Page 72 of Cursed Beasts

Stretching my back until it popped, I swung my arms back and forth to loosen my human body. I walked up to the doors to head to my room to quickly bathe before I met Katarina down here.

The moment I arrived at the stairs, I knew Zev was close. When we fought, I had never willingly put so much power behind my attacks. Exerting my dominance wasn’t something I did often, but for Katarina, it came to me with no problem.

Usually, when we fought, we always pulled our punches, but we didn’t do it this time. We both had anger that needed to be released, and I think it would have come to killing blows if Aeon hadn’t interfered.

He unfortunately took a bite from Zev, which made me immediately stop. As much as I was mad at him, I couldn’t let him get hurt. I immediately changed, letting Zev know I wouldn’t tolerate his anger and if he didn’t want to help, then he had to stay out of our way.

My body was not used to that amount of alpha power, but it came naturally to keep Katarina safe. I had never taken training with my fathers seriously, but I’m glad they had made me do it.

Once I arrived at my room, I took a quick bath, wanting to smell good for her and to get the grime of being outside all day off of me. The more I spent time with her, the more I craved being around her. She was the first thing I thought of when I woke up and right before I left for the shift. I didn’t know if I was the only one to experience this pull towards her, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did too.

I only put on pants, knowing she liked to look at my naked chest, and I loved when she openly checked me out with appreciation in her eyes. My wolf all but preened at her attention. My hair was still wet when I entered the library. Her scent was non-existent when I got to our little corner by the window.

It wasn’t often I beat her here, but I got a little worried that one of the guys was going to scare her again or worse, hurt her. I looked at our little nook we had been working at and decided we needed a few chairs or a sofa nearby. She always said sitting in these chairs made her back hurt.

I took away one table, moving it to the front and brought back a sofa that looked the comfiest. I grabbed two tables to have one on the side and in the front of it. I smelled her before I saw her, and I was not ready.

Katarina usually wore shorts but today they were extra short with a shirt that came down low enough that her breasts were peeking out from the top. My mouth immediately dried, with all my blood traveling south.

“Hey,” she said, sounding a little shy. “Where did this couch come from?”

She set her bag down at the table before she made her way to the sofa to run a hand along the cushions.

“I got it from the other side of the library. I thought it might be better to read on.” I felt my ears get red and I regretted moving the furniture around.

“I like it,” she said with a smile. “Thank you.”

She came over to me, planting a kiss on my lips before walking to the table. She took out Vivienne's grimoire, placing it on the table to keep decoding it, even though I thought it was a moot point.

After yesterday, Katarina was sure that it had the spell she had used on us. Even if she couldn’t decode a piece, she could at least find a spell that could counteract it. As much as I wanted to have hope, I wasn’t believing in anything until I was free from the curse.

I grabbed a book about blood magic from the pile we left on the table to see what kind of sacrifice they needed to make in order for the spell to work. It also had some sample spells a witch could use as a base point.

“I found this yesterday when I went back to my room,” she said, laying the book in front of us.

This is it. I’ve made the biggest mistake and I don’t know how they are going to react. The only one I am really worried about is Zev. I care for the others, but Zev and I have a bond that I wish was a real mate bond.

It would just make my life so much easier if I just loved them all.

I read the passage twice to see if I could decipher what she was talking about, but I didn’t know. Her admission about not loving us was a little hard to read, even though I knew that.

“Do you know what she is talking about?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Like I said, Aeon and Zev were closer to her. I know that the day before she cursed us, she and Zev talked, but that was it. He wanted to talk to us, but Zev’s father wasn’t doing well that night, and we didn’t hear from him till we heard the destruction that was coming our way.”

She took a deep breath, looking frustrated, biting her bottom lip and I couldn’t help myself. I tilted her face to me as I took a bite of her luscious bottom lip, sucking on it before I kissed her.

It wasn’t long before our kiss turned frantic. I had waited long enough for her, and I really wanted to explore her body.

She moaned into my mouth as I picked her up, squeezing her butt before sitting her on the table, settling in between her thighs. She ran her hands through my hair, grabbing a handful and pulling. I growled at the slight pain, tipping her head back to kiss her neck, biting the spot where her shoulder met her neck.

“Lucien,” she moaned.

My name on her lips only made me want her screaming it while she was blinded by pleasure. I cupped her breast, massaging it gently before I snuck a hand under her shirt to get a better feel.

Her legs clamped around me, as I moved back up her neck to kiss her again. Kissing Katarina felt so different from Aeon. He and I fought for dominance. It was aggressive, rough, and it appeased my primal wolf side. Katarina was softer, sensual, and she appealed to the man in me, the one that wanted nothing but to give her everything she needed or would ever need.

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