Page 163 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Jace motioned for us all to crouch low to avoid prying eyes. A hundred yards ahead, the lights of Scottsdale glowed in the early night, small glowing orbs of light holding back the darkness.

Waylan’s team arrived at their meeting point fifty yards away. Waylan let out a trilling whistle—his signal to Jace that he was in position.

Jace walked over, staying low, kneeling next to Langston, Carter, and me. “Langston, you and Kirsten take the boy and go get his mom. I’ll meet up with Waylan’s group and go for the kids. You remember where Stephanie said they’d be?”

“Yeah. The old gas station near the schoolhouse,” Langston said.

“Right.”

Jace grabbed me and kissed me hard. The world spun as our lips met. Inside me, my magic surged, fueled by his presence. The mental chest in which I’d tucked it away suddenly burst open, and a wave of magic shot out in all directions. The shifters jerked back. Jace pulled away, searching my eyes.

“Shit,” I hissed. “I’m sorry. Did I give us away?”

No one answered me. They all stayed silent, listening intently. After a few minutes without a warning call or an attack, Jace let out a sigh of relief.

“I think we’re good. I don’t hear or scent anyone coming.” He took my hand and looked me in the eyes. “You’ve got to get a handle on that.”

“It’s difficult,” I said through gritted teeth. “And it was your fault.” Knowing how good shifter hearing was and not wanting the others to hear, I stood on my tiptoes and put my mouth to his ear. “Being around you makes it surge like that.”

Jace grinned and cupped my cheek in his large hand. His eyes flashed, and I thought I could almost see his wolf in that gaze. He kissed me again, this time so slow and gentle that my knees went weak. My magic threatened to burst forth again, but I envisioned the chest and stuffed the ball of energy back inside.

Jace pulled away, but kept his lips so close, they nearly still touched mine. “I like that your magic reacts to me the way my wolf reacts to you.” He turned to Langston then, breaking eye contact with me. “It’s time to go. You ready?”

Langston nodded, his grip on Carter’s hand firm. “I’m good, boss. I’ve got precious cargo. I’ll take care of them. Both of them.”

Jace turned his eyes on me again. The sweetness was gone, replaced by a fearful intensity. “Be careful. I mean it.”

“I will. I love you.”

Jace sighed, and his smile crept back to his lips. “I love you, too. I’ll see you when this is over.”

Langston led me and Carter away from the group into the darkness. As we departed the safety of numbers, I suddenly realized how crazy it was that we’d brought this small boy into this. If anything happened to him, I’d never forgive myself. We should have had one of Dustin’s betas take the boy back to their pack, where he could wait in safety to be reunited with his mother. The stress of everything moving so fast had ruined our ability to think rationally. I had to pray that didn’t carry over into the mission tonight.

Langston knew the area better than I did, having been here multiple times for past mating parties as well as business with Eren’s now-dead enforcer. He moved so gracefully for a man so large that it was hard for Carter and me to keep up with him. We skirted the main thoroughfare through town, coming close enough to actually see the trotting forms of shifter wolves patrolling the streets. Thankfully, Langston managed to keep us upwind of them, and they never noticed our passing.

After what felt like an eternity, an old gas station loomed out of the dark, long-forgotten and covered in moss and overgrown weeds. Even the street lamp beside it was dark.

Langston knelt and held up a hand for us to stop. Raising his voice only enough to be heard by anyone in the station, he said, “Byron? Steph sent us.”

A large man emerged from the shadows, head shaved and a thick beard hanging to his chest. He eyed us suspiciously, but when he saw Carter, relief broke through the tension on his face. An instant later, he opened the back door of the gas station, and a woman, roughly my own age, came running out.

Carter jerked his hand free of mine and sprinted toward her. His mother looked like she wanted to scream with joy, but she was smart enough not to do that. Carter slammed into her, and I could hear him crying “mama, mama” as she wrapped him into a tight embrace.

Tears pricked my eyes as I watched the woman run her hands over Carter, checking him for injuries.

“Are you all right, baby?” she whispered.

“Nuh-uh. Miss Kirsten helped me. She saved me,” Carter said, pointing back toward me.

His mother turned her eyes to me, her cheeks wet with tears. “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough. I’ll do anything you need. Anything ever.”

“You take care of that boy. That’s all the thanks I’ll need,” I said, my voice thick with emotion.

“Hate to break this up,” Byron said, “but you need to get going. They’ve probably already noticed she’s been gone too long. You don’t have much time. I’ll trail behind you about a hundred yards to make sure no one follows, but you need to go. Once you’re in the clear, I’ll break off for the second meet-up to hand off the kids.”

“Come on,” Langston said, gesturing to Carter and his mother. “I’m Langston,” he said to Carter’s mom.

“Donna,” she said, wiping her nose. “My name’s Donna. I’ll follow. Don’t worry about me.”

---