Page 29 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

“I’ll get the door,” Luke muttered and then made his way to the door. Once he opened it, he took a step back, and Cadence stepped in.

“Good morning, everyone,” she said. Her shoulder-length, reddish-brown hair shone wet in the light. She must have just showered because there wasn’t any reasonable explanation for the reason.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I tried not to let my feelings bleed into the words, but they did.

“Hello to you too,” she said. “I came as a favor to Luke.”

Toni stared between all of us.

I shook my head. “Toni, this is Cadence. Luke’s sister.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Cadence said with a wide smile.

Toni nodded and barely smiled. “Likewise.”

“Relax,” I said. “I chased him, or it, off.”

She sighed and nodded.

“I reached out to Cadence when you were chasing off whatever had caused that scent,” Luke said. “I figured Toni could use a woman’s touch when it came to everything.”

Toni nodded. “Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.”

I sighed. “We’re not done.”

She settled her attention on me and softly said. “Okay.”

I walked off to blow off a little steam and get some distance. Cadence talked with Toni for a minute before disappearing into the bathroom with her. It wasn’t long before Cadence came back out and updated Luke on everything before heading out the door.

All the while, I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. The scent. The thing that made it. And my feelings for Toni.

13

TONI

Cadence walked over to me and held out a shopping bag full of the most important items a girl needed. Pads, tampons, chocolate, and other little goodies were in the bag. The items shone through the plastic of the bag, only slightly muted in appearance. “Luke told me a little bit about what happened. I figured you could use some girl stuff.”

“Thank you. This is so wonderful,” I said, taking the bag. “I really appreciate this.”

She smiled. “Think nothing of it. I’m happy I was able to help. Besides, I understand how easy hanging around these brutes is. And that’s not much fun a lot of the time.”

Rin snorted.

“Especially him,” Cadence pointed a thumb at him. “Go easy on him, though, okay?”

I nodded. “Going easy on him is a lot easier said than done. Besides, I think he’s the one who should be taking it easy on me.”

“He’s actually a teddy bear once you get to know him,” she said and added a wink. “Give him some time. He’ll warm up to you soon enough.”

“I assume that you’re his girlfriend?” I asked as curiosity got the better of me. I hated the idea that I was attracted to Rin and especially despised the thought I was attracted to a man who was otherwise involved with someone. Particularly someone who was going out of their way to help me… a stranger she didn’t know a thing about.

She laughed. “He wishes.”

Rin snapped a loud, “What?”

“No,” Cadence said, still giggling. “My brother would kill him.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Luke said, keeping his voice low.

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