Page 51 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

We did our best to keep Toni unaware of Jared’s continued presence, hoping she didn’t have an intuitive hit. I wasn’t sure how that worked exactly, but I figured it had something to do with Jared’s intention. Considering the strong impression we made on him the last time we were face to face, it was likely feeling out our defenses and trying to catch us slipping. That was the only thing that made sense when it came to answering what motivated him to come so close so often.

However, the last time we had barely kept Toni in the dark. I was sure she suspected what was actually going on. She was incredibly intelligent. Still, the less she knew, the more relaxed she was. And the more relaxed we could keep her, the more she would heal, and the better off she would be. Not to mention the small fact she would be less prone to sacrificing herself again for our sake.

Ever since we got her back to the cabin, we haven’t left her alone. One of us was always nearby, keeping an eye on her and making sure she stayed safe… heroics aside.

Rin stood less than five feet from me. He raked his gaze over the tree-covered area surrounding us and nodded. “I’m happy to keep revisiting the lesson if he’s bound and determined to relearn it. But the coward doesn’t come close enough for me to do so.”

I shook my head. “The scent is too faint to be sure where he’s coming from this time.”

“I will be the judge of that,” Rin said, staring into the trees again. He turned around and sniffed the air several times before completing a full rotation. “He’s gone for now. Pity. The scent is growing weaker.”

I nodded.

“Chicken shit. I was looking forward to playing with him,” Rin muttered.

I clapped Rin on his shoulder and chuckled. “You’ll get him. Next time.”

“Yeah, sure,” he grumbled.

“Hey you never know,” I said. “He might get cocky and decide to reveal himself still.”

Rin leveled his gaze on me. “Now you’re just teasing me.

“Come on,” I said through a laugh. “We should go gather as much fish as we can and head back while the way is clear.”

“Now I know for sure you were just teasing,” he muttered playfully. “I’m going to tell Luke on you.”

I laughed again. “You’ll have your chance soon enough. We all will. Until then, we only need to make sure the perimeter is clear, gather food, and head home. Although we will have to make a proper trip to the grocery store before too long.”

“Why a grocery store?” he asked, setting his confused gaze on me. “What could we possibly need from there?”

“Because Toni doesn’t care much for fish,” I said. “And the variety in our diet might do us some good.”

“Yeah right, that’s why she loves it every time we make it?” he said.

“She always finds something to love about our cooking,” I corrected. “But I can tell it’s not her preferred source of protein.”

Rin shook his head. “Why not just be honest. If she doesn’t care for fish, she should have said so.”

“She was being honest,” I said. “And I believe she was trying to be polite and grateful for what she was given. Besides, I don’t doubt she liked the things she said she did.”

“Whatever,” he said, turning his back to me. “Let’s go. The sooner we can get there, the sooner we can get back and stuff more disgusting fish down Toni’s throat.”

I smirked to myself as his reaction got to me. He was taking the news a lot harder than I thought he would. He probably took some sort of personal offense to what I said, which really wasn’t surprising. But the fact that he was bothered, tickled me like no other. And that was because he was the one who had gone out and collected the fish the last time. And though we weren’t out of our stock just yet, we were running lower than I would have liked. Especially with another mouth to feed.

Part of me wanted to tease Rin a little. Especially since the opportunity was too good to pass up. Because after being so set against her staying with us at first, and I understood the reasoning for that was because of principle, privacy, and he was protective of his home, he didn’t seem so turned off by her anymore. I could tell by the way he looked at her, that he didn’t hate her. He was interested in her. He tried to hide his feelings, but he practically broadcasted them each time she was in the room. His eyes seemed to become glued to her and they would soften and brighten.

More and more of his wall came down with more and more time spent with her. And that was something I rather enjoyed watching.

I couldn’t blame him. She was incredibly easy to be around. She also had a way about her that was calming and soothing. And despite Rin’s comment, she was absolutely truthful in everything she did.

I loved that she was honest about the things she enjoyed in the dishes we made her. And I loved that she didn’t come right out and say she didn’t like fish, even though her expressions said it all. I also loved that she could still genuinely smile despite the hell she had gone through. She still found a reason to smile every single day. And I especially enjoyed seeing her happy.

The more I thought about the things I loved about her, the less I wanted to tease Rin, and the more one terrifying fact became exceptionally clearer to me… that was I had fallen in love with her. The realization came with a sense of shock and fear. Shock, because I never thought I would feel such things for a woman. Especially one such as her. And fear because she would be leaving as soon as the Jared problem was solved.

I wondered what it meant to fall in love with someone I couldn’t keep? Was this the universe’s way of teasing me? Was it some sort of Karmic debt I owed from past mistakes?

I supposed the questions would never be answered.

---