Page 33 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“Love you, bye,” I grumbled back.

After putting my phone on the counter, I picked up the least intimidating book—the paperback—and sat on the stool, ready to start reading about whatever the hell I was supposed to know about myself.

Before I could get further than the dedication page, a sound off in the distance caught my attention. The crystal at my neck hummed again, ever so slightly. The sound came again, this time a bit louder.

“Kirsten!” Someone was calling my name, the sound distant and muffled by the surrounding forest.

Turning and staring at the front window, I narrowed my eyes, trying to focus my hearing to make sure I hadn’t been hallucinating, now that I was apparently a witch.

“Kirsten, it’s me. Can you come out? Kirsten!” A male voice, but not Jace’s or Waylan’s.

I stood and moved to the front door, opening it hesitantly. What I saw outside made me freeze in place. Eren Miller stood several dozen yards from the front porch. As soon as I recognized him, the necklace around my throat hummed even harder, tickling me with its slight vibrations, almost as though it was reacting to Eren himself. Raising my fingers, I clasped it in my hand absently.

I stepped out hesitantly, moving toward him, wondering how he’d found my cabin and why he was there. In my gut, I wondered if he was here to tell me not to go back to Scottsdale. Maybe they’d figured out my ancestors were witches and were less accommodating now.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I walked toward him. “And why the hell are you way out here screaming at me? You could have just knocked on the door.”

Eren frowned at me and kicked a few rocks in the gravel driveway. “Are you serious? You do know there’s a ward around this place keeping wolves out, right? If I try to get any closer, it feels like I’m getting kicked in the balls.”

I stopped in my tracks. A ward? Like a magic barrier or something? Wow. That was actually pretty cool if it was true. I remembered the times I’d seen Jace around, and he’d always been pretty far away, too. Though, I frowned as I remembered that Waylan had come right up to my door. Strange.

I decided to keep that information to myself. Maybe the ward only kept bad wolves out for some reason. But did that mean Jace was bad? Or could it have only been targeted at alphas?

Ignoring Eren’s comment about the ward since I had no way of explaining it, I changed the subject. “Why are you here?”

“I was in the area and decided to come by and check on you.” He grinned at me with that same hungry smile. It reminded me of scuzzy guys trying to hit on me in a club. “Figured since you were so close to such a half-assed alpha like Jace, you might need a little extra protection.”

The way he said that made my skin crawl, almost like he was insinuating some sort of double entendre into the words.

“I’m doing fine, Mr. Miller, but thanks for checking.”

Eren’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Miller? I thought we were friends. Call me Eren.”

The way he looked at me, like a fat and juicy burger, suddenly made me very happy that the property was warded. I chastised myself for coming outside in the first place. I hadn’t even known I had any protection. I’d only met this man for a few minutes the day before, and even that interaction had been strangely gross and creepy.

“I would have brought flowers or something,” Eren went on, letting his eyes rove up and down my body, “but they wouldn’t have survived the run.” He held up his hands. “No fingers, you know? Just paws.”

“That’s nice,” I said. “It’s the, uh, thought that counts.”

“I was thinking,” Eren said, fingering the gold chain around his neck, “we have a great steakhouse in Scottsdale. Best in the state. Why don’t you and I head out that way? Get to know each other a little? Might be fun.”

The ick factor with Eren was strong and getting worse by the minute. If this was his attempt at hitting on me, he was terrible at it. Remembering Tinsley’s warning to be wary around wolf shifters, I forced a smile on my face.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ve got a lot to do here at the cabin.”

A shadow fell over his features—a split second and nothing more, but I saw it, nonetheless. A dark scowl had clouded his eyes. He did a good job hiding it and plastering a self-effacing smile back onto his face, but that slip in his demeanor screamed trouble. I had to clench my jaw and concentrate to stop myself from taking a step back.

He nodded to himself, the smile still creasing his lips. “I get that, yeah. Lots to do. Maybe another time?”

Everything in me was screaming to run back to the cabin, but I held my ground. A tendril of cold fear twined down my spine. What would happen if I fully rejected any offer he made? Rather than risk that, I chose the path of least resistance. Placating him seemed the best option.

“Sure,” I said, doing my best to smile back at him. “Once I’ve got things sorted out here, I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it,” he repeated, still grinning. “All right, then. Sounds like a plan. I’ll leave you to it, then.” He tilted his head to the ground between us. “You should really do something about this barrier. I hate the space it’s putting between us. How can we get to know each other if I can’t get closer?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, trying not to visibly shudder.

Eren turned and shifted, his body morphing seamlessly into a loping gray wolf. Dread slid over me. Something about our interaction had been incredibly uncomfortable and terrifying in a way I couldn’t even describe.

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