Page 140 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“What does that mean, exactly? Especially you?” I asked. “What exactly were you doing in Scottsdale? Just hunkering down in a vacant house or something?”

She lifted her eyes to look at me. The haunted expression on her face did little to elicit my sympathy, but I could see she was truly upset and not putting on an act.

“Eren, much to my displeasure, propositioned me to become the lady of the pack. Not a mate, exactly, but more like the alpha’s consort. I would help him run the pack. I…” She hesitated. “I guess I’d be lying if I say the idea didn’t seem attractive at first. Not because I liked Eren. He’s a disgusting person, but I didn’t want to be an outcast. But then, he showed me what he was working on.”

A murmur ran through the room.

“What did he show you?” I probed.

She folded her hands together, and tears pooled in her eyes. “The children. I’d heard a rumor, but everyone was too frightened to tell me anything. Then this morning, he showed me what he was doing.” She started to sob. “He thought I would be impressed. He thought I would be excited that he’d discovered a new weapon to use against you, Jace. It’s disgusting. I knew then that I’d made a mistake. One that was even worse than the mistakes I’d already made. I couldn’t sit by and watch him do that to those kids. So I came to find you. As soon as no one was watching, I came.”

She put a hand to her forehead, barely able to keep herself under control. “It’s so bad, Jace. The town is terrified of Eren. Everyone is living in fear, but they’re all too afraid to run or fight back.” She held her hands out to me in a plea. “I know this isn’t my pack anymore, but you have to help me. Help the people of Scottsdale. Please?”

Her sobs grew more ragged, and she sank to her knees.

“We can’t trust her,” Abigail hissed in my ear.

Langston, however, was more reasonable. “I don’t think she’s this good of an actress, Abi,” he said, gesturing to Stephanie as her tears dripped onto the floor.

I stared down at her, drumming my fingers on the table.

“Here’s the deal,” I said, and everyone, even Stephanie, quieted. “We can’t trust you completely, Steph. Not after what you did.”

She was already shaking her head. “Jace, please believe me, I didn’t know Eren would kidnap Kirsten. I didn’t. I only found out after the fact. He bragged about it after he brought her in. I tried to find out where he was keeping her so I could—”

“Please be quiet,” I said, though not unkindly. “As I was saying, we can’t let you in on all our plans, but there may be a way for you to help us. To prove that you’ve changed.”

A glimmer of hope entered her eyes. “Anything.”

“Waylan will be your point of contact. You will go back to Scottsdale and act as though you never spoke to us. You will be our mole and pass along anything you learn about Eren’s plans. That will give us information on how to move forward. No one here”—I turned and scanned the room, making eye contact with everyone—“will tell anyone what was discussed today. As far as Eren knows, you’re still a good little soldier. Understood?”

She nodded so vigorously that I thought her head might pop off. “I do. I understand. Whatever you need, Jace.”

I waved at the door. “Good, then it’s best you get out of here before anyone else sees you. Waylan will be in touch.”

She got clumsily to her feet and headed for the door.

“Hang on,” Waylan said as he jumped to his feet, pulling his phone out. “Did they take your cell? Do you have a way of communicating with us?”

“No,” Stephanie said. “They took everything I had.”

“Take this,” he said, slapping the phone into her hand. “I’ll get another for myself. Hide it. It’s the only way I can contact you.”

Stephanie tucked the phone into her pocket. “Thanks,” she said.

She stopped at the threshold and turned back to look at me, opening her mouth as if to say something, but then she thought better of it and stepped outside.

“I say we table this until Stephanie can pass us more intel,” I said.

“So, we just wait for Eren to do more fucked-up shit?” Ivy asked.

“We don’t wait too long. Things are moving fast for us, which means they’re moving fast for Eren. She should have something for us in the next day or two. If not?” I shrugged. “We’ll have to assume this was all an act, or she’s been discovered as a spy and Eren disposed of her. If that happens, then we can discuss a full-frontal assault again.”

Ivy studied me, then tilted her head in acceptance. “That works.”

The meeting dispersed, and everyone headed back to their packs and homes. Waylan and I got into his truck, and he drove me home as I stared out the window, contemplating everything that had gone down.

As we pulled up to my house, the front door opened. Harley stepped out into the sunlight. Waylan sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of her and accidentally slammed on the brake. I jerked forward against my seatbelt and slapped the dashboard. “Whoa.”

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