Page 16 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

The information left me reeling—and fucking furious. I grit my teeth, doing my best to keep my composure. So Jace and his buddy had been lying when they said it was a rule in all shifter towns. Jace only wanted me to stay out of his town. He didn’t give a damn about any other humans. Just me.

What the hell did he have against me?

“I’ll let everyone know you’re free to come and go as you please, if you like,” Eren said. “If anyone—and I mean, anyone—gives you a hard time, they’ll answer to me. I’ll fuck them over fast, and you can believe that.”

His threat toward his own pack members rubbed me the wrong way. As much as I disliked Jace, something in me told me that if I spent any more time with this man, I’d end up really detesting him. Though, now I had a place to shop, so I couldn’t be too upset.

Shoving my embarrassment and annoyance down as deep as I could, I rose from the couch. “Thank you for your time and kindness, Mr. Miller. I appreciate everything, and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Have you met Jace Stone yet, Ms. Holly?”

I didn’t speak immediately, but whatever Eren saw on my face must have been answer enough. He threw his head back and laughed heartily.

“Yup,” Eren said, pointing at me and chuckling to himself. “I get that same look when I think about him. Jace is, to put it lightly, not my favorite person.” Eren glanced up and down my body and nodded. “Looks like you’re a good judge of character.”

The way he eyed me like a succulent steak made me uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was get out of there. Between these two alphas, Jace was a jerk, yes, but didn’t seem to be a creep. This guy? Definitely a creep.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I made my way to the door.

“I hope to see you soon,” Eren called after me. “Real soon.”

Once I was out the door and down the steps, I allowed myself a little shudder before getting back in my car. By the time I got back in town, word must have spread that a human was there. More people were out and about, and I couldn’t help but notice a lot of eyes were on me as I made my way through the hardware store, grocery store, and then back into the bookstore to grab a few paperbacks to pass the time. I kept noticing whispered conversations behind my back, but when I’d turn, people quickly dispersed.

Shifter towns were known as sort of backward and difficult. I’d seen that firsthand in the last twelve hours, but did humans so rarely come through them that I was that big of a spectacle? Many of the townsfolk were acting like they’d never seen someone like me before.

The ride home was mostly uneventful and relaxing. I even put on an audiobook to kill the time. If I was going to make an hour-long round trip to shop, I figured I could get some book time in.

By the time I was almost back at the cabin, my mood had lifted. I didn’t have to be around that skeezy Eren guy; I had a backseat and trunk full of groceries, cleaning supplies, and repair items; and the day was shaping up to be gorgeous.

My mood soured the moment my driveway came into view. “Son of a bitch,” I hissed at the sight of Jace standing by my mailbox.

The last thing I really wanted to do was talk to him, but of course, like the asshat he was, he was blocking my driveway. If I wanted to get to the cabin, I’d have to run him over.

“Tempting,” I murmured at the thought, but sighed and slammed my car into park.

Jace was walking toward my car, but I shoved the door open and was out in a second, already preparing myself for a fight.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and the look of concern and worry on his face stopped me in my tracks.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, brow wrinkling. “Why?”

Jace clenched his right hand into a fist. “Did Eren try anything with you? I swear to God, he better not have.”

“Eren Miller?” I asked. “The other alpha?” Jace was being weirder than he had been so far. “No. He’s a creepy little shit, but he didn’t do anything to me. I’m not sure why it’s any of your concern, though.”

Jace sighed, shoulders sagging with relief. “Okay, that’s good. I was just worried–”

“No need to worry about me or concern yourself with me anymore,” I cut in. “He’s given me permission to shop in Scottsdale. Speaking of…” I stepped forward and jammed my finger into Jace’s chest. “Thanks for lying to me.”

His face fell, shame creeping into the corners of his eyes, but he stayed silent.

“Humans don’t have to ask an alpha for permission to shop in their towns,” I barked.

“Your little rule made me look like a fucking idiot in front of that other alpha. It’s not a shifter thing, it’s a you thing.”

“Kirsten, I, uh…” he trailed off and shook his head. “It’s not exactly what you think, I’m just… God, I don’t know what I’m trying to say here.”

The guy was stumbling over his words like a kid who’d gotten caught stealing, and rightly so. He was playing king in his little kingdom, and from what I’d seen so far, he wanted to keep me as one of his underlings. If that’s what he thought would happen this summer, he had another think coming.

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