Page 127 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

A boy of about eight sprinted past us, a small bouquet of flowers in his hand and a huge smile on his face. He skirted around our cart and pelted through the door. His toe caught on the threshold, and he tumbled forward. The flowers dropped from his outstretched hands as the little boy fell to the ground.

“Jackson!” the woman shouted as she ran to the boy.

I joined her, picking up the flowers and kneeling beside the crying boy. His palms and knees were scratched and bloody.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“It hurts, Mama. It hurts,” he moaned, holding his hands toward his mother.

“Oh, baby, it’s all right,” she said, pulling tissues from her purse.

Trying to get the child’s mind off his hands, I said, “Hey, buddy. Jackson? My name is Kirsten. Who are these flowers for?”

Sniffling, he turned tear-streaked eyes to me. “Cindy. Mama let me get them. She’s at the park, and I was gonna give them to her. I wanted to ask her to be my best friend.”

That was possibly the sweetest thing I’d ever heard.

“You sound like a very sweet young man.” Glancing at his mom, I asked, “How fast will he heal?”

The woman looked a little flustered—if I had to guess, she wasn’t sure how to talk to her alpha’s mate. “He hasn’t had his first shift yet. He’ll take as long as a human does. I’ll need to get some bandages and disinfectant.”

Words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Would it be okay if I healed him? I’ll have him patched up in a few seconds. He has a very important date with a lovely young lady. We don’t want him to be late, do we?”

Her eyes darted over her son, and she pursed her lips. I saw her hesitation.

“Please, Mama? Let the witch lady fix it,” Jackson sobbed. “It hurts, and I don’t want to be bloody when I give Cindy the flowers.”

The witch lady? So, even the kids in the pack knew who I was. Of course they would. There had been several at the meeting.

His mother smiled apprehensively but nodded. “Okay. That should be fine, I suppose.”

With a sigh of relief, I took the boy’s hands. “Can you look at me, Jackson?”

He did, and a few seconds later, the same cool sensation I’d noticed when I healed Kyro flooded through my hands.

The boy squealed. “It’s cold, Momma. Oh, wow.”

“Are you all right, baby?” she asked, a fearful tone underlining each word.

He nodded, his tears already drying. “It feels good,” he said with a giggle.

I did his knees next, and when I was done, it was like nothing had happened.

“There you go,” I said. “How’s that?”

“It’s good!” He jumped up and threw his arms around my neck quickly. “You’re so cool. Even cooler than Jace! Can we go see Cindy now, Mama?” he asked his mom.

She picked up the bouquet of flowers and stood. “I think we still have time.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that, but it means a lot.”

“No problem,” I said, my heart filled with warmth and happiness. I was now even more certain that I was meant to be a healer.

She glanced around, looking a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry about everything that happened the other night. That’s not the kind of pack we are. I hope you can forgive us.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” I said, waving her off. “You two better hurry. There’s a special someone who’s waiting for those flowers.”

Jackson tugged on his arm. “Come on, come on.”

They went on their way, and as I watched them go, I realized all my anger and irritation had dissipated. I felt better than I had all day.

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