Page 53 of Midnight Rules
Marric widened his eyes. He shook his head. He wanted to protest the killing of his pack, but didn’t want to say anything in front of Regan.
Emery seemed to understand, but she just nodded. “We have to, Marric. The pack is trying to overthrow the dynasty.”
Marric sucked in a breath. “That’s what the curse is about?”
“The alpha wouldn’t condone a voting system, so they took matters into their own hands,” Zinnie explained as she grabbed the biggest stew pot she could find and put it on the front stove burner.
Marric didn’t remember even seeing that big of a pot before. His mother had probably been the last to use it.
“They aren’t entirely wrong.” Marric hated to agree with a bunch of murderous people, but he would prefer a voting system, too.
Her gaze snapped to him. “They hurt your family rather than affect change. For that, they will pay.”
Emery nodded. “They also aligned themselves with shitty people.”
“Language, Emery.” Scolding her came automatic. He’d taken on more of a parental role since their mother and Tory died.
Emery rolled her eyes. “We’re literally about to die and you’re worried about me cursing. Since my time is limited, I deserve to say whatever I want.”
She had a point, but Marric wouldn’t let her know just how right he thought she was. “No more talk about dying. It won’t happen.”
“Great. Very optimistic of you. Try telling that to Riley, Griffin, and Maggie, who are doing everything they can to keep our pack from killing us.” Emery folded her arms over her chest.
“Do they want Dad?” Did they think he was here? Marric knew his dad had gone with Iven. They intended to put an end to the curse. Marric just wished they would hurry. He needed to be well again to help when the fighting started. And it would start. Of that, he had no doubt. He’d be much more effective if he was at his best.
“Dad is fighting the witches with Iven and Cass. The last time I heard they were surrounded.”
“We won’t worry about Iven right now. We’re going to worry about getting out of this mess alive.” Zinnie met his gaze. “And we will all make it out alive. Iven included. Got it?”
Marric nodded, but fear took hold for the first time since making his way down the stairs. “Iven is in danger?”
Zinnie met his gaze. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. He could see how dire Iven’s situation was in her expression.
“The pack doesn’t want Dad. But they do want to hurt him. That’s why the cursed us.” No doubt they’ve already writtenhim off for dead. And then it registered what Emery was really saying.
“They came here to kill me.” He was the oldest of Kinnison Ransome’s children, who were still alive. And he’d just bonded with his mate. They cursed him in an extra special way. It included killing him after he bonded with someone. It had probably been designed so he wouldn’t be able to give Kinnison an heir. They might have done the same thing to Emery too, but she was too young to think about mates and bonding. And while the person who made the curse hadn’t thought through every scenario, they had made sure Marric would meet his end sooner rather than later.
Dad didn’t deserve to have his entire family wiped out. He didn’t deserve that type of pain. He was a good alpha, all things considered. He had his bad points, but he was a strong leader who cared about the pack and Timeston. The pack and coven members had showed up at their door asking Dad to fix their problems. And all the time his strength had kept other bigger packs from overtaking them.
Emery drew her eyebrows together. “What are you thinking?”
Marric wasn’t aware he was thinking of anything important until she asked the questions.
“They tried to kill us.” He might have been stating the obvious, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around the cruelty of it.
Emery hung her head, and her chin wobbled. “Most of the pack. Miss Marie. And even Alexis.” Alexis was a good friend of Emery’s. They had stayed the night at each other’s houses before Emery had gotten sick.
“Marie was the one who delivered the curse.” Marric was sure it was when Dad had gotten a cut on his arm when he’d been mending a break in the fence. Cuts were common occurrences on a farm, even for wolf shifters, but that cut had been deeper than most, which was why they’d called Miss Marie.
Emery wiped her eyes. “How can they hurt us like that?”
Marric opened his free arm, inviting Emery into their little circle.
She came over, sitting in the chair Regan had refused, and leaned into him.
“We won’t let them win.”
“Well, we can’t let Dad win, either. The gods help us all if you get pregnant.” Emery buried her face against his chest and chuckled when he poked her in the side.
