Page 195 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

I’d never claimed anyone before, obviously, but I’d known plenty of people who had. I’d never heard that effect talked about, but maybe it was too private to discuss. Or maybe claiming a witch was different from claiming another shifter. It was possible, but I had no reference to go off.

“Not that I’ve heard,” I finally said. “It’s something else. Claiming you made me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. This feels… I don’t know. Dark.”

My eyes slid up Kirsten’s arm, to her shoulder, finally settling on the bite mark on her neck. She was mine now. I was hers. Maybe this sensation we were both feeling was fate pushing against us again, shoving me toward a final solution. I could not let Kirsten be hurt again. All this training had to be for something. We were waiting on Eren to make the first move, but maybe it was time for us to make the first move.

Today was the day.

This was the last sunrise Eren would ever see.

Today, he died.

I pulled my phone out and dialed Langston.

“Who are you calling?” Kirsten asked.

Langston answered before I could respond. “Yo, Jace, it’s a little early. What’s wrong?”

“Call Flynn, Dustin, Ivy, and all the other alphas. We’re going after Eren today.”

“Oh, shit! Are you serious? Today?”

“I am. Call them. Tell them to get here as soon as they can and to bring all those willing to fight. We’re going to infiltrate Scottsdale and fuck over Eren tonight.”

“All right,” Langston said with a sigh. “I’ll have Waylan and Abigail help with calling, too.”

“Good. If they are all free, I want them here in the next two hours.”

I hung up and looked over at Kirsten. Her face had gone pale. She swallowed hard and gave me a slow nod.

“It’s time, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I think so. I’m not sure if what we’re feeling is fate telling us we need to move our asses, but I know it’s the right time.”

The next couple of hours were spent in a weird flux. Like we’d been nudged over a cliff’s edge, but instead of tumbling over, we were balancing, swinging our arms to gain purchase before slipping into the void. Tinsley arrived to spend the weekend with us, and she, Kirsten, and Harley did their best to relax in front of the TV, but they weren’t paying attention to what was on the screen. After a while, Tinsley got up and turned the television off.

“If this is happening today, then we need to do something,” she said. “Let’s set up a place out back. A field hospital of sorts in case anyone needs help. Kirsten, you and I can heal faster than a doctor can. What do you say?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kirsten said as she stood.

I watched as the three women started prepping towels and blankets, water bottles, and bandages. Tinsley showed Kirsten more medicinal herbs and plants they could use with their spells to heal any wounded.

That was a real fear, the wounded. How many people—people I loved and cared about—would be hurt in this? Depending on how many ferals Eren had created, the casualties could be high. I had a duty to protect my pack, and this attack would, by definition, be an act that put dozens of them in danger—my own pack members and the members of other packs as well.

The front door opened, startling us. We’d all been wound so tight that we’d forgotten people would be arriving soon.

“I hear we’re going to kick some ass today,” Hollis said as he strode into my kitchen.

Flynn, Dustin, Ivy, and Noah walked in behind him. With the door open, I could hear the dull rumble of over a hundred voices in the front yard, and the static noise of a dozen or more vehicles parking and driving up the driveway. Suddenly, everything had become much more real.

Waylan and Langston stepped in behind the alphas right as Kirsten walked through the kitchen to grab rolls of paper towels for the triage area she was setting up. As she walked by, I noticed my two friends eyeing the mark on her neck. Waylan’s eyes went wide, and Langston grinned, nudging Abigail as she walked past him.

Kirsten hurried out a few seconds later, and Waylan came over to slap my shoulder. “It’s about fucking time, bro.”

“Congrats, man,” Langston added as everyone took a seat at the kitchen table.

“Thanks,” I said. “Let’s get down to business. We go after Eren today. It’s time we end this.”

“I didn’t think we came all this way for coffee and cake,” Noah said, kicking his boots up onto my table.

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