Cursed Wolf

Tate couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been. He’d mentioned the Snow Queen and then had to make up a preposterous story. What was she going to think of him now?

What if she asked him about it again? Saying it was a mountain seemed plausible enough. He only hoped that she’d believed him. He was so anxious about it the entire movie that he could barely enjoy it.

When the movie finally let out, Tate tossed their garbage into the can. She was going to have to learn about the curse eventually.

“That was really fun,” Dalia said, looking up at him with a bright smile on her l!ps.

“The movie lived up to the hype. That doesn’t always happen.”

“We should do this again sometime.”

As they walked out up the theater into the warm afternoon sunlight, he asked her if she would like to go for a walk, and maybe go check out New Moon Books and meet his brother.

“I’m not sure,” she said, looking hesitant.

“Is it too soon?” he asked. A seagull squawked overhead, and something dropped to six inches from where he stood. She giggled and covered her mouth.

“It missed me,” he said, looking up into the sky. “It’s supposed to be good luck if it hits.”

“Seagull poop isn’t lucky,” she said, laughing again. He liked the sound of her laugh and could listen to it all day.

“If you don’t want to meet my family, that’s totally fine,” he said, rocking on the heels of his feet.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. It is just a bookstore.”

“It’s a really nice bookstore. And they have other things in there like candles and tarot cards.”

“You believe in that sort of thing?” she asked, eyeing him skeptically.

“Sometimes,” he said as they walked towards where they parked their cars in the lot.

“Only sometimes?” she asked, opening her car door.

“It depends on what it says,” he said.

She burst out laughing and covered her mouth.

“I wonder if we can get our cards read?”

“We can ask Luna. I’m sure she would do it for us.”

“It could be fun,” she said with a wink before sinking into her car.

She closed the door and gave him a little wave before he turned and hurried to his own truck. Things were looking up. Daliah thought he was funny and wanted to get a tarot card reading with him and meet his brother. Maybe his slip up about the Snow Queen wasn’t so bad.

They both parked in front of New Moon Books and met on the sidewalk in front of the store.

Tate held the front door open for Dalia, allowing her to walk inside. The shop smelled like incense and honey, and Tate took a long inhale of the fragrant scents. Luna was standing at the counter, her red hair tied up in a loose bun on top of her head. She gave them both an animated smile.

“Tate, what brings you to New Moon?” she asked, coming out from behind the counter to give him a hug. Luna was just starting to show a rounding baby bump on her belly.

“We were just catching a matinee. This is Dalia. We were matched on mate dot com.”

He was careful not to call her his mate. He didn’t want to scare her off by being presumptuous. Luna knew exactly what that meant. She went to Dalia and took her hand.

“What a lucky man you are, Tate. Dalia, you must tell me everything about yourself.”

“There’s not much to tell. I’m not really that interesting.”

“That’s not true. Dalia is an amazing artist.”

Tate had looked her up online and had scrolled through her Instagram feed for hours the night before. She was exceptionally talented, and he couldn’t believe he’d been matched with someone with such a gift.

“Oh wonderful. What medium do you use? What is your subject?” Luna asked

“I paint landscapes in acrylics and sell them through Four Winds Gallery.”

“You know what? I think I’ve seen your work. I was going to buy one of your paintings last week, but it sold before I got a chance to come back to the store.”

Rex walked in the back door of the shop and approached them.

“Rex, this is Dalia. Tate’s mate,” Luna said. Tate cringed. He didn’t want Luna to be too forward about their mate status. But Dalia didn’t seem to mind. She was looking at Rex and then back at Tate. She shook her head.

“The Winters certainly have excellent DNA,” she said with a laugh.

“They certainly do,” Luna said with a wink.

“Tate said you might read our tarot cards,” she said, looking around the shop and all the eclectic offerings.

“I would love to,” she said, guiding them towards the back of the shop where a little round table was set up, covered in a moon-print tablecloth.

“Rex, can you watch the front of the store?”

“On it,” he said, leaning down to k!ss his mate on the cheek and give her an affectionate squeeze.

“It was wonderful to meet you, Dalia. I hope we get to spend more time together soon,” he said. “You should introduce her to the rest of the family, Tate.”

“How many of you are there?” she asked, looking to Tate.

“There are six Winters,” he said. “I’m in the middle. Me and Thorne, who’s just older than me. The youngest are Blake and Damien.”

“Don’t forget Felix. He is the second oldest,” Rex said.

“We have to all get together at someone’s house for a big meal. Damien has the biggest house of all of us right now, but I don’t know how much of a cook he is.” Luna laughed.

Rex hurried to the front of the store to take care of some customers who had just walked in while Luna shuffled the tarot cards.

“Cut them once each,” Luna said.

Tate cut the cards first and then Dalia. Luna shuffled a few more times and then began to place cards out on the table in front of her. The first card she laid down showed two naked people: a man and a woman holding hands as a rainbow spread out overhead.

“It’s the Lovers card,” she said with a sly smile. “I’m assuming that’s the two of you.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means that you are perfect mates,” she said.

Tate watched Dalia’s face as Luna delivered the news. She seemed reserved and closed off. Dalia drew the next card and placed it over the Lovers.

“The Three of Swords,” Luna said, shaking her head.

The image was of a heart pierced with three swords. That did not look good.

“What does that mean?” Tate asked.

“This card represents what stands against you. There’s been heartbreak in your past. You were really hurt, almost beyond repair.” Luna looked up at Dalia, whose face had fallen. Her eyes had gone watery. She covered her mouth with her hand and didn’t say anything.

Luna drew the next card and placed it above the Lovers card. She continued to draw and place the cards until there where ten on the table. Tate had no idea what any of it meant.

“I get the impression that there is something from one of your pasts that could make it difficult to get where you want to be, which is here.” Luna tapped a card of a family with ten goblets spread out overhead.

“This is the Ten of Cups. It means living in complete love and happiness. It’s an auspicious card. This is your future. But first you have to get past the devil card.”

“This is the Four of Cups. You see the figure here is sad that one of the cups has spilled. She’s not looking at the cups in front of her. Then we have the Tower. Everything must come to a head before you can find you happily ever after.”

Dalia did not look relaxed. Anxiety was all over her face.

“Do you have any questions?” Luna asked.

“What is does the Tower mean is going to happen?”

Luna looked over the cards and considered them again. “If I had to guess,” she said, rubbing her chin, “there could be a confrontation with the devil.”

“Who is the devil?” Tate asked, feeling very concerned.

“I think I know who it is,” Dalia said in a small voice.

“Who?”

“My ex-boyfriend.”

Luna looked from the cards to Dalia. “He broke your heart, but you have to be grateful for what you still have,” she said, pointing at the Four of Cups. “Because your future could be amazing. Full of abundance and love.” Luna tapped the Ten of Cups.

“That was very enlightening,” Dalia said, standing up abruptly.

“Are you okay?” Tate stood beside her.

“I’m fine.” She laughed nervously.

“There are beautiful things ahead of you. The Tower can tear down all the wrong things that were built. It doesn’t mean an end to goodness—it just means an end to something that wasn’t working.”

“I broke it off with him months ago.”

“Don’t take this too seriously. It’s just mumbo-jumbo,” Tate said, trying to defuse the situation.

“Don’t worry about it, Tate. But I’ve got to get going.”

She hurried out of the shop without giving him a k!ss goodbye. He felt disappointed as he stood next to Luna.

“She had her heart broken,” Luna said. “You can’t rush these things.”

“I just want to protect her.”

“You will,” Luna said, drawing another card. “The Fool.”

The card showed a jester and a little dog practically walking off of a cliff.

Tate looked at the card and frowned. Then Luna drew another card. “This is the King of Wands. He is powerful and passionate. He’s not afraid to act. This is who you are becoming.”