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CHAPTER8

Iwoke up drowning in their scent, my body humming with remembered pleasure.The sheets twisted around my naked limbs still held their warmth, but the spaces beside me lay empty.My skin tingled with the memory of their hands, their mouths, the overwhelming sensation of belonging to them all at once.I stretched, wincing at the delicious ache between my thighs and the marks from their bites, proof that last night hadn't been a dream.

Light filtered through the curtains, casting the cabin in a hazy glow that didn't match my mood.Where were they?After what we'd shared, I hadn't expected to wake alone.After the awful realization that the bond hadn't worked, I'd been too exhausted to do more than move to the bed and pass out.

I sat up slowly, pulling the blanket to cover my breasts even though there was no one to see.The fire in the hearth had dwindled to glowing embers.The silence pressed in around me, heavy and wrong after a night filled with growls, moans, and whispered promises.

"Garrett?"My voice sounded small against the emptiness.

No answer.

"Ronan?Cassian?"

Nothing.

The floorboards creaked beneath my feet as I stood, wrapping the sheet around me like armor.My discarded nightdress lay abandoned on the floor.I still didn't know where they'd gotten it from, and I didn't plan on asking.

They'd been here.All seven of them tangled with me, and we'd claimed each other.We'd been desperate, all of us.The curse that bound them to their animal forms for most daylight hours had been weakening over the weeks since I'd found them.Last night, with the moon high and their human forms stable longer than ever before, we'd surrendered to the pull between us.

They'd told me the legends.A woman would come who could break their curse.A woman bound to all seven of them, her soul split seven ways.

Me.

I thought we'd succeeded.The way the cabin had practically vibrated with power as we'd come together, the way the bond between us had flared like wildfire...I'd fallen asleep too exhausted to think more about it.I'd hoped that morning would bring their final freedom.

I moved to the window, the sheet trailing behind me.Where were they?Had they gone hunting?What did they even do in their animal forms?Since I'd arrived here, I'd only ever seen them guard me.

A movement caught my eye.A massive shadow shifting near the tree line.Garrett.Even in bear form, I recognized him instantly, his dark eyes finding mine through the glass.His massive head lowered in what looked like shame.

My heart dropped.The curse hadn't broken.Maybe I could hope it would tonight when they turned back into humans.

I pressed my hand against the window, watching as he paced back and forth.The powerful bear moved with the same controlled strength as the man, but he couldn't speak to me.Afraid to hold me.

A flash of orange fur drew my attention to the hearth.Cassian's fox form lay curled in the shadows by the hearth, his sharp eyes regarding me with a mixture of sorrow and mischief that was uniquely his.When he saw me looking, his bushy tail twitched once in acknowledgment.

Movement from above made me glance up.Leif perched on the rafters, his hawk wings half-spread as if caught between landing and taking flight.Even as a bird, there was something defiant in the way he held himself, something restless and wild.

I turned slowly, suddenly aware that I wasn't as alone as I'd thought.

Kade crouched in the darkest corner of the room, his panther form nearly invisible until he blinked.Those impossibly dark eyes tracked my every movement, protective and wary.

Near the bed, Nikolai's serpent body coiled in a tight spiral, his scales gleaming in the dim light.Unlike the others, he seemed perfectly still, waiting with inhuman patience.The only sign of life was the occasional flicker of his forked tongue.

A low growl drew my attention to Ronan, who paced into the room in his wolf form.His gray fur bristled each time I moved toward the door, as if warning me not to leave his sight.The fierce protectiveness I'd felt from him last night hadn't faded with the change.

And finally, I spotted Evander by the window.The stag stood tall and proud, his antlers nearly brushing the ceiling beams.There was something regal in his stance, even as his soft brown eyes reflected a deep sadness.How could I have missed them before?

Seven beasts.Seven men trapped between forms.

"It didn't work," I whispered, more to myself than to them.

Ronan growled again, softer this time.Almost apologetic.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching the sheet tighter around me.Last night they'd worshipped every inch of my body with human hands and mouths.This morning, they couldn't even speak to me.

We'd thought physical joining would complete the bond.That somehow my body would be the key to breaking their curse.It had felt right, vital, necessary.The way they'd touched me, claimed me, filled me...it had felt like salvation.Like destiny.I'd given each of them my heart and soul.

But here we were, the morning after, and nothing had changed.Except now I knew exactly what I was missing.Now I'd felt them, all of them, branded myself with their touch.Now the loss cut deeper.