Page 51 of Curse of the Wolf
The medallion remained raised from his torso. If not for its chain, it would have been pulled to the artifact.
I wrapped my hand around the medallion, as if it might have answers.
It pulsed warmly in my grip, and words floated through my mind.Not for you.
I blinked.
Had itspokento me?
What?I thought at it.
Not for you.An image came with the words. It showed my mother’s medallion, the female version.
Of course. That made sense. But…
Are you for Duncan?I mentally asked.
Not for you.
Yeah, I got that.
The medallion didn’t share any more words. I half-wondered if it was my imagination.
“Are you for Duncan?”I tried repeating the words aloud as well as in my mind.
Behind me, Mom and Lorenzo stirred, probably wondering who I was talking to since Duncan’s eyes remained closed.
A sense of uncertainty emanated from the medallion.
“You don’t know yet?” I asked. “Because he’s not one of the Savagers? He’s been invited in, you know. He’s still thinking about it. Can you lift the curse that’s killing him?”
It was a lot to ask a magical artifact, and I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get an answer beyond its lingering uncertainty. Other times, I’d sensed emotion from the mushroom-shaped artifact, but this was the first hint that the medallions had a sentience or whatever one might call this.
The magical aura that was always present around Duncan rippled to my senses, and I lifted my hand. Without opening his eyes or stirring in any way, his body transformed. Soon, he lay unconscious as a man again.
Still nestled in its case on the railing, the artifact ceased glowing. The uncertainty I’d sensed from the medallion faded, as did most of the magic it radiated. It was as if it had gone dormant. The medallions and talisman also slumped, gravity retaking them as they were no longer drawn to the artifact. The lid on the case remained open, but the pull had faded.
“That was less enlightening than I hoped.” I couldn’t help but feel we’d wasted our time by coming up here. If Duncan didn’t wake up, we would havemorethan wasted our time.
“Maybe I erred in my choice,” Mom said.
“About what?” I asked.
She pointed at Duncan.
What did she refer to? Not his suitability as my mate, surely. Unless she sensed that he was in a weakened state now and rejected him on those grounds. I gritted my teeth at the thought. This wastemporary, damn it.
“What do you mean?” I asked tensely, ready to snap if she voiced my thoughts.
“The medallion doesn’t seem sure about him,” she said. “Didn’t you sense that?”
“I sensed… uncertainty.” That was the word that had kept floating through my mind.
“Yes, exactly. When I invited him into the pack and to mate with you, it didn’t occur to me that the medallion would object to him. I didn’t even know the medallions could do that.”
My first response was to bristle again about thematingtalk, but that wasn’t important right now.
“You think it’s not lifting the curse because it doesn’t know if he’s worthy?” I asked, not sure I followed her thoughts.
