Broken Curse

10

My stomach growled. “Sounds good to me.”

Our large group entered the diner through the red door. Oval tables were scattered across the black and white checkered floor, and tables with booth seating on one side and chairs on the other lined the wall. A bar was front and center of the small restaurant.

There wasn’t a big lunchtime crowd, but three tables were already occupied.

A man in his mid-twenties made his way over to us, and the musky scent of wolf hit me hard right in the chest. “Hey, how many are in your party?”

He must have smelled the same thing from us because he raised an eyebrow.

“Thirteen.” I forced the word out, portraying a level of confidence I didn’t really have. My mother’s words from so long ago, when I’d started school and felt like I didn’t fit in there or in my pack, repeated in my head: “Fake it. If you pretend long enough, you’ll start believing it.”

I’d never told her that it didn’t work … at least, not for me. However, it did with the others, and I’d learned that was enough.

“Let me pull together a few tables in the back corner.” He turned and headed to the back corner to make room for us.

I linked with Aidan. He’s a wolf.

Yeah, this can’t be good. He ran his fingers through my hair, ensuring my mark was covered. We need to be careful with the others, too.

That wouldn’t be possible here with wolfman. He’d overhear. “Hey, ladies. I forgot something in the car. Do you mind coming with me?”

Beth narrowed her eyes but nodded. “Sure, let’s go.”

Our group of girls headed outside, and I walked to the Suburbans, not wanting to look suspicious. When we reached them, I opened the passenger door and pretended to look for something. I whispered, “That guy might be part of the local Hallowed Guild pack, so we need to cover our marks.”

Ivory frowned. “Wait … there’s a pack here? That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not, but it is what it is. Let’s eat and then drive around until we feel the tug, but we must be cautious.” I lifted my purse. “Found it,” I said loudly in case anyone was around to overhear.

“Yeah, okay.” Beth snorted and waved us back in. “Let’s eat before I get hangry.”

Aidan

“Is everything okay?” The server glanced out the window at the girls. His shaggy, golden-brown hair fell over his forehead, only giving a peek of his caramel eyes.

“Yeah, you know how women are.” If he thought he would get something from me, he was greatly mistaken. “They travel in packs.” I’d chosen that last word on purpose.

“That I understand.” The waiter stared at me. “You look familiar.”

Here I was, worried about the girls’ marks when I should’ve been more concerned with my face. “No clue how.” I shrugged, forcing the mask of indifference to stay on my face. “I’m not from around here.”

“Which brings me to another point. Have you informed my …” He paused and chewed his bottom lip. “… boss that you’re here?”

Ah, he’d almost said alpha in front of humans. That would have raised questions. “No. We’re just passing through.”

“Does he require notice in those situations as well?” Remus sat at the far end of the table.

I sat down right in front of him with Samuel taking the other end.

“We like to make sure we know who is here.” The server pulled out his phone. “I’ll give him a call and be right back to take your orders.” He paused and stared straight into Samuel’s eyes before walking away.

My shoulders tensed with each step he took. “This is bad.” I lowered my voice so the humans and the server wouldn’t hear. “He’s already noted Samuel. When the other two come in …” I didn’t even know how to finish that sentence.

Logan plopped down two seats away from Remus. “But if we leave now, it’ll be suspicious.”

That was putting it mildly. “We stay and eat.” Unless he told us otherwise.

Emma

We entered the restaurant, and I made a beeline to Aidan and took my seat next to him. Is everything okay?

No, the server is calling The Hallowed Guild alpha to inform him that we’re here. Also, he noticed that Samuel is a witch.

What? How? I picked up a menu and scanned it, making sure my body wasn’t too rigid. The last thing we needed was to put ourselves on the pack’s radar.

Because they want to vet visitors. He took my hand in his. But don’t worry, I won’t allow anything to happen to you.

I bit my tongue to prevent the real words I wanted to say to him from coming out. The truth was he couldn’t protect me. My trip to purgatory had taught us both that. Did he say something to Samuel?

Surprisingly, no. Aidan nibbled on his bottom lip. But I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

Either way, we’re stuck. Leaving would only make it worse. Logan is right. It would look odd if we left.

Agreed.

“Ohhh …” Beth sat next to me and pointed right at the double bacon cheeseburger. “It’ll be fun putting that into my belly.”

The server returned and stopped cold a few steps away from our table. “Interesting company you all keep.” The man pulled out his notepad and pen.

The table a couple of feet away stopped drinking and turned in our direction.

“I’m sorry?” It had to be the witches. As part of the secret society, he would hate them. However, I couldn’t believe he’d made such a blatant comment here.

“Nothing, forget it.” The man smiled, but the rest of his expression remained dark.

“Why don’t we relocate you outside?” The server’s jaw clenched as he took in a breath. “It might be more comfortable for all of you.”

“Sure, that would be nice.” That way we could talk without worrying about him overhearing.

Our group stood and made our way outside.

“Here, let me push together some tables.” The server diligently worked, and soon, we had a similar setup to what we had inside.

We sat down in the same order, and the wind picked up, stirring my hair.

I held it in place.

We ordered our food, and the wolf went back inside to fill the orders.

“We need to get the hell out of here.” Coral tapped her finger against the metal table. “He’s not happy about our presence here.”