A Cursed Bloodline (WG 4) (39 page)

Aric growled. “Why is she in so much pain?”

Martin answered him. “The evil one struck her with the sacred power from multiple Packs. Despite our combined efforts there’s nothing more we can do. It will take time for her to mend.”

“But she’ll heal, won’t she?” There was a pause before Aric asked more forcefully. “I want to know if she’ll heal!”

Makawee’s sadness continued to haunt her voice. “Aric, what the evil one did to Celia would have killed most. While I believe she will eventually stop hurting, children…are no longer possible.”

Shayna must have caught the cool tears sliding down my face. “She can hear you,” she whispered.

Aric went ballistic and yelled at everyone to get out. His strong arms pulled me into a tight embrace. My body curled against him, allowing him to release his grief while mine spilled across his chest. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t real. Life couldn’t be so cruel.

I don’t remember sleeping. I only remember waking. Someone opened the door to the room, only to be greeted by a snarling gray wolf.

Emme put her hands out. “Aric, please. We’re not going to hurt her. We just want to make sure Celia’s okay.” Her soft requests were met with more threatening growls. I sat up from the bed and wrapped my arms around his neck. His presence was unbelievably comforting, yet it failed to give me strength to emerge from my depression and relieve my physical agony. I stared blankly ahead, unable to form a single word.

Taran stomped forward. “Damnit, Aric. We love her, too!”

Shayna yanked her back. “Don’t, Taran, they need time alone. Emme, leave the food, we’ll come back when she’s ready for us.”

Aric returned to his human form when they left and retrieved the tray of food. I rolled away from it when he placed it on the nightstand. “Please, sweetness. You have to eat, love.”

Eventually I let him feed me, recognizing his overwhelming urgency to care for me and keep me safe.

Days passed like hours.

I allowed Aric to continue to dote on me. Every time my needs were met, he would
change
back into a wolf and resume his protective watch over me. He forbade anyone to enter our room. I was too weak to argue and in no mood to entertain, so admittedly, I didn’t put up much of a fuss. What concerned me was his need to remain as a beast.

I wasn’t sure what day it was, but I needed to leave the bed and tried to rise from my fetal position. It hurt. I didn’t want Aric to see how much. I scooted to the edge of the mattress and tried not to flinch. Aric’s wolf form was tremendous, but on the large, elevated mattress, he seemed mammoth. I stood and wrapped my arms around my belly, trying not to think about my empty womb. It was hard; my soreness centered around where my baby had thrived.

I swore in my head. Anara had struck me with the ultimate magic of the Packs to ensure Aric’s bloodline would remain untainted. I swallowed back my bitterness, not wanting to waste my thoughts on someone so heinous the
weres
would no longer refer to him by name.

I studied the colossal suite while I worked to settle my breathing. A long white couch and two plush chairs made up the sitting room beside a grand picture window. The shades were drawn, but I had no desire to open them, despite the bright sun peering through the cracks. The slate blue walls remained bare, along with the dark wood furniture. Aric hadn’t hung a picture, a painting, or anything to make it more his home. To him, it had only been a place to sleep.

A small hallway led to his bathroom. Aric leapt off the bed and followed me when I walked toward it. On either side of the hallway were massive walk-in closets, one half-full, the other empty save a few hangers. The empty one was large enough to be a bedroom…or perhaps a nursery. I shuddered, trying to shake the thought.

I quickened my pace to the toilet and shut the door for privacy, grateful Aric couldn’t see me. I wouldn’t have been able to hide my grimace or prevent myself from doubling over in anguish. As it was, Aric growled at my sharp intake of breath. He hated that I continued to suffer. But my pain would someday end. My scars? That was a different story.

A spiderweb of hideous red lines marked my lower abdomen where Anara’s claws had punctured my skin—a permanent reminder of how he’d robbed us of our child. My pants hid the worst of the damaged tissue, but the embodiment of his torture would haunt me the rest of my days.

Aric followed me to the sink when I stepped out. I looked in the mirror and tried not to cringe at my reflection. Pale skin, swollen from crying, stretched over my thin face. God, I needed more calories. The little food I’d managed to consume wasn’t enough for my inner beast. We needed more. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, promising Aric I’d make more of an effort to eat.

Something in the half-filled closet caught my attention on my return to bed. There, on top of a small bureau, lay two beautiful and familiar wooden frames—gifts once given to me by Aric. When he’d left me, they’d disappeared from the room we’d shared. I’d thought my sisters had taken them to spare me from the memories, but here they were in his possession.

I lifted them and examined the black-and-white photos. The one in my left hand was taken when we first fell in love. We were staring at each other with such intensity, Shayna had captured the loving moment with her camera. In the other, Aric held me while I laughed and he nuzzled my neck. They were both from the beginning of our relationship. A happier time. Never could I have imagined then how much darkness would surround our lives.

A single tear escaped my right eye. “You kept these. After how much I made you hate me, I can’t believe you didn’t destroy them.”

Aric’s muscular human arms wrapped around my waist, and he kissed my head. “I felt a lot of anger, sadness, and hurt. But hate? No. You are my love. I could never hate you.”

I smiled weakly and returned the pictures to their spots. Aric held my face in his hands when I turned to him, soothing my body with his touch. Deep circles shadowed his sad and tired eyes. He hadn’t shaved and his thick dark hair was mussed. Still, he was the most beautiful being on earth to me. I stood on my toes and swept my lips over his. The taste was so sweet, I wanted more. I kissed him softly until our tongues met, igniting our passion in one mighty burst.

Aric’s hands traveled the length of my back to cup my backside. Mine were more daring. He stood naked, giving me full access. I took advantage, making him grunt and moan until he tore himself away from me.

I stumbled back from the force he used to separate us. His hands gripped either side of the door frame. The muscles on his back, arms, and legs bulged with growing strain. He lowered his head, panting heavily. “No,” he groaned.

I slid numbly to the thick carpeted floor. Of course…of course he didn’t want to make love to me. What would be the point? I couldn’t continue his bloodline.

“You don’t want me anymore,” I acknowledged aloud.

Aric glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening. He rushed to my side and gathered me in his arms. I wept as my head fell against him. “I’ll always want you, sweetness. But you’re in pain. You need time to heal.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t ever want to hurt you again.”

I wiped my eyes. “Are you sure? I heard what the Elders said. I can never give you a child.”

Aric regarded me with enough force to melt my soul. “I don’t need my heart to beat. I don’t need to take a breath. As long as I have you, there is nothing else I need.”

He meant what he said, for now. But I remembered the joy on his face when I told him I was having our baby. In time, I alone wouldn’t be enough.

He carried me back to bed and resumed his wolf form. A soft knocking stirred me from sleep sometime later. I glanced at Aric, surprised when he whined instead of growled. The door opened and in stepped a beautiful woman with white hair cut stylishly to her shoulders. She wore a pale green sundress and a poignant expression. “Hello, son,” she told Aric.

Eliza Connor walked around the bed and sat at the edge. I pushed up on my elbows, embarrassed by my disheveled state. She stroked my hair away from my face, reminding me of my own mother’s touch. Maybe it was the memory of my mother that started my tears, and perhaps her own maternal intuition drove her to embrace me. “I’m so sorry, dear.” She held me for a long while and played with the ends of my long waves.

The position eventually became too painful. She released me, likely sensing my discomfort, and wiped her tears and mine with some tissues from the nightstand. “I would have come sooner, but I wasn’t well.” Eliza caressed Aric’s fur. “When Martin phoned to tell me about the moon sickness, I fell ill and believed it was time for me to be with your father.” She glanced at me and smiled. “But you didn’t let something like an irreversible curse stand in the way of helping your mate, did you?”

I smiled weakly when she covered my palm with her hand. “Oh, Celia. What a wondrous gift you’ve been to my son.” Eliza stopped smiling. “Just when I started to recover, I felt Aric leave this earth.” She wouldn’t look at Aric then, I guess it was too hard. “My poor health returned, so I must ask your forgiveness for the time it took me to arrive.”

Aric placed his large head on her lap. I simply nodded. She had nothing to apologize for as far as I was concerned, so instead I asked her about Aric. “Why does he continue to maintain his wolf form?”

“He, like the others, is in wolf mourning.” She stroked my hair again. “Soon I shall join them. Our inner beasts are capable of dealing with more physical and emotional suffering than our human sides.” She sighed and wept softly. “The treachery and pain you endured, Liam’s death, and the death of my grandbaby have been too much for us. We need to rely on our inner animals to help us survive this time. When our mourning as beasts concludes, we will mourn as humans and say goodbye to our beloved Liam. Then we will go on as life intends.”

—

Eliza left our room a while later, taking Aric with her so my sisters could spend some time alone with me. My eyes bugged out when I caught a gander at Shayna’s new limbs. Small, delicate arms grew from her elbows, resembling an infant’s with hands to match. She waved them at me. “Hey, Ceel. Don’t worry,” she added quickly when she noticed my alarm. “They’re just growing back.”

Taran rolled her eyes and adjusted the long silk gloves she wore. “For shit’s sake. Can’t you keep those things covered? You’re going to freak her out!”

Emme ignored them and rushed to embrace me with her arms and her healing light. She studied me expectantly when finished, until disappointment creased across her delicate features. “I didn’t help at all, did I?”

“You kept me from dying. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your light.”

Emme’s gentle green eyes welled with tears. I gathered my arms around her petite frame. It felt good to be strong for someone else. I hadn’t liked falling to pieces and Lord knew I’d done it enough over the past few months.

Shayna climbed in bed next to us. “It was a combined effort, Ceel. Everyone needed you to make it.” She gulped back some tears and stared at the wall. “Bren performed chest compressions when Aric ordered him to leave the fight. Taran and I couldn’t help you.” She flexed her still-growing hands to prove her point.

I wasn’t sure if they were ready to discuss what had happened, but I thought I should at least ask. “How did Anara die?”

They gawked at me, likely surprised I’d thrown out the bastard’s name so casually.

Taran sat beside me. She glanced at my belly, but caught herself and returned her gaze to my face. “In smashing the blood vial, you broke Anara’s hold over Aric. Anara used the strength from the other Packs, but it wasn’t enough. Aric was too vicious. So that son of a bitch drained every wolf under his control in order to fight Aric. He fried their brains, Ceel. Some are just starting to wake from their comas.”

“Then how did Aric do it?” I asked. “He’s strong, but he’s only one wolf.”

Emme smiled. “He wasn’t then, Celia.”

Shayna bounced on the bed. “Danny came in while they were fighting. He ran to each of our wolves and to Tye, freeing them from Anara’s hold just by touching them.” She took a breath, trying to contain her enthusiasm. “They healed, and—and
merged
with Aric. It was the coolest thing I ever saw.”

Emme nodded. “Danny served like their glue, keeping them together within Aric.”

Taran tugged on her glove again, pulling it further up her arm. “Makawee wasn’t able to fight. She was too weak since that asshole had been draining her power for so long. She crawled across the floor just to help you. Misha and his family arrived soon after Bren began CPR.” A smirk played across her face. “He rushed to your side and ordered the vamps to shield us from the fight. I hate to admit it, but I finally get why you’re so close to him.”

I couldn’t discuss Misha then and focused on Danny’s gift. “Danny can manipulate and block
were
magic….That’s his ability as a blue merle werewolf.”

Shayna wrinkled her brow, suddenly sad. “What sucks is he didn’t realize how to use it in time to save Heidi.”

I jerked up suddenly. My body didn’t like me moving so fast and punished me severely. I hunched over and grunted. My sisters gathered around. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” I insisted.

The ache gradually receded but their eyes reddened and teared. Their sadness broke my heart. I’d sent Heidi to rescue Danny, not to end her life. It wasn’t until Taran explained that I realized their sadness had been over my pain.

“It’s all right, Ceel. Heidi’s alive.” She pursed her lips and glanced away. Aric wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand to see me suffer. “She took on the group that attacked Danny. He’d been terrified they were going to kill him, but then his fear turned to anger when they turned on Heidi. That’s when he realized how to control his gift.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

Taran leaned back on the bed. “Danny’s ability is more pronounced when he’s angry. When he’s scared, he can’t manipulate another
were’s
magic—he can only sense it. That’s why he couldn’t free Aric when we arrived. He was scared shitless.”