A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (34 page)

My cheeks burned. “I’m fine, Aric.” I cleared my throat and addressed the wolves. “How did you find us?”

Liam chuckled. “Let’s just say CIA ops are not in your sisters’ future.”

Koda pulled out his phone and hit the notes icon. “They took off a few days ago. Their excuse? They’d won tickets to
The Price Is Right
and they were headed to Burbank.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Shayna loved that show. Koda smirked and showed me a phone number he’d recorded. “Of course, they never erased their caller ID. This is the phone booth you called from. I traced the number to this area. We’ve been tracking you for days. It was only around dawn that we finally found traces of your scent.”

“They’ve texted from prepaid phones, just to tell us they were safe and claiming Emme won a toaster. We thought they went to search for you, but we never found them.” Gemini took in the shack. “And judging by your situation here, they never found you either. Where are they?”

This time it was my turn to lower my head in shame. “They’re in El Salvador. I sent them after Lucinda to force her to cure Aric.”

Koda hit Shayna’s number before any of us could blink. She answered with true cheerleader jubilation. “Whaddup, puppy?”

His voice grew tight. “I seriously think you’re trying to kill me. We’re with Celia and Aric. He’s…cured—and his scars have vanished. Now: Where. Are. You? And if you tell me you won a year’s supply of mac and cheese, I’m not going to be happy.”

Joyful squealing bounced through the other line as Shayna shared the news. When she returned she spoke to the gargantuan pissed-off being she affectionately called puppy. “Now, sweet love, don’t be mad. We had to help Aric. Especially since you guys tried to kill him and all.”

And just like that, Shayna turned the tables on him. Koda cleared his throat before he spoke, although it did little to fade the flush to his skin. “What happened with Lucinda?”

The playfulness in Shayna’s tone disappeared. “We killed her the night your scars healed. She didn’t leave us a choice. We panicked, thinking we’d lost our opportunity to save Aric. But from everything you say, it sounds like in killing her, we broke the spell that kept the burned
weres
from mending their scars.”

Aric leaned toward the phone. “How is Lucinda’s death related to the demon that burned us?”

There was some fumbling and then Danny came on the line. “We discovered that both Lucinda and her daughter had raised the demon. Lucinda escaped before the Alliance realized she’d been involved. In awakening the demon, she formed some kind of bond with him, allowing his power to linger after he returned to his dormant state. When she died, the last of the demon’s power died with her, allowing the
weres
to finally heal.”

The wolves and I exchanged looks. If it hadn’t been for Danny and my sisters, all who had been burned by Ihuaivulu’s fire would have remained scarred and Aric would have met a painful death. His lids closed tight. “You saved my life and spared my kind from suffering.” He buried his face in his palm. “Dan, I almost killed you. There are no words to describe the disgrace I feel. I beg you to forgive me—”

Danny interrupted, his voice quiet yet firm. “Your actions were only the result of Anara’s treachery. But if my forgiveness will help assuage some of your guilt, then, yes, I accept your apology.”

“Thank you,” Aric said hoarsely. “Thank you all for helping us.”

“No problem, dude!” I smiled. Only Shayna could act like taking out one of the most powerful witches on earth was no big deal.

Emme spoke lightly and with a great deal of heart. “Celia loves you, Aric. That makes you our family, too.”

Taran swore from somewhere behind her. “If you want to thank us, why don’t you start by making an honest woman out of our sister?”

Aric laughed. “I’m trying. This morning I asked Celia to marry me.”

That was all it took for my sisters and the wolves to lose their ever-loving minds. “You’re actually getting married! It’s about damn time. I for one have been dying to get off the Aric and Celia drama train.”

My mouth sprang open. “Hey!”

Aric wrapped his arm around me. “I’m still waiting for an answer, Taran, especially now that she’s told me she’s pregnant.”

A deafening silence greeted us before my sisters started screaming and crying all at once. Aric just stared at me. “They didn’t know?”

I shook my head. “Danny was the only one I told.” The cheer left my mood and voice, silencing the barrage of questions my sisters slammed me with. “I told him after we realized he could somehow block Anara’s power. Danny’s kept me safe from him this whole time.”

The wolves exchanged glances, realizing everything Danny had risked for me. Aric could barely find his words. “You’re a hero, Dan. You protected my mate and my unborn child. I’ll never be able to repay what you’ve done.”

“It was my honor,” Danny said, his voice splintering with emotion.

Aric swiped at his face. “When we return, expect a formal ceremony reinstating you into the Pack. That is, if you’re still willing to be one of us after the way we treated you.”

“Aric, in your shoes I probably would have acted the same way.”

Aric’s voice was barely audible. “Somehow I doubt that,” he said.

Koda disconnected shortly after that, promising to call as soon as they formed a plan. We walked in silence and sat around the extinguished fire. I knew what was coming next, but it didn’t make Gemini’s question any easier to take. “Tell us what happened, Celia.”

Aric stroked my back. He sensed my apprehension and spoke for me when I wouldn’t answer. “Anara used you as pawns to attack Celia.”

The ignominy in Gemini’s dark almond eyes almost made me weep. He rose slowly, falling speechless. “It’s okay,” I said. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

Koda matched Gemini’s repulsion with fury. “It’s
not
okay, Celia. Shit, that day we thought you hurt Emme—it was us, wasn’t it? We assaulted both of you.” He swore. “And that day we were driving?
Jesus,
you must have been fighting for your life!”

Aric released me and stood, demanding answers in his glare. Gemini lowered his head. “I don’t remember what happened, Aric. But if we turned on her, she didn’t stand a chance against us. We forced her to leap out of a moving vehicle.” He released a shaky breath. “And we pulled out her hair…chunks littered the floor and her scalp was bleeding.”

“You tore out her hair?”

Gemini nodded. Liam’s eyes darted between me and the wolves, expecting one of us to deny what had happened. Koda kicked a huge rock. It landed with a thud across the other bank. “That day at the hotel, was it Anara who tried to break Shayna’s neck?”

My jaw clenched. “Yes. He appeared behind Aric when we were holding each other. He told me he’d kill Aric if I didn’t get away from him. When I didn’t move, he attacked Shayna.” My voice cracked. “I never wanted anyone to get hurt.”

The pallor in Gemini’s skin receded, forced away by his increasing menace. “We’ve betrayed you in countless ways, and all this time you were protecting your love and ours. We were fools to think you could ever harm them.”

Gemini and Koda, while infuriated, covered their faces in deep remorse. Liam couldn’t take the guilt. He stared blankly at the ground. “We bludgeoned you…and broke your bones. We could have killed you and the baby.”

Aric stormed to the forest’s edge and punched a hole into a large dead fir, toppling it over. Dirt and mud rained down as the roots sprang from the ground. “I should have been there for you,” he growled. “I could have stopped them!”

I staggered toward him. Aric was strong, but the force he demonstrated then was more than I believed him capable of. The wolves followed, appearing to encourage his actions.

My hatred for Anara spilled over into my voice. “Why are you blaming yourselves? None of you would’ve hurt me if Anara hadn’t forced me to break my bond with Aric.”

Koda faced me, snarling. “Celia, you were compelled to destroy something sacred to keep Aric from harm. It shouldn’t have come to that—his safety and yours is our job. We failed him and we failed you!”

The Warriors rushed me at once—anxious to keep me safe despite the current lack of threat. Aric’s warning growl forced them to freeze. Their pent-up restless energy shimmered beneath their skin—like real wolves right before a hunt. My independent side wanted to tell them to back off, and insist I could take care of myself. The side of me that had been terrified for weeks was just grateful they would no longer attack me.

Aric gathered me into his arms, more possessive than loving. He failed to look at me. Instead he fixed on the wolves, daring them to approach.

Gemini stepped back slightly; the others followed suit. He rubbed his goatee, irritably. “The desperate measures you took to distance Aric alerted us that something was wrong, but we never imagined the situation involved one of our own. We thought that the vampires had somehow driven you insane.”

“The only solace I’ve had has been with the vampires. Their combined magic overpowered Anara’s.” I purposely didn’t mention Misha’s name, but Aric’s pained expression told me he recognized Misha as the driving force. I had to be honest. While Misha and his vampires made me crazy, they didn’t deserve to be the proverbial scapegoats.

“What else did we do to you?”

Liam’s deep voice barely registered, making me hate Anara more. I dug my fingers through my hair. “It was hard enough going through it. Don’t make me talk about it anymore.”

My torrid emotions fueled Aric’s rage, his growls grew increasingly menacing. I seized his hands. The way he focused on his Warriors frightened me. His human half could reason that they weren’t responsible for their actions, but the infuriated beast within wasn’t as forgiving.

Holding Aric soothed him only minimally. His emotions teetered toward out of control, and, short of moving him away, I didn’t know how else to calm him. “Aric, please look at me.” Fury blazed in his eyes. “I need you to calm down. You’re scaring me.” He didn’t want me to be afraid and tried to tame his beast. But then Liam opened his big yap.

“Celia, the day I found you bloodied and choked…Did I do that?”

I
shifted
Aric into the ground as he lunged for Liam. If I hadn’t anticipated the attack, I wouldn’t have caught him.

“Liam had nothing to do with it!” Aric’s head snapped up, expecting me to tell him exactly who’d hurt me. I swore a few times. Revealing the truth had done more harm than good. “It was Anara. That was the day he first came to see me.”

Aric broke through the packed ground, enraged. I hugged his waist, ignoring the dirt caking his borrowed clothes. His heart pounded against his rib cage. I didn’t know how much more he could take before his wolf would demand his mate be avenged.

He pulled me tight. “You were already carrying our child, weren’t you?” I didn’t want to say anything, but answered with a nod. He shook against me. “You’ve been through hell, Celia. And I’ve done nothing but fail you as a mate.”

“Don’t say that,” I said quietly.

Aric’s face darkened to a deep red. And although he remained furious, I sensed the blame he carried. “I should have recognized you were in danger. Instead all I did was add to your suffering.”

Tears streamed down my dirty face. “You didn’t know, love. Please calm down.”

Liam hurried forward. “He beat her up bad, Aric. Her nose was crushed and forced to the side. And her face was so swollen, I only recognized her by scent.”

“Liam—”

“Her back was sliced and her throat was bruised from being strangled—”

“Liam,
shut up
!”

Aric broke away from me to crush rocks with his bare hands. They exploded into the air like bits of sand. His strength scared me senseless and yet the wolves continued to nod, in approval. I rushed to him, but Gemini blocked my way, careful not to touch me directly. “Leave him, Celia. He needs to embrace his anger. It will help him when the time comes.”

My stomach churned with a horrible sense of dread. “Help him do what?”

Koda stared at me with dark, implacable eyes. “Help him and us kill Anara.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

My anxiety prompted a sudden attack of morning sickness. Aric halted midstride, worry replacing his need to crush stone. Nothing like projectile vomit to stop a raving werewolf in his tracks.

In seconds I had more help than I knew what to do with.
Weres
by definition ruled as calculating and vicious predators capable of emerging victorious even when outnumbered. Mine completely panicked. Liam swept me up and flung me over his shoulder, racing me toward the river and holding me over the raging water by the waist. “Shit! She’s not stopping!”

Koda, who’d chased us, called over his shoulder. “Damnit, Gem. Boil some water!”

Gemini yelled from the safety of the shore. “What for?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s just what you do when someone’s knocked up.”

I gripped my knees, trying to catch my breath. Liam “helped” by splashing me in the face with the icy water. I fell back into Aric’s arms from the force. “Liam, stop! You’ll give her hypothermia.”

“She needs water!” Liam insisted.

I glared at him. “In a glass, Liam. Not up my nose.”

Aric led me back to the bank, trying to warm my shaking body with his and barking out commands. “Gem, start a fire and grab a pot from the cabin to boil water.”

Gemini blinked back at him. “Okay, but what do I do with the water once it’s boiled?”

Koda growled. “I told you, it’s the type of shit you do when someone’s knocked up!”

These are the future uncles to my child.

Aric clenched his jaw. “It’s for Celia. Start searching for some coyote mint to add to the water. It will help settle her stomach.”

“Oh. Well that makes more sense.” Gemini bolted into the woods with Koda following.

Liam watched me closely. “Damn, Celia. You look like hell. Aren’t you supposed to be glowing or something?”

Aric’s scowl completely shut him up.
“Just get her some dry clothes.”