Page 135 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

He sipped at the drink, then smiled. “It’s tasty.”

Reese lifted the boy’s shirt, slid his pants legs up, and gently prodded his stomach and thighs. Other than a few scratches and bruises that Morgan’s shifter healing was already taking care of, the doctor found nothing too troubling until he checked Morgan’s sides. There was a welt along his ribs that looked fairly fresh.

“What’s this, big guy?” Reese asked, touching the spot gingerly.

Having finished the tea, Morgan put the cup down. He winced every time Reese touched the injury. “That’s where Mister Eren beat me. He used a big, heavy leather strap. A belt, maybe? I don’t know.”

My heart wrenched. I would never again complain about how tough my life was. This kid had already been through more in his young years than anyone would have to endure in a whole lifetime.

“I think there’s a broken rib under here,” Reese hissed in disgust. “It’ll heal soon, but the boy’s young and his healing ability isn’t fully developed yet. It’ll take a day or so for it to be back to normal.”

“Can I heal it for him?” I asked.

Reese shrugged. “He’d be in much less pain if you did. I see no reason not to.”

“Would that be okay, Morgan?” I asked, running my hand through his hair. “Can I fix you up?”

He nodded. “It hurts. Can you make it go away?”

“I can,” I said. I loved that I was telling the truth.

After placing my hands on his side, I let the healing magic flow out and into him. I was getting more and more in touch with it every time I used it. Morgan gave a little gasp, then smiled.

“It’s better.” He sagged back against the pillows, and Harley tucked the blanket over his legs and chest.

His eyes were already drifting closed. The combination of the tea Tinsley had given him, as well as his exhaustion from escaping from Eren, sent him into a deep sleep within seconds.

The front door opened again, and the others shuffled in, all looking like they were in varying levels of distress, confusion, and anger. Jace led them to the dining room so as not to disturb Morgan. I went to join them.

“Shayna and I will take the boy in,” Dustin was saying. “Our pack is the farthest away and the next biggest to Crestwood after Scottsdale. He needs to be as far from Eren as possible with enough people to protect him.”

“That’s a good plan,” Waylan said. “It’s one thing for Eren to try shit like this with a pack he borders. It’s a whole other to go after one that’s farther away.”

Everyone seemed to be in agreement. I wondered how the boy would fare in another pack. Part of me wanted to keep him here as I imagined what he and the others had been through. I could still see those sightless eyes of the wolf yesterday. Knowing it was a child made it that much more horrible.

Across the room, still sitting beside Morgan, Tank gazed down at the child. The big man looked utterly heartbroken. With a start, I remembered he’d killed the other wolf. My gut twisted, and my heart ached for Tank. To know that you’d killed a child, whether in self-defense or not, had to be the most awful thing imaginable.

Tinsley appeared at his side, possibly sensing the same horrified depression that was settling over him, and touched his back gently, whispering something to him as they watched the boy sleep.

A sudden, unbidden flame of anger at Eren surged up from within me. My teeth creaked as my jaws clenched in frustration and rage. Before I could stop myself, a wave of magical energy pulsed out of me and across the room. The others stopped speaking, all of them jerking back in surprise. Even Morgan moaned and rolled over in his sleep. The only person not affected was Harley, the lone human, who looked around like everyone had gone mad.

“It’s all right,” Jace said, turning to me and placing a hand on my cheek.

“Sorry,” I whispered, embarrassed. I mentally reeled my magic back in.

“Are you okay?” Jace asked.

“No,” I said. “Not really. I’ve spent my life taking care of kids, Jace. Teaching them, guiding them, helping. Shit like this sickens me. I’ve had to report child abuse a few times when I saw it happening to my students. It broke my heart every time.” I waved a hand toward Morgan. “And he’s lost his family. Mother and father dead, a teenage brother looking after him? What is going on there? Don’t shifters have anything like social workers in their packs?”

Ivy leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and looked at me. “We typically don’t need those. Packs stick together. If something bad happens, a tragedy like what happened to that boy and his brother? Someone from the pack should have taken them in, loved them like their own. Hell, if he escaped from Eren, the first place he should have gone was to a pack elder of the Scottsdale Pack.” She shook her head in disgust. “The fact that he thought the only safe place was a neighboring pack tells us a lot more about what’s going on in Scottsdale. It tells me that no one in the pack trusts Eren, and that none of them trust each other. Who’s on Eren’s side? Who’s not? Who will turn me over to him, and who won’t? I’ve never heard of anything like this in all my years as an alpha. But”—she held up a finger—“this might give us an advantage. If the schism in Eren’s pack is as deep as it looks, maybe, just maybe, we can use that to our advantage.”

“She’s right,” Langston added. “His council should have some sway over him. Checks and balances, right? Like with us.” He gestured to Waylan and the other members of Jace’s council.

My nerves were shot, but Jace kept a hand on my back, tracing smooth, gentle circles. His touch kept me from stressing out too much.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought an alpha’s word was law. Like, I don’t know, a monarchy or something?”

Langston tilted his head from side to side. “Kinda, but not really. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try. I’m basically the enforcer of Crestwood. I handle what could best be described as the de facto police force for the town, and I have a few guys who act as my deputies. I handle crimes and other issues that are either not important enough for Jace to deal with directly, or I handle things that need to be taken care of before Jace takes a stance or makes a call. Does that make sense?”

---