We share a smile, but it’s forced. I know it’s not Emeric’s constant pain, but it still affects her. I know her beauty causes every male from every pack to lust after her. Her curse affects her as strongly as Emeric’s affects him.
My guess is that the curse plays to each person’s unique personality. It seems to find a way to hurt that person in the cruelest way possible.
It hits me like a freight train, and I sink back in my chair.
“Lumi, what is it?” Rowena asks with fear in her voice.
“What if my curse is that I’ll find my mate but never be able to complete the marking ceremony by not allowing me to ever shift.”
Silence stretches between Rowena and Emeric. Their mouths gape open as they process my words. It could be true.
The gods who cast the curse care about one thing and one thing only—ensuring that it continues forever.
This would ensure that.
“I don’t accept that, and neither do you, Lumi. Even if that is your curse, we will find a way to break it together,” Ambrose says from the doorway.
Chapter 28
Lumi
“How? We’ve tried everything. It should have happened by now,” I say, tired and defeated.
Ambrose’s jaw tightens. “We haven’t tried—together.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. “You’re really going to help me?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner. I thought you were better off training with Emeric and Rowena. But I think we’ve been going at this all wrong. You’ve come the closest to shifting when you’re with me. We will figure this out together.”
I eye him up and down, taking all of him in. I walk over to him and then glance back at Rowena and Emeric. “I’m fine, guys. He’s not going to lose control again. You can leave us alone—”
“No, they can’t,” he says.
I frown. “I’m safe—”
“You’re not. You’re not safe with me. Not like you should be. And I’m sorry, so fucking sorry, for what happened.”
“Don’t—don’t take back what happened between us. I’m not sorry about any of it.”
Ambrose’s eyes glisten, but he doesn’t say anything in response. Instead, he sweeps me toward him and crashes his lipsdown on mine in a hungry kiss. At the touch of his lips against mine, I realize why he didn’t want Rowena or Emeric to leave. I realize how he plans on evoking me to shift.
Amusement dances in my eyes at the idea of claiming him here in Rowena’s backyard while both Rowena and Emeric watch. But then I think better of it.
I pull away, sucking his bottom lip into my mouth as my body resists what my mind is saying before finally releasing him.
“We can’t,” I whisper, even though I know no matter how quiet I am, every wolf shifter within a couple-mile radius can hear our conversation.
Ambrose rests his forehead against mine. “Why not? You’ve come the closest to shifting when we’re together.”
“I know, but…” my eyes cut to where Rowena and Emeric are sitting, still drinking the wine and trying to act like they aren’t listening to every word of our conversation.
He strokes my face before running his hand through my hair. I want nothing more than to kiss him, fuck him, and let my emotions run wild, but I don’t think it would help me shift. My emotions are too intense when we are together.
“Show me how you shift.”
“You’ve seen me shift before,” he says.
“I know, but show me again. Walk me through it step by step. Tell me how it happened the first time.”
