Page 80 of Cursed Bonds: An Alpha's Destiny

“Good,” Eren said, and the smile changed. Less greedy, more of a sexual leer. “I can’t wait to give this to my friend.” His gaze slid up and down Kirsten’s body. “He’s gonna be excited to try it out. Really get the pipes clean, you know?”

Waylan growled and I snarled, stepping forward and pulling Kirsten back, blocking her with my body. Eren saw me getting close and snapped his fingers. His three henchmen hurried to his side. They looked like generic bodyguard muscle, the members of his pack who were most loyal and the most intimidating. At least they weren’t cracking their knuckles.

“Easy, everyone,” Eren said, putting a hand on his nearest beta’s shoulder. “All a misunderstanding. I’d never touch another alpha’s mate. We all know what kind of man I am.”

“You and I have business, too,” I said.

“And what is that, might I ask?”

“You’ve been warned to stay away from Kirsten. You didn’t. You disobeyed me.”

“I… what? I what, motherfucker?” Eren stepped forward, his lips peeled back and a vein in his temple bulging. “I can’t disobey someone who holds no fucking sway over me.”

“You fucking heard me,” I said. “I told you what would happen, and then you cornered Kirsten in the city. You have your piece-of-shit betas watching her house. You send that fucking dress. All of it. This ends. With my beta and yours as witness bearers, I officially challenge you to the death for control of your territory and pack.”

Everyone in attendance other than Waylan held their breath. Kirsten, standing behind me, dug her fingers into my shirt but didn’t say a word. I scented her, and it was easy to know what was going through her mind. Pure terror and fury emanated from her.

“You’ve got thirty days,” I said, jabbing my finger into Eren’s chest. “One month to prepare. Those are the traditional rules, and I’ll abide by them. You may shit on rules and laws, but I’m a true alpha, and I’ll do what’s right. So you get thirty days to get ready to die.”

The muscles in Eren’s jaw worked as he stared back at me. There was surprise in his eyes, yes, and fear, but he wouldn’t back down, not in front of witnesses. He spat on the ground at my feet.

“Fine, then. Don’t worry. When this goes down? I’ll make sure to make it quick. Now, get the fuck off my territory.”

The three of us backed up to our cars, keeping Eren and his men in sight. Once in, we drove away fast.

Before we’d even gotten to the end of Eren’s driveway, I could feel something was wrong. Kirsten sat beside me, arms crossed, staring out the passenger window, her magic sizzling through the air. It had the scent of ozone, like lightning had just struck. She was pissed.

“Hey,” I said, squeezing her thigh. “What’s wrong?”

Kirsten swatted my hand away and glared at me. “What’s wrong? What’s fucking wrong? Are you being serious right now, Jace?”

“Is it about the challenge?”

“Of course it is!” she shouted. “Were you just going to leave out the part where a challenge is to the death? I thought it was gonna be something where you two beat the shit out of each other until one of you said ‘uncle’ or something. You guys are really going to try and kill one another?”

I swiveled my head toward her. There hadn’t been a discussion about it because I’d assumed she knew. Perhaps some parts of shifter culture weren’t as well-known in the human world as I’d assumed.

“And what happens if you lose, Jace? Huh? Will that give Eren free rein to fuck with me? Harass me until I have to go home?”

“That’s never going to happen,” I said, finding my voice. “Never. I’m not going to lose. I promise that.”

My words weren’t enough to calm her, though. She was still hot about it all and raged for several more minutes about how inconsiderate I was being, how dumb the whole thing was, and how I wasn’t thinking ahead.

“Kirsten, you’re overreacting. Trust me, I know what I’m doing. I understand this is a lot for you to handle right now, and I apologize for that, I really do. For now, until this is all over, it’s not safe for you to leave Crestwood. With me challenging Eren, you may become more of a target.”

There was pure ice in her eyes as she regarded me. Shit, that was not good.

The rest of the drive was spent in dead silence. Kirsten sat, glaring through the windshield until we pulled back into her driveway. Waylan didn’t join us, thankfully, and sped on along the road into town.

Kirsten was out of the truck before I’d even put it in park, slamming the door hard enough to make the interior rattle. I banged my head against the steering wheel. How bad of a shitstorm had I just stirred up? I’d have to find out sooner or later, so I got out and went inside.

Cabinets banged as Kirsten slammed them. She turned to the sink, picked up a dirty pan, looked at it, grunted in disgust, and let it crash back into the sink.

“Okay,” I said. “I get the point. You’re mad.”

“God!” she shouted. “Yes, I’m mad.” She slapped the counter. “Look, Jace, I get it. Your culture has all these rules and shit. I understand, but wouldn’t it have been a good idea to at least tell me? No? Oh, and then, after you challenge a guy to a death duel, you tell me that I’m a target and can’t leave town? As a partner, as a mate, neither of us should be forbidding anything.”

All I could do was shake my head. “I’m sorry.” It sounded trite, but it was all I could manage. I’d totally fucked this up.

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