Page 32 of Luna Cursed

"I do. It's why you find me so interesting," Ciara replied. "How about you tell me a story while I do this?"

"Sure," he hissed while she dug about in another cut. "What do you want to know?"

Ciara inspected the end of her tweezers for the splinter. "Hmm. Missed it. I would like to know what Askel meant when he said you were a wolf slayer too."

It bothered her more than anything else the fanatic shaman had ranted about. She thought she knew Tor. The more time she spent with him, she realized not only how much she didn't know, but how much she had misjudged him.

Layla had tried to tell her that he had layers that he didn't show anyone, and Ciara had thought she meant his fun side.

"I don't want to tell you that story," Tor said, his gray eyes cold. "You won't want me after."

"Come on, Tor. You saw me torture one of your own kind today. You didn't think I had the exact same worry?"

His ashen brows rose. "You did? I didn't think you cared what anyone thought about you."

"I don't," Ciara huffed. "But you aren't anyone, are you? I didn't want you looking at me like the other wolves do. Like, I'm the fucking bogeyman. Which is ironic considering that it's you fuckers that weremybogeyman."

Tor was silent, even when she dug out three more splinters. He seemed to weigh up her words. "I'd never look at you like that. That's not to say you aren't the source of all my dreams and nightmares, but you are not my bogeyman. My father, Skari, was my bogeyman."

Ciara pretended not to notice the hitch in his voice like he hated saying the name. "Was?"

"Yeah, I killed him," Tor replied. Ciara placed a hand on the part of his back that wasn't wounded.

"Did he deserve it?" she asked softly.

"Many, many times over."

"So what finally broke you?"

Tor turned his head straight. "He wanted to banish my sister from the clan. She couldn't shift, so he saw her as less than useless. Wolves breed for strength, and it's not uncommon to have an arranged marriage. My father saw us as ways for him to climb in status. My mother left after one beating too many, and he never got over the shame of her walking out on him."

"Not the shame of beating her until the point she left?" Ciara grumbled. "Sorry. Go on."

"No, you're right. He didn't care. My mother knew if she took us, he would follow her to the ends of the earth, so she left us behind." Tor didn't sound mad about it, just matter-of-fact. Ciara's teeth ground together, but she kept her opinions to herself.

"After she left, Skari turned his anger on us, especially Linnea. She looked so much like my mother, and he hated the sight of her. I was in between them all the time. He berated her any chance he got because he was a prick."

"And how did he treat you?" Ciara asked softly, knowing she would hate the answer.

"He wanted me to be the strongest, most powerful wolf of the clan, so I was raised to fight and train and fight some more. It wasn't until I met Arne by pure chance in the forest one day that I realized there was another way that kids spent their time," Tor replied, his fingers toying with the corner of the towel underneath him.

"Alruna took me under her wings, tried to make things better for me. It only worked so much. Arne wanted to rescue me because that's just how he is. I wasn't going to leave Linnea with Skari. Not for a second. Alruna would've taken us both, but even the elf queen can't take children away from their awful parent. Elves aren't allowed to meddle in wolf business."

Ciara swallowed a lump in her throat. She thought about Lachie and how she would do anything to protect him. If she had been in Tor's position, she would have done the same thing and stayed.

"Anyway, when I was about eighteen, my father decided that my sister should be banished. She wasn't a real wolf. She had never shifted and showed no signs of it ever happening. He would have killed her if he could've gotten away with it. I walked in after a day of hunting, and he was laying into her, trying to make her survival instincts kick in and force the shift."

"Jesus," Ciara whispered, feeling sick. She wanted to hug him so badly. She just kept working, her fingers shaking.

"I ripped him off her, and I did the only thing I could do legally and called aholmgangon him. Do you know what that is?" Tor asked.

Ciara searched her memory. "It's like a duel?"

"Kind of. The wolves still honor it. Basically, you can call anyone out over a grievance to fight it out legally. Depending on the terms agreed upon at the beginning of the fight, it can be until surrender, incapacitation, or death. After the fight, the losing family can't take any action against the other. It's sorted." Tor shifted uncomfortably. "I called him out to the death. He was a good fighter, but I had something worth fighting for. If he was dead, we would be free from all the bullshit. He wanted to force me into an arranged marriage and become the wolves' leader because of my alpha strength. I didn't want any of that. It was a short and messy fight, and when I tore his throat out, all I felt was relief, not shame."

"You saved yourself and your sister. There was nothing to be ashamed of," Ciara said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Yeah, I thought that too. It still didn't stop Linnea from being shunned until she left the way my mother did, and it didn't stop the wolves gossiping about how I walked away from my destiny," he replied.

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