Blood of the Cursed Read online

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Author’s Note

  About BrittanyAnn Robinson

  About Kate Davis

  COPYRIGHTS

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead are purely coincidental.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.

  Copyright © 2019 Kate Davis & BrittanyAnn Robinson.

  All rights reserved.

  Proof Reader, Melanie Hawkins

  Cover Design by Stephany Wallace @ S.W. Creative Publishing, all rights reserved.

  Interior Design & Formatting by Stephany Wallace @ S.W. Creative Publishing, all rights reserved.

  Kate Davis & BrittanyAnn Robinson’s first publication.

  Nov 29th, 2019.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  * * *

  From BrittanyAnn:

  * * *

  To my husband. Thank you for pushing me to never give up on my dreams and goals to become a published author. Every time that I put my writing aside because I didn’t think it was good enough, you encouraged me to keep pushing. You believed in me until I could believe in myself. I love you more than words can express. For eight years you’ve been pushing me to do this, and I’m finally doing it.

  * * *

  To my sisters Cheyenne, and Jasmine. Thank you both for being a pain in my butt, but also amazing human beings that you are. Jasmine, you tell me when my paragraph sucks and doesn’t make any sense, and I love you for that. Cheyenne, thank you for being the person that I can run to with all of my problems, and cry on your shoulder. Thank you and Keith for bringing my beautiful god children into this world.

  * * *

  To all of my author friends and beta readers, you guys have given us plenty of advice and comments on how to make this book better. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

  * * *

  To Kate. We never thought we would actually publish this book, and I’m beyond honored that this is our first published piece, together! You picked up the slack where I was lacking. This is something amazing to add to our list of accomplishments out of our 20 years of friendship.

  * * *

  I couldn’t have wanted a better writing partner. I love you.

  From Kate:

  * * *

  To my fiance, David. Thank you for giving me all the love and support to write this book. You took on all responsibility of house work and child management so I could have time to write this book. I will forever be grateful. I love you so much and I'm glad that I have you by my side through all of my life's adventures.

  * * *

  To Brittany. Thank you so much for sparking my interest in reading again. You gave me the inspiration and drive to write this book with you. I never imagined I would take part in writing and publishing a book. I'm beyond happy and honored that you are the person I was able to share this experience with.

  * * *

  The long journey of our friendship has been amazing and I'm looking forward to many more years. You're more than a friend. You're family and I love you dearly.

  * * *

  To our beta readers. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this book and give us your insight on how to make it better. Your words of wisdom are so appreciated.

  Dedication

  * * *

  To our readers. Thank you for taking a chance on two authors who have never published anything before. You all rock!

  “Hello, HELLO! Earth to Scarlett! Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” said Athena angrily.

  I’m being a horrible best friend right now. I have no clue what she was saying. Oops.

  “Sorry, Athena. Something’s just been nagging at me all day and it keeps taking over my headspace.” I’d rather not get into my issues right now so that’s the best I have for her.

  “You’re joking, right? You couldn’t have fucking said something before I went into a full-on meltdown!? You’re never like this, what’s wrong with you today?”

  She says while flipping her long brown hair behind her back. I can tell she’s trying to bore right into my soul with her gorgeous almond-shaped green eyes. The sun was in her eyes, making them a brighter green than they already were. She sat back in her chair, resting one hand on the table and tapping her fingers, furiously

  Athena is a tall girl, toned, and everything about her is perfect, no flaws in sight. Her hair is soft and silky and has a cute button nose with thick pink lips. She’s naturally dark complected and likes to work out. The guys in town definitely take notice. But everyone knows she isn’t the type of girl to be messed with. She could rip your head off and not think twice about it. That’s the way her parents raised her. She seems like a bitch, but she’s always been there for me. I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

  “I said I was sorry. I promise I’ll tune into what you’re saying. Anyways, my dad has been acting really off the last few days and I can’t figure out why. He’s been overly sweet and loving to me. More so than normal. I feel like he’s trying to butter me up for something. And my mom has just been, well, ya know, mom. I know she knows why he’s acting so strange.”

  Every Friday, Athena and I get together at our local coffee shop for a dinner date. We sit outside in front, on the patio in our usual spot. The table farthest from the door, so we don’t get smacked with it or have to deal with people as much. This is the day we catch up on how each others week went. Joe’s Cafe has the best frappes in all of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, I swear. All of their food is homemade, whipped up hot and fresh in the kitchen. She had ordered her usual, a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup with an iced vanilla coffee in a mug. And I got my usual ham and swiss cheese sandwich with a chocolate chip cookie to dunk in my hot coffee.

  “Hmm. You said a couple weeks ago that your dad was taking you with him to the second Alpha meeting that’s coming up, right? Maybe he’s getting all funky about it because he thinks you’ll back out and not go. We both know you aren’t about politics when it comes to the packs.” She pauses.

  “I’d be happy if I were you, all the hot Alphas and their betas will be there ya know. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for you to learn more about the dynamics in these meetings. You are the daughter of a powerful alpha. He has a seat on the council for the American Regional Summit, which means he’s a complete badass! He raised you to be a dominant wolf, don’t you think it’s possible he’s trying to prepare you for the seat he has on the council for when he steps down?” Athena takes a sip of her coffee, looking at me over her mug.

  She looked me in the eyes for a few seconds before having to move her eyes down. In our pack she’s a dominant, but less than me. It’s hard to look at a higher dominant in the eyes for too long. Not only does your body just know to look away but it could offend a higher wolf. Athena took one huge last bite of her sandwich. She slurped the last couple spoonfuls of her soup and
sat back looking very relaxed. Picking up her coffee to finish it off, she looked at me expectantly, waiting for my reply.

  “Sometimes I really hate how intelligent you are, you know that, right? I hate it even more when you’re always right. My dad probably does want me to learn more about pack politics.” I sighed.

  “I mean, you kinda have to expect it. You’re our pack healer and a strong one at that. Now listen, as an empath, I can feel everything you’re feeling. Your emotions are everywhere.” Athena says with an apologetic tone.

  “Why don’t you go talk to him and try to even things out? You’re driving me crazy right now. I have a hot date tonight, so I’m going to head home and get ready. Will you be okay?” She asked sympathetically.

  Poor girl, sometimes I wonder what it’s like to be an empath. I can imagine it’s annoying to always feel what everyone else is feeling. I guess that is what makes her so strong. She can shut it off if she needs to. Never with me though, unfortunately. I can’t hide anything from this bitch.

  “Yeah, no, I’ll be fine. Text me after your date so I know you’re okay. Who is it again that you’re seeing tonight? You didn’t say. I worry about you sometimes ya know.”

  She tips her head back and laughs. She finds it so amusing to always make me wonder who she goes out with.

  “Scar, I promise I always stay safe when I’m out on dates.” She laughed.

  “One of the perks of being an empath, I can always tell if they’re weird or not.” She smiled.

  “ I’m going out with Jackson. He finally gave in to my teasing.” She laughed again.

  “I cannot believe he put me off for so long. He’s definitely got it coming when I get his ass in bed tonight.” She smirked. “ I’m about to rock his world.”

  Athena winks at me. She gets up and walks to the waste bin by the door to discard her trash. She walks back to pick up her purse and car keys.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Scar. I love you. Again, talk to your dad and get those emotions in check.” She bends down and gives me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. Athena gave me one last look and then walked to her car on the other side of the street. She even walks with grace. Hopping in her vehicle and letting her engine roar to life in her Range Rover. She honks her horn and speeds off.

  I sat at the table for a few moments longer, thinking about what she said. A part of me feels like she’s right, that my dad just wants me to learn more about our world. I just have a pang in my chest that there’s something else, I guess I’m about to find out. Looking down, I noticed I hadn’t even eaten half of my sandwich and my cookie remained. I forced down the rest of my coffee. Picking up my leftovers and cup, I turned around to walk towards the trash bin and I ran smack dab into a brick wall and then fell hard on my ass.

  I grabbed my head and my ass at the same time. Both were hurting incredibly. I had spots in my vision from walking into a wall. When I finally was able to get my vision steady and I looked up to see what I hit. Turns out it wasn’t a wall, but a mountain of a man.

  He looked to be in his mid to late twenties. His brown hair was so dark that it was almost black. It came down to just below his ears and curled up at the ends a little bit. A strong chiseled jaw that you would only see in Hollywood. He had a five o’clock shadow. Standing at what looked like six feet and three inches tall from where I was sitting on the ground with my lower jaw hanging low.

  Mountain man was looking down at me with hard brown eyes, he bent down and put his hand out for me to take. I could only stare at his toned forearm that led up to a very prominent bicep, which then led to what you could tell was a large and muscular chest under his shirt. I gaped at him, I don’t know why, I’ve seen sexy men before. We had plenty in our pack. I guess I’ve just never really looked or held interest I suppose. Then I realized, I had never seen this man before. He doesn’t belong in our pack. I can’t sense him through the pack bond. He also smells foreign. Wolf definitely, but from where?

  “Are you going to take my hand or sit there, gaping at me all day?” Mountain man said angrily.

  The fuck did he just say to me? I ignored his hand and stood up on my own while never breaking eye contact. My wolf was at the surface at this point. Who the hell was he to speak to me that way and who the hell was he to challenge me. I stood there, looking up at him and him looking down at me. There was quite a height difference. I stand an amazing five-foot, five-inches tall. This guy is a foot taller than me. Fucker.

  My brow started to bead with sweat from the intensity of the staredown. He looked like I didn’t faze him whatsoever, his eyes flashed to a bright yellow. Right then I noticed his lip twitching. I tried to challenge him longer, but I couldn’t hold it. I looked away, panting from how strong he is. He was panting as well, looks like I was somewhat of a match to his dominance. His eyes turned back to normal. He had sweat on his forehead and above his lip. I looked down at my feet, fuming with anger.

  “Are you okay?” He asked softly.

  “I’m fine.” I said with attitude, still looking down and reeling with anger.

  “Who are you? You aren’t from the Baraga pack. What territory do you reside in? Why are you here? Does my alpha know that you’re here? And by the fucking way you brute, you should watch where you’re going. I have half a mind to call up your alpha and tell him to get his minion back home because I’m about to kick his ass.” I said hastily.

  Mountain man just looked at me with a wolfish grin and started laughing. Not just any laugh, but a full-on belly laugh. I don’t know what he finds so fucking funny, but it’s really starting to piss me off. A growl escaped my throat, my wolf was begging me to let her out and unleash the wrath of satan on his ass. If I don’t kick his ass, my father will, that would be a glorious sight to see. I could feel the heat in my eyes, knowing they were yellow. He finally stopped laughing and pinned me down with his deep brown eyes. A serious look that made me wonder if he could hear what I was thinking.

  “You really don’t have any clue as to who I am, do you? I suppose, if you did, you wouldn’t be speaking to me the way that you are. My name is Rhett Jameson. I’m the alpha of the Iron pack.” He smirked

  “Also, you should probably get that anger checked out. Dominance in females is attractive, but the anger could piss the wrong person off. Lucky for you, I find it amusing. Anyway, I’m off to speak to your father about some important issues. Nice to run into you, Scarlett.” He said smugly.

  He smirked and walked around me heading towards the packhouse that resided downtown, back in the woods. I knew this because my father gets home around this time of the night after a run in the woods. Oh. Fucking. Shit. I just stood there. In complete and utter awe at what just took place. I just spoke like an ignorant child to the alpha of a neighboring territory. My dad is going to pound me into the ground. Great, and then it hit me, like a bag of rocks. How did he know the alpha was my father, and how did he know my name?

  He’s telepathic. Fuck.

  I turned around to chase him down and apologize. But he’s gone. Nowhere in sight. Shit, he’s also very fast. I started to panic. I’ve got to explain to my dad about what happened. I hurried up and picked up my trash that lay on the ground and threw it away. I left a tip on the table with Athena’s mug, grabbed my things off of the table and darted around the cafe building. My truck was parked alongside of Joe’s. I hopped in, started it, and screeched tires as I tore off down the road. Not making full stops at stop signs so I could get home quicker, hoping by some off chance that I could get home before Rhett got there.

  Scarlett, are you okay Hunny? I sense your panic and fear. What’s wrong?

  Shit. Dad. Speaking directly to me through our blood bond.

  Yeah, no, I’m okay dad. Just uh, not feeling the greatest. On my way home, see you soon. I sent through the bond to my dad.

  I raced home as fast as I could without getting in trouble. I finally got to the driveway that led far back in the woods, the heavy woods, and then hauled ass, kicking up roc
ks behind me. Pulling up to the garage doors, I slammed on the brakes, put that bitch in park, and shut the truck off. I hopped out leaving all my shit in the truck. Barreling through the garage and into the house, swinging the door open with force. The foreign smell of Rhett smacked me in the face.

  Oh no. Kicking my shoes off and following the foreign scent, it led me through the house and to the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard. I slid the glass door open and stepped out onto the back porch where my dad stood. With company. Shit.

  My dad turned around and gave me a big beaming smile. Odd. I expected a freakout. I still expect it. I’m the alpha’s daughter. I’m supposed to be respectful to all alphas. I should have known who Rhett was. Alpha status radiated off of him. Man, I’m going to be in deep shit. I wonder if my dad is playing it off like it’s nothing until he can get me alone for a private talk. I’ll have to feel this situation out carefully.

  My dad, Barret Steele, stood there, still smiling at me. Like he always does. He still has the usual alpha build like they all do. Tall, maybe an inch or two taller than Rhett. Not much of a difference. Broad shoulders, muscles bigger than Rhetts, but not obnoxiously bigger, he has brown hair with hints of red in it, like me. He has big blue eyes like I do, also sports a big burly mountain man beard that makes him look serious and intimidating. Wolves' age progression slows down between eighteen and twenty-one. We age, just really slowly. I’m only twenty-one years old. My dad and my mom are around one hundred and fifty years old, they’ve been around a while. Because of their strong bloodlines, their aging really slowed down. They look like they’re forty-five. And as wolves age, over time, bearing pups is harder and harder. My mother was lucky to have me, she should have been infertile. But they got lucky.