Wolfish: Curseborne

by G. K. DeRosa

  Okey-dokey. I wasn’t sure how I felt about murdering these demons. They seemed more sentient than a deer or a boar. And even that I was fairly certain I’d have issues with. But then again, it was killed or be killed in this game and I was not dying today.

  Hunter and I moved silently through the forest. We hadn’t seen any of the other competitors in a while, which was equal parts reassuring and worrisome. Did they get taken out by the gora boras? How many competitors were left? Unlike the special Lunar Pack event, they weren’t announcing the players who’d been eliminated.

  As we jogged through the darkening woods, I couldn’t help my thoughts from wandering to my mom. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she scared? I used the fear and anger as motivation when my muscles began to burn. I hadn’t spent much time in wolf form, and I wasn’t used to it.

  The rusty browns and deep greens of the forest blurred by my peripheral vision as I focused on keeping my girl on track. The new and inviting scents called to me and if I didn’t keep my eyes on Hunter’s furry black tail, my nose started leading me off the path.

  Almost there. Hunter’s voice crackled through my mind as we ran beside a gurgling brook. It seemed like the perfect spot for a little swim. If the woods weren’t crawling with poisonous demons, of course. A hill rose up through the break in the evergreens and Wolf-Hunter slowed. He sniffed the air and his hackles rose, making the already giant wolf appear even more immense. Stay close and keep an eye out.

  I moved alongside him, and a swell of unease forced my own hackles to rise. My nostrils flared as the pungent odor of demon swirled in the air. I’d begun cataloguing creatures’ varying scents since my wolf emerged. Vander had told me it was part of SIA training, and now he could sniff out the difference between a vargas demon and a Winter Court Fae. Pretty useful skill if you asked me.

  Hunter remained silent so I assumed he was either focusing on tracking the gora boras scent or communicating with Ransom through the pack link. A sharp squeal sent my heart racing. A loud howl ripped through the air, and the thunder of approaching heavy footfalls twisted our heads to the left.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Three gora boras appeared through the bushes chased by a familiar gray wolf. Ransom’s teeth snapped at their heels as they barreled into the clearing. Hunter spun toward them, fangs bared, and a growl pierced the thickening air. I followed his lead and snarled at the approaching demons.

  The head gora bora’s eyes fixed on us, and he threw his front paws out, claws digging into the moist earth and ground to a halt. The three demons stood back-to-back as we circled them.

  Let Ransom and I handle this. Wolf-Hunter’s voice shot through our bond. Just keep an eye out for the venom.

  Okay. I wasn’t one to usually back away from a fight, but I wasn’t comfortable enough in my wolf form. Hunter was right. I needed to start training on all fours too.

  The enormous black and gray wolves lunged in perfect coordination. I took a step back and watched in horror-slash-amazement as Hunter’s jaw closed around the first gora bora’s neck with the deadly precision of a Great White. The beast’s eyes bulged out as the wolf’s teeth sank further into its tough skin. Hunter shook his head once then twice and tore the demon’s head right off its body.

  A spine-tingling screech ripped through the chaos as the third demon launched itself at Hunter. Watch out! I cried through our connection. He spun around as the gora bora unlocked its jaw and venom spewed in an arc.

  No! I lunged forward and rammed my head into the demon’s back, knocking him off balance. The venom arced to the right, and Hunter darted out of the way at the very last second. The creature spun back and narrowed its eyes at me as if it were trying to decide something. Shaking its big head, he took off into the darkening forest.

  I released a sigh of relief when my mate appeared beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. Thanks for the save.

  Any time. A wolfish grin split my lips. You think we should help Ransom out? I ticked my head at the gray wolf locked in battle with the last gora bora.

  Nah. I think he’s got this. Hunter’s smooth chuckle resonated through my chest. I’m going to retrieve that demon head so you can claim your win and get out of here.

  I don’t want to leave you alone. I leaned into him, his furry warmth like a soothing balm to my rattled nerves.

  I’ll be fine. Besides, I owe Viceroy a win, remember?

  I snorted. I wish you’d never made that deal with him.

  I would do it ten times over if it meant getting closer to finding your mom.

  Thank you. Tears burned my eyes as tightness squeezed my ribcage. Could wolves even cry?

  Hunter trotted to the middle of the clearing where the severed head lay. I turned away to avoid the gruesome blood covered skull and caught a glimpse of another wolf over the crest of the hill. His fur was mottled in browns and blacks, and from this distance I couldn’t catch his scent. Friend or foe? He was chasing a pack of gora boras, and they were coming straight at us.

  I spun at them as bodies crashed through the surrounding thicket, assuming my battle stance with fangs bared and hackles raised.

  No, Sierra, there’s too many! Hunter’s panicked voice shot through the bond a second too late.

  The leader of the pack hissed, and a fountain of venom streamed toward me. A dark blur darted in front of me before my eyes slammed shut. I waited for the searing pain, but it never came. I staggered back blindly as the surge of gora boras thundered by. One rammed into me and knocked me off my feet. I hit the ground with a thud, all the air whooshing out of my lungs. I let out a whine as heavy bodies and sharp claws dug into me as I fought to stand.

  A streak of pain lanced through my ribcage, and I finally forced myself up as the herd of demons raced back into the dense forest. Dipping my wolfy head, I inspected my chest for damage, but there was nothing.

  Hunter? I searched the clearing for the black wolf who’d leapt in front of me to protect me from the onslaught. Hunter!

  Another whine built up at the back of my throat as I sniffed the air for his familiar cedarwood and vanilla scent. Hunter where are you?

  A howl jerked my attention to a massive evergreen. I raced over and huddled behind the thick trunk was my mate. Naked and trembling.

  My heart crashed against my ribs as fear tore up my insides. I opened my mouth to speak, but only high-pitched whines and yowls came out. Squeezing my eyes shut, I willed my human form back. A swirl of purple haze covered my white wolf and when it lifted, I was human again.

  And naked. But this time, I couldn’t care less. I sank down beside Hunter, my own hands shaking. “You were hit?”

  He nodded slowly, his lids already drooping. I pulled him into my arms and his head lolled against my shoulder. A glimmer of sweat coated his forehead, and a sickly pallor had settled over his cheeks.

  “We need to get you to the healer right away.” My head whipped back and forth scanning the never-ending woods. “Where the hell is Ransom or that other wolf?”

  “I don’t know,” he muttered.

  Shift!

  “Can’t you call him through the pack link?”

  He shook his head. Just barely. The paralytic was already kicking in. “Too weak… Get a healer.” His eyelids slid closed, and panic spiked through my veins.

  I slapped his cheeks until the warm golden irises I loved focused on me once again. “I’m not leaving you out here by yourself.”

  A slow smile melted across his lips. “What are you going to do, carry me?”

  “Yes.” That was exactly what I’d do. I snaked my arm behind his back and threaded it beneath his armpits. Bracing myself against the tree, I tried to stand and hoist him up. My thighs burned from the strain, but gritting my teeth, I managed somehow. Loosing a breath, I glanced up at him. “See, no problem. Now we just have to make it to the edge of the forest.”

  Hunter’s eyes glazed over, and his body went limp. I staggered back against the tree as his full weight bored down on me. “Hunt
er, come on, please stay with me.” I slapped his cheek until it was red, but his eyes remained closed. No. No. No. This wasn’t happening. “Hunter, please, I can’t do this without you. I love you.” My heart crumbled. After holding in my feelings for so long, it was like a dam had been broken. It didn’t matter that he didn’t hear it, and he may never know it, but I’d finally admitted it to myself. I loved Hunter. I loved him more than anything in this world. I had to save him.

  I glanced at my watch as the announcer’s words echoed through my mind. Ninety minutes. It felt like we’d been running for hours already. Who knew how far we were from where we started?

  I sank down to the floor and lay Hunter’s head in my lap. One cheek was still rosy from where I’d slapped him too vigorously, but the other… I shook my head, chasing away the dismal thoughts. He was too pale.

  Steeling my nerves, I made up my mind. “Okay, Hunter, you were right. I’m going to get help, and you’re going to stay right here. Got it?” I brushed the hair stuck on his forehead behind his ears. “Please, Hunter, answer me.” I waited an impossibly long minute and indecision wracked my core. How could I leave him out here so vulnerable? But what other choice did I have? Maybe I could find Ransom and send him for the healer. Yes, that’s what I’d do. I scooped together a pile of leaves and gently lifted Hunter’s head. Laying it atop the leafy pillow, I slipped my legs out from under his torso.

  Scanning the woods, I tried to decipher which way we’d come from. Everything looked the same. Dammit. Why hadn’t I paid more attention? Instead, I moved in a circle, sniffing the ground, trying to catch Ransom’s scent. The damned gora bora’s stink was all I could make out. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I doubled back beside Hunter. Kneeling down, I cupped his sallow cheeks. “Please, tell me what to do.”

  I forced myself up and trudged a few paces toward the thickening woods. My chest tightened and pain lanced through my insides. I tried to take a few more steps, but my legs refused to cooperate. I couldn’t leave him. My body physically wouldn’t allow it. My mate was dying, and the bond between us was like a lasso holding fast.

  I knelt down beside Hunter and stroked his glistening cheek. There had to be another way. Cass. I had to get a message to her somehow. For the millionth time I cursed my non-existent witchy powers. If I could only send her a fire message, she could come find us. I clasped my hands together and squeezed my eyes shut. I’d practiced the spell thousands of times back in Arcane and had never been successful, but today I had no other choice. Letting my mate die was not an option.

  “Messagium sendere, messagium fuocem. Messagium sendere, messagium fuocem.” I muttered the words of the spell over and over. I tipped my head to the sky, the thick canopy of trees blotting out the light. “Oh, please, Luna, help me!”

  Hot tears spilled over my cheeks as I repeated the incantation. I threaded my fingers through Hunter’s, and his fading warmth seeped into my skin. A jolt of energy sped through my fingertips and something unfurled in my gut. A flicker. My brows slammed together, and I tightened my hold on his hand. Pops of electricity tingled over my bare flesh.

  The flicker grew to a flame, and a stronger wave of energy shot through my veins. “Messagium sendere, messagium fuocem. Messagium sendere, messagium fuocem,” I repeated. A puff of dark smoke revealed a yellow post-it note, hovering a few inches before my nose. A pen floated beside it, the tip poised at the paper. Thank the gods! “Cass, help. We need the antidote, Hunter’s been poisoned. Please find us!” The pen scrawled out my message a second before flames engulfed the paper. It disappeared a moment later in another small cloud of smoke.

  I held my breath as I waited for a reply.

  An impossibly long moment later, a blue flame ignited in the air and another note appeared. Tears filled my eyes as I read the familiar black penmanship.

  Hang tight. Got your location and I’ll be there soon.

  I swept away the tears rolling down my cheeks and hugged Hunter to my chest. “You’re going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You can go in and see him, you know.” Vander popped up behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I’d been lingering outside the arena’s infirmary for the past hour. When I brought Hunter in last night, I refused to leave. I couldn’t. Not until he’d woken up. Not until I’d seen those blazing golden irises that had become the world to me. Spending the night at the supreme beta’s side had garnered me more than a few pointed glares. But I didn’t care.

  I’d snuck out early this morning to grab a coffee and had been met with more sidelong glances and curious mutterings. The rumors had started, and I feared they’d only get worse.

  “Sierra?”

  I released the Styrofoam cup from between my clenched teeth and glanced up at Vander. “Huh? Sorry.”

  “I said you can go in to visit Hunter. I’m sure he wants to see you.”

  “I know,” I whisper-hissed. “And I want to see him, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” I ticked my head at the narrow hallway filled with bodies. Most were the Lunar Pack wolves, but a couple of the other competitors had gathered around once word got out about the supreme beta’s injury. They hovered like hyenas, waiting to pick at the fresh bones.

  He scanned the vultures and dipped his head to whisper, “We all knew it was only a matter of time before the truth came out about your impending mate bond. If you’d severed the link, we could’ve kept it a secret, but the longer it remains without completion, the stronger it becomes. Especially given your close proximity. It won’t be long before everyone sees what Hunter is too stubborn to give in to.”

  The thunder of heavy footfalls spun my attention to the far end of the corridor. Two enormous wolves stalked in front of a seething Tyrien. He marched toward us, wrapped in a floor-length black pelt. His alpha power barreled into me, and my wolf shot up. She pawed at my ribcage, and a low rumble vibrated my chest. Easy, girl. I did not need her showing up the supreme alpha right now. The entire hallway went silent, all heads dipping and eyes casting down to the floor.

  I followed everyone’s lead despite my wolf’s inner grumblings. She hated Tyrien more than I did. He canted his head in my direction, narrowing his eyes. Iron bands wrapped around my head, digging into my skull. Son of a werewolf! His piercing slate eyes bored into me, a mixture of curiosity and disdain emanating from the big beast. He was trying to get into my head—and failing. Was it because Hunter and I never completed the pack blood bond? Or something else? I dug my hands into my pockets and gritted my teeth. It took all my restraint not to meet his eyes.

  Terra stepped out into the hallway, and the supreme alpha pivoted toward her, releasing me from his intimidating glare. My shoulders slumped forward, and I released a sharp breath as the throbbing pain in my skull waned. As soon as Tyrien and his guards disappeared into the infirmary, I whispered to Vander, “You think he knows?”

  “He suspects and that’s all that matters,” he murmured back.

  “So what do we do?”

  “That’s up to you and your mate.”

  I shot him a good eyeroll and leaned against the earthen wall. Now that Tyrien was in there with Hunter, I’d have to wait. Behind the worry for my mate was the ever-present one for my mom. Every day that passed made her situation more dire. “Anything new on my mom?” I whispered.

  Vander pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head. “Tyrien will be in there for a while, let’s go outside and talk. We have to be quick.”

  I nodded and followed him through the tunnel. We passed the quiet arena, and my brows furrowed. “Where is everyone?”

  “Tyrien has suspended the trials until tomorrow due to Hunter’s injury.”

  Wow. Now his formal attire made more sense. “That’s convenient.”

  Vander held the main gate open and steered me to a bench a few yards away. “It is actually. I was thinking while Hunter is recuperating, I could take advantage of Tyrien’s distraction and sneak into his priv
ate quarters.”

  My eyes widened. “How?”

  “You know I’ve got my SIA secrets. I can’t share everything with you.”

  “I want to go with you.” I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing while Hunter was off limits and my mom was MIA.

  “Sorry, no can do, little wolf.” He ran his hand over my head, mussing up my hair. Which was already a wreck from yesterday. I opened my mouth to object, but he stopped me before I got a word out. “Not only would Hunter kill me for putting you in danger, I also only have enough of the cloaking potion for one person.”

  Magic, of course. I hadn’t even had time to mull over the burst of magic that had allowed me to send that fire message to Cass. She’d asked me how I’d done it the moment she and Terra had arrived in the woods with the antidote for Hunter. I didn’t have an answer for her. Later that night as I watched him sleep in the infirmary, I’d tried a couple easy spells, but nothing.

  Had it been a miracle? Maybe the goddess Luna had intervened to save my mate.

  I huffed out a breath. If I could only get my Mystic powers to kick in, things would be so much easier. But with all the Hunter drama, training, and now my mom missing I hadn’t had time to focus on my witchy abilities. Last night, I’d felt something, something incredible, but as quickly as it had come, it had vanished.

  “All right so what’s the plan?” I finally asked Vander.

  “I’d planned on going in later today when Tyrien was at the day’s closing ceremony, but since the events have been cancelled and he’s here now…”

  “You’re going right now?”

  He nodded. “No time like the present.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  “Just stay here and shoot me a text message when he’s on his way back.”

  My head bounced up and down as a swirl of hope coated my insides. “Okay, whatever you need.”