Page 36 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“I’m fine,” I blurted, staggering back. “I need to go.”

Before Jace could say another word, I spun on my heels and rushed outside. The almost suffocating desire that had begun to overwhelm me faded with every step I took away from him. I put a hand to my head, wiping the sweat from my brow.

“What the hell was that?” I asked myself as I got into my car.

I’d been beyond pissed off one moment, and the next, all I could think was what it would be like to have his hands on my body, massaging, caressing, gripping my curves and flesh in ways I never would have thought I wanted. Whatever was happening to me, it had to be because of the curse.

How much worse would things get?

Chapter 10

Jace

“You look like dog shit,” Waylan said as I trudged across the concrete floor of his auto shop.

“Thanks,” I grunted. “You look like a million bucks, too.”

After Kirsten’s visit, I’d had a hard time concentrating on anything. Telling her the truth about everything had been horribly draining. She’d rushed out before we could finish talking, and I’d stressed over it all night, wondering if I could have explained it better.

Waylan rolled out from under the car he was working on. He grabbed a rag from the floor and sat up to wipe his hands. “You’ve got something on your mind, I take it? You look like you’re trying to figure something out.”

I sat down on a toolbox and rubbed my eyes. “Kirsten came by yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh, yeah?” Waylan asked. “Is that why you look like you haven’t slept in a week?”

“Basically.” I filled him in, and he pondered what I’d said for a few minutes.

“So what do you think? How did she take it all?” he asked.

“Pretty well, in all fairness,” I replied. “As well as anyone could take it, that is. I, of course, said some dumb shit.”

“As you typically do,” Waylan agreed.

Ignoring him, I went on. “I fucked up by saying we could be mates.”

“I thought you didn’t want that.”

“I don’t. I was informing her of the options. She heard that and flipped out. I think she assumed all I wanted was to have sex with her or something. Then I told her I didn’t want to do that and only wanted her to help me fix the curse. That pissed her off more. It was a bit of a disaster. That’s when things got weird. This energy filled the room, like nothing I’d ever experienced. Kirsten must have sensed it, too, because she was out the door like a scared rabbit before I could stop her.” I groaned. “This shit keeps getting worse and worse.”

“So, it sounds like she has the same thoughts as you do about any type of romantic relationship.”

“That’s the vibe I get,” I said. “Which is good, I guess.” My wolf snarled at those words, but I ignored him.

“No one says you have to bump uglies, bro. You could just be friends. Friends help each other. How about that?”

“A witch and a wolf being friends? That hasn’t really happened in five or six hundred years.”

“Holy shit,” Waylan grumbled, heaving himself up to his feet. “You’ve got to get over this ancient history stuff. We’re living in modern times. Cars weren’t even commonplace when Dorothy cursed you, for fuck’s sake,” he said, gesturing to the car jacked up in front of us. “Lots of things have changed with time. Kirsten isn’t Dorothy. If you can look past that, then yeah, maybe you can be friends. Show her you’re the good guy I know you are. If you are an actual friend to her, she might be more inclined to help you.” He shrugged. “Maybe if the friendship works, more can come from it.”

“God, you sound like Shayna.”

“Dude, Kirsten is beautiful, and from what little time I’ve spent around her, she seems cool. Is it really so awful to think about mating with her?”

A growl of agreement rumbled from my chest before I could stop it. I grimaced.

“See?” Waylan grinned. “This isn’t a one-sided decision. Looks like your wolf has his own opinions on the matter.”

Desperate to change the subject, I said, “Eren visited Kirsten yesterday.”

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