A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (33 page)

My heart threatened to explode. Aric intertwined his fingers with mine, helping me through the multiple crashes rocking through me. “I love you, Celia,” he panted. “
No one
will keep me from you again.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

“Tell me about Anara.”

My body and mind basked in the aftermath of our lovemaking. Hearing that bastard’s name shattered the tender moment and left me shaking.

I sat up, burying my face in my hands. Terror and fury warred when I thought of him, with terror always emerging as the victor. Anara could rob me of those I loved. No matter what anyone claimed, he was still strong and he still had power.

My fear set off Aric’s growls. He tucked me against him until my trembling finally subsided.

Aric swept my hair away from my eyes. “What did he do to you, Celia?” He kept his voice soft yet there was no masking his fury.

I couldn’t initially answer. With his mind cleansed of the moon sickness, any of the Elders could link through Aric’s mind, including Anara. So I listened hard, searching for any trace of howling wolves while scanning the area around us. Aric followed my gaze, scowling with more confusion than anger.

“Celia, please tell me what happened.”

When Anara failed to present himself, I took a breath. My wolf was right, I had to tell him everything. “Aric…since our return from South America, Anara has been using the power of the Pack against me.”

Fury pulsed from Aric’s skin in tangible waves, bending the air like heat rippling off asphalt. “What do you mean he used the Pack?”

I knew that deadly tone, and delaying would only escalate his anger. “He used his link to you and your packmates to multiply his power. Every time I saw you, he materialized and forced me to tell you things so that you’d hate me. He…” I swallowed hard and couldn’t finish.

Aric’s voice was unrecognizable.
“What else?”

I tried not to cry—God, I really did. But revealing meant reliving everything Anara had put me through. “He possessed the wolves and turned them against me.”

“My wolves?”

I couldn’t look at him. “They didn’t have a choice, Aric. With our bond broken, their collective instinct to protect me was severed, too.”

Aric held my shoulders, angry tears leaking from his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve stopped him. I would’ve kept you safe.”

His pain lodged the words in my throat. But there was no going back. By not telling him, I’d betrayed his trust. He needed to understand I hadn’t made that choice lightly. “Anara swore to kill you if I didn’t keep my distance and threatened to kill my sisters if I told anyone what was happening. He can hurt anyone from miles away, Aric. I’ve seen it. I had no choice but to obey.”

Aric tried to steady himself. His eyes wandered to my neck, breasts, and stomach. “He’s the one who attacked you and Bren. There were no rogue Tribe wolves. It was all him, wasn’t it?”

I nodded, cringing as the memories bombarded me with ruthless hands. I didn’t want to remember where Anara had clawed me and how Bren had almost died in my arms.

Aric gently held my face, his voice dripping with ire. “Anara has taken our
were
magic and harnessed it into something evil. But even if he hadn’t, he
will
die. I swear, I’ll kill him for touching you.”

It wasn’t what I wanted him to say. “Aric, please don’t go after him. All this time, I’ve struggled to keep everyone safe. Don’t let my efforts be in vain.”

He gathered me to him. The scent and warmth of his skin helped alleviate some of the horrible experiences seared into my mind while my body helped to ease his wrath. We held each other for a long while until he abruptly pulled away, the anger he held replaced by a sudden understanding. “Anara made you break our bond.”

It surprised me he hadn’t figured out that little tidbit sooner. “Well,
yes
.”

“So it wasn’t about my scars?”

The fact that he had to ask really pissed me off. I grabbed his left nipple and twisted.

“Ouch!”

“Aric Connor, when the hell are you going to realize that if you were nothing more than an eye and a foot I’d still love you?”

Aric laughed despite himself. “But sweetness, if I was just an eye and a foot I couldn’t do this….”

I yanked his hands off my backside. “You know what I mean. Are you saying that if I’d been the one burned you’d have left me for someone who wasn’t scarred?”

Aric’s brows furrowed tight. Apparently I’d insulted my big badass wolf. “
You
will always be beautiful to me no matter what—” He stopped upon catching my smirk. “You don’t understand. I was going through a lot then and felt you deserved more than…”

I angled my head. “More than what?”

He released a sigh. “More than half a man.”

That earned him another nipple twist.

“Damn, baby,” he said over his laughter. “Will you knock it off?”

“You deserve it for believing I’d be so shallow—and for yelling at me and…for calling Diane your…mate.” I no longer laughed and neither did he. I sat and hugged my knees. Aric tried to curl his arm around me. I shrugged him off. Now that he was healthy, I could allow myself to be mad at him.

“Celia.”

“You could have called her your girlfriend, your fiancée, or even your wife. All those terms would have hurt me less. But to refer to her as something so sacred—something only I was supposed to mean to you—Aric, nothing you could have said would’ve hurt me more.”

I wiped my tears with the backs of my hands. While I knew I should forget that moment, I couldn’t. Not then.

“Celia, the anger and hurt I experienced clouded my judgment. But in no way does that excuse how I’ve treated you.” His eyes brimmed with tears. “
You
are my one and only mate. I’ll never know love or happiness without you, and I’m nothing without your smile.” He clasped my hands and knelt on one knee. “I love you, sweetness….Will you marry me?”

I covered my hand over my mouth to silence my sob. I’d convinced myself I’d never hear these words. And yet there was my love, asking me, and waiting for me to answer.

I smiled at him through my tears. “How can I marry a
were
I’m not officially mated to?”

Aric’s eyes widened before fixing on mine. “You’re right,” he murmured. “I guess we should fix that….”

He hauled me on top of him. I licked him in places that made him growl, jerk, and beg for more while he made me scream and thrash. We were practically out of our minds, yet he managed to focus enough to reclaim me.

“Do you want me, my love?”

“Always.”

“Can I have you?” he grunted.

“Yes.”

Aric struggled for breath. “Then you’re mine…forever.”

—

The aroma of a burning fire stirred me from sleep and beckoned me to the small window. Aric knelt over a fire he’d built by the river, grilling fish on a spit constructed from twigs. I had to laugh.
Show-off.
The ripped pair of shorts he’d torn off me hung low on his hips. On anyone else, they’d have looked ridiculous. But my mate made everything look good. I tugged on a shirt and a pair of extra shorts I’d found and joined him. He glanced up from turning the fish and grinned.

I paused, overpowered by the stench of fish guts he’d dumped in the river. I raced downstream and vomited. Aric held back my hair. I rinsed my mouth and washed my face, embarrassed. “We have to get you back to Emme.” He sounded worried. “The wound I caused may be infected and the mountain water isn’t safe for you to drink.”

My hands skimmed over my belly. “Aric, that’s not the only reason I’m sick.”

He lifted me in his arms. “I know, sweetness. Your stomach wasn’t meant to handle the raw meat we’ve consumed. I’m taking you back to bed. You need to rest.”

“No, I’m fine—really. I just need to brush my teeth.”

He stroked my hair. “I’ll get you whatever you need. It’s my turn to care for you.”

I managed to eat a little after brushing my teeth. As Aric extinguished the fire I paced and wrestled with how best to tell him about our baby. But then something else occurred to me, causing dread to stir deep within my stomach. “Aric, is it possible Diane is pregnant?”

He stilled. Instead of telling me no, as I hoped, he walked to me slowly. He bent to cup my face, his expression bleak. “Celia, in my anger at you I didn’t remain faithful.”

I felt the color drain from my face. “Oh, God.”

“I didn’t have sex with her,” he added quickly. “My wolf denied her…but we did share moments alone.”

It was better than the alternative, and that’s what I told myself. And still the pain in my heart spread throughout my body. Aric,
my
Aric, had been intimate with someone else.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

The betrayal searing through my veins kept me from meeting his eyes. He said nothing more, knowing I needed time to work through the wounds his confession had inflicted. He busied himself cleaning the camp, stopping only to glance my way. When he finished, he joined me on a thick piece of driftwood where I sat. He waited, before slipping a cautious arm around my shoulders. I leaned against his broad chest, unable to fight my need to feel close to him. His response was to envelop me with his body. “Please, don’t leave me,” he whispered. “I don’t want to know a life without you.
…
”

We stared at the river for a time, losing ourselves to the splash of the water against the stony bank and the call of birds soaring without a care above. I forced the anger and jealousy from my being, shoving it deep where it couldn’t poke and prod at my insecurities. Aric wasn’t perfect, but hell, neither was I. We’d messed up. A lot. We’d destroyed each other with words and actions until our souls bled. But the hurt was deep only because our love was, too.

Roses couldn’t grow without the rain, and we’d had our share of thorns and storms. So I snuggled closer against him, resolved to abandon our past and concentrate on our future, one that would allow us to marry and be with our child. It was then I decided to tell him my news. It was then a horde of familiar scents hit us at once.

We leapt to our feet to find Gemini, Koda, and Liam. They dropped the backpacks they carried, clearly surprised to find us. I couldn’t believe they were there, but what surprised me more was Koda’s smooth and healthy reddish skin beaming against the background of the deep blue sky. Long midnight hair swept past his shoulders like a yard of pure black silk. Like Aric, his scars had vanished and his mutilated skin was whole once more. “Aric?” he gasped.

Gemini carefully stepped forward. “You’re
cured
.”

“And Celia, you’re…alive!” Liam charged and swept me in his arms. I caught sight of the others embracing Aric while he spun me in circles. The moment he put me down, I kicked him hard in the groin. He crashed to the ground, curling into his body.

“Celia, what are you—”

Koda never finished. I broke his nose with one punch. Before he could bleed, I nailed Gemini in the chest with a river rock. Aric snapped out of his shock and attempted to restrain me. “Celia, what the hell are you doing?”

I struggled against his hold. “They were going to kill you—right in front of me. I was going to watch you die!”

At last his Warriors understood the cause of my outburst. Guilt and shame spread along the planes of their faces. One by one, they slowly bowed their heads. Aric watched them with sympathy instead of anger. “They were following orders, love,” he said. “I was dangerous. They had no choice but to obey.”

“There’s always a choice, Aric. Just like I chose to save you!”

He shook his head. “Celia, this is the way of our Pack.”

Aric’s statement infuriated me. I broke from his grasp. “Well, the Pack
sucks
. If you think we’re raising our baby according to Pack laws, you and your buddies are out of your damn minds!”

Dropping a pregnancy bombshell had a funny way of silencing even the yappiest of werebeasts. No one said anything for a looong time, their blank expressions convincing me that perhaps a singing telegram might have been a more subtle way to go.

Liam rose from his fetal position on the ground. “Baby? Did you say…
baby
?”

Gemini shifted his attention to Aric. “You’re going to be a father?”

Koda wiped the dried blood on his face with the back of his hand and laughed. “I can see this isn’t the first time you’ve been alone.”

Aric’s face split with astonishment, elation, and doubt. He dropped his head and stared hard at his feet. When he returned his gaze to mine, heartbreak shadowed his strong features. “Celia, are you sure the baby is mine?”

I picked up another river rock, this time to throw at Aric.

The other wolves scrambled for cover as he caught me in an embrace. I just missed dropping the stone on my foot. “Of course I’m sure, damnit!”

“You haven’t—I mean, after the way I treated you…”

I took in the light brown eyes of the man who warmed me with his soul and touched me with his smile. “Since the first time I saw you, you’ve been my love and only lover. There’s no doubt that you’re my baby’s father.”

The heat sizzled between us, stimulating our mate bond and allowing me to sense the surge of happiness that sprang from his chest. His lips swept sweetly over mine. But when he dropped to his knees and kissed my belly, I couldn’t stop my tears.

I clutched him against me, smiling. “Sorry. This isn’t the way I’d planned to tell you.”

“I don’t care how you told me. I’m just glad that I know.” He rose and rubbed my belly. “A baby…I can’t believe it. Celia, you’ve made me so happy.”

The wolves collectively howled and approached us, bowing slightly before offering their congratulations and embracing us.

“The first to continue the Connor lineage,” Gemini said, clapping Aric’s shoulder. “This is cause for celebration.”

I stilled, worried he could be wrong. Aric stilled too, for different reasons. His hands fastened on my hips. “Did I hurt you anytime last night or this morning?”

Koda threw back his head, laughing. “Anytime last night
or
this morning? I’m surprised you weren’t expecting sooner, Celia.”