Read Online Alpha Curves (Paranormal BBW Shifter Romance): Wolf Clan Book 3 by Christa Wick - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christa Wick
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a little pain now was better than the lifetime of anguish both she and Cade would experience if she let him claim her as his mate. He wanted a wolf, she wasn't one. Even that little wolfling who had brought the clothes to Cade's house would make a better mate for him. And Iris truly did want him happy, even if it meant she would live the rest of her own life alone.
Hearing a vehicle pull in front of the cabin, Iris reached toward her right hip out of habit before remembering her gun was long gone. Cade had thrown her service revolver out the van’s side door before the driver had even finished pulling away from the Hunters shooting at them. It would be a cold day in hell before the shifters allowed her a new firearm.
Dana must have caught the intent behind her gesture because he snorted. "Relax, it’s just Esme."
Craning her neck to see through the open curtains, she confirmed he was right. "Why didn’t the bells ring?"
"Their her bells, she knows when she's coming up her own drive." His eyes rolled up as if explaining something to a child.
Iris mashed her lips together, crushing the retort that skated across the surface of her tongue. She was wrong about him explaining it as if she were a child. He seemed to like children -- at least cubs. Iris, on the other hand, he didn’t like at all.
She caught Dana studying her as his soon-to-be-wife stepped onto the porch.
"What?" Iris bit out as he rose to meet Esme at the door.
"You would have sensed her long before you did if it wasn’t for that damn silver you’ve got in your flesh."
Forcing down the angry blush that threatened to singe her cheeks a bright red, Iris flipped to the next page in Oscar's folder. There was no use arguing with the big wolf, but she’d been wearing silver to protect herself almost as long as she had been off clan lands. She had never had a problem smelling or otherwise sensing danger before it manifested. Even the wards she carved in her skin only affected her abilities for a few minutes. And she had steered clear of more than one shifter over the last dozen years before he’d had a chance to scent her.
So it wasn't the silver dulling her senses. Her brain kept going into a fugue state that her ability to smell and hear things couldn’t penetrate. Her thoughts tumbled from the attempt on her life and Joshua's death to Cade in the shower that morning and then in her bed, his hands and mouth on her, the warm secretions of her body fading to the wet slurp of Harper's brains splattered against her cheek.
Not that she could or would ever explain any of it to the smug, know-it-all shifter who, at that moment, was bending to kiss his mate on the lips as he took the heavy box she carried.
"What’s this?" he asked after the kiss ended.
"Artifacts," Esme answered, her voice faltering as she reached the end of the word. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" Iris prompted. The witch seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve, making her an open book at times. Whatever "mostly" involved, it or something related clearly made the woman uneasy.
Directing Dana to the couch with the box, Esme smiled, both lips twisting nervously at the corners. "I went through some of my witchy notes last night," she started to explain.
"That’s a lie," Iris interrupted, "But go on."
Dana’s muscles flexed at the accusation that his lovely mate had just fibbed. Iris tacked a warm smile onto her face. Not for Dana’s benefit, but Esme’s. She sensed the witch had a good heart and any lie, while likely misguided, was told with the best of intentions.
"Well," Esme blushed. "There are charms that a shifter can wear to cloak his or her presence. It’s worked to keep the Hunters from catching us off clan lands."
Iris nodded. "Are you saying I won’t be able to sense Cade if he is wearing it?"
"It works that way for latents, but not between shifters." Another nervous smile twitched its way across Esme’s face. "But I actually want you to wear it and to also let me sew a few things
Hearing a vehicle pull in front of the cabin, Iris reached toward her right hip out of habit before remembering her gun was long gone. Cade had thrown her service revolver out the van’s side door before the driver had even finished pulling away from the Hunters shooting at them. It would be a cold day in hell before the shifters allowed her a new firearm.
Dana must have caught the intent behind her gesture because he snorted. "Relax, it’s just Esme."
Craning her neck to see through the open curtains, she confirmed he was right. "Why didn’t the bells ring?"
"Their her bells, she knows when she's coming up her own drive." His eyes rolled up as if explaining something to a child.
Iris mashed her lips together, crushing the retort that skated across the surface of her tongue. She was wrong about him explaining it as if she were a child. He seemed to like children -- at least cubs. Iris, on the other hand, he didn’t like at all.
She caught Dana studying her as his soon-to-be-wife stepped onto the porch.
"What?" Iris bit out as he rose to meet Esme at the door.
"You would have sensed her long before you did if it wasn’t for that damn silver you’ve got in your flesh."
Forcing down the angry blush that threatened to singe her cheeks a bright red, Iris flipped to the next page in Oscar's folder. There was no use arguing with the big wolf, but she’d been wearing silver to protect herself almost as long as she had been off clan lands. She had never had a problem smelling or otherwise sensing danger before it manifested. Even the wards she carved in her skin only affected her abilities for a few minutes. And she had steered clear of more than one shifter over the last dozen years before he’d had a chance to scent her.
So it wasn't the silver dulling her senses. Her brain kept going into a fugue state that her ability to smell and hear things couldn’t penetrate. Her thoughts tumbled from the attempt on her life and Joshua's death to Cade in the shower that morning and then in her bed, his hands and mouth on her, the warm secretions of her body fading to the wet slurp of Harper's brains splattered against her cheek.
Not that she could or would ever explain any of it to the smug, know-it-all shifter who, at that moment, was bending to kiss his mate on the lips as he took the heavy box she carried.
"What’s this?" he asked after the kiss ended.
"Artifacts," Esme answered, her voice faltering as she reached the end of the word. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" Iris prompted. The witch seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve, making her an open book at times. Whatever "mostly" involved, it or something related clearly made the woman uneasy.
Directing Dana to the couch with the box, Esme smiled, both lips twisting nervously at the corners. "I went through some of my witchy notes last night," she started to explain.
"That’s a lie," Iris interrupted, "But go on."
Dana’s muscles flexed at the accusation that his lovely mate had just fibbed. Iris tacked a warm smile onto her face. Not for Dana’s benefit, but Esme’s. She sensed the witch had a good heart and any lie, while likely misguided, was told with the best of intentions.
"Well," Esme blushed. "There are charms that a shifter can wear to cloak his or her presence. It’s worked to keep the Hunters from catching us off clan lands."
Iris nodded. "Are you saying I won’t be able to sense Cade if he is wearing it?"
"It works that way for latents, but not between shifters." Another nervous smile twitched its way across Esme’s face. "But I actually want you to wear it and to also let me sew a few things
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