Page 10 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

“You’re safe now,” I said as gently as I could.

The woman started sobbing.

“Can you tell us what’s going on?” Luke asked.

She nodded. From where I sat, her heart hammered away. The poor thing had just gone through some sort of terrifying ordeal and needed a few moments to collect herself. “Let’s give her a few moments.”

“He’s going to kill me,” she blurted out through her sobs.

“Who?” Luke asked, sounding serious.

Maybe Luke wasn’t right about the reason for the scent of magic, but he was certainly right about the trouble coming to our door part. Whoever was after this woman, he was trying to kill her, and the evidence was plain to see.

“He’s going to kill me,” she said again.

She just kept repeating the same words over and over. More tears streamed down her dirty, beaten-up face. To say she was distraught was an understatement. My heart broke a little for her.

I switched my gaze between Luke and Rin. Luke shrugged. Rin shook his head.

“Would you like some water?” I asked. “Or maybe some warm tea?”

She nodded again.

I looked at Rin. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“Please,” I said. “She needs our help.”

With a sigh, he headed to one of the cabinets and pulled out a cup from the cupboard. The water ran into the cup, and within seconds, it was held in front of her. I grabbed the cup from him and nodded in thanks.

He shook his head and walked away, taking up a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. I settled my attention on the girl and held out the cup to her.

“Here, drink some of this,” I said gently. “It may help.”

She clutched the cup in both hands and chugged the whole thing down, choking a little and coughing some of it back up.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, handing the cup back to me. “Thank you.”

I nodded. “It’s the least we can do.”

Rin snorted.

At least she seemed a little calmer. For however long that would last.

“Do you feel up to talking now?” Luke asked. He was persistent and was trying to get down to business so he could uncover the reason for her showing up at our door at such a late hour. But he lacked finesse and patience sometimes. Not that I could blame him considering our current circumstances.

“He’s… he was trying to kill me,” she said through a shuddering breath.

“We understand that,” I said. “But who?”

She met my gaze. Eyes like the woods on an early morning day. Hazel with bits of gold and green woven throughout a nutty brown. I sucked in a breath as my lungs stopped working for a moment. They were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.

“Jared,” she whispered then started sobbing all over again.

I sighed. “I think I’m going to make you some calming tea.”

I moved to the kitchen, which was only a handful of steps away, and started pulling everything I needed out of the cabinet. A mug and a couple of tea bags later, I set the kettle on the burner of our stove and turned it onto high.

I leaned against the counter, facing Luke and Rin standing over the woman. Rin was clearly not happy about letting the woman into our home. He was very protective of our way of life. I couldn’t blame him, but we were doing the right thing. And as far as Luke was concerned, I figured he was trying to find a cause for his worries. An answer to his fears.

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