
Nori jumps in her seat. “Whoa, Aylin! She’s protecting her brother or testing us or something. You need to calm down and ignore her.”
Right when Nori finishes telling Aylin to calm down, Adele ramps up her Influence, her blue eyes narrowing as she leans forward in her chair. “I said, say the words to reject the Mate Bond!”
The pressure from Adele’s Influence washes over Nori.
Aylin yells loudly in her head, “We are a fucking Alpha Daughter! How dare she use her Influence on us?”
Nori sucks in a breath, closing her eyes. Her back arches and her head falls back as she tries to contain her wolf.
Nori feels her claws start to slide out, and her face contorts. “Calm the fuck down! NOW! You cannot shift. Mom said no one can see you. And don’t you fucking look at her through my eyes!”
Aylin relents immediately at the reminder from Nori’s mom. “Fine. Sorry.”
“Enough!” Ryland growls, his Alpha Influence forcing Adele to stop.
Nori slumps forward, her chest rising and falling rapidly, thankful that Aylin backed down. She allows everyone in the room to believe Adele’s Influence affected her so strongly.
She turns her head slowly to look at the Prince’s sister. “No,” she says, responding to Adele’s command to reject the Bond.
Adele leans back in her chair, one eyebrow raised. “Interesting.” She glances at Ryland and mind-links with him. “Holy shit, she’s strong.”
Ryland glares at her. “You need to back off!”
Garek sips his drink and stares at Nori with suspicion.
Rolling her eyes, Adele ignores her brother’s warning and continues to test Nori. “Well, I guess this one can stomach your scars long enough to get a hot meal. Smart.”
Aylin growls to Nori, “Stomach his scars? Did she actually just say that in front of him?”
Nori sits up straight, narrowing her eyes, glaring at Adele.
“You know, little mouse, none of the other Mates, and there were many, could even look at him. They were completely disgusted by that giant scar on his face. Some of them even ran the other way, while rejecting the Bond.”
A low growl slips out of Nori, and she grinds her teeth, trying to contain her anger over the cruel and malicious comments. She yells at Aylin, “What the actual fuck? What kind of sister says such things about her brother? What a bitch!”
Aylin repeats Nori’s earlier words with a bit of snarkiness in her tone, “You need to calm down and ignore her.”
Ryland studies Nori’s reaction. She’s completely still, not even breathing. Her expression has changed from wide-eyed to menacing. What is that? Anger? She even growled. What could she be so angry about?
Also paying close attention to Nori, Adele cocks her head. “Hmmm, interesting. You’ve gone from terrified to angry in about three seconds. Could it be that you are angry on his behalf? Were you offended by my comments about his scars?” She raises an eyebrow and gives Ryland a hopeful look.
“Breathe, Mate,” Ryland says in what he hopes is a soothing tone.
Nori snaps her gaze from Adele to Ryland, nods, and takes a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
Adele’s eyes widen at Ryland’s term of endearment and the she-wolf’s reaction. Glancing at Garek, she sees his mouth fall open and quickly snap shut.
Garek turns to Ryland, stunned by his gentleness with this stranger. “Have you questioned her yet? Where is she from? Why is she here?”
Ryland’s jaw tightens, irritated at his Beta’s tone. “I will question her my way, in my own time, Beta.”
Garek rubs his face and tries a friendlier approach with his Alpha. “Look, Ry, you are letting this Mate business get in your head.” He can’t keep it up, though, and lets a little of his anger slide in, pointing at Nori. “I mean, what the hell isshe doing on our lands? She’s a trespasser and should be treated as such, not wined and dined because she’s another in a long line of Mates. We should just—”
Ryland stands and snarls. “What? We should just what, Garek? Kill her on the spot? Send her packing?” He looms over his Beta, clenching his jaw. “She has survived for weeks on her own in the cold. She evaded three Rogues and killed two by herself. She ran to us for help with nothing. Nothing! I will hear her story, and I will do it my way. Do you have a problem with that?” He’s practically yelling at Garek now.
Shocked at the Prince’s reaction, Nori’s heart soars watching him come to her defense.
