Page 27 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“That sucks. I’m sorry. The disease had probably been inside her for a long time. Her aging should have been even slower. If I had to guess, it was eating away at her magic for decades before she actually felt bad. The magic and sickness battled it out inside her.”

“Why don’t you talk weird?” she asked suddenly.

The question caught me off-guard. “I’m sorry?”

“Like I said, you guys are hundreds of years old. I’d sort of assumed you all would have, like, old-school accents and stuff.”

I smiled ruefully. “Yeah, no. It’s weird enough being a magical shapeshifting creature. Imagine if we all walked around saying shit like, ‘Forsooth, m’lady. ‘Tis true I’ve become enamored with my fine raiments.’ It’s still a human world, so we change with the times. Though, I will say, I refuse to ever say stuff like ‘rizz’ or ‘no cap.’ Sorry, not sorry.”

She chuckled. “I wish you could get my students to feel the same way.”

But the smile slowly faded from her face as Kirsten eyed her hands, looking down and running a thumb over her palm. As much as I wanted to comfort her, I couldn’t. No matter what my inner wolf wanted or desired, the woman before me was still a witch. I could tell her everything, but that was as far as it would go. She deserved the truth, yes, but that was all I could give her.

At that thought, a deep and angry growl echoed through my mind. My wolf was pissed that I was ignoring his desires. I pushed him down, mentally telling him to get over it. This was not happening, no matter how much he wanted it. Still, a faint voice—mine rather than my wolf’s—continued to whisper its doubt at my conviction.

“It’s so strange.” Kirsten’s eyes met mine, and she added, “You still haven’t told me what this has to do with you.”

“Good afternoon, big brother!”

Kirsten and I both started at the unexpected voice calling from the foyer. Shayna.

Shit. My younger sister had always had horrible timing, and today only proved her skill.

“Oh, I should leave,” Kirsten said, looking toward the entryway.

I stood quickly. “It’s just my sister. You don’t need to go. She’s probably not here for anything important.”

Why the hell did I care what Kirsten thought? Damn, I hadn’t even told her about my curse. I needed to tell her. Desperation built inside me. This woman might be my only chance at lifting it.

Shayna came around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Her lips stretched into a smile, and she arched an eyebrow.

“Did I interrupt a little afternoon delight, Jace?”

Frowning, I looked back at Kirsten, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. In my haste to keep Kirsten from leaving, I’d jumped up from the couch, and now Kirsten’s face was level with my crotch. It looked as though something much dirtier than a conversation was about to happen.

“Dammit, Shayna, don’t you ever knock?” I growled.

“My apologies, Mister Alpha, sir. Who’s the pretty lady?” she asked, smiling at Kirsten.

“I was just leaving,” Kirsten said as she stood. As she did, her face came close to mine, and her scent struck me again. My stomach did a happy flip, but I shook the feeling away.

“You don’t have to,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Shayna added. “You don’t have to. I can go upstairs, put some earplugs in. You two kids do what kids do.”

Kirsten flashed a sarcastic smile. “Sorry, your brother is… well, he’s interesting, I’ll say that. I don’t think that’s happening.”

“Ah,” Shayna said, then gave me a mock frown. “She’s already figured you out, bro? That didn’t take long.”

Kirsten was already walking out of the room.

“You can come back anytime. We can finish this later,” I called after her.

“Thanks. Yeah, sure,” Kirsten said absent-mindedly. She looked overwhelmed and confused. I wanted to push the issue, but that might have done more harm than good.

“Nice to meet you,” Kirsten muttered to Shayna.

Shayna’s eyes widened in surprise when she caught a whiff of Kirsten’s scent. Once the front door closed, Shayna spun and looked at me.

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