Page 154 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

I handed the phone back to Waylan and went back to the cage. The wolf eyed me warily as I leaned as close as I felt comfortable getting.

“Carter?” I said, keeping my voice soft and low. “My name is Kirsten. Your name is Carter. Can you remember that? Your mother is very worried about you. Can you remember her face?”

The wolf’s eyes narrowed, and he thrashed his head once, banging his snout painfully against the wire of the cage.

“Your mother loves you very much,” I said, reaching my hand forward. Jace stiffened beside me, but I ignored him and placed my palm against the wire. “Do you remember playing soccer? I bet you were really good, weren’t you, Carter? Your mom would watch you. She’d cheer when you scored a goal.”

A strange look came over the wolf’s eyes. Pain—a heart-wrenching pain that had nothing to do with physical injury. My gut told me to keep going.

“She misses you. Your teammates miss you. Come back to them, Carter. I know you can.”

The wolf stopped thrashing and gazed into my eyes. What I saw there gave me hope.

“Your mother needs you. She doesn’t have anyone else. Come back to her, Carter. Forget the bad things, and remember the good. I can see it. I… I trust you.”

Before anyone could react, I reached forward and unlatched the cage, swinging the door wide.

“No!” Jace screamed.

Before he could leap forward and slam it closed, the wolf jumped out, pouncing upon me. But as he did, his form morphed, changing in mid-air, the belt around his mouth falling away as a young boy landed in my lap, shivering and crying.

“Mama,” he wailed, burying his face in my chest and clinging to me. “I want my mama.”

I wrapped my arms around him, my heart breaking as he shuddered. “It’s okay, Carter. I’ve got you. We’ll get you back to your mother, I promise.”

The room was silent. Every eye was on me.

“Holy jumped-up hell,” Noah said, leaning down to gaze at the boy. “You brought him back from being feral.” He turned and gaped at Reese, the lone doctor in the room. “Is this even possible?”

Reese shrugged helplessly. “I have no clue. Obviously, it is.” He waved at me. “The proof is right there.”

Carter raised his head to look at me. His bright blue eyes were rimmed with red from crying. “I was so scared.”

I brushed the back of my hand along his cheek, tears welling in my eyes. “It’s all right. You’re all better now. Welcome back.”

Chapter 14

Jace

All I could do was stand there, mouth agape, and watch Kirsten stroke the boy’s hair as he cried. It shouldn’t have been possible. I’d felt her magic pulsing out of her, but had assumed she was using it to calm the feral wolf. Instead, she’d used it and her words to coax him back, luring his humanity back to the forefront. I couldn’t have been more surprised if I tried.

“I want my mama,” Carter repeated, his voice hoarse and raspy from disuse. God only knew when the boy had last spoken.

Kirsten nodded, rubbing soothing circles on the boy’s back. “We will. Don’t worry about that. You’re gonna see her as soon as we can.” She put a finger beneath his chin and lifted his face to meet hers. “Are you hungry?”

Carter’s lower lip was still trembling, but he nodded. “Can I have a grilled cheese sandwich with pepperonis on it?”

Kirsten let out a little chuckle. “That’s very specific, but I think we can make that work.”

“I’m on it,” Harley said.

Finally tearing my eyes from Kirsten, I glanced around the room. The other alphas and council members were all staring at Kirsten with the same shocked disbelief I had in my heart. Each person had their eyes locked on her, and a sudden blossom of pride radiated in my chest. My mate had made these powerful shifters—some of them alphas—look at her like that. It meant she was more powerful than she could imagine, and she was mine. My inner wolf gave a growl that sounded more like a purr.

There was more than pride, though. Watching her rock the boy to calm him, stroking his hair and murmuring to him, made a new and somewhat terrifying thought crash into my head. I could almost imagine her holding a smaller child. A baby, a son. My inner wolf leaped forward, sending an image flashing across my mental eye. A young wolf pup winding its way through a larger wolf’s legs, nuzzling his nose against the grown wolf’s. I blinked the image away, but a smile flickered across my lips.

We were both on the same page. Kirsten was the only woman either of us could imagine bearing a child for us. For the last hundred years, I never thought it would happen to me. Now that there was a chance, a true and real chance, all I wanted was for it to come to fruition.

I needed to end this shit with Eren. Once that was done, I could claim my mate, and then we could start a proper life together.

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