Page 25 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

His face was unreadable, but I thought there was a bit of anxiety in his eyes. We stood several paces apart, staring at each other in silence.

Finally, I worked up the courage to speak. “What do you know about my family?”

Jace took a deep breath, pulling air into his broad chest and then blowing it out in a rush. “Come inside. We need to talk.”

“You’ve got that right.”

Chapter 8

Jace

“Hey, boss? Are you there?” a voice crackled through the radio on my kitchen table.

It was Shawn, one of the men who stood guard at the entrance to the compound. What could he need? I didn’t have anything scheduled for the day.

I grabbed the handset. “This is Jace. What’s wrong?”

“Hey, I’ve got a lady here who says she needs to see you.”

“A lady?” A nervous tremor ran up my spine. “Um, black hair, hazel eyes, looks like a supermodel?”

“Actually, yeah. Pretty sure it’s the woman staying at the old cabin right off the pack lands. Should we let her come up?”

I’d only dropped off the stuff she needed to repair her sink an hour or two ago. What could Kirsten possibly need so soon? And if she needed something, why drive all the way up here instead of calling me?

Another thought occurred to me. What if this was about more than a leaking sink or shopping in town? Had she figured something out? Did she know?

Only one way to find out.

“Yeah, Shawn. Go ahead and wave her through,” I said.

For a few moments, I simply stood there, frozen with indecision. If Kirsten had figured out about the curse, I had no clue how. She’d be here any second.

I strode to the front door and stepped out. Less than a minute later, Kirsten’s car appeared.

After a few awkward moments out in the driveway, she came inside and followed me into the den. As she walked over to one of the armchairs, I watched as she twisted her fingers together anxiously. I could hear her heart slamming away in her chest.

“Have a seat,” I said, lowering myself into the opposite armchair. “Tell me what brought you here.”

Kirsten took a deep breath, then shoved her hands under her thighs to stop from fidgeting. “All right. What I’m going to say might sound crazy, I’m not sure.” She laughed. “I’m not sure about anything anymore,” she muttered.

“I promise to hear you out,” I said. “Say whatever you have to say.”

She unzipped the side pocket of her purse and pulled out what looked like index cards. A closer look revealed that they were photographs.

“I found these in the cabin. Um, I know shifters live a lot longer than humans. Do, uh, do you recognize anyone in these photos?”

She placed them face-up on the coffee table between us. I clenched my jaw at the sight of Dorothy Welch. The picture was old—faded and dog-eared. It showed her standing with a young girl who bore a passing resemblance to Kirsten but with light hair instead of black.

Kirsten’s great-grandmother. The woman who’d cursed me all those many years ago. Even seeing her there, nothing but a memory on paper, was almost too much.

Kirsten must have seen me tense up because she tapped the photos. “You do know something, don’t you?”

I cleared my throat, hesitant to answer until I knew exactly what she knew. “How about you tell me what questions you have about them?”

A mad little chuckle escaped her lips, and she ran a shaking hand through her hair. “It’s crazy, it’s totally crazy, but I’ve got to get it out. If it stays in my head, I’ll lose my mind.”

“I’m here,” I said softly. “Whatever you need to say, I’m here.”

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