Page 67 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

What I found only inflamed my rage more. The smell of wolves. Wolves that most definitely didn’t belong to my pack. The scent was fading, but still pretty recent. These fuckers had been here today, possibly last night.

There was no doubt in my mind that they were from Eren’s pack. The time for playing nice was over. Eren needed to understand exactly what kind of hornet’s nest he’d stepped in. He needed to truly understand who Kirsten was to me and what his intrusions meant. Unless he was completely out of his mind, he wouldn’t want that kind of trouble.

Staying in the woods, out of range of vision of Kirsten’s cabin, I shifted back into my human form and pulled out my phone and called Waylan.

“I want the whole council at my house. ASAP,” I said when he answered, then ended the call immediately.

By the time I got to my house, my council had gathered. I never called emergency meetings with the council, so they’d all come running. Waylan greeted me as I walked in.

“The troops have been rallied. So, what the fuck is going on?”

Langston sat beside him, massive feet perched on my coffee table. Abigail was in the armchair across from him, and Stephanie stood off to the side, leaning on the mantle of the fireplace.

I took a seat so that I could face all of them. “Eren Miller. That’s what the fuck is going on.”

“What’s the fucker done now?” Langston asked lazily.

“He’s threatening Kirsten Holly. The witch who lives in the old cabin.” When I mentioned Kirsten’s name, I thought I saw a flicker of irritation on Stephanie’s face.

“Threatening how?” Abigail asked.

“He’s had some of his wolves staking her place out. He followed her to St. Louis yesterday and accosted her in a store.”

I glanced at Stephanie again, but saw nothing that gave away her knowledge of it. I still didn’t believe she’d be in league with Eren, but Kirsten had been so sure, I couldn’t rule it out completely.

“What does he want with her?” Abigail asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Langston said with a sigh. “Kirsten has been given free use of the town, and Jace has put her under his hedge of protection.” He looked at me. “Have you told Eren all this? That she’s a de facto member of the community here?”

“Oh, yeah, we did,” Waylan said. “There is a zero percent chance he didn’t get the picture. He knows.”

“Well, shit,” Langston sighed. “This is cut and dry. It’s a blatant act of disrespect and goes against shifter law. You’ve given him fair warning. I just don’t get why he’s pushing so hard. Is there something about this woman that’s special? I mean, other than being a witch.”

“Yeah, Jace,” Stephanie added. “Is there?”

Cutting my eyes to Waylan, he bobbed his eyebrows in a way that basically said now or never.

Pressing my hands into my knees, I took a steadying breath and said, “There is. Kirsten is my fated mate, and Eren is aware of that.”

Stephanie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head, and her lips flattened in a tight line.

“Yep,” Langston said. “That’ll do it.”

Abigail nodded. “He hates you. Knowing she’s that important would spur him on to be more aggressive.”

Frowning, I looked at them both. I’d expected more from my revelation. Waylan, for his part, looked relieved by the response from Langston and Abigail.

“You guys aren’t freaked out that my mate is a witch?”

Langston waved me off. “Your mate could be a coyote shifter or something, and I wouldn’t give a shit. A mate’s a mate. Why should I give a shit who you do the bedroom boogie with?”

“Exactly,” Abigail agreed. “I trust your judgment, Jace. I agree with Langston. I’m more concerned this jackass is being such a dickhead to your mate.”

Stephanie had gone inexplicably silent. When I looked her way, she was no longer looking at us but gazing at the dark logs in the gas fireplace, her face a portrait of misery. There was an ache in my chest at the sight. Not of heartache. I’d never actually felt any romantic link toward Stephanie, but it had been obvious for years that she had a thing for me. She’d probably been holding out hope that one day, I might forget trying to find my fated mate and settle for her. Even if the curse hadn’t made it impossible for me to fall for anyone else, I didn’t think that there ever would have been a time when she and I would have been together. She was beautiful and smart, but… there was no spark there. Never would have been.

“If Eren thinks he can get away with this,” Langston said, “then he’ll get it in his crazy little head that he can start making moves on other people in the pack or messing with our business in other ways. He’s been toeing the line for years—hell, for decades. I think it’s in the pack’s best interest to make sure he’s no longer a threat.”

The words hung heavy in the air. War. That’s what Langston was suggesting. There hadn’t been a major conflict among the regional packs in almost three centuries. Not since my grandfather had fought and defeated the alpha of the village of Woodridge. That victory had combined the pack villages of Woodridge and Crestview into one larger pack, and the village had been rechristened as Crestwood. Part of the reason for starting the yearly mating party had been to keep the peace among the area packs and try to prevent another war.

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