Page 61 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

I draped a few traps over my shoulder and then sighed. My words came out solemn and low. “Ezra, as much as I would love to have her stay with us, I’m not sure it’s feasible. We can’t stop her from living her life. She would have to give up too much to stay with us.”

Ezra sighed. His shoulders slumped forward forcing him to readjust the traps. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to say goodbye,” I said staring off into the trees. The idea of her leaving forever tore at my insides. The woods seemed duller and lackluster compared to what they looked like when she was around.

There was no way in hell I could get used to a life without her. Not now. Not after all the time we’ve spent together.

“I don’t know what I would do with myself if we had to say goodbye,” Ezra said, voice sounding distant.

I cleared my throat, forcing back the terrible feelings rushing through my body. My eyes itched and I squeezed them closed to ward off the tingling.

“Even Rin seems to have changed his mind about her,” Ezra added. “Which is why I know he would be okay with her staying.”

“We would probably never be the same if she did,” I said. “Leave, I mean.”

I shut the shed door and headed for the woods, carrying a handful of traps in my hand.

“I know I wouldn’t be,” Ezra said, following behind me.

As we laid the traps, we fell into a peaceful silence. I became lost in my thoughts, wondering how I could possibly survive a life without Toni. Each day would come with less and less color. Not to mention less and less warmth. And as time continued without Toni, each day would continue to deteriorate. Ezra perked up. I stared at him wondering what was going on.

“I have an idea,” he said.

“Okay…” I said.

“We should do something for her before she leaves. Maybe we can convince her to come back for a little while once she’s done in Washington,” he said, words rushing out.

I shrugged. “I think it’s possible. What did you have in mind?”

As Ezra explained his plan, I fell into my thoughts, becoming consumed with the idea of her leaving or staying. Her leaving didn’t sit well with me at all. But her staying with us made the day much brighter and warmer.

She made everything better.

Ezra snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Where did you go, man? Did you hear anything I said?”

I nodded. “Sorry. Got lost in thought.”

“What do you think about my plan?” he asked.

I sucked in a deep breath. “I think the three of us should sit down and talk about it more once Rin comes back. We need to come up with a plan made by all three of us.”

“I had a plan,” he said, frowning. “And it included all of us.”

“One we can all participate in,” I said.

“You actually weren’t listening, were you?” Ezra asked.

I shrugged. “I’ll listen when you go over it again later tonight.”

Ezra sighed and nodded.

We finished laying the traps just before dinner time. Then we headed back to the cabin and got to work on making sure food was ready for Toni when she came back. All the while I couldn’t stop the time, despite being almost desperate to. Because whether I wanted her to or not, she was going to leave.

The only question was if she would ever come back.

27

TONI

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