His brother took a step toward me and interlocked his fingers in front of his chest. “You do realize I’m a Murphy, right?”
“Sure do.” I forced a bright smile. “But hey, we’re away from the others, and it wouldn’t hurt to be cordial.”
“Our packs are natural enemies.” His wolf emerged enough for his eyes to hint at a glow.
“Yet, we’re here on neutral ground.” I gestured to the buildings around us and shrugged. “If it’s any consolation, I broke up with the Rogers alpha heir.” Maybe that would count for something.
A small grin crossed his face, and he chuckled. “I can see why you’re taken with her.” He scanned me from head to toe, making me feel dirty.
“You better look away before I make you,” Aidan growled.
“You’re acting like she’s your fated or something.” His brother began to laugh, but when he took in Aidan’s face, he stopped. “Holy shit. She is.”
Aidan took my hand in his. “Yes, she is.” He straightened his shoulders and nodded at me. “Emma, this is my older brother, Bradley. Bradley, this is Emma.”
“I’d normally not be okay with this, but you have me intrigued.” Bradley held his hand out to me. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Maybe we had a chance at being part of his family’s pack. I couldn’t prevent the hope from growing inside me. I shook his hand, making sure my grasp was strong. “Nice to meet you too. Do you want to join us for brunch?”
Bradley’s eyes flicked toward the doors of the building. “No, but thanks. I have someone I need to meet up with while I’m in the area. Maybe we could have dinner?”
“No—” Aidan started, but I cut him off.
“Sure. Maybe I could bring my roommate.” It’d be nice to have Beth there in case it got weird. I could always count on her.
“Is it another Rogers pack member?” Bradley’s shoulders stiffened. “Because if so…”
“No, I’m not sure which pack she’s from, but it’s one in Alabama.” I expected him to put up a fight.
“Then great.” His brother smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll be here around six to pick you three up.”
“No, we’ll meet you at the restaurant.” Aidan’s voice was cold, and he tugged me toward him. “Just text me closer to the time.”
“Okay then.” His brother walked around me, examining my face and neck.
It was weird and made me very uncomfortable. “See you soon.”
“Let’s go get that coffee.” Aidan wrapped an arm around my waist, led me to the Student Center, and opened the door. As soon as we entered the building, he paused. “We need to talk. This isn’t good.”
“He seemed nice.” Despite his strange perusal at the end.
“Do you really want a coffee?” he asked as Amethyst waved us over.
“It wouldn’t hurt.” I walked over to them, and Aidan followed behind me.
“Everything okay?” Coral grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her face.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said as Aidan pulled me away.
“Can we catch up with you two later?” Aidan took a few more steps away from them. “I really need to talk to her.”
“Oh, sure.” Amethyst said as she gave Coral a look of warning. “Call us if you need anything.”
“What’s wrong?” Aidan’s behavior gave me anxiety.
“You know when I said I needed time to figure out stuff before I could tell you all my secrets?” he asked as he headed to the coffee shop.
“Yeah.” The truth was the one thing I’d been begging for.
“Well…” He started, but the cashier interrupted us.
“Hi, what can I get you today?”
“Uh… a grande vanilla latte for Emma,” I said.
After he paid, he turned his focus back on me. “I’ve run out of time and need to tell you everything before we meet with my brother.”
I’d been waiting on this information for the last four years of my life, but now that it was here, I had a feeling it would change everything. “Okay.”
“Order for Emma,” the barista called out.
I hurried over and grabbed my latte before turning back to him.
“Let’s get out of here.” Aidan took my hand and led me toward the woods at the back of the Student Center.
The area outside where we were headed was bare except for a handful of students hanging out around the benches in front of the building.
After we passed them, I didn’t sense anyone else around between the building and the woods. Aidan scanned the area and led us about a hundred feet into the woods where the trees were thicker and animals ran around.
For him to take me this far out, it probably wasn’t good news. “What’s going on?”
“Look, this will sound crazy, but I need you to hear me out.” Aidan turned toward me and took both my hands in his.
“Okay …” I wasn’t sure what he was about to tell me, but it couldn’t be that crazy … could it?
“The men of my pack and several other packs in the United States are part of a secret society.”
“A secret society?” I’d heard there were several out there but never knew any involved shifters.
“Yes, only the men can be part of it,” he said slowly as if this were a very important detail to understand.
“Why only men?” I was sure it was a very sexist reason. That’s how all the men in packs thought.
“Because the women don’t matter.”
“Really?” This type of shit always pissed me off.
He lifted a hand. “Just please hear me out.”
“Okay, so you’re part of a secret society I can’t belong to.” It wasn’t nearly as bad as he was making it out to be.
“That’s not all.” He nibbled his bottom lip and took a steadying breath. “The society is searching for the cursed one. Our mission is to find her and destroy her.”
“Her?” That was crazy. An all-male society was searching for a girl.
The sky darkened, making the woods feel like night time. The creatures quieted as if they were listening to his story.
“A long time ago …” Aidan paused and ran a hand down his face. “… our alpha had a fling with a witch. The Rogers pack protected the witch in return for her healing powers. At that time, your pack and mine got along. The alpha was infatuated with her but knew such an abomination couldn’t become his mate. When she became pregnant, he left her.”
“She was good enough to sleep with but not commit to?” What the hell was wrong with people?
“I’m not saying what he did was right.” He sucked in a breath. “The Rogers pack alpha came to our alpha one night and informed him that the witch was in labor. Our original alpha knew he had to do something, so he followed the Rogers alpha back to their territory and entered the witch’s home.”
“I have a feeling this doesn’t have a happy ending.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Aidan closed his eyes for a second before continuing. “Long story short, the witch couldn’t survive birthing a shifter. It’s not natural and can’t happen except in rare occurrences. Even though she was the first, her connection with the earth informed her of her fate. When she realized the man she loved would kill her child, she did the only thing she could do to hurt him. She cursed him.”