Moon Cursed: The Reluctant Werewolf Chronicles, Book 1

by Centanni, Tori

  Holly, for her part, had never been anything but kind to me. She’d offered to take me to pack meetings so I could meet others like me. She’d tried to give me a notebook about all of the basics she’s compiled about werewolves since being bitten herself. I’d refused, throwing it back in her face. Eventually she’d had Michael bring me a single page of the very basics (silver will kill you, the change will happen whether you want it to or not, etc.) and he’d read it aloud to me so I couldn’t destroy it.

  And okay, sure, I guess that proves that I was kind of an ungrateful brat about the whole thing. Holly hadn’t meant to bite me, but she still tried to take responsibility and to help me adapt. I’d refused her at every turn and been kind of a bitch about it to boot.

  “You okay?” Raff asked. Kai had finished spreading the salve on him and had, mercifully, covered it with a bandage. Now she was heading back to Holly to wrap her arm in bandages.

  “Yeah. Just… hard to breathe in here.” I smiled. It felt forced.

  Raff gave me a sympathetic smile in return. “You’re really worried about her, aren’t you?”

  “What? No. Shut up,” I said. But given that I couldn’t stop staring at her lying still on the sofa, I guess it was pretty obvious. “How’s the salve feel?”

  “Not nearly as bad as it smells. Stings a little. Kai said if it starts to sting a lot, I’ll know it’s working.” He shrugged. “It was a tiny bullet and it barely grazed me. I’ll be okay. I’m more annoyed about the coat.”

  Jean finished a whispered conversation with Kai, who wore a grave expression. My stomach tied itself into knots. I’d been around enough doctors with the same solemn expression. I knew what it meant. Holly’s odds were not good.

  Chapter 25

  “You two should get some rest. There’s still that spare room,” Jean said.

  She was right. Raff and I were both running on fumes. Everything felt watery around the edges and adrenaline had leaked out of me leaving only weak muscles and exhaustion in its wake.

  But I didn’t know if I could sleep. I was somehow too tired to even fathom it. Instead, I was sitting on a stool at the massive kitchen island, dunking a tea bag into a mug that had already steeped and had cooled to the point of being iced tea.

  “I need to talk to John,” I said finally.

  Jean’s frown deepened. “Why on earth would you need to talk to that degenerate? The sooner the pack decides how to deal with him the better, if you ask me.”

  “I just need to make sure it’s really over,” I said, and pushed my stool back from the counter.

  “Who’s John?” Michael asked. He was still dazed, but he’d actually drunk some tea and he’d eaten a cinnamon roll that Jean had put in front of him.

  “The hunter we caught,” I said. “Remember that creep from the yogurt shop I thought was trying to ask me out? Apparently he was just trying to make sure I was a werewolf.”

  Michael raised his eyebrows. “Wow. You really do have the worst luck, Charlie. When this is over, we should see a witch about checking you for curses or something.”

  “It wasn’t luck,” I said. “He hunted me down. That’s what he does. Or did.”

  “I can walk you back there,” Jean offered. “Miles, who was guarding the room, got sent out, so there’s no one back there keeping watch. But he’s secure.”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine. I know where he is and I don’t need a guard.”

  I pulled John’s notebook out of my purse. It was sitting next to Ellianne’s book on thralls and my stomach flipped as I realized it wasn’t getting returned any time soon. That was a problem I’d have to deal with later. Maybe bring her something extra cool to make up for borrowing the book without permission.

  I’d only made it to the stairs when Raff appeared behind me like a shadow.

  “You don’t have to come,” I said. “You’re done being my protector.”

  “First of all, we don’t know if we actually got all of the Guardians of Pure Life,” Raff said, meeting my eyes. “And second, like you, I want to make sure this is really over and that there aren’t another dozen of those guys out there. But I should warn you, I agree with Jean. I think he’s a liar and we’re not going to learn anything from him or get any kind of real reassurance.”

  “So why are you following me?” Despite his disheveled appearance and the t-shirt puffing out around the bandage on his upper arm, Raff exuded an air of strength and fortitude.

  “Because I don’t want to leave you alone with one of those assholes,” Raff said, his voice low.

  My heart beat quickened. I swallowed. “He’s tied up. He can’t hurt me.”

  Raff smiled wryly. “I know. It’s not you I’m worried for.”

  Butterflies took a spin through my middle. “You think I’m a threat to him?”

  “I think you’re as angry as the rest of us,” Raff said. There was something in his blue eyes that I couldn’t read.

  “I’ll behave,” I said.

  Raff snorted. I smiled.

  But my smile faded as I entered the room.

  John was still against the wall, chained up and unmoving. He smelled like dirt and body odor. He was sleeping or pretending to sleep. The overwhelming urge to punch him in the face and not stop punching until he was nothing but bloody pulp bubbled up inside me. I balled my fists. I’d thought Raff was joking about wanting to protect this jerk from me, but maybe he was on to something. Holly was downstairs on the brink of death and it was this smug jerk’s fault. Him and his horrible friends.

  “Wake up,” I shouted.

  John blinked, raising his head. Then he smirked. “Why hello, little wolf bitch.”

  “We found your sister,” I said. He smirk vanished abruptly. Good. “We’re going to do what you didn’t. We’re going to save her.”

  In fact, two people had already been sent to retrieve her and bring her back here where she could learn to live as a werewolf without being locked in a small room all day. Her rehabilitation—as Jean called it—would probably take a very, very long time, but at least she was getting a chance.

  “Leave her be and time will save her for you,” John said coldly. “The only way any of you mongrels get better is a bullet to the head.”

  A chill washed over me. His hatred was palpable. “Is that what you want for her?”

  He shrugged, but I saw something pass over his face like a cloud before the hate re-solidified in his eyes. “She’s cursed. Sometimes there’s no cure for a curse but death.”

  “You’re disgusting,” I said.

  “At least I’m not a crime against nature.”

  I slapped him. I didn’t even know I was going to do it until my hand smacked against his cheek. It burned my palm but I didn’t care. “How dare you! You act like we’re monsters, but you’re the monster. We’ve all been turned into werewolves because of a bite or a scratch, and we manage not be raging assholes. But you? You have zero excuse and you’re still an insufferable, self-righteous dirtbag.”

  John rubbed at the cheek and opened his mouth. I wasn’t ready to let him speak.

  “We found your friends. Your little Guardians of Bullshit. All of them are dead.” Well, except Doug. Maybe. If he’d gotten help. And honestly, I found I didn’t care much either way.

  John’s shoulders slumped slightly. It was such a small change but it said everything. “So?”

  “So, I just wanted you to know that you lost. Your monster hunter club is gone. It’s all over. The mission isn’t carrying on without you. It’s done.”

  I didn’t wait for his retort. I stormed out of the room and as soon as Raff came out, I slammed the door. If there was a key to lock and throw away, I would done that, too.

  “Feel better?” Raff asked. I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or not, but I thought he might have been a little impressed.

  “Yeah, actually, I do.” I shook my sore hand. It was worth it. “I think maybe I can get some sleep now.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’l
l go find out which room we can crash in.

  Fifteen minutes later, I was in a bed in a spare room. This one had two twin beds separated by a nightstand and Raff was in the other bed.

  At first, it felt weird to share a room with him, but we’d been in close proximity for days. The scent of him, pine and clove, was comforting as my head hit the pillow. The soft sound of his breathing helped lull me to sleep.

  * * *

  When I woke up, it took a moment to remember where I was.

  The house felt more alive than it had earlier. I wondered if Jean had made calls and gotten people to come back. I could hear lots of people moving around, more doors opening and shutting. It was comforting to feel like the house was crowded and full of people.

  It was extra comforting to be in a soft bed.

  Until all of the memories slammed into me and sickness started to worm its way into my veins. I’d shot someone. I’d slapped that asshole John. Holly was—

  I jumped out of bed. I needed to know how Holly was. Part of me didn’t want to find out. I could just stay in this room and not know, and that would be okay. But eventually I’d have to leave. Eventually I’d have to face reality.

  Raff was gone, his bed remade neatly, though not quite with the precision it had been made before we’d arrived.

  I hit the restroom down the hall briefly, scrubbing at my teeth with my finger and wishing I had a toothbrush.

  Downstairs, the mood was so somber. I immediately regretted getting out of bed. The scent of coffee and bacon hit me in the face, which was a small comfort, but everyone in the kitchen had grim expressions. Jean dished up a plate of bacon and eggs and handed it to me. “Eat up, dear,” she said.

  Raff was sitting at the island, an empty plate in front of him, a steaming coffee mug in his hand.

  “How’s Holly?” I asked, not touching my food.

  Jean’s expression was so sad that I knew the answer before she spoke. “I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”

  A chasm opened up inside of me and my stomach squeezed. I almost dropped the plate and Jean had to rescue it from me as my arms went slack.

  Grief gave way to numbness that spread through me.

  “Can I see her?” I asked. It wouldn’t feel real until I did.

  Raff pushed his stool away from the counter. I instinctively followed him out of the room. Less than a week of having him around me all the time and I was on autopilot when it came to sticking close to the guy.

  Holly had been moved to a small room off the garage. It was cold and bare, and the walls were concrete. It was the perfect makeshift morgue and yet it was supremely depressing. Holly had been laid out on a work table near a bunch of tools. Bile sloshed around my empty stomach.

  Holly’s skin had darkened to a deeper shade of gray, making her look alien. She was unnaturally still in death and she had a speck of blood on the corner of her mouth.

  “This seems like a callous place to leave her,” I said.

  “It is, but it was the best place while arrangements for her burial are made. There’s a small cemetery up the road, also owned by Jean. That’s where Drake is buried. Holly will go there, too.”

  “What about her family?” I asked. “Shouldn’t they be told what’s happening?”

  “Her only family is Damien, and Michael will let him know,” Raff said. I realized I’d never asked about his parents or whether or not he had siblings. Raff had mentioned his mom living in Hawaii, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. I’d never asked Holly either, and now she was gone forever.

  “It’s my fault,” I said. “If we’d gotten to her sooner—”

  “It’s the hunters’ faults.”

  Raff put a muscular arm around my shoulders. My first instinct was push him off and run for the hills, but he was warm and I found that I actually wanted him close. It was a weird feeling, after being so determined to get rid of him.

  I stared at Holly and offered silent apologies that meant nothing because she wasn’t there to hear them. Then I pulled away from Raff and left the room. He followed. I leaned against a wall in the narrow hallway that led back to the living room and kitchen. I tilted my head back, swallowing around the lump that had formed in my throat, trying not to let the tears that grew hot in my eyes fall.

  “I think it’s time to learn everything I can about werewolves,” I said, voice ragged.

  Raff titled his head and studied me as though I were a curiosity. “Yeah?”

  “Okay, okay, it’s beyond time.” I ran my fingers through my messy hair. The black dye had faded a little, leaving it a strange blueish purple. “But now I’m ready. And I want you to help me.”

  Raff leaned against the opposite wall. For once, he wasn’t smug or cocky, and I was grateful. “I think I can manage that.”

  The next request was a little hard to voice and it took me a minute to get the words out. “I noticed you have a second bedroom. I don’t suppose you’re looking for a roommate.”

  Raff laughed, a low, throaty laugh, born of surprise rather than cruelty. He stopped when he saw my expression, which must have shown I’d meant it. “Are you serious? Three days ago, you couldn’t wait to get as far away from me as possible and now you want to live together?”

  “Oh my God, it is not like that at all,” I said, pushing off the wall. “If you’ll recall, my house burned down and I need a place to stay. Plus you’ll note I mentioned the spare bedroom. With like, its own door. That I can close.”

  Raff’s lips turned up into a small smile. “As it happens, I could use a roommate. But I have some house rules.”

  “I’m sure they’re completely reasonable,” I said, a little sarcastically.

  “You do your own dishes. No laundry gets left in the washer or dryer more for than a couple of hours.” I nodded along. His smile did fade, then, and he met my eyes with his piercing stare. “And no chains.”

  I thought back to my shifting room and my shackles, which I’d thought were the best solution to a crappy problem. Now I knew how wrong I’d been. The solution wasn’t to shrink away from what I was. It was to learn and embrace what I was so that I could make it work for me, instead of against me.

  “Yeah, okay. No chains or shackles. But I need some place safe to transform where I’m not going to tear up my bedding or whatever.”

  Raff nodded. “We’ll figure something out.”

  “And… I’m not myself when I transform.” It felt strange to say so, when Raff surely knew what I meant. He claimed to be one with his own wolf, but I’d admitted I’d never felt that.

  “You’re always yourself,” Raff said. “But that’s something we can work on together.”

  “Okay. It’s a deal.” I reached out to shake his hand. He stepped closer and my heart pounded. I thought he was going to push my hand aside and kiss me. But after a second, he grabbed my hand and we shook. His skin was hot and I didn’t want to let go. But then I heard Michael calling my name from the kitchen.

  Raff reluctantly dropped my hand and ran his own hand through his shiny blond locks. He’d definitely washed his hair that morning and it looked impossibly soft. I wondered where he’d gotten a guest towel. And soap.

  “Let’s go get your friend. And then we can you settled in at home.”

  Raff turned and I watched him walk down the hall, strong and confident and steady. Michael was my best friend but he couldn’t understand what I’d been going through anymore than I could understand his unique problems.

  For the first time since I’d been bitten, I’d met other werewolves I didn’t hate and actually wanted to learn more about what I was. Holly was gone and I’d have to let go of the guilt that I hadn’t been better to her, but she’d given me more than she’d ever know: a support network I’d finally admitted I needed.

  Maybe now being a werewolf wasn’t actually going to be so bad.

  *

  Thanks for reading! Charlie’s adventures will continue in Wicked Moon, coming soon! To make sure you don’t miss a rel
ease, join my newsletter, where I tell you about sales, deals, cover reveals, and new releases about once or twice a month. No spam, just book news and deals!

  And if you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Reviews help readers find books they might like.

  Also by Tori Centanni

  The Henri Dunn Series

  Being mortal is a pain in the neck, especially for Henri Dunn, who was a vampire until she was cured and turned human against her will. Now she must solve the murder of a vampire if she doesn’t want to be blamed for his death.

  Read the The Immortality Cure now!

  About the Author

  Tori Centanni is a nerd girl and recovering goth who lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest. When she’s not writing or reading through her never-ending book pile, she spends her time watching competition reality shows and wrangling cats.

  toricentanni.com

  Facebook

  Twitter