Page 28 of Curses and Casualties (Hunters Hollow #3)

Ryan

I wake to find Georgia trying to eat breakfast with her fangs still firmly in place. She’s stabbing at scrambled eggs with unnecessary violence, and I can’t help but grin at the frustrated growl that escapes her when she accidentally bites her fork.

“Still stuck?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her from behind.

“Yes,” she grumbles, leaning back against me. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to chew with these things?”

I press a kiss to her neck, right over the second mark that’s now a silvery scar. The sight of it fills me with satisfaction. Two marks. No other wolf in history has managed that—not that I know of, anyway.

We are first. We are strongest.

Damn right we are, I agree with Kane.

“Stop looking so smug,” Georgia says, catching my expression in the reflection of the kitchen window. “This is your fault.”

“You weren’t complaining last night,” I remind her, which earns me an elbow to the ribs.

“I’m complaining now. How am I supposed to talk to a witch with a lisp?”

“I think it’s cute,” I say, which is true. Everything about her is cute, even when she’s irritated and sporting supernatural dental work.

Scarlett stumbles into the kitchen, looking like she hasn’t slept. There’s a sheen of sweat on her forehead despite the cool morning, and her hand is pressed against her chest again.

“Coffee,” she croaks, making grabby hands at the pot.

I pour her a cup, noting how her hands shake slightly as she takes it. “You OK?”

“Peachy,” she says, but her sarcasm lacks its usual bite. “Just feel like there’s a fucking magnet in my chest pulling me north. No big deal.”

Georgia and I exchange worried looks.

“Maybe we should—” Georgia starts, but Scarlett cuts her off.

“I already know it’s the mate pull, OK? I figured it out yesterday, but I didn’t want to admit anything.”

“Do you want to…I don’t know—talk about it or something?” Georgia asks.

Scarlett immediately shakes her head. “No point. I’m not interested.

He’s an ass. And I’m already dealing with one of those where my love life is concerned.

” She gestures to where the Alpha’s bite still exists.

“Besides, we’re finding that witch today.

Period. I’m not into discussing alternatives.

” She drains her coffee in three gulps. “Where’s Ethan? ”

“Checking the car,” I say. “Making sure we’re ready to move.”

As if summoned, Ethan appears in the doorway. His eyes immediately find Scarlett, concern evident in every line of his face. “We’re good to go. Amara’s protection charms are still active on the vehicle.”

“Great. Let’s get this show on the road before I decide to sprint north like a fucking compass needle,” Scarlett says, already heading for her gear.

Twenty minutes later, we’re loaded up and heading deeper into the mountains.

Georgia’s fangs finally retract about ten minutes into the drive—apparently, the motion sickness did what willpower couldn’t.

She’s still flexing her fingers, marveling at her normal human nails.

“Oh, thank the heavens,” she mutters, hugging her regular hands to her chest.

“Thank the moon goddess,” Scarlett reminds her. “She’s the one who released her hold.”

“Thank you, moon goddess,” Georgia parrots, making dramatic bowing motions.

“Two days travel,” I remind everyone. “The Stonecrest Falls Coven should be near Crescent Lake.”

Georgia holds up the map, tilting it from side to side as she studies it. “God, I wish we had a proper smartphone instead of the burner. I’d love to see what this place looks like on google maps.”

“Your old job is showing,” Scarlett teases from the backseat. “Were you one of those people who made their own spreadsheets for vacation?”

Georgia’s cheeks flush. “No, but I’d annotate my hiking maps. Just in case.”

“Adorable,” Scarlett croons. “If the geologist stuff doesn’t pan out, you could always be a tour guide for the supernaturals.”

Ethan gives a rare laugh. “Human tourists would never survive it.”

The drive north is easy at first, all wide dawn-lit valleys and the lazy motion of river fog dissolving beneath the sun.

But the closer we draw to our destination, the more the landscape skews from typical Pacific Northwest into something older, moodier, almost enchanted.

Trees seem to lean toward the road, their trunks twisted by time or magic.

Moss drips from branches like green lace, and even the air feels charged—wet and cold and humming with anticipation.

“Anyone else getting the haunted forest vibe?” Ethan asks.

“Absolutely,” Georgia answers, nose pressed to the window despite the chill seeping through the glass.

“See that ridge? That’s a drumlin—subglacial hill.

You only get those in places where old ice sheets crushed everything flat, then left the weird moraine stuff behind as they retreated.

This whole glacier valley must have been under, like, a mile of ice.

” She sounds almost giddy, and for a moment it’s easy to forget the doom, the curses, the wary clutch of fate around our necks.

It almost feels like we’re just driving north for a hike.

But then, abruptly, Scarlett lets out a sharp, ragged sound. “Stop the car!”

“What’s wrong?” I’m already slowing down, pulling toward the shoulder.

“I don’t know. I just—” She cuts off with a gasp, doubling over. “Fuck. It hurts.”

Georgia reaches for her, but Scarlett flinches away. “Don’t. I might... I don’t know what I might do.”

I can smell it now, a wild edge to her scent, the way her wolf is fighting to surface. This isn’t just discomfort anymore. The mate bond is demanding acknowledgment.

“Scarlett, look at me,” I use my alpha tone, hoping to ground her.

Her eyes snap to mine, and they’re more gold than hazel. “I can feel him,” she whispers. “He’s in so much pain. Why is he in so much pain?”

“He’s fighting the bond,” Georgia says softly. “Just like you are.”

“I’m not fighting it!” Scarlett snarls, then immediately looks horrified. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s OK,” I assure her. “The pull is getting stronger. We need to?—”

The sharp crack of a breaking branch cuts me off. We all freeze.

“Out of the car,” I order quietly. “Now.”

We move as one, slipping out of the vehicle just as three wolves emerge from the forest. Pack scouts. Their eyes gleam with recognition when they spot us.

“Well, well,” the lead scout says, shifting to human form. “The fugitives. The Alpha will be pleased.”

Kill them. Protect mate.

Not yet, I tell Kane, though every muscle is coiled to strike.

“You’re outside pack territory,” I point out. “You have no authority here.”

The scout laughs. “Authority? You gave up any claim to authority when you ran, traitor. And took the Alpha’s property with you.” His eyes land on Scarlett.

That’s when everything goes sideways.

Scarlett’s control snaps. With a roar that’s pure fury, she partially shifts—claws out, fangs bared, caught between human and wolf. “I am NO ONE’S property!”

She launches herself at the scout with inhuman speed.

“Shit,” Ethan breathes, already moving to help her.

But Georgia beats us both to it.

One moment she’s standing beside me, fully human. The next, silver light explodes from her skin and Luna partially manifests—not fully, but enough. Talon-like claws rake across the second scout’s face before he can even react.

“Holy fuck,” I breathe. Georgia’s eyes are pure silver—otherworldly. She’s moving with Luna’s grace, and for one second, I forget how to breathe. It’s beautiful. And terrifying. She’s not just mine. She’s something more .

The third scout tries to run. I don’t let him. Kane and I move as one, taking him down before he can howl for backup. A quick strike to the temple, and he’s unconscious.

When I turn back, Scarlett has the lead scout pinned, her claws at his throat. “Tell the Alpha,” she hisses, “that I reject his mark. I reject his claim. And if he wants me back, he can come fight me himself.”

“Scarlett,” Ethan says carefully.

She blinks, some humanity returning to her eyes. With visible effort, she releases the scout and steps back. “Run,” she tells him. “Run and don’t come back.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice.

As the scouts flee, I catch Georgia as she sways. The silver light fades, leaving her looking dazed.

“Did I just?—?”

“You did,” I confirm, pride and awe filling me. “Partially. Luna showed up the moment you wanted her to. How did it feel?”

“Different,” she whispers, pressing her clawless hand to her chest as if testing whether her heart still beats in her ribs and not somewhere wilder and more uncontained.

“I remember everything, but also... I didn’t care about anything but saving you and Scarlett.

That’s all that mattered.” She looks up, tears trembling in her lashes, but her eyes are clear, focused.

“I thought it’d be like drowning, but it was more like—just opening a door.

” She glances down at her hands, turning them over as if they might still find a trace of claw, but they’re bare, only the faintest shimmer left beneath the skin.

“She’s… lighter now. Like she’s happy.” Georgia’s eyes find mine, green and laughing, even through her exhaustion. “I can’t believe I did that.”

“You were perfect,” I murmur, brushing my thumb over her cheekbone, aware of Kane pacing behind my eyes, howling in silent triumph. Mate strong. Mate ready. Soon.

Scarlett draws in a shaky breath, hands still curled in loose fists as she wipes blood from the corner of her mouth.

She scans the empty woods where the scouts vanished, then turns to Georgia, studying her like she’s seeing her for the first time.

“You looked... terrifying,” she croaks, sounding both jealous and relieved.

“Like, in a supermodel-with-Sabertooth-hands way.”

“It felt incredible,” Georgia whispers and Scarlett smiles.

“It looked it.”