Thorn (Werewolf) ✔

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Oh right," I mumble.

I spend a few minutes showing both of them how to use the shower and informing them of how it works. They seem to catch on quick. I offered to give Sky some clean clothes but she refused. I don't think they're used to changing their clothes every day. Growing up on a mountain, they probably don't care.

I stay at the window, my fingers folding back the curtain to peek at every car that pulls in or drives away.

"Who's Lyle?" Sky asks.

"A dangerous man," I say.

"Dangerous how?"

"He is the reason that I ran away into the woods in the first place. My parents were forcing me to marry him." I meet her eyes. "Marriage is-"

"We know what marriage is. Why didn't you go through with it?"

"He hurt me. Physically." I close the curtain and I drop down to the chair. "My mother didn't care."

Sky smiles at me. "Our mother would have."

I smile back, sadly glancing down. "I don't know her. She is a stranger to me."

"Stranger or not you feel it, don't you?" she says. "You felt it like last night when you looked at her. Werewolves have this sixth sense of recognizing family. Blood. It ties in with being unbearably loyal to each other."

I nod. "I felt it."

"You'll feel it for the rest of your life. Through us. Even if you never get the chance to know them, they'll live on within our DNA. You'll always feel that connection. Blood bonds are powerful. Some werewolves argue more powerful than the mating bond."

"In human terms," Dominic says. "It means that if you ever need us, we'll be there."

"That's the lame version," Sky says. "But yes. No questions, no hesitation. Our unconditional loyalty will make us come running."

"I just never imagined that I'd have this whole other. . ." I swallow, unable to say the word. Sky is amused by my struggle. "Life."

"It's a life that will be a huge burden for a human," she says. "But I envy you." She looks to the floor with bereft. "Thorn could have rejected you and sent you back to the humans, he could have disconnected completely and killed you to release his entire pack. Instead, he looked into you and saw someone worth staying in a prison for. I've always wanted someone to care for me like that. And it's because you're human that he overcame that conflict."

At the mention of Thorn, I start rubbing the medallion again. I managed to go minutes without thinking about him but now the pain is back.

"It's hardly a prison," Dominic mutters. "At least they're still free to do what they want. We were the ones trapped in a prison."

"Why am I human?" I say. They stare at me in that creepy way again. "Why can't I activate my wolf gene? Thorn tried once but it didn't work."

"You saw him in transition?" Dominic asks.

"Of course she did," Sky tells him. "She wouldn't be able to see through his eyes otherwise." She looks back to me. "We don't know much about witchcraft, it's forbidden from being spoken about on the mountain because they feared our witch genes could become more dominant. But our father would take us somewhere secretly when Cole was away to try and teach us some things. All we really know is that a curse works against the witch rather than with her. Malese had to borrow more power from her ancestors to inflict the curse and that power is owed back to them. So, half of her magic is invested in keeping the curse active forever while another side will continuously throw curveballs to try and break it because her ancestors want that magic back."