Page 198 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

Eren was forgotten. All I could think of was the pain of the attack. The pain, and stopping it. Leaving my sworn enemy for this new one, I turned and snapped my jaws at the feral. Before I got to it, the feral tore a chunk of my flesh away, leaving a gaping and bloody wound in my leg.

I locked my jaws around the neck of the younger wolf and swung my head viciously back and forth. I felt something snap beneath my teeth and tossed the body aside. It crashed into a tree and fell to the ground.

Spinning to finish Eren, I found the creek empty. Ahead, I saw him scrambling down the other bank away from me. I made to chase him, but fell to the ground in pain. My back leg wouldn’t do what I wanted it to.

My will wasn’t enough. I stood, trying to force myself forward, but my leg gave out again. Looking down, I saw blood pulsing from the gaping wound. An inch of muscle had been torn away. I’d heal, eventually. But if I didn’t go now, Eren would get away.

He’d already vanished. He was slipping through my fingers. I threw my head back, frustration, anger, and fear exploding out of me in the loudest howl I’d ever released. My call of distress was the only thing I could manage.

Chapter 25

Kirsten

Shayna hobbled forward, helping an injured shifter. The man’s arm was slung over her shoulder, and he winced in pain as she got him seated.

“He’s hurt,” Shayna said, her face smeared with blood. “Waylan said to bring him here.”

“I’ve got him,” Tinsley said. “Young man, I need you to look away,” she addressed the young shifter gently. “This might burn a bit.”

He tilted his head away, and when Tinsley placed her hands on his leg, he hissed. A few seconds later, he moaned with relief.

“It’s a little better,” he said.

“They bit you down to the bone,” Tinsley said, clicking her tongue. “It’ll take a while for it to heal fully. Let me work and see what I can do.”

Shayna turned, running back to the battle.

“Shayna, wait!”

She stopped, looking back at me. “What?”

“How’s it going? Is Jace still okay?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t seen him since the fight started.” She shook her head. “I’ve got to get back to Dustin. I’m sorry.”

She vanished around the side of the house, leaving me to wonder if the man I loved was alive or dead. Before I could worry about him any further, a group of men and women were brought to the back porch, all with various injuries. I forgot all about my worry as I called out for bandages and water. Tinsley and Harley were running around, doing what they could. So much hurt, so much pain. This was a small war, and there was already more suffering than I ever wanted to see. This was hell.

Tank stalked back and forth from one corner of the house to the other, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, watching the battle, ready for anyone who might get through the lines and head toward us. He looked ready to break, casting worried glances back at Tinsley. It was probably all he could do not to tell her to get inside or hide from danger. If he’d tried, Tinsley probably would have told him to go fuck himself.

I was in the middle of wrapping a broken finger when a blood-curdling howl erupted in the distance. It sank deep into my soul, clawing at the magic within me.

“Jace.” His name left me in a huff as though I’d been kicked in the stomach.

He was hurt. I could feel it in my bones, could hear it in the high-pitched screech of his howl. Without thinking, I ran toward the woods.

“Kirsten?” Tank shouted. “You can’t—”

I threw my hand up, and a gust of magic slammed into Tank. The big man went tumbling backward. I couldn’t feel bad about it now; I’d apologize later. Right now, I needed to get to Jace.

A million awful thoughts spun through my head as I pumped my arms, running as fast as I could. How badly was he hurt? Was it Eren or someone else who’d hurt him? Was he already dead?

No! The word reverberated inside my head. Jace wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. He was so much stronger than Eren.

Unless there were a lot of them, a nasty little voice in my head said.

“Shut up!” I said to it.

A feral, prowling on the outskirts of the fight, lunged at a massive human form. When he turned, I saw that it was Langston. I cried out, but before the wolf got to him, Waylan jumped in, also in his human form, and shoulder-checked the feral out of the sky. Two more ferals and one of Eren’s betas pinned the two men in a circle.

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