Page 14 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)

N ori stops breathing. Her eyes snap up to meet his, and her heart rate picks up again. Her fight-or-flight mode kicks in, but there’s nowhere to run, and fighting this Alpha Male is not an option.

Aylin’s nervous voice echoes through her brain. “ Well, I guess we’ve delayed this moment as long as we can. ”

Nori relaxes slightly and replies to Aylin, “ Wait. I have an idea. ”

She takes a deep breath and folds her hands together on the table to keep them from trembling. “Before I answer your questions, I would like some assurances.”

Ryland leans back, resting his ankle on the opposite knee. “Assurances?”

“More like promises.” Nori squirms in her seat, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the Prince.

“I am happy to tell you my story, but I want your word as the Prince of All Wolves that you will not kill me, nor will you send me back to my Pack, and you will do your best to keep me from harm while I am here.”

Ryland smirks. “And what if I don’t agree to these terms?”

Bade picks that moment to chime in, “ She’s scared! ”

Still angry from the whole-body takeover, Ryland yells at him. “ Shut! Up! ”

Nori looks down at the table of remaining food and around the room.

Slowly, she shifts her eyes back to the Prince.

“Well, I would thank you for the shower and the truly excellent food. Then, I would ask that you take me back to the dungeon with that crazy-eyed Rogue, or maybe send me on my way to a Pack that maybe won’t care where I come from.

Are there any Packs that might take me in without knowing my history?

Or maybe I’ll hang with the humans for a while. ”

Ryland leans forward. “That is a lot of maybes.”

Bade’s voice is loud and insistent in his head. “ Don’t you dare let her leave! We need to protect our Mate. ”

He leans back again and sighs at the ceiling. He can’t believe how attached Bade is already. He considers her request. What could it hurt to promise not to kill her or send her back to her Pack? When she rejects him, he can help her get settled in any number of Packs.

Ryland mulls over these thoughts for a moment. Then it hits him. Of course, this is the reason she has not rejected him. She’s in trouble, and he’s in a position of great importance and can easily help her if he chooses to do so.

He looks at Nori and sighs heavily. “Alright, I’ll agree to your terms.”

Nori tilts her head. “I have your word?”

Trying not to sound irritated, Ryland says, “Yes. Now, who are you?”

She nods sadly, and Aylin tries to comfort her. “ It’ll be alright. No matter what, it will be alright. ”

Tears form in Nori’s eyes, and she buries her face in her hands as her breath hitches.

She wonders if he’ll actually keep his word when she tells him the truth.

Is there any way to avoid answering his very direct questions?

At this moment, she really hates Rule #2, but she knows what will happen if she doesn’t answer.

Ryland leans forward with his arms on the table and says softly, “It can’t be that bad.”

Nori laughs and wipes the tears from her face, straightening her shoulders, and says, “Right.” She looks at the Prince and says, “My— ”

Aylin sounds the alarm in Nori’s head. “ She-Wolf! ”

Nori’s head whips to the doors moments before they burst open. In swoops a woman so beautiful that she’s hard to look at.

Ryland growls at the interruption. The she-wolf was just about to tell him her name. He looks at her and notices that she practically jumps out of her skin at the intrusion. Her heart is beating a mile a minute. Ryland realizes that Bade was right. She is terrified.

“Calm down. It’s only my very nosy younger sister.”

Turning his head toward his sister, Ryland says as sarcastically as he can, “Adele, how good of you to join us, uninvited.”

Adele takes in the scene of her brother and the wide-eyed she-wolf sitting at the table. She flips her hair out of her face. “So, the rumors are true. You do have a female in your room. You haven’t run across a new Mate in years, Ry. How lucky for you.” Her tone is also dripping with sarcasm.

Garek runs in right after her, looking contrite. “Sorry, Ry. I did try to stop her, but she is fucking slippery.” He pours himself a drink, takes a seat at the table, and stares at Nori. “You look better without all that mud.”

Ryland shakes his head, thinking of all the ways he’s going to kill them later.

Adele plops down in a side chair, putting her feet up on the ottoman like she owns the place. She gives Nori a once- over and flippantly says, “She’s awfully thin, Ry. Is she waiting for the dessert course before rejecting the Bond?”

Nori studies Adele, admiring her thick, long, jet-black hair.

Adele is the picture of an Alpha’s sister.

She looks strong and confident, wearing expensive and stylish clothes—brown leather pants with tall boots, and a flowy white blouse paired with a tight leather vest, accentuating her large breasts.

But her most striking feature is her big blue eyes—strange for a wolf with dark hair.

She is in a whole other league than Nori.

With a heavy sigh, Ryland briefly thinks maybe the she-wolf is actually waiting until after the meal. He looks at his temporary Mate, who still has a death grip on the table, and says again, “Relax.”

Nori nods, takes a deep breath, and releases the table. She keeps her hands up in case she needs to grab the knife, in defense, of course. Not that she’s ever fought with anyone before.

Aylin chimes in, “ They are very familiar with the Alpha. ”

Nori responds to her with a slight shrug. “ I guess this is how families behave? I don’t know. ”

Adele continues her assessment of Nori. “This one looks like a little mouse, Ry.” She focuses her penetrating gaze on Nori. “Do us a favor, little mouse, and reject my brother already. We have better things to do than wait around while you drag your feet. ”

Aylin growls in Nori’s head loudly, “ Who the hell is she calling a little mouse? ”

Nori jumps in her seat. “ Whoa, Aylin! She’s protecting her brother or testing us or something. You need to calm down and ignore her. ”

Right when Nori finishes telling Aylin to calm down, Adele ramps up her Influence, her blue eyes narrowing as she leans forward in her chair. “I said, say the words to reject the Mate Bond!”

The pressure from Adele’s Influence washes over Nori.

Aylin yells loudly in her head, “ We are a fucking Alpha Daughter! How dare she use her Influence on us? ”

Nori sucks in a breath, closing her eyes. Her back arches and her head falls back as she tries to contain her wolf.

Nori feels her claws start to slide out, and her face contorts. “ Calm the fuck down! NOW! You cannot shift. Mom said no one can see you. And don’t you fucking look at her through my eyes! ”

Aylin relents immediately at the reminder from Nori’s mom. “ Fine. Sorry. ”

“Enough!” Ryland growls, his Alpha Influence forcing Adele to stop.

Nori slumps forward, her chest rising and falling rapidly, thankful that Aylin backed down. She allows everyone in the room to believe Adele’s Influence affected her so strongly.

She turns her head slowly to look at the Prince’s sister. “ No,” she says, responding to Adele’s command to reject the Bond.

Adele leans back in her chair, one eyebrow raised. “Interesting.” She glances at Ryland and mind-links with him. “ Holy shit, she’s strong. ”

Ryland glares at her. “ You need to back off! ”

Garek sips his drink and stares at Nori with suspicion.

Rolling her eyes, Adele ignores her brother’s warning and continues to test Nori. “Well, I guess this one can stomach your scars long enough to get a hot meal. Smart.”

Aylin growls to Nori, “ Stomach his scars? Did she actually just say that in front of him? ”

Nori sits up straight, narrowing her eyes, glaring at Adele.

“You know, little mouse, none of the other Mates, and there were many, could even look at him. They were completely disgusted by that giant scar on his face. Some of them even ran the other way, while rejecting the Bond.”

A low growl slips out of Nori, and she grinds her teeth, trying to contain her anger over the cruel and malicious comments. She yells at Aylin, “ What the actual fuck? What kind of sister says such things about her brother? What a bitch! ”

Aylin repeats Nori’s earlier words with a bit of snarkiness in her tone, “ You need to calm down and ignore her. ”

Ryland studies Nori’s reaction. She’s completely still, not even breathing. Her expression has changed from wide-eyed to menacing. What is that? Anger? She even growled. What could she be so angry about?

Also paying close attention to Nori, Adele cocks her head. “Hmmm, interesting. You’ve gone from terrified to angry in about three seconds. Could it be that you are angry on his behalf? Were you offended by my comments about his scars?” She raises an eyebrow and gives Ryland a hopeful look.

“Breathe, Mate,” Ryland says in what he hopes is a soothing tone.

Nori snaps her gaze from Adele to Ryland, nods, and takes a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

Adele’s eyes widen at Ryland’s term of endearment and the she-wolf’s reaction. Glancing at Garek, she sees his mouth fall open and quickly snap shut.

Garek turns to Ryland, stunned by his gentleness with this stranger. “Have you questioned her yet? Where is she from? Why is she here?”

Ryland’s jaw tightens, irritated at his Beta’s tone. “I will question her my way, in my own time, Beta.”

Garek rubs his face and tries a friendlier approach with his Alpha.

“Look, Ry, you are letting this Mate business get in your head.” He can’t keep it up, though, and lets a little of his anger slide in, pointing at Nori.

“I mean, what the hell is she doing on our lands? She’s a trespasser and should be treated as such, not wined and dined because she’s another in a long line of Mates. We should just—”

Ryland stands and snarls. “What? We should just what, Garek? Kill her on the spot? Send her packing?” He looms over his Beta, clenching his jaw.

“She has survived for weeks on her own in the cold. She evaded three Rogues and killed two by herself. She ran to us for help with nothing. Nothing! I will hear her story, and I will do it my way. Do you have a problem with that?” He’s practically yelling at Garek now.

Shocked at the Prince’s reaction, Nori’s heart soars watching him come to her defense.

Garek hangs his head, “No, Alpha, but—”

Adele stands abruptly, interrupting him. “OK, I think we’ve had enough fun for one evening, Garek. Let’s leave them to it.”

Garek looks at her in surprise. “You can’t be serious, Adele.”

Adele rushes around the table and grabs his arm, pulling him to his feet. “Yup. One hundred percent. Now move it!” She mind-links to Garek, “ He called her Mate. This is serious! Let’s go. ”

She looks from the she-wolf to her brother. “Sorry for the interruption, Ry. Good luck.”

Adele ushers Garek out of the room and closes the doors.