Cursed Vengeance (18 page)

“Yes. Yesterday was hell without you. And yeah, you scared me, but Sean made it worse than it had to be.”

Dylan caught my face in his hands. There was such sadness in his eyes. “No, Sierra. We’ve seen wolves go feral. Sometimes when they lose their mate, sometimes if given a potion, sometimes if they’re hurt. The only time they hurt their mate, as far as I know, is when magic is involved. I fought, but I was losing control.” He shook his head and I wrapped my arms around him. “Sierra, I could have really hurt you if you didn’t put me under.”

“You didn’t. You fought. And that’s all I want to hear about it.”

He gave me a dubious look before nodding to my plate. “Eat. We’re going to Sean’s in a bit for dinner.”

Rolling my eyes, I dug in. I still needed to figure out what I could do about Anabeth. If I could find the object and destroy it, they’d only replace it later. I needed to find a way to keep the coven out. I hoped Sean had an answer.

Dylan finished his sandwich fast, then told me about Bradley and the challenge. I almost felt bad for Bradley, but the asshole had brought it on himself.

“And how is Sean?”

“Fine by the time we left. He suffered a few bruises and a scratch down his side. Bradley has broken bones, which will take time to heal, but his gashes should be healed by now. Sean was more interested in keeping him down than taking another person from Theresa.”

“And how is Theresa doing? She still okay I couldn’t take the curse from Christian?” I looked away. As much as I wished I could have fixed it, there really was nothing more I could have done at the time.

“She understands. She doesn’t blame you, she’s not upset. Her brother, she’s not happy with, but she doesn’t blame Sean for that. Bradley challenged Christian too, and the alpha before. He hasn’t learned he doesn’t have what it takes.”

“I’m sorry I let you go yesterday,” I whispered. “Between Rachel, Sean, and dealing with switching hospitals, I needed time. I guarantee I wouldn’t have been much help for Sean’s preparation. All night I worried about Sean, but most of all you believing I hated you. I didn’t want to call either of you to fuck up whatever mojo you had for dealing with Bradley, and I only talked to Sean because he called me. But I was afraid to talk to you because I didn’t think I could fix us before you had to go.”

“How long were you waiting for me?”

“An hour or two. I needed you in my arms.”

He pulled me closer and kissed me. I was dizzy before he pulled back with a smile that lit me on fire. “We should go before I find a dozen reasons to keep you in my bed all day and night.”

Gently pushing at him, I nodded. “Yeah, but I need to see him for myself and ask him a question.”

The ride over to Sean’s was fast. “Whose car is that?” I asked.

Dylan’s brow arched. “Maybe he’s getting a little hanky panky.”

A groan escaped as I climbed out of the car and hurried up the steps. A woman was talking in frantic tones and Sean seemed to be cooing at her. Without waiting, I opened the door to see Sean pulling a blond into his arms as he tried to soothe her.

“Ashley?” Dylan asked, giving Sean a knowing look.

Sean flipped him off over her back with a death glare.

And then I remembered how Sean said staying away from a mate was hell. I looked up at Dylan and gave him a look that drowned his smirk.

“Hey, Sean. Everything all right?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Someone died in Ashley’s pack last night. Similar to our curse, only it was a woman on her thirty-fifth birthday.”

“Anyone else turning thirty-five soon?”

Ashley turned toward me, her hazel eyes filled with tears. “Not for a few months. Still, it was my best friend. I found her curled on the floor, her skin rubbing off, blood oozing around her. The smell—oh God, the smell was horrible. Everything was exactly like Sean warned me about.” She sniffled. “I came here first, but then remembered Sean should have been dead a few days ago. Before I could turn around to hunt down Theresa, Sean stepped onto the porch. You really saved him?”

I nodded. “I’m Sierra, by the way. And you’re Ashley?”

Her arms wrapped around me so tight it was hard to breathe. “Thank you for giving me hope. You don’t have a clue what it means to me.”

Oh, I had an idea. “I still need to solve this curse for good, but if you have a few months, I’ll tackle that next. Okay?”

“Thank you.”

Sean gave me an arched brow. “You okay now?”

“Better than ever. We need to talk, though. And I need to ask you about a wooden box your father gave you.”

He frowned for a moment, then a grin broke across his face. “The treasure box. Funky knife in it. It’s hidden in the hollow post of my old bed at your house.”

“Good.” At least now I knew why I couldn’t find it while they were at the funeral. I drew a breath and resolved to find that later. I might need to bring Dylan back to my house.

Dylan motioned to Sean to follow him outside.

I managed a smile at Ashley and decided to jump into business.

“So, tell me everything about your friend. I need as much as possible to figure this out.”

She nodded and started with the gruesome details.

Dylan

The door shut and I spun to face Sean. “Fucking Ashley? All this time and it was Ashley.” I couldn’t believe it. Sean and I met Ashley at the same time. She was a member of a pack about twenty miles away. The first time we met, we’d gone to speak with her Alpha and see if they’d heard of any other packs with our same problem. How in the hell did I not see their connection then?

“Yes, it’s Ashley.” He flopped down onto one of the chairs on the porch.

He looked exhausted. After the challenge and hunt, he probably hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, now this. “Hey, man, sorry. I can’t understand how I didn’t figure it out before.”

He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “We kept it hidden by not seeing each other in person. It was mostly me who stayed away. I couldn’t do that to her.”

Leaning back against the post, I crossed one ankle over the other. “So you think I made a mistake?”

“No,” he sighed. “The closer it got to my birthday, the more I regretted not spending the time with her that I had. You’re right, the pull of your mate is almost impossible to ignore. I’m still not sure how we did it as long as we did.”

I took the seat next to him. “Are you going to fix that? Because Sierra and I can leave right now if you need us to.”

He punched me in the arm. “Don’t be an asshole. Her best friend just died. I’m sure mating is not really high on her priority list.”

“At least you don’t have to avoid it anymore.”

“No, but I pushed her away for so long, who says she still wants me?”

I wanted to slap him up the backside of his head for being such an idiot. Miraculously, I kept my hands to myself. “Don’t be a moron, of course she still wants you. She’s your mate and you’re right, she needs comfort at the moment. You can seal when you’re both ready.”

Sean leaned back. “How did you keep yourself from sealing with Sierra?”

“At the time I thought I would be dying in a couple weeks. I didn’t want to put her through that. Once I knew she was ready, all bets were off.”

He held up his hands. “Okay, I think that’s enough details for now. The less I know about you and my little sister, the better.”

“Fine, but just so you know, she’s moving in with me.”

“I know.” He said it so nonchalantly I almost missed it.

My head snapped in his direction. “What do you mean you know?”

He laughed. “I talked to her yesterday before the full moon, knucklehead. How do you think I knew everything would be okay?”

I stood. “Come on. The two of you have been through enough. Sierra and I will make dinner so you can talk to each other.”

He moved from his seat and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Thanks, man. You’re the best brother I could ask for.”

Hearing him call me brother meant the world to me. We’d always been close, but it made me feel like part of the family. “Anytime.”

Following Sean into the house, Ashley and Sierra were deep in conversation. I’d hoped Sierra picked up on the clue I was trying to send her. If not, we could talk while we made dinner. Hopefully, she could cook better than I could. If the other night was any indication, we were safe from my culinary skills.

“Sierra?” I said.

She looked up and for a moment I got lost in those deep, blue eyes. Concern for Sean was there, but right under the surface was lust. In that moment, she needed me as much as I needed her. Unfortunately, her brother needed us more and I wouldn’t let him down. Sierra and I had tonight.

Noticing Ashley and Sean caught up in each other, I nodded to the kitchen, hoping Sierra would understand. Smiling, she stood and led the way. The minute I stepped through the door, she spun and wrapped her arms around my waist. Leaning up, she whispered in my ear.

“Is that who I think it is?”

Nodding, I said, “If you mean Sean’s mate, then yes.”

Her eyes flashed. “How long has he known?”

“We met Ashley over a year ago.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I have no idea how I didn’t figure it out until now.”

Her eyes practically rolled to the back of her head. “Let me guess, he had the same idea as you. Avoid the mate and save her the pain.”

“Something like that.” I smirked. “Remember I hadn’t met my mate, now I know there is no way to resist her.” Cupping her face, I pressed my lips to hers. A brief taste before things got out of control.

“Mmm…you’re trying to butter me up. Why?” She raised one brow and waited for my answer.

“I told Sean we’d take care of dinner so they could have some more time to talk. Is that okay with you?”

Sinking her hand into my hair, she pulled my head down and captured my mouth. Her tongue slid across my lips and my dick went from semi erect to erect in seconds. This time I didn’t stop her. It wasn’t until I considered fucking her on Sean’s kitchen counter did I step back to get myself under control. Her face was flushed with desire.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not screwing you in your brother’s house. We need to make dinner and keep our hands to ourselves or that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Her eyes darted to the countertop and back at me.

“Don’t even think about it.” Grabbing her shoulders, I turned her away from me and adjusted myself.

“Fine, we’ll make dinner, but when we get home you’re all mine.”

I pulled her back against my front, letting her feel how much I wanted her. “Sweetheart, you can have me anyway you want then. But right now, I’m not in the mood to get hit by Sean again.”

She peeked over her shoulder. “Again?”

I laughed. “Yeah, after the first night at Sean’s house when you ran. He showed up and punched me.”

“Shit.” She winced. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I’m happy with where we ended up.”

“Me too. Now let’s see if Sean has something worthy of cooking. You should know by now, he’s usually at least missing one thing for every recipe. I’m still surprised he had everything for the casserole.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

Sierra and I spent the next ten minutes raiding Sean’s kitchen for enough ingredients to make anything. Eventually, we found everything to make Sheppard’s Pie. Working side by side, we had the dish ready for the oven in no time. We peeked in on Sean and Ashley, who were cuddled on the couch talking. Neither one of us wanted to interrupt them, so we went to the back porch to wait for the timer.

With my arms wrapped around Sierra, I kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to miss you tomorrow. I can’t wait until you work down here.”

“It’ll only be a few weeks, and I’ll be here every night I don’t have any earlier appointments or surgeries.”

“I know, but it’ll be weird without you here.”

“Well, maybe you and Sean can actually go to work now.”

That made me laugh. “Yeah, maybe we can actually have a normal week. The jobs we checked are on track, which is a plus.”

We were silent for a bit longer, enjoying the mild fall day and each other’s company. The timer went off, and we went back inside to put the food on the table. Ashley and Sean had already set the table.

Dinner was fun. I noticed Ashley relax more and more as the night worn on. Her pack still had their problems, but with Sierra’s assurance she’d find a permanent solution there was light at the end of the tunnel. Seeing Sean and Ashley together, it was hard to imagine how I didn’t see their connection before. They may not have sealed yet, but the connection was already strong.

After we cleaned up and hung out for a little while longer, I needed to go home and have my way with Sierra. Her scent overwhelmed me and I had to have my hands on her body. Ashley decided to stay at Sean’s instead of making the drive home, even though it was only about thirty-five minutes. Who knew, maybe by tomorrow morning, I’d have a new sister-in-law. Probably not, knowing Sean.

Hugging Ashley, I ignored Sean’s growl. “It’s good to see you again. I hope we’ll see more of you now.”

“You will,” she said, a smile in her voice.

Ashley turned and hugged Sierra. “Thank you for your help. I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

“I’d like that,” Sierra said.

“Be careful driving home tomorrow.” Sean hugged her.

“I will.”

When we finally got out of the Sean’s place, I made it back to my house in record time. I didn’t give Sierra a chance to climb out of the car, before picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder.

“Dylan,” she screeched. “Put me down.” She pounded her fists on my back the entire time.

I ignored her, at least until we reached the bedroom, where I tossed her on the bed, taking her jeans and panties with me. Her face flushed, she glared daggers at me until I stripped and climbed on top of her. Before she had the chance to slap me again, I collected both her wrists in one of my hands.

“Let me go, Dylan,” she warned.

“Oh, hell no, you just hit me. This way I can do all kinds of naughty things to you.” I pushed her top up and reached around to unfasten her bra.

Her body bucked below mine, making me even hotter as I pushed her bra up over her breasts and dropped my mouth to her nipple, sucking it into my mouth. Her intake of breath was sharp, and I knew I’d done something right, even if she wanted to deny it.

“Dylan.” She tried to sound stern, but the effect was lost with the moan that slipped past her lips.

My head lavished her other breast with the same attention, my dick throbbing so hard I was afraid I’d come all over the bed before getting in her tight little body. Enough was enough.

Using my speed against her, I let go of her hands, took hold of her hips, and flipped her over.

“Dy—” she started and stopped when I drove full length into her.

“Mmm…that’s better,” I groaned.

“Fuck,” she hissed. “Now move.”

“My pleasure.”

Pulling back, I pushed my hips forward again and again, until we were both begging for release. Tired of holding back, I wrapped my hand around her front to finger her clit. She went off like an explosion.

“Shit.” I thrust into her one last time, my body jerking over and over again with my release. A need to taste her again came over me. My teeth elongated and I bit down where her neck and shoulder met. Her walls clamped down harder on me, as our connection strengthened.

When I could finally move again, I cleaned us both up and wrapped her in my arms to sleep.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I whispered in her ear.

“Me too,” she mumbled, her eyes closing as drifted to sleep.

The next few weeks were going to suck, but I had to remember the light at the end of the tunnel. Once it was over, Sierra would always fall asleep in my arms.

* * *

Sitting in my truck three days later, I debated calling Sierra. It had been a long day of cleaning up the mess Sean and I left when we ignored work to focus on breaking the curse. I knew being separated would be hard, but I didn’t realize how bad and she’d been in my bed that morning. Part of me was ready to drive to Philly to see her. The rational part of my brain knew if she could be here, she would be. Until she made the permanent move, being busy would keep me sane.

Starting the car, I pulled out of the driveway of our office and turned in the direction of Theresa’s house. I wanted to see how she and the boys were holding up, plus it gave me something to do besides going home to an empty house.

Before I turned off the truck, the boys were running out the door to greet me.

Carter, the youngest, attached himself to my leg. “Uncle Dylan, can you throw me in the air?”

At the same time I heard, “Uncle Dylan, you need to see me score on Madden,” from Andy.

While it hurt to think of Christian missing this, I was glad they were smiling. I’d be there for anything they needed.

“You two pups knock it off and let Dylan get in the door before you attack him.” Theresa stood on the porch, hands on her hips.

Both boys whipped around, saw the look on their mom’s face, and ran back to the house. “Sorry, Uncle Dylan,” they both called over their shoulder.

She shook her head when I made it up the stairs. “Sorry about that. They’ve been crazy lately.” She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. “Thanks for coming over. They need to see someone besides me.”

Placing my arm on her shoulder, I led her into the house. “I know. I wanted to check on you too. How are you holding up?”

Moisture built up in her eyes. “Better than I thought I would. It still hurts sometimes, but so much has happened in the last week it’s hard to have time to sit down and really think about it.”

I grimaced. “About the other night…”

“Don’t. Bradley did that to himself.”

“How’s he doing?”

Her shoulders drooped. “The scratches are healed, but Sean did a number on his paws. His front paw is closer to being healed than the back.”

“He was able to stay shifted then?”