Page 1 of Cold Foot Curse

Chapter One

She barely knew him.

Jessica Heichman frowned at the picture of Kade from years ago and tried to find something familiar about him. It was a picture of the two of them on their Promise Day.

It felt like a hundred years ago since she’d seen him last.

Her Promised had gone to prison for murder and left her here to fend for herself in a Crew of vultures. She had been so angry at him for a long time, but now, she didn’t feel much of anything anymore. Desperation, maybe. Jess blew out a steadying breath. She’d worn his name out. Would it work again?

“Hey, Jess, are you ready?” Misty asked. Misty was her brother’s mate and had been a sometimes-friend to her as she had transitioned into this strange life.

Jess turned off the phone screen fast, hiding the picture of her and Kade. “I really don’t want to do this.”

“Well, you’ve put it off long enough. You have to move on at some point.”

“Do you think this is the right move for me?” she asked. “Honestly?”

Misty forced a half-smile. “Who am I to say what’s right? It’s logical. It makes sense.”

It makes sense.Jess had grown up thinking she would find that mad-love, where she was head-over-heals for a man who was just as head-over-heels for her. But then she’d learned about the curse on her family and had mourned the death of that dream. And then she’d been Promised to Kade, and she’d tried to force her mind to give him a chance. And now she would have to force her heart to give another man a chance. A stranger.

This wasn’t how her life was supposed to be.

“Come on,” Misty encouraged her quietly. “They want to talk to you.”

“They who?”

“Connor has called a meeting with the Alpha, the Second, and the Third.”

“All three,” she said softly. This was bad. “I’m still Promised.”

Misty inhaled and cocked her head, leveling her with an impatient look. “Your contract to Kade expired, and you know it.”

“Expired? I was Promised. My heart still recognizes the Promise. A promise doesn’t expire just because some piece of paper says—”

“That’s enough!” Misty snapped. “You keep talking about Kade like he’s coming back. He’s not, Jess. He’s in the bowels of Cold Foot Prison, where he will rot for what he did. You should be angry with him.”

“I was.”

“Why has that anger faded? The Crew has tried to be patient while you grieve what you lost, but a Promise is only good if it’s consummated, and everyone knows you did not.”

“Misty!”

“Well, it’s true! You’ve avoided that direct question for all this time, and it’s done. It’s enough. If you want to stay here, you will have to choose another. You’ll have to be a functioning member of this Crew. You need to prove your value. You were lucky in that no one wanted you for these years since Kade was locked away, but that has changed now…”

Jess closed her eyes and pushed Misty’s words to the background. Misty was still griping, but she couldn’t make out her words anymore. No one had wanted her. No one had wanted her? Misty was throwing that in her face? Really? “I pay rent,” she said, interrupting Misty’s rant.

“Not enough.”

“But I pay what they asked me to pay. I don’t ask for anything from anyone.”

“Except protection.”

Protection from what? This is the part that had always been so confusing. “I don’t ask for that either.”

“You’ve been safe here for years. Having a Promise within the Crew will guarantee you can stay here, and I want you to stay here, Jess!”

“I want…I want to stay here too.” Right? She didn’t have anywhere else to go. This life was familiar now. She had a routine and liked her room. She liked her job. She mostly understood what was expected of her. She could mark off the days of her life without too much volatility.

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