Cursed Vengeance

by Brandy L Rivers

“He’d love to burn you at the stake.” Dylan shook his head, his eyes glowing. “Asshole has to go through me first.”

  “You aren’t my protector, Dylan.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep you safe.”

  Sean peeked at me in the rearview. “He can’t help it, Sierra. Resisting your mate is its own form of hell. If you haven’t figured that out yet, you will. And soon. Deny it all you want, but it’s too late. It’s already begun.”

  “You’re on his side now?” I asked incredulously.

  “It’s not about sides. I’ve seen it a million times. If you were simply human you could stand a chance. But you aren’t, and the pull is stronger.”

  “Whatever. I wanted to know what I’m supposed to do. What have you done, Sean?”

  He sighed. “Every counter spell I can find. I don’t understand the curse. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Nothing has worked. Not even a cleansing spell.”

  I couldn’t get the swirling black sludge out of my head. I touched Sean’s shoulder and asked, “When you look at him, what do you see?”

  “One of my closest friends and Alpha dying before my eyes.”

  “No, I mean...wait—alpha?”

  “Leader of the pack,” Dylan offered.

  Sean’s eyes met mine in the rearview. “What do you see, Sierra?”

  “A dark shadow around his heart. It grew while I was in there.”

  My brother shook his head, his brow creasing. “I can only feel it. Never saw it. You’re a hell of a lot stronger than I am.”

  And still didn’t have a clue how to use this supposedly awesome power. “What if I can’t do this?”

  Dylan reached out and caressed my face. Calm washed over me. The anxiety decreased as he murmured, “Might be too late. If it is, we still have time to find the answers for Sean.”

  And you. Not that I wanted to go there. Grabbing his hand, I pulled it from my face and instantly missed the contact. Pushing that from my mind, I filled Sean in. “I have a week off. I’ll try, but I need your help, Sean.”

  “We’re going to my place. One of us will have to go back to Christian’s at some point.”

  “I feel the magic but don’t know how to tap into it. Shit, this is so messed up.”

  Sean pulled into his driveway. They hopped out and I almost climbed out of Sean’s side instead of dealing with Dylan.

  Sean looked back. “Talk to him. I’ll be inside.”

  “This is a lot to take in. Can’t I deal with one piece at a time?” I protested.

  “Talk to him. Set ground rules or something, Sis. Might give him a better chance to resist.” Sean turned to Dylan with a death glare. “Though he better not be there when you next wake up, not without your permission.”

  “You sent me over there,” Dylan immediately shot back.

  “Yeah, I know.” Sean went inside while I climbed out of the truck.

  Dylan stood before me, a sad smile on his face. “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t blame you. But I’m not ready for whatever this is. I’m supposed to go work a miracle when I just found out I might be able to. But my mother couldn’t save Seamus, so I don’t understand why anyone thinks I can do any better than she did.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But you’re our only hope at this point. And I’m not saying that about me, but everyone in this pack.”

  “I get that. I see how worried you are about Christian. About Sean. While I’m dumped into the middle of this and it’s sink or swim, but I don’t know if I can keep up. Then there’s this thing with you, and I don’t understand.”

  He nodded, looking off in the distance. “Yeah. I don’t expect you to make a move on this.” He met my gaze, determination burning there. “But if you’re in danger, I will protect you. And if you’re sad, I’ll be there to offer comfort. Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you.”

  I felt it too, and it made no damned sense. “You just met me.”

  “Yeah, and that’s how it goes for us. I never wanted this. I’ve been avoiding getting close to a woman my whole life because I’m going to die in about a week and I never wanted to be the cause of the pain I see in our women. And most of them have had their whole life to accept it.”

  Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them back as I touched his face and drew him down for an embrace. I didn’t like his pain any better than he liked mine. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

  “You have more important things to deal with than a lovesick pup. I don’t want to lose Sean any more than you do. I’ve known him my whole life. I wish I could have known you sooner. You don’t deserve this pain.”

  “That’s why I have to figure this out. I just hope I can.”

  He rubbed my back in soothing strokes. “I’ve helped Sean look for spells. I can help you. Please, let me.”

  I nodded. “I need him to show me what’s been done, and maybe give me a crash course in casting.”

  “Sean said you unlocked your magic. I think it’s safe to say you already took the first step.”

  “Let’s hope I’m a quick study.” I took his hand, needing the support, and went to face my brother.

  Chapter 10

  Dylan

  The defeated look on Sierra’s face kicked my need to protect into overdrive. Fucking Bradley. Did he always need to be such an asshole? Sierra was already freaked out, and dickhead had to go and make it worse.

  I followed Sierra into the house, where Sean already had all of the spell books he owned laid out on the table in front of him. Her eyes were frozen to the books. All of this had to be so overwhelming for her. Squaring her shoulders, she walked toward him.

  “Okay, Sean, lay it on me.”

  He looked up. “I think we should start with the basics first. It will give you a better understanding of everything we’ve tried.”

  If Sean hadn’t been so focused on the books, he might have noticed the tremble of Sierra’s hands as she stepped forward. Part of my brain screamed at me to go over and comfort her, but the rational part knew this was something she needed to learn. Sean stood and took her hands.

  “You can do this. Your power is so much stronger than mine.”

  She nodded dumbly, and Sean began explaining the first spell. For the next two hours, I sat and watched as she mastered spell after spell. Sean hadn’t been joking when he said her power was greater than his. Each time, he would give her a demonstration and then make her repeat it. When it was Sierra’s turn, the magic filled the room, winding around me. Altogether, it was impressive and frightening at the same time. What would she be able to do once she harnessed the power?

  After mastering a freezing spell, she dropped onto the couch in exhaustion. I resisted the urged to take her hand in mine.

  “Do you need me to get you anything?”

  Her smile had my cock twitching in my pants. “Water would be great, thank you.”

  “One bottle of water coming right up.”

  “I’ll take one too,” Sean piped up.

  I almost asked him if he thought I was his maid, then I realized staying in her good graces probably included being nice to her brother. Without a peep, I stepped into the kitchen to grab the water and brought them back out into the living room. Handing off the water bottle to Sean, I opened the top on Sierra’s and gave it to her with a grin. Her fingers brushed mine when she took the bottle and I could feel the tingling in my hand.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Caught in her gaze, I wanted nothing more than the curse to be a distant memory and be able to claim her as mine.

  A throat cleared. “What, I don’t get my water opened for me?” Sean, the bastard that he was, held the bottle out to me, shaking it back and forth.

  “Asshole,” I muttered under my breath, hoping it was loud enough for only Sean to hear.

  Sierra looked back and forth between the two of us and rolled her eyes. ”You two have known each other foreve
r, haven’t you?”

  “We have,” I answered. “Sean is like a brother to me.”

  “Remember when I got to have a sleepover once a month growing up?” Sean asked.

  Sierra nodded. “Yeah, I was always so mad I couldn’t come too.”

  He laughed at that for a moment. “I remember. You used to throw such a fit. One time you locked yourself in your room for the whole weekend and Mom said you wouldn’t come out until I got home.”

  Sierra’s teary smile made me long to take her pain away. From what Sean told me, both he and Sierra were extremely close to their mother. When she died, it hit them both really hard. Except, while Sean had the pack to lean on, Sierra only had her brother. That would change. I’d be there for her until I couldn’t.

  “I did.” She laughed.

  “Well, my aunt Merrin used to come and get me every full moon so I could run with the pack. Dylan lived next door to her. Every time I went to visit, I spent most of my time with him.”

  “Yeah, it was nice to get out of the house. Unlike Merrin, my mom didn’t handle my dad’s death very well. Sean’s visits gave me another reason to get out of the house.”

  Sierra unconsciously placed her hand on mine. “I’m sorry. That couldn’t have been easy.”

  “Sean and Christian made it not as bad.”

  “Christian,” she sighed. “It feels wrong to laugh and chat like this when he’s dying.”

  Reaching up, I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You needed a break. Your body was exhausted. I know from watching Sean, just a few minutes of rest and you’ll be ready to go again.”

  “Thank you.” Her smile was shy. Not something I expected.

  “I told you, I’ll look out for you.”

  For a moment, I thought she might say something more, then she turned and looked at Sean. “Okay, show me what you’ve tried already.”

  Sean and I each took a book, flipping pages to find the counter spells Sean had tried over the last few years. Eventually, I heard Sierra’s stomach growl and we convinced her to take a break when we ordered pizza.

  We sat in Sean’s kitchen eating, when Sierra turned toward me. The first time she’d done it voluntarily all night.

  “Tell me about Christian.”

  I shrugged, not sure what to say. “He and I became friends pretty early, when we were pups. If you haven’t noticed, a lot of our birthdays fall together. It seems to be the cycle. Every few years there are no deaths and people like to forget about the curse. They mate and have children, although I bet most of them hope it’s a girl.”

  Sierra nodded. “Explains why a bunch of you have birthdays so close together. Okay, so Christian?”

  The idea of mating and having children with Sierra burst to life in my head. It was a pipe dream. I only had about a week left, but for the first time in my life I wanted the dream. The thought of holding our child made the need to claim her pour through me. Giving myself a mental shake, I continued.

  “Right, Christian. With our birthdays so close together, we declared ourselves curse buddies. Even at the age of seven, we knew what to expect. Christian was my salvation when my mother didn’t want to get out of bed. As we got older, Christian was the one who helped me take care of my mom when she’d no longer do it for herself.”

  I felt the stinging at the back of my eyes and forced the emotion away. Sierra deserved to know what happened to wolf mates when their other half died. Her mother’s story was only one of many.

  “He even helped me make the arrangements when my mother passed away. He’d already become Alpha of the pack and made sure everything was taken care of.”

  Excusing myself, I got up and walked out of the room, unable to face either of them. Remembering the way my mother withered away after the curse took my father strengthened my resolve to stay far away from Sierra. It would need to be a choice she made. I couldn’t do it for her, because I was sentencing her to a life of loneliness when the curse finally took me.

  A few minutes later Sean came out and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “You didn’t have to tell her the whole story. You could have chosen to just answer her question about Christian. My question is why?”

  Sean moved up beside me and took the same stance as me. Hands on the railing, facing out to the woods.

  I sighed. “Because she deserves to know. Your mom pushed forward and I believe Theresa will do the same with Bradley’s help, even if he’s a total fuckwad. He still has two years before the curse comes for him. But it doesn’t always go that way. If I die, it’s not like you’ll be there to help her pick up the pieces. I need her to know what she’s getting into when she makes her decision.”

  “You know—”

  “Don’t, Sean. You know as well as I do the pull is going to be even stronger for her. She may not be able to fight it on her own. At least if she wants to, I gave her another thing to use.”

  He was quiet for a long moment. “You don’t think she can break the curse.”

  “Oh no. I saw you two working in there. She’s much stronger than I imagined. I’m just not sure if she’ll find the answer in time.”

  “Give her a chance, you never know. She’s in there pouring over books she’s never seen before. And one thing you don’t know about my sister, when she sets her mind to something, she’s going to accomplish her goal. She doesn’t do failure well. One time she received an A- instead of an A. You better believe she emailed her college professor and demanded to see all of her grades so she knew what she did wrong.”

  I laughed, even though I didn’t think it was possible at the moment. “I can see that.”

  He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and turned me back toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go see if we can help her find the answer.”

  We went back inside and helped Sierra scour through all of the books, looking for ways to combine counter curses to make an effective one. Slowly the sun set and we continued to work until the sun rose again. Pots and pots of coffee later, Sierra thought she had a few different solutions that might work.

  Sierra yawned. “I haven’t pulled an all-nighter like that since I was in med school. We’re running out of time. We need to get back there and try what we found.”

  Sean stood. “I’ll drive.”

  All in all, since Sierra wasn’t raised as a witch and worked as a doctor, she saw things we didn’t and thought of ways to combine spells Sean and I never considered. But would it be enough?

  The drive over to Christian’s was silent. I could sense the tension rolling off Sierra in waves. Sean could too. The closer we got, the harder he gripped the wheel. When he pulled up in front of Christian’s place, Bradley’s Jeep was still in the drive.

  Great, hopefully the asshole didn’t make her even more nervous.

  Sierra climbed out of the car, books and notes clutched in her arms. Sean stepped in her path and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  “Please remember, no matter what happens, you did your best. You only learned everything the other day.”

  She nodded, but there was a stiffness to the movement. Without a word, she stepped around her brother and went to the door. We followed closely behind her. The door opened to reveal a wild looking Theresa. Her hair was in disarray, as if she’d been constantly running her fingers through it and her eyes were puffy and swollen.

  “You’re back,” she said excitedly, a flicker of hope passing through her eyes.

  “We’ve come up with some things that we can try,” I emphasized, not wanting Sierra to take the blame if they didn’t work.

  Theresa opened the door wide and let us in.

  “Oh, so the witch returns,” Bradley sneered.

  “Shut the fuck up,” I growled.

  “Ignore him,” Theresa said, then glared at her brother. “I’ll take you back.”

  Sierra nodded and followed silently behind. I watched, not sure if I should follow or not. What if she failed? Would she need me to pick her back up again?

>   Bradley stood, arms crossed over his chest, watching his sister lead Sierra to the bedroom. “Fucking witches,” he muttered under his breath.

  My hands clenched into fists at my sides. “Hey, asshole, we’re all wolves and can hear the bullshit spewing out of your mouth.”

  Bradley whipped around, glaring. “Oh, I know you can hear me. Do you want to hear what else I think? I think letting a witch back there on purpose is a mistake. Wouldn’t she love to make an Alpha’s death more painful than it already will be? I bet she loves watching him suffer.”

  Growling, I stormed forward. Chaos erupted when Sean grabbed me around the waist and Theresa jumped in front of Bradley. She was yelling, but I didn’t pay attention as Sean dragged me out the front door.

  “What the fuck, Dylan?”

  I stumbled into the front yard when he shoved me away from him. Turning, I stalked back toward him.

  “How in the hell can you sit there and listen to that bullshit?”

  “Because none of it is true and we both know it. His brother in law is dying and he blames witches, rightfully so. We’re not going to change his narrow mindedness. The most we can do is support Sierra while she tries to do the impossible.”

  “It still pisses me off.”

  Sean rolled his eyes. “Because you’re her mate. Which is exactly why she needs you. I can see the beginnings of the bond. You have a way of keeping her calm when no one else can.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to force myself to relax. “Okay, I’ll go back in. But please keep that asshole away from me. I can guarantee the next time he insults her I will beat the ever loving fuck out of him.”

  Sean nodded and gestured toward the front door.

  Concentrating on keeping calm, I walked through the door and noticed Theresa had taken Bradley into the kitchen, where she continued to berate him for his behavior. Ignoring the conversation, I walked back to the bedroom. With trembling fingers, I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The sight that greeted me was as bad as the last time I’d seen someone dying of this curse.

  No longer the strong Alpha of our pack, Christian lay there looking more like a skeleton. His flesh hung loosely on his bones. The skin of his face a strange combination of yellow and green, with cheeks so hollow you could practically see through them. The sight made the coffee go sour in my stomach. The last time I’d seen the curse at this point was the night my father died.