Romance Rules for Werewolves (Charming Cove, #3)(39)

A low growl escaped him, and I glanced over. His brow was furrowed, and anger lit his eyes. “He was cheating on you.”

“Yep.” I took another sip of the whiskey. “There he was, with another woman. She was beautiful, too. Crazy beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.” His tone was low. “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

My gaze flashed to him, and I had to stifle a gasp. He was drunk, but not that drunk—he meant it.

“The worst part was, I’d have said yes if he’d proposed. And it would have been the worst thing in the world. I can see that now. But I was just so blind back then. I’d needed to see his betrayal to leave.” I sipped the whiskey, wishing I’d been stronger sooner. That I hadn’t wasted so many years on him. “Anyway, that’s my shitty story. What’s yours?”

He heaved a sigh, and I looked up at him. His gaze searched mine, heavy with pain.

Suddenly, I was scared about what he might say. Because my story had been bad, but I was pretty sure his would be worse.





Rafe



I couldn’t believe I was about to share this, but her story had been so honest, and the pain in her eyes had been so real. The whiskey made it easier to talk, though. Much easier. “When I was nineteen, I fell in love with a witch. At least, for a while. But I was nineteen, so I was an idiot. And like an idiot, I broke up with her on Valentine’s Day.”

She winced. “That’s bad.”

“I know.” I nodded, taking a sip of the whiskey. “It was an impulse that day. I kept seeing all these couples together—sharing coffee, taking walks, even riding a tandem bike, for fate’s sake.”

“A tandem bike?” I smiled. “That’s almost comedically romantic.”

“They wore matching jumpers.” I couldn’t remember the most important part of my life, but I could remember that ridiculous detail. “In that moment, I realized I couldn’t give her what I was seeing all around me. I felt like I was leading her on.”

“Oh, no. So you didn’t wait?”

“No. Obviously, I should have. But I felt like a liar.” How stupid I’d been.

“So you broke up with her.”

“I tried to explain, but she was angry.” I could still see her face and the storm in her eyes, though she’d banished her name from my memory. “She was powerful. Immensely so, in a way that I hadn’t realized. She cursed me to forget my pack, and for my pack to forget me.” The words tasted bitter on my tongue.

She gasped. “What?”

I nodded, my gaping hole still ragged at the edges. “I didn’t even know that was possible. But one moment, I was staring at her, feeling guilty as hell and realizing I’d made a mistake, and the next I felt something being torn from my soul.”

“You can’t remember them at all?” Her voice was soft, worried.

“Not at all. And they can’t remember me. At least, that’s what she told me. I’ve been looking for them for over a decade now, so I believe her. Unless they never wanted me to begin with.” It was a fear that had developed over the years. What if they did remember me, but they were glad I was gone?

“They wanted you.” She reached out and gripped my hand hard. “They did.”

“How can you be sure? I have no way of knowing the truth. I know only what she told me.”

“I know.” She sounded so confident that I wanted to believe her, but it was impossible. “She was unhinged.”

“I realize that now. I’d been too young to see it then. Too self-absorbed.”

“It was a jerk move, breaking up with her on Valentine’s. But you meant well, and the punishment definitely didn’t fit the crime.”

I gave a bitter laugh but had run out of words.

“And you’ve been trying to get the curse lifted all these years?” she asked.

I nodded. “She disappeared after that, and I can remember her face, but she must have taken her name from my memory. I haven’t been able to find her to get her to remove the curse. Instead, I’ve been to countless witches and sorceresses, but none have managed it.”

“And today was the same?”

“Today was worse. I went to the Jade Sorceress, and she couldn’t do it.”

She winced, then tried to smooth her features. “She’s powerful.”

I nodded. “The most powerful one there is, as far as I could tell. It took me two years to get an appointment.”

“And she didn’t succeed.” Her voice was low with sadness. “Did she?”

“She didn’t. And she also said she didn’t know anyone else who could help.”

“So you’re out of options, especially if you can’t find the witch who did this.”

“Pretty much.” I’d known this day would come eventually. Maybe it was for the best that I give up hope.

That was just too dark, and my head was swimming from the whiskey. How much had I had? I enjoyed a dram every now and again, but never like this.

“I think you’d better get to bed.” Isobel’s voice sounded from above me, and I realized I’d put my head on the table.

“Yeah.” I rose, slightly unsteady on my feet.