Wild About You by Kerrelyn Sparks Read Free Book Online Page A

“Rhett won’t be able to prove that we’ve done anything.”
    “He doesn’t need proof, son. His family has always been ruthless. They hurt innocent people all the time.”
    Howard’s heart stilled in his chest for a few seconds. Had he made an error in his strategy? He’d assumed Rhett would react logically, searching for proof before he retaliated. But what if he flew into a rage and attacked the were-bear community? “Rhett has so many enemies. I thought you would be safe as long as he had no proof.”
    Walter regarded him sadly. “All he has to do is think about who hates him the most, and he’ll know it was you.”
    Howard closed his eyes briefly. Damn . He’d let his hunger for revenge consume him to the point that he’d blindly assumed he could protect his people.
    “You think Rhett will attack these islands?” Phil asked.
    “It’s possible.” Howard slumped into the easy chair next to his grandfather. “I’m sorry, Grandpa.”
    Walter shrugged. “I thought about stopping you, but I’m tired of catering to those bastards.” He drank some beer. “What the hell, Rhett can come here if he wants. I’ve got a shotgun with his name on it.”
    Howard frowned. “They outnumber us.”
    “Let them try something,” Walter growled. “We’re on a damned island. If they try to land a boat here, we’ll blast them out of the water.”
    Howard nodded. “You’re in a good defensive position. Post guards around the island, and make sure no one lands without your approval.” He groaned, thinking about all the innocent were-bears in the community. “I shouldn’t have done this.”
    Walter grunted and drank more beer. “We should have done this twenty years ago when Rhett’s father threatened to annihilate us.”
    “What exactly happened twenty years ago?” Phil asked.
    “Nothing,” Howard said quickly.
    “Nothing? We thought you’d killed Rhett.” Walter turned to Phil. “The only way I could stop Rhett’s father from attacking us was to banish my own grandson.” He shook his head, frowning. “I shouldn’t have agreed to it. It wasn’t fair to you.”
    “You did the right thing.” Howard patted his grandfather’s arm. “You had the whole community here to protect. You couldn’t put them at risk because of something I had done.”
    “Rhett deserved to die,” Walter grumbled. “When I think about what he did to that poor girl—”
    “It’s over and done with,” Howard interrupted, letting his grandfather know he didn’t want to discuss Carly.
    Walter finished his beer, then clunked the empty bottle on the side table. “It’s not your fault, Howard. It’s that damned curse.”
    Howard groaned. Not that again. Whenever his grandfather had too much to drink, he blathered on and on about a stupid curse.
    “There’s a curse?” Phil asked.
    “Don’t get him started,” Howard warned him. “It’s a load of crap.”
    “It’s our history!” Walter gave him an indignant look. “Are you calling our history crap?”
    “The curse is crap,” Howard muttered. “It’s a cowardly way to dodge accountability. If the werewolves attack us because of the game I’m playing, then I take full responsibility.”
    Walter shook his head. “Our race has been dying out for generations. And we roamed the earth, suffering, for a thousand years. All because of the curse.”
    “It sounds interesting,” Phil said.
    “Oh, it is,” Walter agreed, his eyes lighting up. “It starts with the legend of how we came to be. Pass me another beer, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
    With a groan, Howard leaned his head back on the seat cushion and stared at the ceiling. He’d heard this story four times in the last month and about a thousand times in his youth. “It’s a stupid fairy tale.”
    Walter huffed as he opened another beer bottle. “There aren’t any damned fairies in our legend. We’re descended from fierce warriors.”
    “Fine,” Howard grumbled. “But do us a favor and tell