Free Cursed Love by Kelly Lawson

 
    CURSED LOVE
     
    CHAPTER ONE
     
    “Ramona c an you stop nattering and actually take some damn orders?” Phillip, Ramona’s boss, yelled at her before tossing one of the small notepads that each of the waitresses was required to carry around and take their orders on.
     
    “It’s my break time, Phillip.” Ramona turned on her heel and disappeared through the back door and into the break room. She checked her long, dark hair in the small, murky mirror before applying another layer of ruby red lipstick, the red making her lips stand out from her dark skin.
     
    “You know you’re not supposed to wear makeup while on shift.” Another employee glared at her from across the staff room, her nose buried in a thick novel. Ramona shrugged her delicate shoulders before she poured herself a cup of coffee and then took a seat on one of the soft armchairs. She wasn’t overly worried about following the rules that Phillip had set, since he knew that she was the best waitress there, and she wouldn’t care about quitting on the spot.
     
    Ramona knew that she had taken a longer break than the rest of the employees but at this time of the month she wasn’t bothered about following rules, her skin tingling, her mood changing regularly. She stepped back out into the small cafe and frowned before taking a deep breath, her eyes closing. There was a familiar scent in the air that she couldn’t quite place. She followed the scent, her hand reaching into her pocket to take out the notepad. Her senses led her to a table in the back left corner, to a young blond man.
     
    “I’m Ramona and I’ll be your waitress today, how can I help you?” she couldn’t figure out what was so familiar about the man’s scent. She knew that she had never seen him before, a man as pristine and clean as him shouldn’t be in this neighbourhood.
     
    “Where is your clan?” the man looked up at her and she flinched away from the ferociousness in his eyes. His eyes had a wild look to them. She gasped out loud when he reached out and grabbed her wrist, his eyes searching hers.
     
    “Let me go.”
     
    “I’m dreadfully sorry.” The man immediately released her wrist and looked back down at the table, his blonde hair covering the right half of his face. Ramona looked around the cafe before taking a seat opposite the man, an angry glare on her face.
     
    “What do you mean where is my clan?” she hissed, nudging him with her hand to make him look up at her.
     
    “I must have gotten you confused. I thought you were a bear shifter.”
     
    Ramona felt the entire colour drain from her face at those two words. She was certain that she had been able to hide her dreadful curse, and she had managed to for three years, before this man began questioning her.
     
    “How do you know about that?”
     
    “I-I— I could smell you. It’s nearly the full moon...” the man reached up and brushed his hair aside, a look of fear in his eyes as he watched her. Ramona didn’t think that she was that scary of a person to look at. She had dark hair and skin, her eyes matching. The man in front of her almost doubled her in size and height. She had no clue why she could smell a rancid, sickly sweet smell pouring off this man that she could only assume was fear.
     
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I suggest you get out of here before you say something you’re going to regret.” Ramona stood before waiting for him to stand up. He rushed out of his seat so fast that he almost tripped over his own feet, a frown on his handsome face.
     
    “Why are you lying? I can smell it on you!” the man began to raise his voice and draw attention to the both of them. She sighed deeply before grabbing him by his wrist and pulling; there was no way that she was going to be able to forcefully remove him, so she had to hope he would follow her. He did, and a few moments later they were standing outside of the cafe.
     
    “I do not have a clan. I may be a shifter