Page 46 of Recipe for a Curse

“You left because you were worried your wolf would hurt me?” I confirmed.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“Worry over. I’m fine. A little stunned, but fine. We keep you fed and all is good. Maybe we can try to find a way to break the curse?”

“Only way to break the curse is with a bullet through my brain.”

“Does it have to be silver?” I wondered out loud even while not wanting to think it.

“That’s where your brain goes? No, any bullet will do.”

“Then best you stay close where I can feed you and keep some triggered gun-toting asshole from setting his sights on you,” I said matter-of-fact. In the kitchen I found he’d pretty much emptied my fridge, though I had plenty of canned options left. I threw together a taco chicken casserole, popping it in the oven. “I need to get ready for the day, get over to make lunch. But this should be done in twenty so you can snack, okay?”

He let out a long sigh.

“You’re not a burden,” I said before he could say it. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Even knowing I’m a wolf, cursed with this insanity?”

“Can I catch it?” I wondered.

“It’s not an STD. I’d have to nearly kill you to give it to you.”

“That would be unpleasant. It’s not a virus or anything like that?”

“No. It’s a blood curse. Some magic crap combined with blood.”

Not that I understood that at all. But wasn’t sure I needed to. I crossed the room to touch him again, enjoying his warmth and the fact he didn’t run away this time. “Are there more like you?”

“I don’t know. A few probably.”

“No big packs like real wolves?”

“None that I have found. The rare occasion that I’ve met another it’s been a territorial war between us almost instantly. More like the curse wants to destroy itself so pits us against one another rather than working together like real wolves.”

That was sad. No wonder he was alone out here. “It happened while you were serving?”

“Our troop got in the middle of a war between two wolves. Had no idea at first. Stumbled across them. Half a dozen died. Three of us eventually changed. I’m the only one still here.”

I didn’t press him on that as it seemed to really hurt. Ten years he’d been out here alone, battling this curse by himself, abandoned by everyone, and left in the most vulnerable position for anyone, food insecure. I couldn’t imagine being cursed with an insatiable need for food and having little access to it. But having him here at the manor, where I could keep him fed and happy, that made my heart sing.

“Do you like being here?” I asked. I waved a hand. “Even if we just fed you? You are not required to stick around me. I know I can be a bit much…”

“I can’t remember a time I’ve been more at ease with someone,” Rio said softly. “Even if there are people moving around the house and I’m hungry, all I have to do is look at you and I’m calm, the wolf relaxes a little.”

“Maybe because he knows I’ll feed you?”

“That’s probably part of it for him. But you also see me. You don’t treat me like I’m gum stuck to your shoe. You teach me things without even trying, offered kindness first, and have a passion for taking care of people.” He let out a long sigh. “Waking up to you is like being alive again for the first time in over a decade. I shouldn’t get attached. It’s not fair to you. I’m not safe.”

“But you are,” I disagreed. “You haven’t hurt me.”

“Because you fed the beast.”

“I fed you. And will continue to feed you. I’m sort of crazy about you,” I said. “So, stick around. Let’s work on us, yeah?”

He sucked in air. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”