Free Cursed Love by Kelly Lawson Page A

but I do not and I do not intend to have a clan. Go find another place to worm you way into.”
     
    “You can’t be on your own. You’ll go mad.” Ramona glared at the man and he dropped his gaze to the ground again, his hands shaking.
     
    “Just leave.”
     
    “But—“
     
    “Get out of my sight before I call the police!” Ramona watched as the man scuttled away, running towards the local motel. She sighed before running her hand through her hair and turning to go back into the cafe. She wasn’t sure how the young man had found her, but she wasn’t happy that she was going to have to move once again.
     

 
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    Tomas stopped running long enough to take a deep breath and to bang his head against the brick wall that he was standing next to. He’d followed the scent of Ramona from the train station and was sure that she was going to be able to help him. He was determined that he was going to stand up for himself and demand that she take him to her clan, so he could request asylum from his family.
     
    He found it strange that she didn’t have a clan. Usually if a bear wasn’t part of a clan then after a few months of being on their own they started to have hallucinations and began to get so sick that they couldn’t shift. Tomas had been kicked out of his clan a month ago today, and he was already beginning to feel sick.
     
    He felt himself slide down the wall and didn’t do anything to stop himself, and soon enough he was crouched on the floor with his head braced on his knees. His body started to shake as he tried to keep the sobs inside. Almost a month ago he had had his coming of age ceremony; it was almost five years too late, since he was the runt of his litter, and they were always weaker and took longer to develop their abilities.
     
    His mind started to go back to that night, but he forced himself from the ground and took another deep breath before wiping his face. He just had to convince Ramona that she needed a clan or at least another shifter before she begun to get sick. Tomas unlocked the door to the sleazy motel room that he was staying in and frowned.
     
    After twenty five years of being at the bottom of the clan, of being the other members’ chew toy, he had begun to grow sick of being alive. He’d attempted to take his own life almost once a year, but unfortunately Celeste, his previous best friend, had found him in enough time that the clan’s doctor was able to resuscitate him. Until a shifter has their coming of age ceremony then they were just like a normal human, they didn’t heal rapidly and even had some of the illnesses that humans contracted, so it made it easier for them to cause harm to themselves.
     
    “Housekeeping.”
     
    Tomas jerked out of his memory as a small Spanish voice penetrated through the door. He sighed before opening the door and allowing her to step inside. While he hadn’t been in the room all day, it would be nice to have some clean sheets to sleep in.
     
    He watched the small woman dart around the room, and in no less than five minutes she was carrying the dirty laundry out and pushing her cart to the next room. Tomas checked his wallet and counted the few hundred dollars he had, before sighing. He needed to eat, he hadn’t eaten in nearly four days and his stomach was beginning to complain at him.
     
    He took a few bills out of his wallet and headed towards the vending machines that were nearby. While it wasn’t the healthiest of options, he couldn’t risk going back to the cafe so soon without scaring Ramona. He sat on the edge of his bed as he ate his stale tasting food, before climbing into under the sheets in his clothes. He’d visit the cafe tomorrow and hope for the best.
     

 
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    “You can't leave! I need you here.”
     
    Ramona rolled her eyes at Phillip as she sat on the counter, her feet swinging back and forth. While she didn’t want to leave this small town, she knew that she had to for fear of