Page 43 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)

N ori’s eyes fly open. She is exactly where Freya said she’d be, sitting on the front of a horse, leaning against a male who smells of rotten apples.

A thick rope surrounds her wrists, keeping them tightly together in her lap.

Her mouth is gagged with a filthy cloth.

It smells like it came from the rotten-apple man’s pocket.

Looking around, trying to orient herself, all she sees are trees in every direction and snow on the ground. Nori glances up at the sky to find a normal-sized moon.

Breathing shallowly through her nose, she reaches for her wolf in her mind. “ Aylin! Are you there? ”

“ Yes. I think I’m in shock over meeting the Moon Goddess in person. I still can’t get over Fated Mate, and what the hell is a Lightbringer? ”

“ There’s no time to figure all that out now. I need two claws to get through this rope without alerting rotten-apple guy. ”

Two claws extend from Nori’s right hand, and she begins carefully sawing at the rope, letting the fibers fall to the ground in front of her. She can’t risk drawing blood to leave as a trail because her captor will smell it. So, she cuts through the rope, keeping as still as possible.

Worried now, realizing they are in a terrible situation, Aylin asks, “ Do you think they’ll come for us, Nori? ”

“ Absolutely, yes! It’s only a matter of time before Ryland and Bade figure out that we are missing. Once they realize we’ve been taken, they will hunt us down and kill this smelly wolf. It will be awesome! ” Nori says confidently.

“Ah, you’re awake!” the stinky kidnapper says. “I’m not sure why Beta Malrik has gone to such lengths to get a slave girl back, but he will be pleased with me. Yes, indeed. I’ll retire on the bounty money.”

Nori’s eyes widen. Bounty? What possible reason could Malrik have for wanting her back bad enough to put up a bounty? He hated her. They all did! She tries to yell at the smelly male around the gag, but it comes out muffled.

“What was that? I can’t hear you.” He laughs at his own joke and takes a drink of something that smells like gasoline. She’s guessing it’s alcohol, but it smells rancid.

Nori leans forward in the saddle and then quickly rears back, trying to hit the kidnapper in the face. She’s not as tall as he is, but does manage to slam her head into his chin.

He whips out a knife and holds it to her throat. “There’ll be none of that unless you want me to drug you again.”

The kidnapper barks out a short laugh, wrapping his other arm around Nori’s waist. “It will take us a couple of days, maybe three, if I drag it out, to get to Starfall. In the meantime...”

Pulling her close to him, he digs his erection into her ass, making Nori gag. He snarls against her ear. “You and I will get to know each other very well. Malrik said nothing about what shape I return you in, just that I return you.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, they catch the stench of a Rogue. The kidnapper pulls the horse to a stop. He sheaths his knife and reaches for his sword, but he’s too slow. A female Rogue bursts from the woods, tackling the kidnapper off the back of the horse.

Nori leans forward, throws her leg over, and jumps down off the horse, away from the battle between the male and the Rogue, landing on her butt. Screams of agony from the kidnapper and blood-curdling snarls from the Rogue echo through the forest.

The next few moments are filled with sounds of ripping flesh and gurgling, choking noises. The smell of blood saturates the air.

Trying not to panic, Nori tears the offensive gag out of her mouth and makes quick work of the rope.

“ We’re next, Aylin! Shift! ” she yells.

The air shimmers briefly as Nori instantly transforms into her wolf, her clothes ripping from her body.

Aylin backs into a defensive stance and watches the Rogue stalk around the horse toward her.

Oddly, instead of attacking or turning into a crazed beast, the Rogue calmly sits down on the ground in front of her.

Aylin whispers to Nori, “ Should I attack? What the hell is happening? ”

When they hear a hoarse, feminine voice in their minds, Aylin and Nori stop. Frozen.

“ Nori? Aylin? It’s me, Mom. ” The Rogue shifts her weight forward to get up, and Aylin growls and steps back.

The Rogue sits back down with a huff. “ Seriously, girls, it is me. Draven cursed me and your father, transforming us into, well, this! All Rogues are really wolf shifters who Draven has cursed. ”

Aylin pushes her thoughts to the Rogue. “ How can I hear you in my head? Why aren’t you attacking me? ”

The female Rogue looks to the sky, trying to figure out what to say that will make the girls believe her. “ Sunshine! We used to call you Sunshine! ”

Aylin practically falls over at hearing her nickname. “ Mom? They told us you and Dad were dead! Is that really you? Alive? ”

Rogue-Mom sighs in Aylin’s mind. “ Yes, my beautiful girl! Yes, it’s me. Your father is alive too! ”

Aylin runs up to her mom, who looks like a Rogue, nuzzling her. “ What? I can’t believe it! Oh, Mom, we’ve missed you so much! ”

Rogue-Mom cradles Aylin’s head and looks her in the eyes. “ I’ve missed you too, love, but there is no time for that now. I need you to break the curse and heal me, Aylin. ”

“ Me? How in the world do I do that? ”

“ Use your power. Surely, you’ve discovered you have a massive power by now? ” Rogue-Mom asks.

“ You mean the blazing light? I know about it, but I don’t know how to use it yet. ”

“ Yes, yes! You’ll need both of your powers to break this curse. Reach for your powers at the same time, then push the power out of you toward me,” Rogue-Mom says excitedly.

Aylin tilts her head, hearing hooves pounding the ground, still a few miles away. She catches Bade’s scent on the wind. “ That would be my Mate coming for me. Maybe we should wait. He can help. ”

“ No, Aylin, please. They will not hesitate to kill me, no matter what you say, because I am Rogue! You must use your power to lift this curse before they arrive. Please, daughter! ”

Aylin tilts her head and says to Nori, “ Are you ready for this? Mom is probably right; they will attack her as soon as they see her. ”

Nori, still shocked that her mom is alive, agrees. They should try to help her before the others arrive. “ We can do this! ”

Aylin steps back, silently thanking the Goddess that she and Nori have practiced accessing their powers nearly every hour since they first discovered them.

Together, they call forth both of their powers.

Aylin’s entire body shimmers with a bright, golden light, glittering like stardust. Following their mother’s instructions, they focus on pushing their powers into her.

A stream of light from their combined powers slams into Rogue-Mom, knocking her to the ground.

A brilliant burst of golden light erupts around her, lighting up the forest in every direction.

A tortured howl rips from Rogue-Mom’s throat as she writhes in agony.

When the flash fades, a soft, sparkling light blankets her body.

Slowly. Excruciatingly. The monstrous form begins to fade, and the transformation from Rogue to she-wolf begins.