Cursed (Howl, #6)

by Morse, Jody

  Steve choked on the soda he was drinking and burst into laughter. “Bennett visits you while you’re in the shower?”

  “Yeah, well, sometimes,” Colby replied, running a hand over his blonde curly hair and glancing over at Emma nervously before turning back to Steve. “He likes to try to catch me in compromising positions, so he can use it as blackmail.”

  Samara noticed Emma glare at him, and Colby said, “Ouch! Don’t kick me!”

  Samara chuckled. Even though she knew that Colby and Emma had gotten really close to each other and even that they’d share a few kisses, she couldn’t believe that her best friend had been in compromising positions (apparently in the shower) with Colby and hadn’t even told her about it. Emma used to tell her everything. A small part of Samara wondered if Emma was keeping this a secret from everyone . . . or if she had told Declan about how close she and Colby were getting.

  Closing her eyes, Samara made sure to block Luke from accessing her thought and asked: Declan?

  She waited for a few moments before realizing that Declan wasn’t going to answer her again. The bond that they had shared must have been broken when she’d said her vows to Luke. It was the only explanation that made any sense—or that she wanted to believe.

  Even though it was still hard to come to terms with, Samara was able to accept that her bond with Declan had been broken when she’d married Luke. But she didn’t even want to consider the possibility that Declan still may have been able to hear her, and that he was choosing not to answer her.

  When Samara opened her eyes again, the room seemed a lot dimmer than it had been before. It must have been because she had finally come to the realization that she no longer shared a bond with Declan. She would never share a bond with him again, and somehow, that made the world seem like a much lonelier, darker place than it once had been.

  Is everything okay? Luke’s voice filled her mind. I can sense that you’re upset about something.

  Samara felt her heart drop a little further. Luke was able to sense her emotions again, which was only more confirmation of what she already knew: her bond to Declan apparently was broken. Things were beginning to return to the way they had been before their two packs had united.

  Sam? Luke questioned again through mind-speak, reaching for her hand.

  When his skin brushed against hers, the fiery ice feeling radiated through the top of her hand. It didn’t feel any stronger than it normally did, but then again, their bond had strengthened ever since they had formed the Tala pack. That was what had been so strange about being mated to Declan, too; she’d had really strong feelings for both of them.

  Samara’s attraction to Luke was part of why she knew that she couldn’t bring up the photo that made her believe he had killed Brad. If she found out that he had, it was going to hurt—not just emotionally, but physically, too. It was going to hurt to know that Luke was capable of hurting her in that way, especially after she had chosen to marry him because it seemed like he was more loyal to her than Declan could have been.

  Now that she had lost Declan, it seemed even harder for her to bring up the picture. What if she lost Luke, too?

  I’m fine, Samara replied, turning to Luke. I’m not upset. I just have a headache. Well, I’m sort of upset to find out that my grandfather really did die. It’s not exactly what I was hoping we would find out on this trip, you know?

  I know what you mean. It made me feel hopeful to know that Joe McKinley still might have been alive, too, Luke admitted to her. He pushed a piece of hair behind her ear before leaning in and giving her a small peck on the lips.

  “Sam? Are you listening to me?” Colby asked urgently.

  Samara broke her kiss with Luke and turned to Colby. “No, what is it?” she asked, noticing the look of worry that filled his eyes.

  “Look,” Colby whispered, pointing his chin at the door.

  Samara followed his gaze and quickly realized what he was motioning to. The tall muscular figure and the dark hair were undeniably familiar. It was Darren . . . and he was there in the restaurant with them.

  “Shit, what are we gonna do?” Luke whispered quietly. In an even lower voice, he asked, “Do you think he knows we’re here?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Colby said quietly, holding a dessert menu in front of his face to shield it from Darren’s view. “He would have come over here already if he knew. He definitely can’t smell us, since we used wolfsbane not that long ago.”

  Samara tried not to make it too obvious that she was staring at Darren, but she followed him with her eyes until he was out the back door of the restaurant. “Shit, he’s going to recognize our cars.”

  “I doubt it,” Seth replied. “It’s not like there’s anything noteworthy about those cars. There are probably tons of Honda Civics and pickup trucks.”

  “Not with Pennsylvania license plates,” Luke pointed out.

  “But it’s dark out,” Penelope pointed out. “Maybe he won’t even notice.”

  They all watched as a pair of headlights reflected against the windows before pulling out of the parking lot. Samara breathed a sigh of relief,

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Colby asked. “We should follow him.”

  Samara slapped some cash on the table, knowing that their waitress would be very happy with the huge tip she would be getting. “Let’s go.”

  They all ran out of the restaurant and piled back into their cars. There was only one pair of headlights going down the street, but with the space between their cars, Samara was afraid that they would end up losing track of where Darren was going.

  Luckily, they were able to follow him about five miles down the road before Darren turned onto a back road. Luke turned his headlights off and followed him onto the road. Seth and Chris followed suit.

  Darren didn’t seem to notice that they were following him, or if he did, he didn’t make it known. He only kept moving forward until he reached his intended designation: a clearing nestled in between a barrier of trees on both sides.

  As they all parked their cars about one hundred feet away so that no one would hear them, Samara noticed that there was a fire burning in the distance. Darren was holding what appeared to be a pack meeting by campfire light, and judging from the amount of people who were gathered around, it was easy to see that there was more than one pack there. Darren must have conquered another pack—or maybe even two—to get so many more members.

  Luke glanced over at Samara and said, through mind-speak: Should we go any closer to them? They might notice we’re here.

  True, but we need to know what they’re saying, Samara replied. It took her a few moments to come to a decision, but she knew right away what she needed to do.

  She used her Alpha abilities to allow her other pack members to hear her. Guys, I want all of you to stay here. I’m going to go listen to Darren’s conversation with his pack. Make sure you’re all covered by the trees and bushes, so none of their pack members spot you. Don’t, under any circumstances, change into your wolf forms, unless they’ve already seen you. I don’t want you to draw attention to our purple smoke.

  But you can’t go listen to them! Kyle protested urgently. They might notice you.

  I’ll be fine. I promise, Samara replied. She glanced around at her pack members, and she couldn’t help but notice that they all had nervous looks on their faces. Silas looked like he was going to break down in tears, and Emma did not look happy. The only one who didn’t look too upset was Luke.

  You can do this, Samara. I know you can, Luke told her through mind-speak. If something bad happens, we have your back.

  I know, but that won’t help too much if they try to use black fighting against us, Samara replied. We can’t even try to conjure the Trusted Ones because we don’t even have any white candles with us.

  Actually, Colby packed some, Luke told her. They’re in the car, so we’d have to go get them, but we can do that if we need to.

  Samara breathed a slight sigh of relief. Sh
e only hoped that if it did come to that—that they really did need to conjure the Trusted Ones—someone would be able to act quickly. For some reason, she had a feeling that Darren Jackson made more sacrifices with the dark spirits than Jason ever had, which would mean that they were stronger when they worked for Darren—which scared her because the Trusted Ones had barely been able to defeat the spirits when Jason had conjured them.

  Exhaling before she sucked in a deep breath, Samara tiptoed to the edge of the field, following a line of pine trees. She was lucky that she was wearing dark clothing, unlike the bright colors that Emma had been sporting, because it helped her blend in with the shadows better.

  As she inched closer to the area where Darren was talking to the rest of his pack, she felt her heart thump rapidly within her chest. Her heart beat so loud that she was positive just the sound of it was what was going to give her away to Darren and his pack, but once she was close enough to hear what they were saying, none of them seemed to notice her. She continued to hold her breath, terrified that just breathing too loudly would blow her spot.

  “It’s been a long time since the Vyka has initiated a youth member into an adult pack, but I feel that we are ready to do this,” Darren was saying to his pack members.

  Okay, so Darren is definitely a Vyka now, Samara told Luke through mind-speak. It took her a few moments to spot them in the crowd, but she quickly noticed the faces of Alex and Melody, a werewolf couple from the adult Ima pack. When she looked closely enough, she also noticed that Steve’s mom was sitting in the crowd, too, staring at Darren intently as he spoke. Except the Ima pack is also here. I think they combined packs, but they’re all Vyka now.

  What else are they saying? Luke pressed her for more information.

  Be quiet so I can listen, Samara replied. She struggled to hear Darren’s voice over the loud wind, which was beginning to roar all around them. Of all the times for it to start to get windy, it just had to be when she was trying to eavesdrop on an important conversation.

  “I think we’re ready to do this tonight, though,” Darren went on. “It is important for us to welcome this member with open arms, as he is someone who’s close to Samara McKinley. Oh, wait, excuse me. It’s no longer Samara McKinley. It’s Samara Davenport now. She is now married to Lucas Davenport, grandson of James Briggs. The ironic thing is that James Briggs was murdered by Joe McKinley!” His laughter roared loudly into the night.

  What’s he saying, Sam? I can hear him laughing from all the way over here, Luke said.

  Samara hesitated. She decided not to mention that Darren was making fun of the fact that her grandfather had murdered Luke’s grandfather. She knew that it would only spark an argument between them. Even though Luke had seemed excited about the possibility that Grandpa Joe might be alive—just like everyone else was—Samara knew that he had to hold a grudge against him, deep down.

  He said someone who’s close to me is going to become a member of their pack, Samara said. I have a feeling it’s Rocco. I think Darren used me to help win Rocco’s trust, and now he’s going to use him against me.

  That would make a lot of sense. I knew we shouldn’t trust Rocco. I’m sure the Shomecossee would love to become Vyka members, too, since they’re not the strongest of packs, Luke said.

  A man who was sitting in the front row raised his hand. “How do we know that we can trust this member? If he was close to Samara Davenport before, doesn’t that mean he could be a traitor now?”

  “Oh, I assure you, a traitor is the very last thing this person is,” Darren replied, shaking his head vigorously. “I have been in talks with him for a while now, as we tried to come to an agreement in regards to what we should do about Samara. He has a lot of good ideas—ideas, I might add, that I might have never thought about on my own.” A smile tugged at his lips, revealing his white teeth, which gleamed in the moonlight. Darren stared over the heads of the people in his pack, as he gazed off in the direction of where Samara was perched on the ground.

  She felt her heart skip a few beats, and her breath caught in the back of her throat. Shit, I think he might have just spotted me.

  Okay, we’ll go get the candles out of the car, then, Luke told her, and she felt a sense of worry wash over him. It only intensified her own worry, which made her heart beat even quicker.

  No, wait, not yet. Don’t make any sudden movements, Samara said, noticing Darren’s eyes drifting away from her and back to the members of his pack. I don’t think he saw me.

  Oh, good, Luke said, and Samara heard the sigh of relief that he breathed aloud through mind-speak. Some of the worry left his body, and by default, Samara found herself feeling slightly less worried, too. It was frustrating how her emotions mimicked Luke’s because she always felt what he felt.

  “So, if there are no more questions, we can get on with this pack initiation.” Darren glanced around and waited to see if anyone was going to object. He grinned. “Splendid. I can promise you all that you won’t be disappointed about this. It will help us to get rid of Samara as quickly as possible. And remember, the sooner we can eliminate Samara, the sooner we can get our hands on that talisman.”

  So, Darren and his pack weren’t the ones who had somehow gotten their hands on that talisman. Samara had wondered if it might have been them, since it obviously wasn’t her grandfather who had taken it. But who did that leave who could have taken it?

  Darren glanced over to the other side of the circle, which was concealed from Samara’s view by the shadows. “Please come forward.”

  Samara watched as a dark figure rose to his feet and continued through the shadows. Once he was standing at the center of the circle, next to Darren, he took his hoodie off.

  Samara’s breath caught in the back of her throat and a knot formed in her stomach when she stared into his chocolate brown eyes, which seemed to pore back into her own, although she wasn’t actually sure if he saw her.

  It was Declan.

  Chapter 8

  As Samara watched Declan go through the motions of the Vyka initiation with the other members of the Vyka pack, her biggest worry was that she was going to hurl—and not just because they were all slicing their wrists open with a razor blade, but because she couldn’t believe what was happening right before her eyes. She had trusted him; she had kissed him, cheated on Luke with him, considering being with him, at one point—and there he was, making himself her enemy.

  Samara? What’s going on? Luke asked, trying to get her attention through mind-speak for about the fifth time, but she ignored him again. Even though she heard him talking to her, she couldn’t manage to think back to him.

  The only thing Samara could seem to do was watch her best friend—her former mate—became her sworn enemy right in front of her eyes. She felt sad to be losing him, once and for all; angry to watch him turn his back on her, and disappointed in him, more than anything else.

  The worst part about watching Declan becoming a Vyka was that she knew that fate wasn’t choosing this for him; Declan was making this decision on his own accord. And while Samara might have guessed that Declan wouldn’t want to be a part of the Tala pack after she married Luke, she never would have suspected, not even for a minute, that Declan would choose to ally himself with Darren Jackson, the one—and only—werewolf in the whole world that she wanted to kill.

  And was everything that Darren had said true? Did Declan really get close to her again just so that he could help out the Vyka? Declan had been born a Vyka, but he had gone along with the Ima and the Vyka when they had merged into the Tala pack. Even though Samara knew that he wasn’t thrilled to be on a pack with Luke, she thought that he was happy to be on a pack with her. But what if it was all nothing more than just an act? What if Declan had been against her this whole time?

  As much as Samara wanted to believe that Darren might be lying, that this was some sort of mistake, the fact that Declan was standing there with a red cloud of smoke swirling around him as his body was morphed into its wolf for
m spoke for itself. Samara realized, in that moment, that Declan was nothing more than a stranger to her—a stranger who, apparently, wanted to end her life, just like Darren Jackson.

  It was time for Samara to see Declan for who he really was: a traitor.

  Samara? What is going on? Luke asked more loudly through mind-speak. I’m starting to worry about you.

  I’m fine. They’re just doing their pack initiation, Samara told him, realizing that Luke couldn’t hear her thoughts anymore, the way he had been able to before. Otherwise, he would have already known what was going on—and the fact that her heart was broken.

  Well, were we right? Luke asked her.

  Samara stared at Declan’s wolf body, and even though their bond had broken, she still couldn’t help but notice how broad his shoulders looked. Shaking the thought away, she answered Luke. About what?

  Was it Rocco? Luke questioned impatiently. None of us can see who it is from over here.

  Oh, no. It wasn’t Rocco, Samara replied, noticing that the Vyka pack seemed to be occupied with each other, as they all were morphed into their wolf forms. It was probably a good idea for the Tala pack to leave the area before Darren noticed their cars.

  She moved quickly, hoping that Declan wouldn’t see her, if he hadn’t already. Up until now, Samara didn’t think he would have done anything to draw attention to the fact that she was there. In fact, she would have thought that he would have done something to distract Darren from noticing her, the same way he had done that day when he’d seen her in Alaska when Jason was still alive. But now that Declan had willingly chosen Darren’s side in this, she wouldn’t put it past him to rat her out if he spotted her. She had to be more careful now than she’d had to be before, and it hurt.

  Once she approached her pack members, who were standing underneath the trees across the street from the field, she opened her thoughts so that they would all be able to hear her. Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here.

  They all quietly opened their car doors and climbed inside. Once they started to drive away, Samara glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Darren hadn’t spotted them. Luckily, there weren’t any cars—or any wolves—following them. They had gotten away without being caught.