Page 72 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

I leveled a finger at her. “You know what that information would do to the pack? For them to know I couldn’t have a child, couldn’t form any emotional attraction to any woman? Do you know what chaos that would cause?”

She surprised me by jumping up and hugging me. It happened so fast, I couldn’t stop her. My wolf snarled, disgusted that another woman’s hands were touching us. He wanted me to shove her off, but I controlled myself and slowly, gently pulled her off me. Hurt came over her face again as I did.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “You were probably right to keep it secret, and I should have told you what I heard, but that doesn’t change anything,” she insisted. “I don’t trust Kirsten. Her family did this to you. Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that this woman’s great-granddaughter suddenly shows up, batting her eyelashes at you? You have to see this is some sort of trick. She’s not a shifter. She’s not like us. Like you. Like me.”

Stepping back to put more space between us, I glared at her. Her eyes were filled with a desperate intensity. She knew she was right. The problem was, she wasn’t. But could she ever believe that?

“I had doubts in the beginning, too,” I said. “Originally, I only wanted to get close to Kirsten to have her help me break the curse. Use her magic to fix everything that had happened. I thought she’d be a tool and nothing else. Things changed. They’re different now.” I took a breath, preparing myself to say what needed to be said. To drop the mother of all bombs. “Kirsten isn’t just my fated mate. I love her.”

Stephanie reeled back as if I’d slapped her. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Are you serious?” she said, putting a hand to her mouth. “You just met her, for God’s sake. It takes time for that, even with a fated mate. She’s just working her magic on you. I refuse to believe you could possibly—”

“I am serious,” I cut her off. “This is not some random thing. It’s not infatuation, or lust, or magic. This is real. She’s my fated mate, the woman meant to be with me forever. I love her. Regardless of whether she’s a shifter or not, she is mine, and I’m hers.” I took a threatening step toward her again. “And I will not listen to anyone say anything about her that isn’t true. That goes for Eren, for anyone in the pack, and that especially goes for anyone on my council.” I lowered my voice to a growl. “Is. That. Understood?”

Stephanie bowed her head, averting her eyes, unwilling to bear the full brunt of my anger. “If you trust her, then I do.”

“Good. You’re free to leave,” I said.

She grabbed her things and hurried toward the door. I raised my hand, stopping her. “Remember this,” I said. “Remember what I told you here. And if the news that Kirsten is my fated mate gets out before I tell the rest of the pack, I’ll know who to look to first. Eren, and”—I pointed at her—“you. Not anyone else on the council. If Eren spills my secret, so be it. He’s a cocksucker. If you spill it? You’ve never seen me really fucking angry, Steph, but that would do it. Remember.”

She met my eyes hesitantly and gave a shaky nod. “Got it, Jace. Again, I’m sorry.”

Without another word, she hustled out the door. Alone again, I let out a heavy sigh. She seemed to be contrite and ashamed of herself, seemed like she was a good and obedient member of the pack. The problem was I couldn’t be sure. Something about all this didn’t have me fully convinced. Was there a traitor in my midst? I’d have to keep a very close eye on Stephanie until this was all settled.

Once I’d calmed down, I headed out to find Waylan and let him know how things had gone with her. It was still early enough in the day that he may have returned to his garage to get some work done. Heading there first, I found I was correct. Waylan was leaning over the open engine bay of an SUV as I walked in.

“Well? How’d that go?” he asked.

“About as well as you could fucking imagine,” I said bitterly.

“Not good?”

I gave him a quick rundown of what we’d talked about, making sure to emphasize the fact that she’d heard us talking and hadn’t bothered to tell us.

“How can I trust her after this?” I said finally.

“Do you want the truth?”

“Why else would I be here?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“What?” I sputtered. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Chill, big guy. Everyone and their brother knows Steph’s in love with you. You knew it, too. You just chose to ignore it. She’s mad and heartbroken that she really doesn’t stand a chance with you now. She’d never betray the pack, or you. I can’t believe that. We’ve all known each other since we were born, for God’s sake. We know her. Hell, she’s the freaking town doctor. So was her dad, and his dad before, all the way back to when the first shifter settlers made it to this part of Missouri. Steph is one of us.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And what about what Kirsten saw? In the city? She’s positive it was Stephanie with Eren in that store.”

Waylan tilted his head to the ceiling and groaned. He sat like that, looking like he was inspecting the lights before looking at me again. “Look, not to be a dick. Stephanie is a pretty blonde with a hot body, but honestly? She’s kinda cookie-cutter, if you ask me. I bet I could walk down the street of St. Louis and point out three women in ten minutes who bear a resemblance to her. That’s probably all Kirsten saw. A hot blond chick who’s banging Eren or something.”

“You really think so?”

“That’s gotta be it. I would be beyond shocked if Stephanie did anything to harm you, Kirsten, or the pack.” He raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of, when are you going to announce that Kirsten is your fated mate to the rest of the pack?”

“Not sure yet,” I grumbled. “As it goes, I haven’t actually officially asked Kirsten to be my mate yet. That’s gonna happen soon, though. My wolf is losing patience. If it was up to him, I’d have asked her already.”

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