Page 33 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)

G roans and mumbled curses drift through the rider’s camp.

Stiff and sore, the men are finally able to emerge from their tents and pack up.

They have been holed up for the past two nights, weathering the storm and eating only what they brought in their packs—mostly dried meats and water.

The weather clears on the morning of the third day, and the riders are eager to break camp and get moving.

The ride to the town is slow as the horses trudge through the deep, fresh snow. They enter the town late in the afternoon and drop off their horses at the stables.

Ryland’s massive warhorse is none too happy about being taken care of by strangers; therefore, Ryland handles him, personally.

He takes off the saddle and bridle, brushes him quickly, and then throws a fresh blanket on the giant, temperamental beast. Ryland tells the stablehands to just make sure he has plenty of food and water, but not to go into his stall.

Exiting the stables, Ryland looks around. It’s been years since he’s been here. Silver Pine is a small town with roughly two hundred pack members. Three dirt roads run through the town. Small homes line the outer areas, forming a perimeter around the town square.

Silver Pine’s town square consists of two bakeries, a tailor, a blacksmith, and a hair salon for both men and women.

During the spring and summer months, a food market, filled with locally grown fruits and vegetables, takes up most of the square.

However, in late fall and winter, the town is almost completely dependent upon regular deliveries of grains and vegetables from the Pack Castle.

The Ironwood Inn sits in the center of Silver Pine. The Inn serves as a gathering hall, restaurant, late-night entertainment, and hotel for travelers passing through. Ryland and Zayne lead the men to the Inn to meet with the Mayor, Valeera Stone, and eat some decent food.

There are murmurs of gratitude when the group of hungry men enters the warm establishment. The Inn smells of fresh bread and some kind of soup or stew cooking. Everyone grabs a chair, waiting for the waitress to take their food and drink orders.

“Good afternoon, Valeera,” Ryland says, shaking her hand. “Sorry for the delay. We got caught in a snowstorm that simply would not let up. Please sit with us and bring us up to speed on your situation. How many attacks have occurred; how many Rogues have you seen; how often do the attacks happen?”

Valeera is frozen for a moment at the sight of the scar.

She recovers quickly, though, and sits down at the table with the two powerful men.

“Thank you, Prince Drakemoor, Commander Drakemoor, for bringing your Enforcers to help us. I’m not sure how many Rogues there are in total.

We’ve been attacked by roughly four or five of them at a time.

Unfortunately, we’ve lost six pack members. ”

Ryland interrupts her. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” Valeera raises her eyebrows, surprised at his sincerity.

“Everyone who chooses to live this far out from the castle does so because they love these forests. We’ve felt very safe here for many years, considering we have always been the most dangerous predators in the area. Until now, that is.”

The waitress brings a beer for Valeera and stew, bread, water, and beers for Ryland and Zayne.

Valeera takes a sip of her beer. “There is no particular time of day or night when the Rogues attack. There have been seven attacks in and around the town over the past few weeks, and they show up every four or five days. The last one was three days ago. Therefore, we can expect another one tomorrow or the next day.”

“Have you determined from which direction they approach the town?” Zayne asks, dipping a piece of bread into his stew.

“No. They first surround the town, and then they approach from all directions. For a bunch of mindless animals, the attacks seem pretty coordinated to me.” Valeera frowns, then takes another big sip of her beer. It’s helping to relax her around the Prince.

Ryland nods and says, “We noticed a high level of organization when we cleared out a group in the eastern province. While ours are not the only Packlands impacted by these Rogues, we appear to be experiencing more attacks than the others.”

He turns to Zayne. “When we return, I want a plan for deploying our troops out to the rest of our lands. It should be a rotating schedule to better protect the Pack. We’ll review it with Garek and a few others when we get back. Then we’ll implement the plan as soon as possible.”

Zayne nods and says cautiously, “I know you are motivated to get the search started, but the horses and the men probably need a break from the cold. We should let them rest tonight and start fresh in the morning. ”

Ryland growls, “Fine!” Sighing heavily, he says to Valeera, “We’ll need rooms for everyone for at least two nights.”

“Certainly. They’ll have to double up, but I’ll get the rooms sorted.”

Ryland stands, and the Enforcers stop eating to listen to their Alpha.

“This town has already lost six pack members to the Rogue scum. I don’t want to lose any more lives.

Therefore, the search for the Rogues will begin at first light!

” Zayne was right; they do need a break from the cold.

Ryland can see their postures relax as he waits for the sighs of relief to subside.

“We don’t know where they’re nesting. We’ll start the search east of town and work our way north tomorrow. If there’s time, we’ll sweep the area to the west as well.”

He looks down at Valeera. “Your Guards are welcome to join us, but you need to keep some back to protect the town.”

Back to the men, he says, “According to Mayor Valeera, we can expect another attack tomorrow or the next day. Zayne will coordinate rotating patrols day and night until we find the Rogues. Enjoy the good food, rest when you can, and remain alert.”

After they’ve eaten their fill, the men spend a few hours drinking beer and speaking with the Silver Pine pack members and Guards.

They mourn for the families who have lost loved ones.

Ryland enjoys their company, but mostly, he hangs back, only speaking when absolutely necessary.

He is aware that his presence makes the pack members nervous.

As the evening winds down, Ryland’s troops trudge upstairs to their assigned rooms. Ryland and Zayne, of course, are in a room together.

“Are you certain she’s the one, Ryland? She’s a slave from Starfall, after all,” Zayne says flippantly while they get ready for bed.

Ryland growls at his brother. “Why do you never listen? I told you. She’s not a slave.

That is not who she is.” He continues removing his weapons and his boots, huffing at Zayne’s comments.

“But yes, I am certain about Nori. It wouldn’t matter to me if she were a slave.

I am all in on this Mate Bond, and I really hope she is too. ”

Ryland sighs, sliding into his small bed. “Get some sleep. We have an early start in the morning.”

Zayne is still reeling from almost losing his brother a few nights ago. He can’t let it go, and says, “I don’t trust her. She almost killed you, Ry.”

“You’re wrong, Zayne. She never lied to me. True, she didn’t tell me she was from Starfall, but she did give me some indication about her life at that Pack, and it was horrific.”

Ryland pauses; his chest tightens as the image of Nori gasping for air and collapsing to the floor flashes through his mind.

“I never for one second thought she could be meant for me. I tried not to want her, but I’m telling you, Zayne, this connection between us is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. ”

Running a hand through his hair, Ryland’s voice drops low. “After I read the note from the Starfall Beta, I can’t even explain exactly what happened, except that it felt like I dove into my destroyer power. I allowed it to consume me; I even blocked Bade completely from my mind.”

He blows out a breath and turns to look at his brother. “So, no, Zayne, she didn’t almost kill me. Everything that happened that night was completely my fault.”

Zayne climbs into his narrow bed, trying to get comfortable. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen you lose control like that. It was frightening to watch.”

He pauses for a moment, briefly thinking his bed is made for children. “So, now what? Has she forgiven you? She’s simply willing to let it go? I can’t believe that, Ry.” Zayne is trying to get his brother to see that Nori is too good to be true.

“No, she has not forgiven me, Zayne, because I asked her not to. I did, however, ask her if we could start over, and she has agreed to that, thankfully.”

A slow smile creeps over his face as he recalls their intimate conversation in his bed.

“We are getting to know one another and trying to be honest with each other. I may not be able to accept or reject this Bond because of the curse, but I fully intend to Claim her as soon as I return, if she consents.”

“You didn’t deserve this curse, Ry,” Zayne says quietly. “My only concern is for you. If you think she’s the one, then I hope, for your sake, that fate or the Moon Goddess brought her here for that reason.”

“Thanks, Zayne. I hope so, too. Now, really, get some sleep.”

T he next morning, four of the town’s Guards join Ryland’s forces. The group grabs a quick breakfast and rides east to search the surrounding forest. Having done this many times, the Enforcers are experts at tracking down Rogues.

They conduct a grid search, each man covering his designated sector, meticulously scanning the area for signs of Rogues.

The men sniff the air for the stench of death and rot.

They search for deep claw marks gouged into trees and the soil, which are some of the unusual behaviors Rogues exhibit.

Of course, they look for massive footprints.

When a large group of Rogues gathers in one place, the beasts will construct strange, chaotic dens. The Enforcers are also looking for land where the underbrush has been unnaturally stripped away .

Finding no evidence of the Rogues to the east, they ride back to the Inn for a quick lunch.

Next, they head north and conduct the same grid search for several more hours.

As dusk settles, Ryland lets out a roar of frustration, finding no sign of their prey.

Zayne gives him a look, and Ryland calls an end to the search.

Riding back to the Inn for dinner, Zayne rides up next to his brother. “You’re losing it, man. You know it can take a couple of days to find these monsters.” Ryland just gives him an exasperated sigh.

They stop at the stables to drop off their horses, and Ryland once again has to tend to his unruly animal, who has decided he hates all the stablehands. He smiles wryly, thinking they are both in a mood tonight.

Ryland is the last one to make it back to the Inn.

He’s immediately annoyed by the boisterous conversations and laughter from the crowd because all he can think of is that today is day four.

Even if they find the Rogues tomorrow, there’s an investigation and a cleanup process to go through.

He’s going to be two days later than he told Nori.

Once he’s seated with his food, Ryland tells the men again to be ready to ride at dawn. Frustrated and on edge, he eats quickly and heads upstairs. He is definitely not good company tonight.

He didn’t realize being away from her would make him this agitated. Listening to everyone else have a good time gives him a powerful urge to rip someone’s head off. Ryland decides to take a shower and go to bed before he yells at one of the men or his brother for no reason.

After the shower, Bade tries to lighten his mood. “ I’m sure we’ll get to kill a bunch of Rogues tomorrow! ”

“ Whatever! ” Ryland snaps at his wolf, then lies down to try and get some sleep.