Midnight Curse Read Online Free

awhile.”
    Giving him a look as though
he was crazy, I finished the herbal tea. I enjoyed a good story by
a fire, knowing it was only that, a well-told story. I just kept
telling myself that.
    “ You do remember being a
wolf, right?”
    At first, no I could not. I
thought he’d lost his mind. It had been a dream, right?
    Then it clicked. Flashbacks
knocked me off-guard, and I remembered every agonizing detail. A
scream began to build inside of me.
    “ No!” I cried, struggling to
stand, tangled in the sheet. The darkness of the room and the
makeshift pallet were not making things easy.
    Abel was at my side
instantly, covering my body again. My modesty had flown the coop
when I realized my life was never going to be the same.
    “ Shh, no, listen. I will
explain everything. Do not get upset and scream. The others will
come and investigate. They will check on me, and that would be
bad.”
    Giving up, the panic
receded, and I listened to his voice as he pulled me into his arms.
His leather and burnt-woodsy smell pacified me for some reason. I
relaxed against him and allowed him to continue.
    “ Let me finish before you
get upset again. Harley is like me, like you, a wolf. Your father
bit me years ago and started this pack. Many times he thought about
changing you himself, but I managed to give you more time. Harley
was afraid that he would make you my mate. She knew I didn’t want
her. Your father was just protecting us, keeping the pack alive, by
enforcing the weakest-member law. Our numbers have dwindled over
the last several years. His mate and latest brood of pups died,
leaving him angry and hell-bent on saving us.
    “ A few days ago, Harley lost
her head and attacked you. In her defense, she is almost always in
wolf form and was not thinking clearly. She has lost a part of her
humanity, and instinct takes over.
    “ When I realized what she’d
done, I tried to stop her. It was too late. I pulled you from the
river and did everything I could. As pack master, your father gave
the order. He did not think you would survive the change. I
disagreed, but he ordered me to throw you back in, so the gators
could destroy the evidence, your body.”
    It took a moment for it all
to sink in. I had been used, attacked, dead, drowned, changed, and
nearly drowned again. I could not begin to accept it all. Hate for
my Pa boiled beneath my skin.
    “ I had to clean you up
because the others rarely leave the wolf form. I’m their human
translator, for lack of a better word.”
    Abel was just as distressed
as I was, and I remembered his words when he thought I was dead.
Words that haunted me and made me feel odd.
    “ You did not take her for a
mate because…,” I started.
    “ I am in love with you,” he
finished. The look on his face told a story of untold love and
loss. One I was not sure I wanted to hear.
    Trembling, I tried to move
away from him, to leave this place and find my family.
    “ I understand if you are
weary of me. I am a stranger to you, but let me help you through
this change and understand,” he whispered, holding me to him. I was
too weak to struggle.
    Exhausted, I gave in. My
dignity and modesty flew out the door. There was nothing else for
me to do. In this moment I was alone and needed someone to show me
the way. Could I trust him? Had his actions spoken clearer than any
other’s?
    “ If you go out there now,
the pack will destroy you, tear you limb from limb. The weakest of
the pack must die--its law. Harley has already challenged you. Your
pa allowed it. His pack is his whole world. You are just another
member of it to him, the weak one.” His voice told me that he
disagreed with this and found it just as disturbing as I
did.
    My heart broke, my anger
flourished, and I finally saw my pa for who he really was. My hate,
distorted by years of his strange behavior, grew and left me
feeling cold.
    “ I managed to get you some
time before you have to accept the challenge or leave the
pack.”
    “ Leaving