Page 38 of Cursed Beasts

The peace of the library, but also the draw to knowledge, had me feeling a bit more like myself. I hadn’t realized that I was so tightly wound and just being here was de-stressing me. Taking a deep breath, I felt the urge to walk down a little further, stopping a few rows down, until my hand rested on a black book with string as the binding.

Pulling the book out, I noticed it looked to be some sort of supernatural encyclopedia. Opening the book and flipping through the pages quickly, I saw some familiar groups and some not so familiar ones.

Maybe this would give me some information about the guys?

I took the book to the small table in the corner in front of a huge window that overlooked the grounds on the east side, picking up another book that looked to be about supernatural beings, too. Before I sat down, I grabbed one more book that looked to be about moon magic.

The need to grab every book that caught my eye was overwhelming, but I knew I wouldn’t have a ton of time to go through these books. Setting the books down with my bag at the table, I sat down, pulling the encyclopedia to me first. I skimmed the pages until I came to shifters, reading what I already knew. But before I turned the page, I saw a small note on the bottom.

Shifters with magic exist.

A couple of runes, or maybe a different language, were right next to it. A prickle of awareness hit me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Looking around slowly, I didn’t see anyone, but I felt eyes were on me. You couldn’t see too far out the window. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of them was in the woods watching me. I shook off the feeling, thinking maybe it was just Mr. Potter.

As I was about to take my notebook out to take notes, the clock chimed and I checked my watch, seeing it was already three fifty. The hour had passed in what felt like a blink of an eye, making me think about what Mr. Potter had said. They lived their life one hour at a time and that was not enough for anything.

No matter how much I wanted to be mad at them. Living your life like that had to be exhausting and frustrating. That wasn’t living; that sounded like hell.

18

LUCIEN

For the past few nights, all I could think of was chasing the Belladonna. The rush of adrenaline, the need to catch her, turned me on more than I thought possible. After she climbed into the window, Zev stormed off, leaving Aeon and me to have sex against the wall.

We needed to release the pent-up energy from the chase. It was rough, quick and dirty, both of us shouting our release with thoughts of her. This didn’t scratch my need for her, it made me want her even more. It made me crave having her between Aeon and me, desperate to hear her yelling our names or her pleas to let her finish.

What would it feel like to be in her arms, to feel her small body against mine, to breathe the same air she did?

The nights were getting warmer, but tonight we had a breeze that cooled my heated skin. My head was lying on Aeon’s stomach as he ran his hand through my hair, when I looked over to see Zev close to us again.

He was waking up close to us more and more often, making me wonder what was going on with him. I sat up, seeing him with his brow furrowed, like he was mad at something in his sleep. How he wasn’t angry all the time and didn’t go crazy was beyond me, but I guess as time went on, I could sympathize. Zev didn’t have someone to lose himself in.

Aeon rubbed my back absentmindedly when I glanced back at him. He looked lost in whatever he was thinking. Since he had come into my room, things had been different between us, in a good way.

He was more affectionate, but I still felt like there was some distance between us, like we needed to clear the air. As much as I wanted to start that conversation, it wasn’t up to me how this went. If Aeon wanted me, he would have to prove to me with more than just words.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up, looking back at Aeon. He gave me an appreciative look over before biting his lip. I shook my head because there was no way in hell, I would get it on with Zev so close.

“Where are you going?” he asked, leaning up on his forearm.

“I feel like drawing,” I said, which was half true, but I also wanted to go see what the Belladonna was up to.

She had been quiet the last few days, making me curious about what she was doing, and the need to see her was making my wolf anxious. He looked at me with suspicion, but he said nothing to me.

I turned around to walk away before he could start questioning me, saving us an argument. If he knew I was itching to see her, he would disapprove.

Zev and Aeon were always extremely hostile to the Belladonnas, for good reason, but it was like living in an endless loop that had no resolution. Our anger had been going strong for almost two hundred years; it was exhausting, and I hated feeling like I was always in a bad mood. I wondered if we tried something different, would we get a different outcome?

Were we to live like this for the rest of our lives? How long would this hell have to continue?

Just thinking about living the rest of who knows how long like this, was depressing. We needed to do something differently. Whatever we were doing was not working. She seemed different, so maybe this was our chance?

If I talked to Aeon and Zev about this, I knew they would shut it down, telling me I was just infatuated with her. Aeon would get jealous, asking if I wanted to take her to my bed. We fought enough as it was; we didn’t need to create any more division.

Walking up to the back entrance of the manor, I walked through the room we used to have for pack gatherings. It was mostly empty, with a piano in the corner that wasn’t as dusty as the rest of the room. Instantly, I missed my life before they cast this curse on us.

Longing hit me hard as I made my way up to the room I used to draw in. I missed talking to my mother, hearing the pack’s latest gossip, seeing her light up whenever I talked about Aeon and Zev.

My fathers weren’t as involved in my life unless it came to training me to be Zev’s advisor. They were busy with keeping the pack protected. Through our armory and our general store, we ran for the pack. My jaw clenched at the intense emotion that flowed through me.

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