Page 44 of Fated to the Lone Shifter
Something inside me cracks. My breath hitches, tight in my chest, like a blow I never saw coming. She lied. She left. Shechose someone else—over me. A pulse of heat rises in my throat, bitter and raw, and I clench my fists to stop the shake. I don’t know which bothers me more—the danger she put herself in, what she was doing off on her own after that fiasco at the funeral service or the fact that she didn’t trust me enough to confide in me.
Now I can’t sleep.
Not because of everything that went down today.
It’s her.
Sera.
She’s under my skin. In my dreams. And now buried somewhere deeper I don’t dare name.
Her scent lingers in the women’s dorm hallway—ash, wildflower, and something untamed, like a spark of magic and defiance twined with longing. I can feel her eyes burning questions into my back from a hundred feet away, probably wondering what I'm going to do next.
And after what I saw on that body cam…I don't know.
Back in my office, I pace in the dark, the only light coming from the glowing blue screensaver flickering across my monitor. My thoughts twist like barbed wire—sharp, suffocating. That footage was real. And the thing in it? It was so much more than a rogue werewolf.
And it knew what it was doing. Maybe even who it was targeting.
My wolf growls low in the back of my mind, agitated, on edge.
I drag a hand through my hair and sink down at my desk. I’m about to scroll through the rotation schedules when a glint from the desk drawer catches my eye.
I open it.
The stone. The one Sera touched.
It’s humming.
Not audibly, but in my bones. A pulse. Like a heartbeat.
I pick it up and instantly smell her. Not just her soap or her skin. Her magic. Her essence. This isn’t just a rock—it's a connection between us.
The stone glows faintly, pulsing with a heat that seeps into my skin. My claws prickle like they're awakening, the sensation traveling up my arm like static. A low snarl slips from my throat—raw, involuntary, and possessive.
What the hell is she doing to me?
And why does every instinct in me want to burn the world down to protect her?
I close my hand around the stone, clutching it tight.
Answers. I need them.
And I need them before the next full moon rises… or before I lose control completely.
Because I can feel it now—just beneath the surface.
The curse. The bond. The burn. Is that what the rune on the rock was trying to protect against?
Either way, it’s all tied to her.
Sera. My probie. My weakness.
My mate.
Morning comes with a hot shower and a haunting. The body cam image loops behind my eyes. The massive black wolf. Standing. Intelligent. Dangerous.
There’s only one kind of creature that moves like that. And I know it well. But I don’t know exactly who…yet.
