“Broken curse…” the witch mumbled.
“What?” Sawyer pressed her.
She shook her head. “I know that smell. It’s the smell of abrokencurse.”
Sawyer and I looked at each other, dumbfounded. Was breaking the curse even an option?
He must have clued Sage in, because she didn’t look confused about why we were talking about curses.
“Of course!” Sage snapped her fingers. “A city wolf Alpha just married a half Paladin. Surely that would break a curse meant to tear apart our two packs?”
Astra threw her arms up to the sky. “Praise the Father!” she yelled, and in that moment a tiny sprinkle of rain fell from the sky. At first I thought she’d spit on me with her yelling, but slowly, a misty rain started to fall over us.
Sawyer grinned and then laughed. “It’s broken? Our children won’t have to worry?” His arms came around me and then I was hauled into the air as he spun me in a circle. Who knew that our love would be strong enough to break a centuries-old curse?
The warriors erupted into quiet cheers, and for a second I forgot about the war, about the fact that in a little while I needed to go away and leave Sawyer. Instead, I just let this be my wedding day and I reveled in the happiness of this moment.
Then a bomb went off. Literally. The air cracked with a loud boom as the ground shook, and Sawyer tucked me into him, throwing his body over mine protectively. A nearby tree ripped from the ground just outside the fence as light flared in the small space and clods of dirt were thrown into our group.
They missed hitting us. The witches’ fence seemed to have held, but I wasn’t going to bank on it a second time.
“We need to move!” Dreadlocks screamed, and everyone scrambled, running into the building and coming out with duffle bags and equipment.
Sage tossed her bouquet on the ground and picked up a gun as the captain stepped over to Sawyer’s side. Rab and Astra and the men I had brought fanned out behind me, waiting for my direction.
“Sir,” the captain said, “I think it’s time to initiate plan B. They are on us and we’ve lost too many men.”
Sawyer frowned. “I’m not ready to give up, hand them our territory, our homes, our farms on a silver platter.”
The captain looked at me. “Maybe if she were to give herself up, we could—”
“Shut up!” Sawyer launched forward and clasped his hand around the dude’s mouth.
I frowned. What the hell was he doing, and what did the guy meangivemyself up? Sawyer was the one wanted for murder. Sawyer was the one who started this whole war.
The soldiers nearest them stepped in to break them apart, prying Sawyer off of the captain. “At least tell her!” the captain yelled. “Tell her this is all because of her. That she could stop it.”
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed just as mine widened. “You’re relieved of duty, Captain. Get the fuck out of my face and into a bunker.”
The man looked shocked. “Sir?”
“Go,” Sawyer growled, pelts of fur rolling down his neck.
“What the hell is he talking about, Sawyer?” I yanked on my new husband’s shirt and forced him to look at me.
I felt it then, between us, a deep dark secret he’d been keeping from me. It was thick and heavy and hidden deep within him.
“Sawyer, you tell me right now. I will not start our marriage off on lies,” I growled at my mate.
He nodded, swallowing hard. “The others have formed the Magical Creatures Coalition. They will stop the war if I give into their demand. Just one demand.”
Chills ran the length of my arms. “What’s their demand?”
His gaze looked at my feet then, unable to meet my eyes.
“Sawyer, what are they demanding?”
He shook his head like he couldn’t speak.
