Mark of the Damned | 18+

Morning

"I'm safe and warm, please, try to sleep." I know that's easier said than done.

Holding him tightly, we sit, motionless and silent, until I finally stop thinking enough to drift off to sleep in the early hours of the morning. Even in sleep, there is no rest. My dreams are filled with unknown dangers that are waiting to pull me into the night as soon as I'm alone.

"Jesus Christ, boy!" The captain's angry snarl wakes me.

Cooper, or Wolf Cooper, has already awoken. His teeth are bared, and his ears are flat against his head.

"We're not going to hurt your girl," Big Jones says, raising his hands. "It's time to get that bone."

Reaching up, I run my fingers through the soft fur on top of his head.

"Oh, fucking hell!" The captain throws his hands up in the air. "We're waiting for you!" He stomps away, and Big Jones stands awkwardly for a moment before following him.

As soon as they're out of sight, he changes again. I try to keep my eyes down, but they look up on their own. Completely involuntarily and without my consent, they peek up through my lashes at his body in all its naked glory.

And it really is glorious.

Big. Everywhere.

"Stop looking at me like that or we won't leave," he pulls pants from his bag over his legs.

"S-Sorry," I force my gaze onto the leaves on the ground. I wouldn't mind sticking around for a while, but I know we can't. The captain is already impatient.

When we arrive, everyone is cutting branches into long walking sticks.

Cooper pulls a blade from his bag and grabs a branch, shaving off any twigs or leaves. "Here." He hands me the smoothed-out stick and begins another.

"Keep your eyes open. If anything looks suspicious, call it out. We're going to have to move slowly!" Captain Cormac calls out as everyone stands and tests their sticks against the ground.

"Stay behind me," Cooper takes my bag and slings it over his shoulder.

For about ten minutes, everything is fine. Then, just as we reach the tree line, chaos ensues. The sharp, cracking sound of Potter's stick snapping makes everyone freeze.

A bear trap.

"Better the stick than your ankle," Mick starts to say as he presses his stick into the ground in front of him. The ground falls, pulling the stick, and Mick, into a huge hole.

"Steady!" Captain calls as everyone moves to help. "No one move!"

Everyone freezes, looking around at the ground to find another trap.

"I've got a bear trap here!"

"Tripwire!"

"Here's another hole!"

Voices call out to the left and right.

"The bloody witch has set traps everywhere!" Captain Cormac angrily shouts. "Help Potter out," he yells before taking a brazen step forward.

Walking just into the trees, he stops, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"We're here for the bone, hag! Bring it out, or we will come in and take it by force." His booming voice cuts through the quiet morning. "I will not risk another step. Come out! If you force us to come in, so help me God, I'll kill you myself!"

Nervously, I take a quiet breath. There are no sounds, anywhere. It seems that even the breeze has stopped blowing through the trees.

The snap of a twig has everyone straining to see between the trees.

"Take it," the smallest, oldest woman that I've ever seen hobbles out into the field. "This bone is a curse. I've tried to burn it. I've tried to offer it as a sacrifice to the goddess. I've journeyed to the sea and thrown it in, only to find it at my doorstep when I returned. Take it!" She screams, waving the bone in the air. "Take it and never darken my doorway again!"

She throws the bone at Captain Cormac's feet and slowly limps back into the trees, muttering to herself. "The animals! The animals won't leave me alone!"

He bends down and picks up the bone, studying it in his hand for a moment. "Well," he turns back. "Fuck me, that was easier than I thought it was going to be."

"What the fuck happened to her?" Everyone is mumbling nervously to each other.

"She did not look like that before. She's aged a hundred years in a few months." Cooper whispers, staring at the place where she had been standing.

"It appears you were all cursed," I lean into his chest, hoping no one else will hear.

"All right, lads! We walk straight through. When we reach the harbor, it's all hands on deck for the onload of goods and supplies. I want to be underway before breakfast tomorrow." The captain claps his hands together. "Let's be rid of this curse once and for all."

Mark of the Damned is COMPLETE on my Patreon plus unlock access to over 30 of my steamy adult romance books, bonus content and more!

Visit patreon.com/MyrandaRae