Chapter 76

[ 1,119 words ]

Curse

76: 76.

Curse Aria

“No,” I say immediately.

“Aria—”

“No.”

She skids to a stop, turning on me despite the danger snapping at our heels.

“You have to listen to me.”

“I am listening. I just don’t agree.”

Her eyes flash.

“I’m not asking you to agree. I’m telling you what needs to happen.”

My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You don’t get a choice.”

“I always get a choice.”

Another howl—closer now.

Too close.

Quin grabs my shoulders, her grip firm, urgent.

“Not this time. You’re the Alpha female. You matter more than me. If something happens to you, Ronan, Barric, Kade, and Theo… they won’t be okay. Liam won’t be okay. The pack won’t be okay.”

I stare at her, my breath catching.

She is right.

If I died, our mating bond would break, and from what I know, the partners of a broken bond never last long.

“All of them are tied to you,” she presses.

“You go down, everything falls apart.”

Without an Alpha, the pack wouldn’t last.

They’d sheep waiting for the slaughter, and the Assembly would pounce on it.

For a split second, I see the weight of it.

The reality of what I’ve become.

Of what I mean to them.

To all of them.

I was so wrapped up in my own changing life that I never stopped to consider how I would be responsible for all of theirs.

Our mating is not just between us; it’s the foundation for the entire pack.

It’s a gift.

And it’s a curse.

Because it means I don’t just belong to myself anymore.

But that’s just it, isn’t it?

I might be there, but this pack is mine, and nothing will make me abandon them.

My wolf snarls her agreement, and I feel a surge of power and authority flood my veins.

“I don’t care,” I say anyway, my voice shaking but firm.

“You’re just as important.”

Quin’s expression softens for a fraction of a second.

It’s almost bleeding.

“Go, please. I’ll be right behind you.”

Liar.

She’s planning to stay, my wolf growls.

To sacrifice herself.

Rage flares hot in my chest.

“No,” I repeat, quieter this time but with a surge of dominance that lets her know I won’t be moved.

Before she can argue again, I grab her hand.

Her pupils dilate as she fixes them on me.

“We go together,” I tell her.

“Or not at all.”

“Aria—”

“Together.”

With renewed energy, we race down, sliding and stumbling but never stopping in our stride.

The ground is a nightmare, mud giving way under every step, rocks shifting, roots catching at our feet.

Thank the gods for the trees.

We use them like a checkpoint to help regain our balance every few feet, and it seems to be helping somewhat.

I feel the wolves at our backs.

One of them lunges for Quin, and she stumbles over an uprooted stump as she veers away from the attack, and I yank her upright before she can faceplant.

My foot flies out from under me as a large body clips me, and suddenly I’m falling, dragging Quin with me.

We hit the ground and start sliding, tumbling.

The force of gravity sending us into a spin that breaks our hand apart.

The world looks like I’m seeing it through a dryer from the inside.

Twisting whirls of blue, brown, green and gray only broken by the jotling slams of of tree trunks.

Every time I hit one my body changed trajectory.

My shoulder cracks against a tree trunk, and pain explodes down my arm.

I barely register it before we’re rolling again, faster, out of control.

It felt like I was being jerked around forever, but I’m sure it was only a minute or so.

When my back slams against a massive boulder with teeth-rattling force, I finally stop.

I was almost grateful for it.

Gasping for breath, I try to orient myself, my hind brain warning me danger was right there.

Before I can get my bearings, a wolf is in front of me.

The male bares his teeth, clearly pissed.

Quin’s yell snatches my attention.

The sound is both pissed and in pain, and when I look over, a male wolf is trying to drag her away by one of her ankles.

She picks up a stick with a sharp edge and stabs it into his shoulder.

The wolf’s jaws close tighter and twist, vicious and deliberate.

“Fuck you, you Assembly bitch,” Quin screams.

The wolf in front of me must be tired of my split attention because he slams into me, knocking me back.

I hit the ground, scrambling as he comes at me again.

I don’t think.

I react.

I drive my fist into its jaw, feeling the crack of impact, then grab a broken branch from the ground and swing.

It connects with a sickening thud.

The wolf recoils, but shakes off the hit and lunges again, faster this time.

He knocks me down using his weight against me.

I roll in the mud, trying to get as far away from his snapping teeth as I can.

I shove my forearm against its throat, holding it back, muscles straining.

“Get off me!” I snarl.

He growls, pushing harder, and slowly the distance between us is closed.

Then its jaws clamp down on my shoulder.

Pain explodes, white-hot and blinding.

I scream, the sound tearing out of me as its teeth sink deeper.

Shift, my wolf roars.

Fire flickers at the edges of my control, dangerous and wild.

No.

I grit my teeth, forcing the flames down, even as pain threatens to drag them free.

The wolf shakes its head, trying to tear into me—

And then it’s gone.

The bond in my chest blazes as anger and protective instinct fill me.

A blur of motion.

A familiar snarl.

Ronan.

Relief crashes into me so hard it’s almost dizzying.

Before I can put my thoughts together hands are pulling me up.

“Get Quin!” I yell, meeting Dex’s eyes.

“Kades got her,” he says.

I look towards where I last saw her, and Kade’s wolf is tearing into the Assembly wolf that had her, brutal and efficient, his massive form moving with lethal precision.

I twist, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, just in time to see Ronan make the killing blow to the wolf that had run me down.

Quin scrambles to her feet, blood streaking down the side of her face.

“Aria!” she shouts.

“I’m okay!” I lie, stepping out of Dex’s supportive grip.

Ronan shifts back, already moving toward me.

“Shit, let me see your shoulder, baby?”

I nod, knowing that if I don’t let him, the anxiety in our bond won’t disappear.

His eyes darken as he takes in the bite, but he is gentle when he prods.

Then he starts to wrap the wound.

Kade appears at Quin’s side, checking her over just as quickly before cleaning her up some and then moving to get a look at me.

Quin and I look like a wreck.

Caked with mud, soaked through, and littered with scratches.

I look around, and the enforcers don’t look much better.

Well, that tells me how their battle must have gone.

“We need to move,” Ronan says, scanning the trees.

“I don’t want to risk any more scouts running into us.”

Neither do I.

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