The Cursed Luna

Cage

Cara

My eyelids flip open, and I'm back in the cottage. Involuntarily, a scream rushes past my lips. Startled, I push away from the table and Correy. The chair under me swings backward, taking me with it, and I fall over, my legs catching under the table, bringing that down with me too. Tarot cards are tossed into the air, the candle thrown across the room. Everything happens so slow, yet my heart is galloping, my throat squeezing shut.

Leora's death.

Hana's death.

No, no no!

I scramble to escape the tangle of the table and chair while Magda abandons the tray she's carrying to help me up. Tears blur my vision, and I'm unsure of what I just saw. I've never had visions before... never. That can't be what I experienced.

Correy looks at me anxiously. "What the hell was that? You kept screaming Leora's name. Is that who you see as my future mate?"

I blink at him, unable to think straight. My teeth gnash as part of the vision still holds onto me, sliding over my mind. Magda exhales. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to let her be for the moment. You can see she's badly shaken."

Hana and Leora's deaths are all I can picture, all I can focus on. I stumble toward the corner of the room where the bed is, terror bleeding right into me.

"I don't care if she's shaken or dying. I paid her a hefty sum, so I want my reading," Correy demands, shrugging off Magda's palm from his shoulder. Magda staggers back a bit.

"Yes, but you've got to understand..."

"Understand what, old woman?" In the twinkling of an eye, Correy grabs Magda by her throat and holds her up. The old woman's gasps bring me out of reverie and I rush to them.

"What the hell are you doing, Correy? Leave her alone!"

"Quiet, you b***h!" He spits, accompanying his words with a slap. I fall to the ground, my head ringing. The men in the bar all stand, forming a circle around us now, murmuring. "I want my reading, and I want it NOW! I don't care what anyone here thinks, but there will be no saving you two from me today."

"Cara," Magda calls, her voice strained. "Please give him back his money. Good Sir, please accept what she gives you. She's... she's unwell. She can't complete the reading."

I dig my hands into my pocket, taking out his payment and tossing the coins at him. The venom slips from my mouth before I can stop myself. "Take it, you prick. You'll never find your fated mate. So it's best you stop trying!"

"You f*****g witch," he snarls, and his calloused hand grabs me by the throat, hauling me toward him, his response cold and merciless.

Maybe it's the fear of what I've just seen, but a new bravery comes over me, and I jab my fists at his chest. "Get the hell off me."

But my attack is weak and unsteady, managing to do nothing but anger him further.

The bastard roars and releases me, after which he grabs me by the hair. He hauls me across the room to the overturned table. "Let me show you how you will pay me back."

I throw punch after punch into his arm to let me go as I stumble after him. Magda's cries are drowned by the men cheering him on. Suddenly, something suddenly rushes right past me, an explosion of air buffeting against my side.

Correy's grip slackens, and I recoil from his reach. The men and Masha gasp. It's only then that I realize someone else has entered the room. Someone big and moving like a storm. They slam into Correy with such speed that Correy is shoved right through the wooden wall. But the attacker, a man big enough to be a bear, goes right after him and wrenches him back before snatching his neck and snapping it.

The break of bone is loud and precise. It all happens so fast.

I can't help but gasp as Correy's body crumbles to the ground, dead.

I tremble, stepping back as the assailant turns toward me, dusting his hands and grinning proudly. Magda rushes to his side, gratitude and love brimming in her eyes. The man is over six-foot, muscles everywhere, and smiling like a madman. Deep blond hair sweeps over his brow, and his piercing hazel eyes meet mine. I shouldn't stare, but he is beyond beautiful with such strong features. Except he just killed Correy.

If I wasn't already terrified, I might have fainted before this wolf shifter I stood no chance against. I sense the energy from his body, the ripples of electricity that always dance down my spine when I stand in the company of an Alpha.

"Is this her?" he asks, smiling. His question confuses me further.

"You killed him! W-who the hell are you?" Goosebumps race up my arms.

"Wrong question," a deep male's voice replies from behind me. I whip around on the spot to come face-to-face with three men. Each just as big as the next, they are a wall of muscle with strong features and looks that tell me they aren't from this country. But one of these Alphas I recognize instantly.

Everything melts away, leaving behind just the hope that maybe the sonofabitch in front of me has found my sisters.

"Cage!"