Page 5 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

I glanced to my left at Abigail, one of my council members. This was up her alley, and way above my head. I had no children. That thought made bitter anger rise at the back of my mind, and my inner wolf growled, but I tamped the emotions down and concentrated on the exchange between Abigail and Tabitha. Even though I didn’t know a lot about what kids liked or needed, whatever the two of them worked out together, I would have the final say.

Most of my time was spent toeing the line between authoritative control and compassion. The last thing I wanted was to be a bad alpha. My people were good, happy. They deserved a kind alpha who would listen to their complaints and do his best to make sure their lives were as comfortable and safe as possible.

Not every pack alpha thought that way, though. Some were controlling and petty.

Like Eren Miller.

Again, my inner wolf rumbled a low growl that I had to stifle. Eren was a rival pack alpha who had been a pain in my ass for decades. A prick who liked to run his pack like he was a king deserving of worship rather than a protector. Of course, his pack lands were closer to mine than any other. I hated him, and he hated me. Neither of us cared to mend that relationship and only interacted when absolutely necessary.

The discussion about the children went on for another ten minutes, with several others chiming in. When Abigail turned to me after hearing all of the ideas, I’d already made my decision on what to do. All I had to do was give my blessing.

“What do you think, Jace?” Abigail asked. “Can the pack afford adding a few things for the kids?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Let’s put together a… what did you call it, Tabitha? An extracurricular fund? A few hundred bucks per kid for some art and music classes or something. Waylan, can we manage that?”

He was tapping away on his phone, likely using the calculator app. He handled most of the pack’s finances. After a few seconds, he looked at me and gave a thumbs-up. “All good.”

“Great,” I said. “Maybe put the word out to see if anyone wants to volunteer as a baseball or basketball coach? We could do some organized games on Saturdays in the summer as well. How does that sound?”

Tabitha smiled and nodded eagerly. “That sounds great, yeah. Amazing.”

More discussions came up, but things were winding down. A blessing. This had been one of the longer yearly meetings in recent memory. Though, my hopes of getting out of here without any personal drama vanished when Brad Thomas stood and made his way to my chair while Abigail argued against some school topic. From the look on Brad’s face, I pretty much knew what he wanted to talk about.

After approaching and leaning close, he whispered. “Do you have a minute to talk in private? After this is all over?” He tilted his head toward the full room.

Clenching and unclenching my jaw, I nodded. With a stiff smile, I said, “Sure. I’ll meet you in the back room.”

Brad nodded and returned to his seat. For the millionth time, I wondered if they knew. Had my secret gotten out? Could someone have guessed? I prayed not, but I’d find out fast as soon as the meeting was over. As one of the pack elders, Brad had a lot of sway. It usually wasn’t a good sign when he wanted a word alone.

Fifteen minutes later, the pack filed out to head back to their homes. Waylan walked over and squatted beside my chair.

“You good? That look on your face looks a little… I don’t know, pissy.”

“Brad wants to talk,” I said. “In private.”

Waylan winced. “Do you think he’s gonna ask you about—”

“Of course he is. It’s been decades, and I still don’t have an heir.” I grumbled. “Shit, here he comes. I’ll talk to you later.”

Before Waylan could reply, I was out of my seat and moving toward the back room to meet Brad. Once inside, I closed and locked the door behind us.

“All right, Brad, what can I do for you?”

A deep, weary sigh was the only response I got for a few seconds. When he looked up at me, I could see the worry and anxiety in his eyes.

“Jace, have you, uh, thought any more about choosing a mate? I know we talked about this a couple years ago, but some of us are getting a bit worried.”

Crossing my arms, I leaned back against the door. “Things happen in their own time, Brad. You know that.”

“Yes, I know, but you’re 125 years old. Don’t you think maybe it’s time to do a little legwork on your own rather than leaving it all up to fate?”

For humans, one and a quarter century was like an eternity. For shifters, our lives were much longer. At 125, I looked closer to forty, but Brad was right. I’d been alpha for a long time without a mate, and with no heir in sight, I’m sure the elders were getting more anxious by the year.

“I don’t want to settle, Brad. Can’t you understand that? My mate should be the person I’m truly meant to be with. This isn’t something that can be rushed.” And dear God, I hope you don’t find out I’ve been lying to you for almost a century, I added in my head.

Brad nodded, giving me a placating smile. “I do. I really do, but you have to see things from everyone else’s point of view. What happens if you get hit by a truck tomorrow? Or some rival pack decides to take you down? Do you know what kind of chaos will erupt without an heir?”

I did know. It was something that kept me awake some nights. No alpha meant there would be a power vacuum. People in the pack would scatter, or worse yet, they would fight about who would be the new alpha. And while they argued about it, they would be open for takeover by nearby packs. My skin crawled at the thought of Eren swooping in and swallowing my pack into his.

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