Page 29 of Fated to the Lone Shifter
Not for a long time.
Then, just when the silence feels endless, a scream erupts. It tears through the stillness like a blade, shattering the fragile moment between us.
Not a distant echo. Not a fox or an owl or someone joking around.
This is human. Terrified. Frenzied.
Noah’s entire body tenses—mine too.
We’re out the door a second later and heading toward whatever danger lurks.
The moment lingers, burned into my skin—but now there’s no time for heat or electricity or stolen looks.
Something’s gone very, very wrong.
Chapter ten
The Wolf’s Protective Duty
NOAH
The scream splits the air like a lightning strike.
I’m already running.
The ground blurs beneath my feet as I race through the trees, breath harsh, heart pounding. I don’t even realize I’ve started shifting—my legs faster, senses sharper, claws biting into the dirt. Whoever screamed is close.
Too close.
I break through the tree line, and the world stops.
Blood. Pieces of fabric. Flesh. The faint metallic scent of death.
My vision tunnels. One of the female probies—Nicole I think—or what’s left of her--is strewn across the forest floor like theaftermath of a butchered sacrifice. My wolf snarls deep inside, not from hunger but rage. Grief. Horror. Guilt.
Marcus is crouched low at the edge of the clearing. He doesn’t look up when I arrive, just keeps combing through the brush like he’s trying to find something salvageable. It’s a futile effort.
While he's otherwise occupied, I sneak behind a tree and ensure I'm fully phased back.
As I come around the other side, naked from the waist up, Marcus spots me. "Body cam," he mutters more ravaged than I've ever seen him. "She was wearing one. We need to find it." He's sweating like he sprinted all the way from his post nearby.
I nod, forcing my eyes away from the remains. My hands shake as I scan the ground. I remember how she always watched me, shyly seeking my approval, and when she got it, her entire face lit up. And now she’s gone.
It was my job to protect her, to protect all of the probies. I failed her. My wolf failed her.
Within moments, Captain Greene bursts onto the scene, followed closely by Tori, Rivas, a few more senior firefighters—and Sera in a tucked shirt three sizes too big for her.
The Captain whistles low. "Animal attack? Coyote maybe?"
Marcus snorts. "One coyote didn’t do this. Not even a damn pack could."
Sera crouches beside me, eyes sweeping the carnage with clinical precision. "Could’ve been a bear," she offers. "Or a pack of wolves."
I stop her with my eyes. She's getting too close for comfort.
The Captain shakes his head. He’s got that look he gets when things fall outside of his nice, orderly understanding of the world. He’s not an other-worldly kind of guy, and all of these pieces that aren’t adding up are making him very uncomfortable.
Unlike Sera, I’m not in the mood to make it easier on him.
