A Cursed Embrace

I started to protest, but Shayna cut me off. “I was all set to go, too, Ceel. But Koda wouldn’t let me.” She shrugged. “We had our first fight about it.”

Aric leaned back in his chair, keeping his hand tight against my hip. “Shayna, you didn’t see the big guy’s reaction when he heard you scream. He totally lost it and I need his head in the game.” He smiled at her softly. “Try to understand. He doesn’t want to see the woman he loves get hurt.”

Tears welled in Shayna’s beautiful blue eyes. She played with the ties of her tunic. “Koda loves me?”

Aric pushed the eggs around on his plate. “Yeah. He does.”

Shayna rushed to sit on the chair next to him and scooted closer. “Did he tell you that?”

Aric shook his head. “I know him well enough to see it. Look, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m out of line.”

Too bad for Shayna, Aric wasn’t Liam. He would have sung like a werecanary. She latched onto Aric’s wrist when he tried to take another bite. “Dude. You can’t tell a girl the wolf of her dreams loves her and then go back to eating waffles. If it’s true, why hasn’t Koda told me?”

Aric rested his arm against the table as he contemplated what to say. “Life hasn’t always been this good to Koda. It’s easier for him to be hard and silent than to express what he’s feeling on the inside. He’ll tell you soon enough.”

Shayna pursed her lips. “And if he doesn’t?”

Aric’s voice grew quiet. “Just give it time.”

The seriousness that replaced his pleasant demeanor signaled an abrupt end to their conversation. And as much as Shayna liked to tease and taunt, she never meant any harm. She released his wrist. “I’m sorry, Aric. I didn’t mean to put you in the middle.”

The corner of Aric’s mouth curved into a grin. “It’s okay. Just know he’s only watching out for you.”

His eyes cut to me then, but he didn’t say anything. I bent slightly to whisper in his ear, “Are you all right?”

Aric kissed my cheek. “Yeah. Just hungry, baby, and I have a long day ahead.”

Taran sat next to me. “Not to mention the poor bastard hardly got any shut-eye.”

I threw my fork down when Shayna burst into giggles. “Don’t make me kill you in front of Aric.”

Taran flashed me another siren grin, yet was kind enough to cut me some slack. Aric surprised me by chuckling. We finished our food and had two more helpings, but then it was time for him to go.

Aric held my hand as I followed him out to the Escalade. The sun brightened the late morning, bringing forth a clear and warm sixty-degree day. Birds sang, and the first orchestra of crickets played their sweet song. A lovely spring day, only to be polluted by a nasty scowl from Mrs. Mancuso. ’Cause God forbid she’d let me bask in my post-making-love-to-Aric glory.

She knelt, tending to the red tulips she’d planted between her creepy lawn gnomes. A wide-brim hat covered her tight curls, a yellow jacket fell over her paisley muumuu, and stiff middle fingers lurked beneath bright pink gardening gloves, waiting to strike. Mrs. Mancuso had accused my sisters and me of “besmirching” the neighborhood, but I think the gnomes and the lawn jockey with the lazy eye had done that long before we moved in.

Aric laughed when he saw her and led me to the driver’s side of his SUV. “Come on. We’ll use my car to hide behind so I can give you a proper good-bye.”

And he did, with a long, deep kiss. “Will you come back tonight?”

Aric kept his hands on my hips. “I want to. But depending on what happens, and what we find, I might not be able to.” He kissed me once more. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay. Be careful.”

I stepped onto the sidewalk and waited until Aric’s Escalade disappeared out of the development. I turned to go back in the house, just to come face-to-face with Mrs. Mancuso. For a woman in her eighties, she moved like a shadow. Normally humans gave me ample space, sensing my predator lurking beneath. Cataracts, apparently, were my tigress’s kryptonite. Since Mrs. Mancuso couldn’t see well, she probably couldn’t detect my formidable beast. I smiled as best I could and tried to be nice. “Good morning, Mrs. Mancuso. Your tulips look beautiful —”

“I saw what you did to that boy, Celia Wird.” She pointed her dirty little hand shovel in my face. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

My body heated, but no way was I going to let the old crow make me feel bad. This was love, damn it. I lifted my chin so we were at eye level. “Aric is my boyfriend now, Mrs. Mancuso. He was just kissing me good- bye.”

Her droopy lids narrowed over hazy blue eyes. “I meant on the porch. Last night.”

On the porch . . . ? I clasped my hands over my mouth, trying to muffle a scream. Mrs. Mancuso had seen me straddling Aric. Oh. God. Okay, maybe her vision wasn’t all that bad. I swallowed hard, gathering my courage. If I were Taran, I’d accuse her of being jealous, and insist she find some guy in a walker to hump and leave me the hell alone. But I wasn’t Taran. I was very much me. So I raced into the house, trying not to shriek.

So much for my formidable beast.

Taran glanced up from her tea. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Harlot!” Mrs. Mancuso screamed from outside.

“For shit’s sake, lady, just die already!” Taran hollered back without missing a beat. She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her tea. “If only the good die young, that old fart is going to live forever.”

Emme poked her head out the window. “My goodness, I can’t believe arthritis hasn’t claimed her middle fingers by now.”

Taran huffed. “That’s because she gets so much damn use out of them.” She flipped Emme off a few times. “See, it keeps them flexible.”

Emme frowned. “That’s not a nice gesture, Taran.” She glanced out the window, her eyes widening. “And neither was that one.”

I poured myself some chai tea and took a seat next to Taran. Shayna and Emme grabbed two more mugs and followed suit. Shayna grinned. “Celia has a boyfriend,” she sang.

I held the mug tightly in my hands, wishing so much hostility didn’t surround my new relationship with Aric. “Aric is going against his pack by being with me.”

The good humor my sisters demonstrated at seeing Aric with me faded quickly as reality sank in. Romeo and Juliet had it rough. But Romeo didn’t face the wrath of fangs, fur, and magic.

Shayna draped her arm around my shoulder and gave me a one-arm hug. “Koda told me. He also said Aric has no intention of turning his back on you.”

“Did he mention what could happen to Aric for disobeying his Elders?”

Shayna turned her head. “Not exactly.”

I frowned. “What did he say?” Shayna slipped her arm off me but didn’t answer. “Shayna, please tell me.”

Shayna regarded me closely, appearing torn. “Being with a non-pure, especially one who’s not even were, sort of soils his reputation.”

My insides twisted. “I’m soiling Aric’s reputation?”

Shayna reached for me. “Ceel, this is not your fault. Aric’s pack doesn’t know or understand what we are, and I think it scares them. Koda, Liam, Gemini—it’s different for them. They’re not of pure blood; they don’t have to follow the same rules.”

I gawked at Shayna, not knowing what to say. Aric openly defied his Elders by being with me. That was bad enough. But to know his status had plummeted because of me broke my heart. I buried my face in my hands, hating my “weirdness” more than ever. “I can’t stand anyone looking down on him. And I can’t stand being the cause.”

Shayna’s thin arms embraced me, the extent of her concern showing through the way she clutched me. “Ceel . . . you’ve waited so long for someone like Aric. Don’t let those haters take that away from you. Just be with each other, enjoy each other. The other stuff, it’s just not worth it.”

Emme’s soft hand stroked my hair. “They just don’t know you, sweetie. I’m sure with time they’ll see how