Page 161 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Tank’s face turned beet red, and his shoulders slumped. “No,” he said quickly. “That’s not what I meant. You can do whatever you want. I just thought you’d let me know you were coming.”

Tinsley waved a hand through the air like she was shooing a fly. “Don’t take it personally. I got excited to come do this. I mean, what good is being a witch if you can’t use your powers for good? It’s like being a superhero. I’m going, and no one can stop me.” She narrowed her eyes playfully at Tank. “And if anyone should try to stop me, they will, quite suddenly, find themselves without a potential date. Understood?”

Tank grinned back at her and rolled his eyes. “Witches, man.” He glanced between me and Tinsley. “You guys are something else. Fine. But if you’re going, so am I. Then I can tear the face off anyone who tries to hurt you.”

“Oh, goodness,” Tinsley said, clutching her hands to her heart. “Bloody retribution. How romantic.”

“I’m serious,” Tank said, his voice strained. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Tinsley’s joking tone vanished, and she nodded. “Fair enough. Same for you, big guy. If I see anyone about to stab you in the back, I’ll blast them. Does that sound good?”

Tank’s smile returned. “Yeah. Okay.” He stood, bouncing awkwardly on his toes as though unsure what to do next. “Umm,” he said, then he cleared his throat and planted a chaste kiss on Tinsley’s cheek. “Gotta go. Guard duty,” he muttered quickly, face going even more red as he hurried out the door again.

“What a delightfully awkward man,” Tinsley said wistfully, her finger grazing her cheek.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I squeezed her hand. “I’m fine with it—we can use all the help we can get—but how did you know what was going to happen?”

Tinsley’s eyes slid from mine to Harley. “A little birdie told me.”

Spinning on my heel, I glared at Harley. “You called Tinsley and didn’t tell me?”

She shrugged. “Thought it would be a nice surprise. You guys were so busy and stressed, I figured someone should let her know. Sue me.”

Harley, Tinsley, and I took seats at the bar, watching as disagreements were sorted, questions asked and answered, and worries put to rest. Waylan stood and headed for the refrigerator. I thought I saw Harley give him a little sidelong glance as he walked by.

She turned back to us and sighed. “Can I tag along?” she asked suddenly. “I’m gonna feel fucking useless sitting here while you guys are out being special-forces witches or whatever.”

“Absolutely not,” Waylan snapped.

“Uh, excuse me?” Harley said, turning to him.

“You can’t go. You’re human. It’ll be too dangerous. You could get hurt. For fuck’s sake, you could get killed.”

“And why exactly do you care? I’m not completely helpless, you know.”

Waylan opened and closed his mouth a few times, but he quickly got himself together. “Look, I just want you to be guarded and safe. Here.”

“You still haven’t said why,” Harley said, raising an eyebrow.

The room fell silent once more. All eyes had turned to watch this new drama unfold. Waylan glanced around at everyone, swallowing hard as he tried his best to look Harley in the eye.

I had a suspicion that Waylan might have much more than a passing interest in Harley. I hadn’t confirmed it with Jace yet, but I wondered if perhaps another member of his pack had found his fated mate. Was he going to admit it here in front of everyone?

“I don’t want Kirsten to be heartbroken if something happens to her best friend. That’s all.” He slammed the fridge shut and took off out the back door. “I need some fresh air.”

When the door closed, Jace grumbled “what an idiot” under his breath.

Harley frowned at me. “Did I miss something? That was a little weird.”

“Let’s make some lunch,” I said, changing the subject. “Everyone’s going to be hungry soon.”

As the hours ticked by, the tension in the house increased. By dusk, it was as though we’d all had live wires shoved into our bodies. Our anxiety levels were set to max. When Waylan’s phone rang just before seven, most of us flinched in surprise. I rubbed Carter’s back as I waited to hear what was going to be said.

“Waylan here,” he said, answering.

“It’s Steph,” Stephanie said on the phone’s speaker. “It’s time. We need to move. Byron just extracted Carter’s mom, and the others are ready.”

I squeezed Carter’s arm, anxious energy flooding out of me in a small wave of magic.

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