Page 35 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)

“Y esterday—” Adele stops as Garek and Nori rush into the room. Nori’s eyes find Ryland’s, and the room fades to the background.

She runs to him, flinging herself into his arms, trusting he will catch her. Her legs wrap tightly around his waist as she clings to him with all her might. Her lips crash against his in a fierce kiss, wild and unrestrained, showing him just how much she’s missed him.

Ryland staggers back a step from the force of Nori’s embrace but effortlessly holds her weight. He’s bewildered for only a moment before he dives into the frenzied kiss with her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him.

After she’s had her fill, Nori leans her head back, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “You’re late!”

“I know, Nori. We got caught in a snowstorm.” Ryland grips her tightly with one arm under her thighs and one behind her back, staring into her eyes, stunned at the intensity of her greeting.

Her eyes roam over his face; she kisses his right cheek. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt.” He kisses the top of her head.

Nori kisses his chin but looks confused. “Why am I here?”

Ryland’s mouth cracks into a wide grin. “I’m not sure, but I am so fucking glad you are.”

As if from far away, Nori hears Adele calling to her. “Nori?”

She blushes, realizing just how many people are in the room. She sucks in a breath and whispers, “Shit. Sorry.”

She moves to get down, and Ryland releases his hold on her, helping her slide down his body until her feet touch the floor. He tilts her face up to his. “Never apologize for that, Nori; no matter who is in the room.”

Blushing again, she clutches his arm, looking around the room. Adele has a look of terror on her face. Zayne is lying in a hospital bed, bleeding from his side, and a she-wolf with tears rolling down her cheeks is next to Zayne, holding his hand.

“Oh…I know why I’m here.” Nori reluctantly steps away from Ryland, squeezing his hand as she releases her hold on him.

She slowly walks toward Zayne’s bed and stands beside Adele. She leans down to inspect the wound, and a deep frown spreads across her face. “Adele? Is that a bite from a Rogue?”

“Yes, Nori,” Adele says sadly.

A small whimper escapes as Nori tries to take slow, deep breaths while her heart beats furiously.

She’s completely unnerved at seeing an actual Rogue bite.

Knowing what Adele is going to ask her to do, Nori’s normally tight grip on her Alpha Daughter power starts to slip into the room, causing a round of gasps from everyone.

Ignoring them, she continues to examine the bite mark and asks, “So, he’s going to die?”

Sadie is borderline hysterical, waiting for someone to do anything at all to help her Mate. She frantically yells, “No! He is not going to die!” She openly glares at Adele. “What the hell are you waiting for? Give him the antidote!” She growls, “NOW!”

Nori flicks her eyes up to look at Sadie. Sadie’s mouth snaps shut, and she takes a step back from the power rolling off of Nori .

Aylin tries to help. “ Keep taking those deep breaths and settle down. We can do this. We’ve been very successful, practicing on Adele. ”

Nori stands up and faces Adele. Blowing out a breath, she looks up at the ceiling to keep her tears from falling. “Is it…” She clears her throat. “Is it at all possible that I could make him worse?”

Adele gently grasps Nori’s arms. “No. There is no chance that you could make him worse.” Tears hang on her lashes as she flicks her gaze to Zayne. “If you can’t heal him, we’ll try the antidote, but…I’ve had zero positive test results. It won’t help him.”

Adele’s tears slowly fall down her face. “Please, Nori. I need you to try. Please try to save my brother.”

Nori nods. “I’m going to need that Seer for this.”

Adele smiles weakly and hugs Nori fiercely. “I’ve already sent for her.”

Bade whispers to Ryland, “ Just what have they been doing since we’ve been gone, and when did Nori and Adele get so chummy? ”

Ryland is fascinated, watching Nori embrace his sister like they are best friends. He tells Bade to quiet down and see what happens.

Zayne sits up on his elbows, panting from the exertion. “Earth to Adele? What the hell is she doing here? What’s going on? ”

Adele releases Nori and faces her brother, wiping her face. “As I was telling you. Yesterday, I plunged a silver spike through my hand.” Startled gasps roll through the room.

“What? Why would you do that?” Zayne falls back against the pillow, too weak to hold himself up any longer.

“Do you see any mark on my hand at all?” Adele shoves her left hand in front of his face, turning it over. “Nothing, right?”

She grabs his hand. “I took Nori to the Seer to find out what her golden light powers are, and Nori is a healer. I’ve been helping her practice using her powers for the past few days, and she is literally the most powerful wolf I have ever met.”

All eyes turn to look at Nori, who instantly holds her hands up. “The silver spike was not my idea, by the way.”

Zayne frowns. “Nope. No. I don’t trust her.”

Adele pleads with him, squeezing his hand. “Zayne, I’m telling you. It’s the only way. Please! It can’t hurt to let her try!”

“Do it!” Sadie says. “I cannot lose him.” She looks at Zayne, narrowing her eyes. “You are going to let her try.”

Zayne relents, and Nori steps up next to him.

Inhaling slowly, trying to remain calm, Nori concentrates on the warm light of her power and holds out her hands. Instantly, a brilliant light surrounds her hands, lighting up the room .

She quickly snaps her hands closed, shutting off the bright light. Nori is so nervous that she forgets to talk to Aylin in her mind. “Nope, nope! That’s yours. We’re looking for mine.”

Aylin says to her, “ I know. Shit. Sorry. Sparkly light. Try again. ”

Again, Nori holds out her hands, and this time she finds her soft, warm power. Just as Lyra, the Seer, enters the room, Nori’s hands begin to glow with her sparkly light. Ryland sucks in a surprised breath.

Lyra exclaims, “Oh my!”

Ignoring the Seer, Nori focuses her gaze on Zayne’s Mate. “What’s your name?”

“Sadie.”

“Sadie, I’m going to have to touch him,” Nori says, her glowing hands hovering near Zayne’s wound.

“OK?” Sadie tilts her head, looking confused.

“Sadie, what I have to do is likely to cause him a great deal of pain.” Nori glances at Ryland.

He nods and walks around the bed, positioning himself behind Zayne’s Mate.

Sadie takes a breath and rolls her shoulders back, preparing herself for whatever pain her Mate is about to have to endure. “I understand.”

Nori shifts her gaze over Sadie’s head to Ryland. “She might try to attack me. ”

“I’ll handle it, Nori.”

Sadie looks from Ryland to Nori. “No. I won’t attack you.”

“Sadie, I would absolutely attack you if our roles were reversed, and I am only Mate Bonded to him,” Nori says, nodding at Ryland.

Sadie’s eyes widen, but then she says, “I can handle it. You just do whatever you’re going to do and save my Mate.”

Nori nods and turns to look at the Seer. “Zayne has been bitten by a Rogue, Lyra. The bite is poisonous. Do you have any thoughts on how I should proceed?”

Lyra cocks her head and frowns as she looks at the wound. “My best advice is to lay your hands on the wound and try to feel for the poison in his body. It should feel foreign. Wrong. Once you find it, pull the poison toward the wound, toward your hands, drawing it out of his body.”

“Right. OK.” Nori releases another shaky breath, straightening her shoulders and planting her feet to ground herself. “Feel for the poison and pull it out.”

She places her glowing hands on Zayne—both hands covering the bite mark, surrounding every puncture wound with light.

Zayne immediately tells Sadie it doesn’t hurt. Nori cocks an eyebrow. “I haven’t started yet.”

She looks for the poison and asks Aylin if she senses anything. After a moment, Nori exclaims out loud, “Oh! Do you feel that? ”

Aylin replies, “ Yes. Feels wrong, like she said. ”

“OK. Guide the poison toward us and out of the wound,” Nori mutters, concentrating on those instructions.

Zayne breathes out a small moan of discomfort through his clenched jaw.

Adele watches a single drop of thick, black liquid fall to the floor. In a hushed tone, she says, “It’s working. Keep doing what you are doing.”

Lyra steps closer to see what’s happening. Aylin instantly takes control of Nori’s body. Using her Influence, she yells, “Don’t touch her!”

Lyra’s eyes widen, and she jumps back from the powerful she-wolf.

“We are working here, Aylin. Concentrate, please.” Nori says, talking to her wolf out loud again.

When a steady drip of the black poison begins to fall out of the wound, Zayne lets out a quick yell. His body jerks up, and his hands clench into fists, holding the side of the bed.

Sadie shouts at Nori, “Stop! Stop!”

Adele leans in, watching the poison trickle out. “No, keep going, Nori.”

As Nori continues drawing the poison out of Zayne, he lets out a long howl. He grinds his teeth as his body bows up from the pain, but Nori maintains her grip on him.

She hears Sadie growling, and without looking up, says, “Ryland? ”

Ryland already has his hands around Sadie’s biceps from behind her. “I’ve got her, Nori. She won’t touch you.”

“Hold him down!” Nori yells, when Zayne starts thrashing from the pain. Garek grabs his legs, and Adele leans over, putting her weight on Zayne’s shoulders.

Sweat is beading on Nori’s brow and sliding down the side of her face and the back of her neck. Lyra leans forward and advises, “Before you stop, do a final sweep to make sure there’s no more poison left inside his body.”

Nori’s arms tremble from the amount of power she’s using. Zayne’s howls turn to screams, and Ryland shifts his grip on Sadie, pulling her against him, wrapping both arms around her front. Sadie thrashes and growls, trying to get to Nori.

Adele looks up to see Nori dripping in sweat. “Maybe we should take a break and try again in a bit.”

“No. I’ve just about got it. There’s one last drop, but it’s not moving.

” Straining, trying to remove that last tiny amount of poison, Nori continues talking to her wolf out loud.

“Aylin, I need just the tiniest boost. Gently, now. Not too much. Yes! There. Stop and hold that.” Nori, immersed in her concentration, sucks in a quick breath. “It’s moving!”

When the last drop of poison finally falls out of Zayne’s wound, she releases her power and weakly says, “Done.” Her head falls back, and her knees buckle.

In that exact moment, Ryland releases Sadie, and using all of his Alpha Speed, he sails over the bed. He catches Nori right before her head hits the floor.

Everyone else is sucking in deep shuddering breaths. Sweating and panting, Zayne lies back, grateful that the pain has stopped.

Adele tries to control her trembling hands as she wipes the blood and poison off Zayne’s side. Her face splits into a wide grin. “She did it! The poison is out, and he’s healing on his own.”

Crying with relief, Sadie throws herself onto the bed, embracing her Mate. “Oh my gods! Zayne!”

“It’s OK, dear,” Zayne mutters. “I feel much better, now.”

Garek stumbles back against the wall, shocked at what he’s just witnessed. He rubs a hand over his face, looking back and forth from Zayne to the strange she-wolf in Ryland’s arms. A million questions roll through his brain, but he’s too stunned to speak.

Ryland cradles Nori on the floor, calling her name over and over. The memory of the night she collapsed to the floor and stopped breathing crashes into his mind.

Lyra places a hand on Ryland’s shoulder. “Nori used a great deal of power to heal your brother. She will very likely be just fine.”

Adele leans down to check Nori’s pulse. “Her pulse is strong, Ryland. I think Lyra is right.”

Using his Alpha Influence, Ryland focuses his piercing gaze on Lyra. His commanding tone is harsh. “You will not speak of what has happened here tonight to anyone. Am I clear?”

The Seer quickly draws her hand away from him and steps back. “Yes, Prince Drakemoor. May I go now?”

His face softens as he returns his gaze to his unconscious Mate. “Yes. Fine. Oh, and Lyra? I will not forget the assistance you’ve provided here today. Thank you.”