Resisting The Alpha (Werebear Shifter Romance) (The Crane Curse) (8 page)

"I used to hide out up here. It was the only place I could get some privacy."

The wind blew her skirt around and she shivered from the cold. Erich wrapped his arms around her and she pushed him away.

"You're cold," he said as he tightened his grip around her waist.

She gave in and leaned against him as she thought about her past and how no matter how far she got from it, it was always right there in front of her. Sighing she let the weight of her body rest against Erich's. He was such a large muscular man, yet whenever he touched her he was gentle. Feeling his hulking frame pressed against her, keeping her warm made her mind wander.

The wind whipped Erich's hair so it fell across his forehead. Reaching up, Faith pushed his hair back and felt his thick hair between her fingers. His face came down and nuzzled into her neck. His lips felt warm on her skin and sent goosebumps all over her body.

Without realizing it her skirt slowly lifted, and a cool breeze against her legs reminded her of how much colder it got on the roof than below. Erich's fingers warmed her as they moved up her thigh. His hands so large and strong, yet tender that her body ached from his softest caress. It had been a long time since a man touched her and he felt so different, so much stronger than what she was used to.

As his fingers slid up her inner thigh she spread her legs hoping for more. Her breath caught as he rubbed the edge of her panties and she silently begged him to push them aside. Slowly she felt the air rush past the warmth of her womanhood as his fingers slipped into the silky fabric. She wanted more, needed it. She could no longer resist him.

"Faith? Faith?" Erich said, bringing her back to reality, her skirt down and waving in the breeze. "Can I ask you something?"

Blinking she pushed away her thoughts of him. She'd have to come back to that another time, when she was alone.

His question was loaded. She couldn't say yes and then not answer him, but what if he asked her something she didn't want to talk about. She already said enough about herself and she was her least favorite topic. But looking up into his eyes she felt something she hadn't felt in years and knew it had nothing to do with the human attraction to a shifter.

"Sure, what is it?" she said.

"You're a witch, why didn't you just cast a spell to find out who your family is? Couldn't you do that with the necklace?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I really never thought about it. I'm an accidental witch I guess," she said then shrugged. "I might come from a family of witches but except for what Abel taught me, I know nothing."

"What did he teach you?"

She sighed. This wasn't something she wanted to talk about, but having Erich so close and feeling so safe, she told him everything.

"He mostly concentrated on charming. He thought I could have something to do with the crane curse because of this stupid bird pendant. He got really angry when I could only charm Alphas. That's what those collars were for. You know, the ones the captured wolves had on. The collar not only kept them in a wolf state, but it also changed something to make them register as Alpha so I could charm and control them. It seems charming has more to do with biology than magic."

"What happened though? We found so many that had gone insane."

She looked down at the ground and shook her head. "I tried to stop him, I really did," she said her voice tight. "He wouldn't listen. Abel created those collars but if a wolf wore it for too long they lost their mind. There had even been several deaths. I was able to protect some people, but not all of them. I didn't even know how many he and his pack had captured. It was when I realized how completely out of control he was, that I reached out to the Council. It was the only thing I thought would stop him.

"He's not the man I knew anymore," she said as she turned around and buried her head in Erich's chest. "I don't know who he is now."

"Then why do you stay?"

"Its not that easy you know. I've spent so long with him and I..."
still love him.
She was going to say but realized she wasn't sure it was true anymore. How could she love someone she didn't even recognize anymore. The man she loved as Abel was gone and had been gone for years.

She pushed Erich away and climbed back down to the main floor, picked up her shoebox and jumped out of the doorway onto the broken sidewalk. As they sat in the car, Erich turned the key.

"Did Abel tell you the truth about the Crane curse?" he asked.

"The truth?"

"Crane is a last name, not just a bird. Remember the girl that night when the Council captured Abel's pack? The one with the red hair?"

"And my eyes," she whispered as she realized what Erich was going to say.

"Her name is Hannah Crane."

Faith felt a chill pass through her and even though she knew the answer, she still had to ask. "What's her mother's name?"

"Eliza, why?"

"Can you take me somewhere? I think its time I met them."

***

Weeks had past since Erich first drove Faith past the small cottage at the end of the road where the Crane family lived. She just couldn't bring herself to knock on the door. What was she supposed to say? And why would they believe her anyway?

Erich drove past the small cottage as he had been doing regularly since that day and turned around near the path that entered the forest. Faith rung her shaking hands together, her palms moist from nervousness. She had been carrying Miranda's ring with her for when she got the courage up to visit them, but each time she got close she backed away.

With the his black Ford F-250 pickup truck idling, Erich turned off the headlights and sat in silence. Erich never made her feel bad for chickening out or for wanting to drive past the home another time. She didn't think Abel would've ever shown her that kind of support and patience and it made her look at Erich differently. No longer was he just a gorgeous man, but he was kind and sensitive too. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she felt herself falling for Erich and wanted to believe he was too.

But he couldn't. She couldn't. She was still with Abel, no matter who or what Abel was anymore. Not only that but Erich was an Alpha. How did she know he wasn't simply under her charm? She already knew it had less to do with witchcraft than anything, maybe she charmed him and didn't know it.

Faith didn't know what to think anymore, but she knew it was time to stop being so chicken. With her hand on the handle, she pulled it and stepped out of the pickup truck. Just then a motorcycle pulled up in front of the cottage with the werewolf Alpha she injured with her arrow and Hannah.
 

She couldn't go there now. They had every reason to hate her and she didn't blame them. Hopping back into the truck, she looked at Erich who simply nodded and drove away as Hannah and Caleb entered the house.

They didn't talk the entire ride back to the shack she was hiding out with Abel in. Before turning onto the small dirt driveway, Erich pulled the truck over to the side of the road.

With his hand at the back of her neck, he looked into Faith's eyes. "Whatever happens I'll be here for you. If you want to meet them, I'll go with you. Whatever you want or need, I'm here."

His lips closed upon hers and she slipped her arms around him wishing he didn't have to leave her at the house she dreaded returning to more each day.

CHAPTER SEVEN

As he paced his office, Erich went over everything again in his head. Abel was definitely up to something but was keeping a tight lip about it. Even the structure on the front lawn wasn't obvious enough for Erich to do anything.
 

He had to tell the Council something though. They gave him more than enough time. He just didn't want anything to happen to Faith. It wasn't anyone's fault but Erich's that he promised her nothing bad would happen to Abel. It was a promise he couldn't keep.

A soft knock at his door made Erich's bear spirit react. No one ever surprised Erich. Whoever managed to enter Night Shift and made their way back to his office without sounding an alarm, was definitely skilled.

Fighting down his bear, Erich sprouted fur along his chest and his body grew enough to make his clothes uncomfortably tight. There was no scent in the air yet he knew someone, some thing stood on the other side of the door.

He threw the door open ready for a fight. Pinky pulled a messenger bag off her shoulder and pushed passed him. She looked different today, confident and prepared. Her hair was dyed a dark red color and she wore a pair of low rise black pants with a long sleeve cotton t-shirt.

"I was beginning to think you weren't here," she said as she dropped her bag on a chair and pulled out a folder with a notepad.

"How did you get back here?" Erich demanded.

"How I always do, I walked. You know, for a big mean bear you're really not that bright."

Erich bared his teeth at her, still half shifted. How dare she talk to him that way! And she showed no fear of him at all. He wasn't used to that.

"Why are you here?"
 

"We had an appointment, remember? When you didn't show up I figured I'd bring your information to you. I needed to come here anyway."

"What for?"

She sighed and gave him an annoyed look. "Really Erich, you need to chill. You're getting all slobbery like a rabid animal. What's your problem?" She pulled out a folder from her bag and handed it to him. "Here's everything I could find on Faith Galloway. Sad story really, but I'm sure it'll have a better ending. You know I'm friends with the Cranes. Hannah just met her dad and now she's getting an aunt too. She's going to be thrilled!"

"You can't tell her," he growled as he forced himself to calm down and become fully human again. "Give Faith the choice. She's had a lot to deal with."

"I'm sure! Trust me, my lips are sealed," Pinky said then made a motion to zip her lips and throw away the key. "One odd thing though, I couldn't access Faith's social services records without accessing the Council's records."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was a shot in the dark, but whenever I'm researching something and hit a wall I can always find out a little more by coming here. I didn't think they'd have anything about an individual person, but what do you know, I entered her name into the database and pow! Penelope Crane, better known as Pea was her mom."

Erich shook his head. Why would the Council have these records? It didn't make any sense. "Show me these archives."

Pinky's face turned serious as she looked at Erich. "You don't know anything about them, do you? Come, I'll show you."

Pinky led Erich into the basement of Night Shift. With only a few lights dangling from the ceiling of the musty basement, they needed to stop and let their eyes adjust a bit before continuing. As they walked, their footsteps echoed on the concrete floor.

He had been down there before but didn't think there was more than just supplies for the bar stored down there. Pinky walked to a dark corner and opened a door that even Erich couldn't make out clearly with his bear vision.

The warm room hummed with the electrical sound of servers and hard drives. The lights from the equipment gave the room a soft glow. Pinky walked directly to a keyboard and monitor at the far corner of the room.

"I usually just hack into the mainframe to access whatever data I'm looking for. Pretty much every supernatural event or being I've thought to look up is in here."

Erich walked around the room and noticed a symbol repeating. A dragon surrounded by a ring of fire was on the cabinets, the servers, everything.

"This doesn't belong to the Council, Pinky. I don't know whose stuff this is. Does anyone else know you come down here?"

She shook her head as her eyes widened with understanding. "I thought they were the Council's because you, Caleb, and Joaquin have your offices here. Who else would put something so important here?"

"Look at this symbol. Have you ever seen anything like it before?"

Pinky looked at it and shook her head. "No, I'm usually in and out of here pretty fast so no one catches me. I never stop to look around."

Erich thought he saw the glimmer of recognition on her face, but didn't want to push. "Have you ever looked up anyone else's name?"

"No, only events and folklore. Faith's was the first." She typed on the keyboard and orange words filled the screen: