Page 36 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)
T he first thing Nori notices is Ryland’s delicious scent all over her. Her eyes pop open. She looks around the room and finds that she’s in a hospital bed. She must be in an actual room because there’s a closed door on the opposite wall from her.
Ryland is asleep beside her, sitting in a chair with his head lying on her bed, holding her hand. She reaches over with her free hand and lays it on the top of his head. He immediately jerks awake. Nori smiles and says, “Hey.”
Worry etches his face as he leans over her to pull her into an embrace. “Nori! ”
A single breath hitches in his throat. “Two days, Nori! You’ve been out for two days!” He leans back to look at her, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I have been worried sick!”
Nori reaches up and touches his chin. She scoots to the far side of the bed away from him and grabs his shirt. “Come here.”
Ryland climbs into the bed, as Nori turns to face away from him. He wraps both arms and one leg around her, holding as much of her body as possible. Now that she is awake and unharmed, the tension that’s gripped him for the past two days slowly begins to melt away.
Nori holds both of his hands in hers and basks in the warmth of this enormous male, completely enveloping her. “I remember finishing the healing and then, nothing. What happened next? Is Zayne…?”
Squeezing her hands, Ryland replies, “Zayne is completely healed. Both he and Sadie are very grateful, Nori. We all are. You, on the other hand, immediately passed out after the healing, scaring the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you, Ryland. I feel perfectly fine now, though.” Nori’s heart flips over this powerful Alpha, who was so worried about her. Before him, only her parents had ever been concerned about her well-being.
“I haven’t had much time to practice with this healing thing. Adele talked me into practicing on her, but we only did minor injuries, like cuts. That is until she jabbed that silver spike through her hand.”
Nori blows out a breath. “I swear, that was the craziest thing I have ever seen. Your sister is nuts.” She laughs nervously. “That’s how I knew healing Zayne was likely to cause him a great deal of pain. Adele screamed several times when I healed the hole in her hand.”
“Since when are you a healer, Nori?”
“Well, ever since, umm, the night when...” She pauses, not knowing how to finish.
Ryland tenses. “The evening when I almost killed the both of us, you mean?”
Nori tugs his arms tighter around her and softens her voice. “Yes. Ever since that night, I’ve been looking for information about shifter powers in your history books. I read all of them, but none of them had any information about powers with a golden light.”
“How did you figure it out?” Ryland asks when she pauses.
“Two of the books mentioned that Seers and Empaths can sense a shifter’s power. Turns out, you have a Seer here. Lyra told me that I am a healer, and she explained the basics of how to use the power. After that, Aylin and I got to work figuring out how to access it.”
“You’ve been very busy, Nori.”
“Did you think I just sat around on the sofa worrying about when you would return?” She grins, laughing under her breath, and squeezes his hands.
“I’m teasing. I was literally counting the days, and I worried the entire time you were gone.
When you weren’t back after four days, I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind! ”
Ryland eases her hair out of his face and kisses the back of her neck. “I’m sorry I was late. The snowstorm lasted two days, then it took an extra day to find the Rogues. I became a total asshole to everyone the moment I realized I wouldn’t be back when I said I would.”
He lowers his face to her neck, breathing in her scent. “I missed you so very much.”
“Me too, Ryland. I would have been a basket case had Adele not kept me busy with the healing practice. She was excellent company while you were gone.”
“I’m glad you two are getting along.”
Nori chuckles lightly. “Lyra’s weird, though, right? I seriously thought Aylin was going to kill her.”
Ryland laughs softly against her skin. “Yes, she’s extremely weird. We ran a thorough background check on her before allowing her to stay. I owe her for assisting you heal my brother, though.”
“Yeah. She was extremely helpful. Unfortunately, it seems like I need to know what I want this power to do in order for the healing to work. It would be nice if I had an instruction manual. ”
Nori’s stomach suddenly growls loudly, resulting in laughter from both of them.
Ryland untangles himself from Nori’s body, stands up, and holds his hand out to her. “Let’s go find you some food!”
“Great, because apparently, I am starving!” She laughs again and takes his hand.
Ryland leads her to an expansive kitchen. Large, stainless-steel appliances and a huge stove with twelve burners line one wall of the kitchen. Their sleek surfaces contrast with the rustic surroundings—stone floors, stone walls, and two large, round, wooden chandeliers that hang from the ceiling.
In the heart of the kitchen is a stone fireplace built directly into the far wall, sitting cold and dark. Nori notices several long wooden tables off to the right. All the tables have their chairs turned upside down, resting on the tabletops.
“Where is everyone?” Nori asks.
Ryland smiles, guiding her to the refrigerator. “It’s two in the morning, Nori. Everyone is likely in bed. Should we make sandwiches?”
“Yes! Sandwiches would be great!” Nori clasps her hands together and bounces on her feet, like sandwiches are exactly what she wanted.
They forage through the giant fridge, taking out meats and cheese and lettuce and tomato.
Ryland slices some fresh bread and the tomato while Nori unwraps the meats and cheese.
After they have made their sandwiches, Nori hops up on a counter to eat, and Ryland leans against the kitchen island opposite her.
She moans as she takes her first bite. “This is the best sandwich I have ever had! I must really be hungry.”
Ryland whistles low with a hint of a smile. “Nori, if you moan like that again, I may not let you finish eating.”
She blushes and returns his smile. “OK, Ryland. Tell me about your trip, then.”
Ryland recaps his trip to Silver Pine for her while they eat. “The people there enjoy living off the grid. They are extremely self-sufficient. The mayor didn’t ask us for help until they had already experienced several attacks.”
Nori frowns. “How many pack members did they lose?”
“Sadly, six. Even though they have Guards, it wasn’t enough. We are working on a plan to rotate our own Guards and Enforcers to all the towns throughout our Packlands for an added layer of protection.”
Ryland tells her how Zayne was bitten. Then, in a low voice, he says, “On the way back, he told me Sadie is pregnant. I was certain he was going to die, Nori. I can’t describe how grateful I am that you saved my brother.”
“I’m so relieved I could help,” Nori says sincerely.
They eat in silence for a moment, and then she says, “I think I need a lot more practice to keep from passing out next time. Although, it’s awful watching Adele injure herself, just so I can learn how to use this power.”
Nori pulls her eyebrows together, frustrated. “Also, we don’t exactly know what Aylin’s power does. All we know is that it’s huge—much bigger than mine.”
“Why didn’t you ask the Seer?”
“Oh, no! That couldn’t happen. Lyra needed me to shift in order to tell us about Aylin’s power.”
“I don’t understand. Why not shift?”
“Mom’s rule. Never ever shift in front of anyone.” Nori looks up at Ryland shyly. “I would…I would shift in front of you. We’d have to be one hundred percent certain no one else was around, though.”
Ryland stares at her, savoring how much she trusts him. Then he tilts his head thoughtfully. “You were ten when your mother died? How old were you when you first shifted, Nori?”
“Did the math, did you?” Nori smiles sheepishly. Ryland slowly nods his head, bracing for what he knows her answer will be.
“I was an early shifter. I was eight the first time it happened, which is super rare, I know.”
He thought he had prepared himself, but he’s so shocked at her young age that his mouth falls open. “It’s not rare, Nori; it’s unheard of to shift so young. That…that never happens. ”
“What will really blow your mind is that I honestly can’t remember a time when Aylin wasn’t with me.” Nori points to her head. She watches the surprise cross his face again as she finishes her sandwich.
“That is astonishing. I didn’t hear Bade until I was thirteen, which is young, but not that uncommon. I didn’t shift for the first time until I was sixteen, pretty close to when most experience their first shift.”
Nori nods. “I think being extremely young was definitely part of the reason Mom didn’t want me to shift in front of anyone. There must have been something else, though, because she was adamant about it. I mean, every day for those last two years, she would warn us.”