Summer Cursed

Chapter Six

The doorbell woke me in the morning. I fumbled for my phone, knocking a glass of water to the floor. “Dammit,” I said as I lifted the phone to see it was just past five o’clock in the morning.

“Someone wants their ass kicked.” Stepping around the puddle, I grabbed my robe and trudged to the door.

A quick glance out the side window showed no one was there. To be sure, I opened it anyway and got sucker punched. Taking advantage of my surprise, a man in a ski mask charged me, knocking me back into the house. My shock quickly faded, and I grabbed him by his biceps and threw him off me. He landed with a crash, breaking my side table and the lamp that sat on it.

He bounced back up and charged me again. Amateur, I thought as I sidestepped his advance. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt as he passed, pulled him to me, and wrapped my arm around his neck.

“Who are you?”

He grunted as he tried to free himself by throwing an elbow into my gut. I’d had plenty of practice taking a hit and while it knocked the wind out of me, my grip on him remained tight.

“What do you want?”

“Fuck you,” he said, his voice strained.

This time he slammed his foot down on mine and elbowed me again. I adjusted my grip, so he’d stop doing that, but he spun out of my grasp and ran out the door, shifting as he entered the woods.

I shifted and ran after him and followed his scent until it stopped. That’s when I heard a truck speeding off my property. Pissed beyond belief, I ran back to the house, shifting back as I got to the front door. There sat a white box with a silver bow tied around it.

I assumed it was some kind of apology gift from Liam. Why would my attacker bring me a present? Annoyed and tired, I snatched it up and tossed it onto the dining table. I’d deal with it after another couple hours of sleep. It was unlikely that another attacker would show up within the next few hours, so I threw a towel over the puddle and snuggled back under my covers.

When my phone rang a few minutes later I about cried. “What?” I growled into the speaker.

“Good morning to you too.”

“What the hell do you want, Liam? I’ve had enough interruptions this morning.”

“Interruptions?”

Groaning, I gave up on sleep and sat up. “Yeah, I had an asshole knock on my door and punch me in the face. We fought. He ran away. And now there’s a mess and a little white box that I assume is from you.”

“What pack was he from? Did you open the box?”

“He was wearing a ski mask. I was too preoccupied to look at his eyes. I was going to open the box later. After I’d finished sleeping.”

“I’m coming over.”

“No, you’re not,” I said to no one.

I had twenty minutes to get ready before he arrived. I didn’t have enough time to shower, so I brushed my teeth, and threw on shorts and a t-shirt. I’d just finished cleaning up the broken lamp and table and wiping up the water I had spilled when the doorbell rang again.

I swung the door open to see him standing there looking all put together and sexy in his suit. “Why the hell are you bothering me? I figured after last night we could cut ties. Go our separate ways, but no—”

His lips covered mine so quickly it knocked me back a step. His arm around my waist kept me from falling. A searing heat ran from where our lips met straight to my core making me lose all reason and wrap my arms around his neck. I clung to him as I gave as good as I got.

A hawk screeched, waking me from my stupor. I shoved him away and slapped him across the face. “What the fuck?”

The hawk landed on a branch of a tree in my yard. He was a red-shouldered hawk, just like the one in my tat. His presence was reassuring. Henry was my wolf’s hunting buddy. And from the looks of it, he was naming himself my guardian. Some shifters have a special kinship with an animal. Our immortality extends to them, and they are with us for as long as we live. Guardians are rare but it seemed Henry and I were linked somehow.

If I were in danger, he’d be screeching his head off and dive-bombing Liam. That he was calm meant Liam wasn’t planning to hurt me.

“I’m sorry,” Liam whispered.

“Why did you do that? What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. You were yelling at me. Your hair is tousled. It’s sexy as hell.” He ran his hand over his beard and shrugged. “I don’t know. It won’t happen again,” he said then smirked at me. “Unless you want it to.”