Page 122 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Her thrashing stopped, and her eyes slid shut as her breathing evened out.

“She’s still asleep,” Harley whispered.

“I’ll stay with her,” I said. “In case it happens again.”

Harley looked at Kirsten, her bottom lip clasped between her teeth. “I’ve never seen her do something like that.”

“She’ll be fine. Go back to bed,” I said.

With one last worried glance at Kirsten, Harley left, stepping over the broken wood of the door. I lay there for several minutes, looking at Kirsten’s face illuminated by the rays of moonlight, wishing I could do something to erase the memories she was suffering from. My rage built to a towering inferno, and when I fell asleep with Kirsten in my arms, I dreamed of all the ways I’d hurt Eren. The sounds of his screams lulled me into a deep, restful sleep.

“Why are you in my bed?”

My eyes snapped open. Kirsten was sitting up, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. Outside, the sky was the grayish blue of early morning.

“You had a nightmare. A bad one.”

“I did?” She scrunched up her face.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my eyes. “Harley and I came to check on you. When we couldn’t get you to wake up, I decided to stay with you in case you had another bad dream.” I paused. “Um, do you want me to leave?”

Kirsten rolled her eyes and pouted. “It’s not like I don’t like having you in my bed. You’re making it sound like I think you stink or something. I was just wondering why you were here.”

I fought back a smile. “Are you okay? Did you have another dream?”

“No, no, it wasn’t that. I just woke up. What was my dream about, anyway? It must have been bad if you and Harley both came in here. Was I moaning or something?”

Moaning? If only it had been that simple. “It was pretty bad.”

“Like shouting?”

“More like screaming, thrashing, clawing the sheets, everything in between.”

“Holy shit,” she breathed, flopping back down on her pillow. “I don’t remember any of that.”

I was grateful for that. It was a blessing Kirsten didn’t have to relive that nightmare. It had sounded awful.

Kirsten turned to me and smiled faintly. “Did you really crawl in bed with me to help fight off nightmares?”

“I’d fight anything and anyone to keep you safe. Real dangers, nightmares, and the monster under the bed if need be. All of it.”

Her eyes stayed locked on mine for several seconds, hope shimmering in them. Then, blinking, she looked away, probably hoping I didn’t see the emotion in her eyes. She might not have been sure about us, but I was. I’d do anything to prove it to her.

Kirsten fell back asleep a few minutes later. An idea occurred to me. Another way to show her how much she meant to me. If we were going to teach her to defend herself, I needed to find someone who could really help her. Someone who knew what they were doing, and someone Kirsten trusted.

I slid from the bed, making sure not to wake her. Grabbing her phone off the nightstand, I crept downstairs. I needed to make a phone call.

Chapter 7

Kirsten

When I woke up again, I lay in bed for a long time, staring at the ceiling as thoughts whirled around in my head. Jace, having awoken sometime earlier, was moving around downstairs, and I caught the scent of bacon and toast wafting up through the open door. Try as I might, I couldn’t recall whatever night terror had overcome me the previous night. I couldn’t remember anything. Perhaps that was a blessing. If it was bad enough for me to be thrashing around and screaming, it was probably best forgotten.

Even not remembering, deep down, I knew it had to have been about Eren. In my head, I cursed the man and wished every plague that could possibly be wished upon him and his lackeys who had helped take me. Maybe if my powers became stronger, I could come up with a spell to make his dick rot and fall off. Or I could summon a bear from the woods to attack and sodomize him? Both good options, however unlikely.

Finally, I got out of bed and dressed in comfortable clothes. My self-defense training was starting today. As I walked out the bedroom door, I paused at the threshold and gaped. The door frame was splintered and slivers of wood lay on the floor, like it had been kicked off its hinges.

“Huh,” I said, wondering exactly how bad my nightmare had been to require Jace to break the door down instead of using the doorknob.

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