Cursed Vengeance (3 page)

Dylan

The second Sierra walked back toward the kitchen, I felt the loss of her presence almost as a tangible thing. My eyes didn’t stray from the way her hips swayed as she moved.

Sean smacked me across the back of my head.

“Ow.”

“I told you, she’s off limits,” Sean practically snarled, dragging me back out onto the porch.

Even though I hadn’t wanted to face the possibility the other night, it became blindingly obvious. Not once in the last thirty-four years had I expected or hoped for this to happen, the moment I met my mate. Quite the opposite actually. Unfortunately, now that it had there was no ignoring reality. I could try and fight it. My time was limited anyway. Not like that would necessarily work. It hadn’t for so many others. Usually it only took days for them to give in to what they couldn’t control. Either way, the time to fess up was now.

Taking a step back, out of Sean’s reach, I lifted my head and blurted out what I knew to be the truth. “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple.”

His head snapped toward me so fast, I thought it might keep spinning around like the fucking poltergeist.

“What did you just say?”

His hands clenched into fists at his sides and I could see his beast rising to the surface when his eyes began to glow. Retreating another step, I put my hands up in surrender. The last thing Sierra needed tonight was to come out here and see two wolves fighting. I could tell she didn’t exactly believe anything we’d told her yet.

“Sean, it’s not like I knew this was going to happen. You of all people know I spent my whole life hoping I’d never find her.”

His power glowed even brighter in his eyes. “Goddammit. You’re telling me my sister, my
little sister
, is your mate?”

“Yes.” He took a step toward me. “But I never said I was going to do anything about it. I’m going to try my hardest to keep my hands to myself.”

“You bet your ass you will.”

“Sean, I don’t want to hurt Sierra with all the bullshit that comes from our pack. I know with your mom’s death you’ve both been through enough this year.”

His shoulders slumped and the glow faded. “And now she’s on the verge of losing me too. Sierra’s a fighter, always has been. I’m not sure how much shit anyone can take before it takes its toll. I don’t care how strong you are.”

Seeing him relax allowed me to let my guard down. I really didn’t want to fight my best friend.

“I promise you I will do everything I can to fight the pull between the two of us. She never has to know I’m her mate.”

He shook his head. “I’m not stupid. If you’ve figured it out, you already know she’s feeling the same thing as you. She doesn’t know how to label it. And since she’s a witch she should feel it even stronger.”

“Wait. I thought you said your mother locked down Sierra’s powers. If she can’t access her powers, the connection would be the same as if our mate was human and easier for her to push aside.”

He sighed. “That’s what I thought, but Sierra felt the power coming from one of my books tonight, which she wouldn’t be able to do without some type of access to her powers.” Slumping into one of the chairs on the porch, he looked up at me. “There’s only two things I can think of. Either Mom’s spell is wearing off now that she passed, or more likely, Sierra’s powers are stronger than we thought. Maybe even a combination of both.”

“Does that mean she’ll be able to feel the connection?”

He looked away for a moment. “Yes. And depending on how powerful she truly is, will impact how strongly she feels it.”

I dropped down onto the step. “Fuck. Are you telling me I’ve sentenced her to this life, no matter what her choice would be?”

“I wish I could say differently, but yes,” Sean said, taking the seat next to me.

Silence filled the air between us. The hell I was about to cause Sierra ran through my mind. From the moment I saw her the night before, I knew something was different. While she was beautiful, with her deep blue eyes and lips that begged to be kissed, her looks weren’t the only thing calling me to her. It went so much deeper than the fact her looks were enough to keep any man up at night.

But that wasn’t what kept her in my thoughts. It was the way she didn’t take shit from me. Since the moment we met, whenever I gave her a hard time, she shoved it right back in my face. If her powers were coming to the surface, like Sean believed they were, she should be able to sense my wolf and the truth in what we’d been telling her. So why couldn’t she? What kept her seeing this all as one big joke on her?

A hand landed on my shoulder, breaking me out of my head.

“For what it’s worth, if it weren’t for all of the other bullshit, I couldn’t ask for someone better for my sister.”

Those few words held a bit of comfort in a shitacular situation. There I was, sitting on the porch of my best friend, with my mate not twenty feet from me, yet it was all for nothing. Sierra might be destined for me, but that didn’t mean I’d use the connection and bring her even more heartache than necessary.

“Thanks, man, I wish things were different.” I rested my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands.

“Maybe if we keep looking we’ll find something.”

For the last few years, we’d been trying to find the answer. At that point, I didn’t have confidence we’d ever find it. Sean lost more and more of his faith in his abilities every day. The end loomed closer and closer with each day that passed and there we were, stuck, watching it fly by.

“What do we do now?”

He turned back toward the front door.

“Right now, we go back in and make sure Sierra’s not too deep into the bottle of chocolate wine I bought her.”

“Chocolate wine?”

“Yeah, the shit is her favorite.”

Standing up, I followed Sean to the door, only to have him stop in front of me, his eyes on the door.

“I’ll leave it up to you, if and when you want to tell Sierra. As much as I want to save her from the heartache, I know there’s no way to keep it from her at this point,” Sean offered.

“I’m not sure if I should tell her. If I do, it won’t be tonight.” I paused and waited for him to say something else. When he said nothing, I asked the next most pressing question. “What do we tell her about the rest of this?”

He looked back at me. “The truth. It’s about time she understood everything. I may not be around forever to guide her. If her powers are pushing out, I may need to unblock them, before they come out at the wrong time.”

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and walked back into the living room. Sierra sat curled up at one end of the couch, a wine glass in one hand, the bottle in the other, and a quarter empty bottle of Vanilla Rum sitting on the table. The wine glass was half-full with chocolate wine. There was a less than half of the wine left in the bottle.

“Hey, creeper,” her voice sing-songed. “I see you decided to stay.”

“Shit,” Sean sighed. “Too late.”

Looking down at my watch, I saw we’d been on the porch for about thirty minutes. She must have started drinking the minute we walked out the door. It shouldn’t have, but it annoyed the hell out of me that she’d drink instead of facing the reality of what we were telling her. “What the fuck?”

Sean grabbed my bicep. I hadn’t even realized I’d stormed closer to her.

“Give her a break. She was giving the magic idea a chance, then we threw in furry monsters and curses. If you knew nothing about any of this, how much would you believe if all that was thrown at you at once?”

“Sean,” she snapped. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not in the room.”

“Then put down the bottle of wine and we can all talk like adults.”

“Fine.” She plunked the bottle down on the table hard enough I thought it might break and grabbed the rum. Twisting off the cap, she lifted the bottle to her lips, drinking down a few swallows. Well, I guess we figured out how the hell she ended up in this state.

“Sierra,” Sean groaned. “Knock that shit off.”

“Oh no. I don’t think so. Any conversation with you and
your
voodoo is going to include this bottle.” She held up the rum and placed it back on the table. “Or this one,” she said, picking up the wine and shaking it before pouring herself another glass.

“Whatever,” Sean grumbled. “Maybe this will make it easier to introduce her to everything. She’ll be more accepting of it.”

Sean took a seat in the chair across from Sierra, leaving me next to her on the couch. Why in all holy hell he put me next to his sister after our conversation on the porch, was completely beyond me.

“Sierra, did you eat anything?” Sean asked.

“Nope,” she answered, popping the ‘p.’

Oh damn, the conversation didn’t have a chance in hell of going well.

“You’re going to regret it in the morning, but that’s your problem. No whining at me when you feel like shit,” Sean said, no pity in his tone.

Rolling her eyes, she took a long sip from her glass, watching her brother over the rim.

“Sierra, we need to talk about you being a witch. Hell, I’m pretty sure you still have your powers, something I didn’t expect.”

She laughed. Not an uncomfortable one of disbelief, more of a belly laugh that said she thought this was one big joke. “Does that mean I’ll be able to cast spells with a little wiggle of my nose?”

While her joke might have been funny under other circumstances, we didn’t have time for her games.

Sean rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his eyes and the bridge of his nose. “Don’t be ridiculous. You recognized the books on my shelf. Somewhere deep down you can feel your power if you try.”

Sierra sat silently for a moment. “Okay, say I’m willing to go along with the magic side of things, why are you trying to drag me into it?”

“Because you need to know and we need your help.”

Her eyes rounded, her pupils dilated. “How could believing your story about being a witch help you?”

Lifting the glass, more of the wine went down and I had to clench my fists in my lap to keep from grabbing the bottle and slamming it against the wall. I groaned. “We told you before, there is a curse on our pack.”

“Oh, that’s right.” She giggled. “You both think you’re werewolves. Next you’re going to tell me one of you is the Jersey Devil.”

“Jesus, Sierra. Don’t be fucking ridiculous,” Sean said, exasperated. 

Her attitude sober was hot and sexy. Drunk it was not cute at all and made me want to shake some sense into her. “What the hell? Is she serious?” I snapped.

Sierra giggled. “Why not a Jersey Devil? We’re in the right place for crazy shit.”

“The Jersey Devil isn’t from anywhere around here,” Sean argued.

Her eyes darted back and forth between us, until she landed on me. “And let me guess, it’s you?” she asked, pointing right at me.

That was it! Hopping to my feet, I pulled my clothes off.

One brow arched as her eyes trailed over my body, then her mouth popped open with a gasp. “What on Earth are you doing?”

“Proving we’re werewolves.” Normally I wouldn’t consider changing in front of a human, but this was an extreme case.

My bones and muscles reshaped themselves, as I felt fur flow down my body.

A gasp sounded before a scream rent the air, followed by the sound of glass breaking as I landed on all fours. The scent of Sierra while I was in wolf form was overpowering. It called to me to change back, carry her to the nearest flat surface and claim her as my mate. After tonight I would need to avoid changing in front of her, if I had any hope of keeping my hands to myself.

Once she stopped screaming, I walked over to her and laid my head on her leg. With shaky hands, she ran her fingers through my coat.

“You’re so soft,” she whispered.

Taking a few steps back, I let my human shape take over and redressed. Sierra was still breathing heavy, like she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs. She’d had enough for one night, she didn’t need me parading around naked, even though it wasn’t a big deal for shifters.

“Okay…I see what you mean. What do you want me to do with this information?”

“There’s more,” Sean said. “For the last fifty or so years, there’s been a curse on our pack. The day before a males’ thirty-fifth birthday, we become very ill and by our birthday we’re gone.”

“Our body can’t fight off the sickness and it kills us,” I chimed in, my eyes never leaving Sierra.

We gave her a few minutes to process all we’d said. Her eyes focused on the broken wine bottle lying on the table. At one point I thought she might get up to clean it up and avoid the rest of the conversation, then she turned to Sean. “But…but…your thirty-fifth birthday is in a few days.” Her eyes were wide.

“I know.” Sean’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to leave you alone, but I don’t know how to stop it.”

“You could have come to me before. I would have helped you figure out how to cure the disease.” She began to cry. The overwhelming urge to comfort her came over me. I wrapped an arm around her and offered her my strength. Sobs wracked her entire frame.