Cursed Wolf

“Sorry about that,” Tate said, sitting next to Dalia.

“It’s okay.” She wished there was something she could do to help. “He has his own issues. He has to get over them in his own time.”

“Yeah, but he keeps making it my issue too. I hate to admit it, but I’m glad he left.”

“It’s fine to admit that,” Dalia said, reaching out to take his hand.

“But he’s my brother. I’ve spent the last hundred years with my brothers. We are bonded to the core. But in this new world, I’m just getting tired of his whining.”

“I know.” She stroked his hand. “You have the right to your own space. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”

“He’s gone now. The problem has taken care of itself.”

He laughed and she fell into the comforting humor in his eyes. She loved being in his world. He cared so deeply about others. But he also wanted to lighten the mood and make people laugh. She loved his energy, and how he saw the world. It was a relief to be around someone who could lift her spirits.

Dalia hadn’t always been so introverted. She’d been outgoing and popular in the art scene in LA. And even while living in Selkie, she’d never missed an opportunity to be part of a social event or to join a group related to one of her many passions.

It wasn’t until she got into a relationship with Hank that things had started to change. He had monopolized her mind and her time. Even when he was gone, she still couldn’t stop thinking about him and the things that he said. Every time she had wanted to ask him about his cheating or his lack of help with finances, he would turn the conversation around on her.

He had made it out like she was being selfish and controlling, and she hated the idea of being those things. It was the complete opposite of how she saw herself. It always seemed to stop her in her tracks.

Tate was right there in front of her. He was a man who was wide open, totally willing to share his heart. He wore it on his sleeve with childlike abandon.

That didn’t make him weak. It made him strong. It meant that he could love her how she needed to be loved. With tenderness and understanding. He could lift her out of her melancholy and bring her back into the light of day.

“You’ve been more than generous with Blake,” Dalia said, remembering how hard it had been to get Hank to leave her house when she wanted him gone.

“Now he’s Damien’s problem. Those two have a much larger house with guest bedrooms. He’s better off there.”

“It’s hard to give up on people you care about, even when they’re being horrible.” Dalia laughed.

“Yeah,” he said, squeezing her hands.

“But that just means we’re loving people.”

He pulled her closer, and she laid her head against his ch3st. He stroked her hair as she listened to his heartbeat.

“It’s hard to trust your own heart when you’ve been hurt,” she said.

“You’re brave,” he whispered into her hair. “I admire you so much. Being able to open your heart again after everything you’ve been through is heroic. I want you to know I understand that.”

“It’s nothing like what you’ve been through.” She felt almost dumb for comparing them.

“We suffered. That’s true. But I had my brothers. They had my back no matter what. We were a pack. We counted on each other through thick and thin; through the bonds of b***d and brotherhood.”

“I could have tried harder to reach out, to talk to someone about it, but I felt so ashamed. I didn’t know what was happening. I had no idea I was becoming so isolated.”

“You deserve the world, Dalia. You deserve to taste every morsel of goodness this planet has to offer. You are a beautiful light in the darkness. You bring such loveliness into existence with your art. I can see it in the way you look at the landscape. You see beauty that others don’t. You give birth to it and share it through yourself. It’s awe-inspiring.”

“Oh Tate,” she said, pressing her l!ps to his.

He filled the longing in her heart with such an overflow of love. It felt like it would burst. She’d never been so full. It was as if he saw her to the very depths of her. Something she never believed anyone else would ever see. Let alone find worthy of love. It made her want to cry.

Tears slid down her cheeks as he k!ssed her. It was like they could fall into each other and live in bliss forever.