Broken Curse

Emma M y heart pounded in my ears as I took deep breaths to calm myself down. When my cousin walked into this house for breakfast, I would call his ass out on what he was doing behind everyone’s backs. Babe, what’s wrong? Aidan stepped into the den where I’d been pacing since everyone had finally gotten up. Concern filled his golden eyes, and his short dark hair was messy from sleep. He had slipped on some jeans, which hugged his ass and thighs, and his dark red shirt molded to his muscles. He was several inches taller than me and large. If I hadn’t been so upset, I would have very likely been drooling. I’ll tell you everything soon. I wasn’t sure I could get it out and maintain control. Anger had been my primary fuel for the past couple of hours. Remus was deflating his and Ivory’s blow-up mattress, and the air was blowing his brown hair a little as it left. His muscles contracted through his shirt as he put the mattress in its bag. His green eyes scanned his mate up and down. Normally, it would have made me smile to see them so happy, but not today. Finn had ruined that for me. Beatrice entered the room with her brown dress flowing behind her, making her appear younger than her mid-forties. Her hair was the same shade as her daughter’s, but her eyes were a paler purple. “Wow, you guys sure know how to pick up after yourselves. I wish you’d been around to teach Amethyst a few things.” Amethyst strolled into the room, her violet eyes bright and a smile on her face. “Oh, stop it, Mom.” Her smile fell, and her eyes locked right on me. “What’s wrong?” That was the question of the hour. Aidan frowned at me. “I just asked her the same thing.” The front door opened, and Sage, Samuel, and Finn walked into the room. That was all it took for me to unload. “Hey, cousin ,” I emphasized the word with so damn much hate. Finn’s amber eyes widened. “Hey?” He tilted his head as he scanned the room for clues about what was going on. His auburn hair was messier than usual, probably from not sleeping well after betraying us. He was almost as tall as Aidan, but not as muscular. He was all witch, which didn’t do him any favors. His shirt was baggier than the shirts of the wolf shifters, but I watched him as if he were prey. Because of that, I saw his shoulders stiffen. “Are you okay?” Samuel pulled his shoulder-length chestnut hair into a man bun, his forehead creased with worry. His sage eyes were wise beyond his years even though he didn’t act wisely most of the time. I’d met him a few weeks after school had started at a tailgate party. He was a junior, but that felt like a lifetime ago. “No. No, I’m not.” “That’s pretty clear.” Sage approached me and frowned. Her eyes were the same color as Samuel’s, but her hair was dark brown. She was the shortest among us, but she had unquestionable strength. “What happened?” “Mom, I’m sure …” Samuel trailed off when Sage gave him the “mom” eye. “It was strange.” I glanced into the den and met the eyes of the four girls who were here because of me. They trusted me, and they deserved to know, just like the priestess and the coven. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went for a walk and overheard a very interesting conversation.” Finn stepped back, bumping into Samuel. Finn turned to run around him, but the angry shifter closest to him grabbed his arm. “Logan, make sure he stays here.” If I’d been more rational, I wouldn’t have commanded that. Logan and Gabby had been raised in a pack that had only tolerated them. They had anger and trust issues, which Logan had proved when he’d killed Honor’s pack alpha while we’d been helping her and Ada escape. Our goal had been to find each marked girl without causing too big of a scene, so killing a f*****g alpha was a huge-ass deal. “With pleasure.” The freaky shifter grinned, and the scar from his nose to his right ear looked even more sinister. His hair was white, but not from age since he was right around twenty. His blue eyes were so light that the iris was sometimes difficult to distinguish from the sclera. “What did you do, boy?” Beatrice’s voice and hands shook. Finn shook his head. “Nothing …” “Oh, wow. That was a big lie.” Gabby waved her hand in front of her nose and squinted her bright blue eyes, which always seemed to glow. She then flipped her black hair over her shoulder. “It’s rotten in here.” “Shifters can smell a lie,” Ivory said, frowning. Her pale hand took Remus’s. Her brown hair was so long it spilled between them like a curtain. “What did you do?” Beatrice asked again, emphasizing each word. “Let me fill you in since he obviously won’t.” Unadulterated rage consumed me. “He was on the phone with Prescott.” “Whoa.” Aidan’s jaw clenched. “The Hallowed Guild member who’s roommates with your ex-boyfriend?” It sounded like forever ago when he put it like that. I’d dated Jacob for over two years, but he’d never held a candle to Aidan. I hadn’t understood, at fourteen when we would sneak to the border and risk the wrath of our packs, why we’d thrown caution to the wind. It had taken seeing him again at eighteen to figure it all out. “Yes. Your father’s ally pack is looking to take the marked wolves down.” Sage turned toward the boy she considered a son, even if it wasn’t biologically. “Why were you talking to them?” “Because he’s going to act as their informant as long as the pack promises to let him kill Aidan’s father and doesn’t attack me or the coven.” How he could be so selfish and stupid was beyond me. “And he actually believes them.” “So, what? You were going to allow them to kill my mate?” Logan tightened his hands on Finn as his protective mate senses took over. Finn winced. “It’s nothing personal.” “Are you that big of a moron?” Aidan clenched his hand into a fist. “Do you really think they’ll keep their word? You hate on wolf shifters all the time, but you’re going to trust one of the most corrupt ones?” “You’re only saying that to save your father,” Finn said through clenched teeth. “Honestly, I’m not sure about that.” Aidan rubbed his forehead.