Tasting 125

125–My Cursed Self

Ryker:

I’ve been feeling restless throughout the car ride. Silas and Dad took one car, while Cain and I were

in the other. Even when Nora read my message, she never got back to me. I’m sure she was angry

with me, but she needed to understand that there was no other way but to do as I’ve told her.

“Are you okay?” Cain must have noticed how I was sighing every few seconds.

“I’m fine,” I cleared my throat, gazing out the window while Cain drove.

“I’m sure it will be hard for you to be at that area of the border. That’s why I was thinking maybe you

should have taken the role of finding that whistler and left Nash to take care of the border issue,”

Cain was right.

That should have been how it was done, but Nash insisted that he had been working on it for a very

long time and he knew he could do it. Besides, they needed my experience on the border.

“I’ll be fine. It’s been years since that incident,” I grunted, though that was a lie. It felt like yesterday.

I still couldn’t forget those screams and those eyes watching me fail. How they went from having so

many expectations to slowly realizing I would fail and then to complete blankness.

I closed my eyes and placed my hand on my heart to calm myself down. Sadly, a lot has changed

since then. I was the only one stuck in

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memory.

“You know, if you think about it, this journey is good for us. I’m a bit confused about Nora,” Cain

added, trying to divert the subject by bringing up our stepsister being his mate, something he might

have. thought would make me feel so weird that I would forget about the

trauma.

“What about?” I questioned.

“Her friend is a bit weird,” he started, and I instantly nodded my head. “Natalya! There is definitely

something wrong with that chick,” I agreed. It wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve talked about

Natalya. Us brothers have been keeping an eye on her. From her befriending Nora to lying about

being special, it’s all too mixed up.

“If she didn’t kill that monster that day, who did?” Cain asked, bringing up a past incident.

“I wish we could know,” I replied with a shrug. “What are your plans. about Nora?” I wasn’t

interested in talking about anything in the moment but the main subjects. Nora was pretty important

to me.

“My plans?” Cain raised his brow, side–eyeing me. “Yeah! She’s your mate and also stepsister. Very

soon, Dad would talk about giving her the official title of her sister. Then what?” somebody had to

bring it up. Silas and Nash wouldn’t care because they’re not her mates, and I barely think they see

her in that light. But Cain and I, things were different for us. If she got registered in the pack

members‘ list as our stepsister, it would almost become impossible for us to tell anyone we’re mates

with her after that.

“Hmm! I’m not sure. I’m fighting my own demons, Ryker. How can I bring someone onboard when

I’m so messed up myself?” his tone turned serious as he talked about it. The seven sins! We were

bound

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125 My Cursed Self

with four of them.

Cain is lust!

“So you’re not going to do anything about her being your mate then?” I wanted to get a clear answer

from him so that I could tell Nora to reject him on that basis.

I needed to sabotage her mate bond with him in order for her to accept. me. I didn’t want to tell her,

but when a moon goddess gives someone multiple mates at once, she wants her to be shared.

Sharing was not an option. Not when it came to Nora. I wouldn’t share.

“We still have some time to think about it. I don’t want to rush,” Cain was very vague about his

feelings for Nora. It annoyed me. And now there was Brody too. How the heck would I get rid of

him?

I had to shake away those thoughts and remind myself this is not what I want; this is what my curse

wants from me.

“Nash isn’t answering his phone,” I muttered, glaring at my phone’s screen. She was with him. He

must be acting all heroic. I knew he was just being nice to her and being her stepbrother, but what if

—what if he loses control with her? Not everyone is her mate. I had to constantly remind myself to

not just think like everyone would want her.

“Ryker! You need to calm down,” it wasn’t until Cain brought attention to my actions that I saw my

hands turning black.

“You’re not transitioning, are you?” he asked in a scared tone.

“No, I’m fine,” I instantly looked outside the window, trying to think of something that would calm me

down.

“We don’t want you to look intimidating on the border,” Cain reminded me, and I gave him a head

nod. “And as for Nash, he’s a responsible

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125 My

Canned Self

man. He’ll take good care of her,” Cain reassured me. I sighed and nodded to myself when my

phone beeped, and I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at the screen.

Why the heck is Natalya texting me?

I checked her text in haste because I had a feeling whatever it was, it must be related to Nora. And

sure enough, I was right. She had sent me a screenshot of a conversation she had with Nora. I

gulped, reading the part where Nora said she was going out on a date with Brody. And the

conversation was from after I had warned her to stay away from Brody. That’s what she decided

when I was upset with her?

I kept staring at the screenshot, in disbelief. She couldn’t respond to me but was texting her friends

and telling them that she is going out on a date with Brody?

Natalya instantly deleted the screenshot and added the conversation.

with a text.

Natalya: Sorry! I was sending it to Nash. He had asked for it.

What? Why would Nash be interested in Nora’s dating life?

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