Ember's Curse (Prime Wolf) (5 page)

"How long will it be ‘til he arrives?" I asked, scrubbing out some of the stains with dish soap.

"His plane should land in about an hour or two. He is flying in from California."

Nathan reached over and unplugged the sink. He then stopped my hand mid scrub and took the shirt from me. After he carefully wrung it out, he started for the stairs. "I'll take care of this. Just go wash yourself up."

***

A loud pounding at the bathroom door pulled me from my watery heaven. I finished rinsing the conditioner out of my hair and turned off the shower. My body shivered from the sudden loss of heat.

"This better be important," I snapped at him.

"Collin is here," Nathan's voice echoed through the door. "He wants to talk to you."

"I’m just finishing up in here. Can you give me a sec?" I wrapped an oversized towel around my dripping body and opened the door. Nathan was already showered and had a fresh set of clothes on. His hair was hanging in his face, almost dry. I must have lost track of the time. Did I forget to mention I take very long showers?

"Clothes?" I asked.

"I put some on the bed," he said, handing me a sandwich. "Try and hurry up. My cousin doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Nathan zipped across the room in three long strides and left, slamming the door behind him.

I looked down at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my hand and my mouth began to water. I finished it off in three bites. I wiped my sticky fingers on my damp towel and made my way over to the cherry wood sleigh bed.

The beautiful hand crafted bed took up most of the small guest room. I picked up the neatly folded pile of clothes that sat on the cream-colored pillow, and fantasized about laying my head down in their place. I would kill for a quick nap right about now, but instead of soothing my tired beast, I grabbed the freshly laundered grey sweats and black cotton tee.

I slipped the shirt over my head and pulled the pants up over my hips. The borrowed clothes were big and very baggy, but with a tuck here and a fold there, I made them fit quite nicely. I ran my fingers through my wet hair to smooth out the tangles, and then headed for the door. I was as ready as I could get. It was time to meet the leader of the highly respected and feared Adelphi. Oh joy.

***

I was halfway down the hall when I overheard Nathan and his cousin arguing back and forth.

"Remind me again why you had me rush down here?"

I paused by the entryway to the living room. I had never heard a voice like that before. The deep timber of it left me out of sorts. I shook off the feeling and took a few more steps into the room.

"I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't important, Collin. I believe that the Gatherers have set up shop here in Astoria."

Nathan was standing in front of a tall, dark haired man. He was dressed in tight fitting jeans and a white button up shirt. As soon as my eyes settled on the stranger’s back, an odd tingle began to radiate through me.
It must be the lack of sleep,
I thought to myself.

"Ah, here she is. Ember, this is my cousin, Collin. Collin, this is my friend and pack mate, Ember."

I walked across the dark hardwood floors and stopped just behind the tall, well-built man.

"Hi," I said shoving my hand at him. He shifted his body and turned in my direction.

His warm hand wrapped around my smaller one. The velvet touch of his fingers against my skin shook me. My legs turned to jelly and I fell to my knees. With his hand still holding mine, he followed me to the ground.

"What the...?" I vaguely heard Nathan say in the background.

When I was able to move my head without feeling nauseous, I took a deep look into Collin’s eyes. They were a crisp shade of emerald. That was the first thing that jumped into my mind. He had the most beautifully vivid green eyes. I could lose myself in the shiny depths of them. My heart began to pump against my chest like a jackhammer.
I'm having a heart attack...that's what this is,
I thought.

Collin fell forward onto his hands and began to shake. In the next moment, my clothes began to shimmer away and I watched as he shifted into his wolf form. My shift, like always, was instantaneous. His, surprisingly, was almost as fast. As soon as he was finished, he let out a long guttural howl. I had only heard a howl like that once before; when my grandfather was protecting me and my grandma from a bear attack. So, I didn't know how to react to it.

The large white wolf began to pace back and forth in front of me, but it wasn't my wolf he was testing or warning. It was Nathan's.

"Cousin, it's me. Calm down," he said with his hands out in front of him. Cautiously, I watched him back up and away from us. "Please don't hurt Ember. She is on our side, one of the good guys."

Nathan was worried about Collin hurting me. From where I stood, it looked like he was the one about to get his head ripped off, and no matter how hot the strange white wolf was, I couldn't let that happen. Wait a minute...did I call him a hot wolf? There was definitely something wrong with me.

I leapt, shifting in the air, and landed in front of Collin. By the time my feet hit the ground, I was kneeling, bare assed, in-between them. Shit, I had forgotten to concentrate on my clothes. Collin shifted back as well and before I knew what was happening, he picked me up and nudged me behind him.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked. My hands rested in-between a pair of well-defined shoulders. I swallowed hard. He didn't respond to my question. He just kept focusing on Nathan's every move.

Then the obvious hit me. It pummeled me right in the gut. I knew exactly what was happening to us, and with that realization, I knew Nathan wasn't safe.

"Nathan, you need to back out of here slowly. Don't make eye contact with either one of us. He perceives you as a threat to me."

I inched my way around Collin’s tense body. He was seconds from attacking Nathan so I had to stay calm and not rile him up any more than he already was.

"Collin won't be himself for a little while. But don't worry," I said, looking behind me into those exquisite eyes, "this is how all the male wolves act when they first meet their heartmate."

"I don't understand. It's like he's wacked out of his mind."

I pulled my gaze from Collin’s and answered Nathan as calmly as possible. "He'll be fine. It would be best if you leave us alone though. I need to soothe his beast. The wolf is just protecting his mate."

Nathan nodded and backed out slowly. "I'll go keep an eye on Harper."

"Good idea." I agreed.

After Nathan left, I was able to let out the breath I was holding. Collin’s muscles loosened under my touch and he grabbed my face tenderly in his hands.

"Tell me why I just had an overwhelming urge to rip out my cousin’s eyes for just daring to lay them on you?"

I didn't know where to begin. I grew up hearing the tales of my great-grandparents, Naomi and Landon, and the curse that claimed their female descendants. I was at least a little bit prepared for the small chance of this happening to me, but he wouldn't have a clue.

Collin’s eyebrows scrunched together; he looked confused. I needed to do the memory echo as soon as possible. The sooner he had my memories, the sooner things would fall into place for him.

Engaging the echo was easy. It took only a simple kiss to begin the process. The claiming, on the other hand, from what I'd heard, could be quite painful.

"I need you to trust me," I said, putting my hands on his face, mimicking his.

He looked at me with the utmost trust. Me, a wolf who used to be cold to any man’s touch. It was odd to think that, because of him, I would never have to live in that nothingness again. I looked back into his eyes with the same confidence and slowly leaned in toward him.

I gave his plump lips a tiny flick of my tongue at first and then pulled away, just a tease. His eyes were closed and his lips glistened from where my tongue had just been. Fire shot through my body and every sensitive spot started to tingle right before he attacked.

Strong, warm arms wrapped around my waist. Collin lifted me up against his bare body and I wrapped my legs around his hips. Our mouths warred with each other, our tongues fought like sparring swords.

As the echo began to overtake us, I quickly learned why my ancestors gave this magic its name. We held each other tight, as our whole lives played out in our minds. The vivid pictures ran through me first and then bounced over to him. I received his memories in return immediately after, reminding me of a tennis match. Images of Collin running across an expansive green meadow filled with yellow daisies, as a cub, bombarded me. He stood out like a sore thumb amongst his littermates, as the only white wolf. Time fast-forwarded and I was witness to his first fight. Standing on firm legs, Collin, as an adolescent wolf, faced three bullies. They were the same age as him but not nearly as imposing. The win stained his pale fur red. His pack was proud to have such a skilled warrior, but all Collin could feel was remorse for the wolves he came close to killing.

The flickering scenes were almost too much to handle. I watched as Collin took his first steps, woke up in a cold sweat because of a horrible nightmare, and even witnessed his first kiss. I could have lived without seeing that part.

It only took about a minute to finish the transfer. When the swamp of images ceased, we fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. We barely had a second to regain our wits before the claiming took hold of us.

My wrist started to pulse and a piercing pain began to wrap around it. Collin dragged me into his lap and yelled out in frustration. I could read his mind now and he wasn't worried about the same burning pain that was slowly wrapping itself around his wrist at all. He was actually being tormented by the agony I had to endure. I grabbed his hand and held it out before both of us. We watched as red vines swirled in random patterns around each one of our arms. Then finally, as abruptly as the pain came, it vanished. In its wake, it left a permanent branding on our skin. From this day forward, we would be linked. We had just been bound together for the rest of our days by our minds, bodies, and even the very breath that kept us alive.

"Ember..." Collin whispered, as he pushed the sweaty strands of hair out of my face with a shaky hand. "You're mine now. From this day and all that follow, no one will ever hurt you again."

I looked down at the floor embarrassed. He saw everything, and that meant he was aware of Tommy and his high handedness with me. It also meant that Collin knew about the Alpha wolf he and Sylvia planned to marry me off to.

Collin’s soft lips arched into a frown and his brows soon followed suit. A growl erupted from his lips and he shook his head at me.

"Your Alpha’s plans have now been changed," he spat the words out with distaste. "I will challenge any wolf who tries to come between us."

I leaned in and rested my hand on my heartmate’s chest. It was hard and chiseled, and made it really difficult for me to concentrate. His heart was thrumming frantically under my light touch. I sent him soothing thoughts of our first kiss, only minutes old, to try to calm him.

"Tommy is my burden to bare, my love."

Collin pulled in a breath to protest my words, but I silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Shhh, calm down."

I gave his pouty lips a quick peck and ran my fingers over the small scar by his left temple. "It's my duty to follow protocol."

"Yes...I'm aware," he said stubbornly.

I slowly rose up off the floor and pulled Collin with me. For the longest time, we just stood a couple feet apart, face to face. It was our first good look at each other. I traced my eyes over his short, dark brown hair. I noticed how it curled at the very ends and poked at the corner of his eyes. It softened his strong male features and gave a boyish, playful air to him. His nose was long and straight and I spied another small scar right underneath it. The scar stopped at the very tip of his full kissable lips. He saw where my eyes had focused and slowly poked his tongue out and licked them. I had to force myself not to watch his playful show, and believe me...that wasn't easy.

"You are the most exquisite creature I have every laid my eyes upon," he said, pulling me into his tender embrace. His nose nuzzled up against my ear and I almost purred with pleasure. "I will respect your wishes and follow your clan’s rules, but keep this one thing in mind," Collin said with a hushed whisper, and a skilled hand that traveled the length of my body. His soft fingertips traced the inside of my thigh and the feather light touch stopped right before they breached the core of me. "If anyone lays a finger on you, all bets are off. It will then become my burden to bear and I will tear them open to the bone."

I collapsed against him. I was in no condition to argue. At this point, I would agree with anything this man asked of me so I nodded into his heaving chest.

Collin threw me over his shoulder and marched down the hall in search of, what I prayed was somewhere private. When we finally reached the guest room, he slammed the door. He tossed me to the bed and looked me over. "I don't know how gentle I can be," he said, with heat blazing from his eyes. He gazed at my naked body displayed before him like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and slowly shook his head. "I want to take all of you at once...no holding back."