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“In fact,” his father continued, “Raiden informed me yesterday that a little witch he met last month is expecting. His first. Right proud, he was. So you see…”
His twin was having a youngling with a witch he barely knew and might never see again.
And he was proud? The thought made Ronan queasy.
“Remind me how the curse began. ” Maybe if he heard the story again, he might discern some way to escape it and learn to sense his mate.
Nathanial shrugged. “My great-grandfather married a Councilman"s daughter. Ugly thing, but powerful family. He had no instinct for her, but such are political matches among magickind, eh? Not long after, he met a beautiful human. He burned for her quite badly, but confessed to her that he was…what"s the human word, married? The human cried. He kissed away her tears and discovered she was destined to be his. When he tried to break his bond with his current mate, the witch wailed and screamed and cursed the family—she swore no Wolvesey mating would ever last. My great-grandfather paid her no heed, broke his bond with the witch, and mated the human. She delivered him a healthy son, but died shortly thereafter. As have all Wolvesey mates since. We"re not fit for one woman, son. ”
So Ronan had heard before—over and over. “When was the last time a Wolvesey mated?”
His father stroked his chin with a frown. “It was your great-uncle Martin, I think. He mated this tall, exotic witch. I was a lad, but I recall her beauty. Shortly after their pairing, a freak accident separated her body from her head. ”
His great-uncle Martin. Since Ronan had never met the wizard, he assumed that was hundreds of years ago. “But no one has tried since?”
“Of course not. ” His father peered with concern and drifted closer. “Our mates all die, and the wizards are miserable for centuries. Are you daft enough to think of taking a mate?” r />
“That is exactly what I want to know. ”
Ronan jumped at the challenging boom of a voice. Raiden had arrived. Damn.
Turning to his twin, Ronan couldn"t think of a single thing to say. He knew better than to ask his brother whether he was tired of shagging a different woman every night. Ronan would lay money that Raiden was living his dream.
Ronan and his twin were nearly identical, except Raiden had a golden mane of hair to his dark. But their ideas and attitudes diverged more each day.
“Just asking a few questions about the family curse. ” He tried not to wince.
Raiden raised a golden brow. “For the same reason you screamed Kari"s name last night when you shagged Sophia. ”
So that was the brunette"s name… wait. Screamed Kari"s name while having sex with Sophia? “Shit. ”
“Oh, yes. Just after you dashed away, Sophia, all full of tears, visited her best friend Lily.
You cheated me out of a very promising morning. I had to assure her that you were far too inebriated to remember your own name, much less hers. Both friends decided we"re womanizing prats, so there ends my association with Lily. ”
Ronan refrained from pointing out that Raiden almost never spent the night with the same woman twice. His twin wouldn"t welcome the observation just now.
“Congratulations on the impending birth of your first youngling. ” Ronan quickly changed the subject.
Unfortunately, Raiden wasn"t diverted. “You"ve changed. Since our transition into magic, we"ve frequented pubs and sampled many ladies. We"ve never failed to secure a night with the lovelies we most wanted because we work well as a team…until recently. Last night, I had to work damn hard to talk both Lily and Sophia into coming with us because you were too busy mooning over Kari. It"s making my evenings more difficult. It"s crap, and it"s going to stop. ”
Didn"t his brother think he"d tried to stop the constant thoughts of a woman he couldn"t have, who wanted little do with him? In truth, Raiden had probably never thought of this from any point of view but his own. Until the past few years, Raiden"s perspective had been his own.
The more Ronan talked to Kari, the more that changed.
“Son,” Nathanial interjected. “I hope you know better than to mate. It"s no state for a Wolvesey. ”
Especially if it meant Kari"s death. In his head, Ronan knew that. He should walk away, refuse to return to The Witch"s Brew, never set eyes on her again.
But Ronan couldn"t do that, not until he knew for certain the curse wasn"t crap. Kari was a fever in his blood that he simply couldn"t cure—at least not until he had her. Perhaps if he took her to bed once, he could purge his need for her, as he had every other woman.
Ronan had no other option.
CHAPTER THREE
Sunday night at The Witch"s Brew. Always quieter than any other day of the week, but the wintery snow on top of the slush of the last storm had made roads unbearable.
A few customers sat in dark corners of the pub. Tynan had come and gone for the evening, and she hoped he was all right. His Auropha had died a month ago today, and his grief was still so raw. The usual collection of rowdy wizards remained in the back with their billiard sticks and ales. A smattering of men and women collected around the room, some magical, some not. She didn"t always know the difference.
And she watched the door. Nearly ten o"clock, minutes until closing. Kari sighed. Ronan wasn"t coming. Likely, he already had a woman for the night and was pleasing her with those large hands, that sinful mouth… She shouldn"t care. After Edward, she"d given up men, particularly gorgeous ones with one thing on their mind.
Too bad she couldn"t seem to forget Ronan.
Suddenly, the bell chimed and the door swept open, bringing a dusting of snow on a pair of combat boots. Long legs in black trousers, a heavy charcoal duster, long hair the color of midnight, piercing green eyes that saw right to the heart of her desire.
Ronan. And he was alone.
He shut the door behind him, never looking away as he strode to the bar, shedding the duster in favor of a crisp white shirt beneath that revealed a sinuous roll of muscle with every move.
God, he was a beautiful man.
Kari swallowed. “Scotch?”
“Double, no rocks. ”
Quickly, she poured his drink, then set it in front of him. Before she could move away, he grabbed her wrist. “Kari, I came to talk to you. ”
And she knew exactly the subject he wanted to discuss. If she had sex with him, he would only find someone else to grace his bed tomorrow, and she would crumble.
Over the past two years, she"d come to know Ronan slowly. At first as a laughing flirt with a quick wit and an even quicker mind. He"d chatted, told jokes, and made her feel beautiful at a glance. She"d begun fantasizing about him. Discovering he was a wizard hadn"t deterred her.
But seeing him leave with other women, night after night, had taken its toll on her heart.
Her desire only deepened when he"d started taking time during each visit to talk to her
