Page 13 of Lost Fate

I grin back. “Now you know how I’ve felt about it ever since you suggested it.”

The smile slips from her face, and her eyes get wide. “You thought it was weird because… Um…”

“Because the first time I opened my eyes and saw you, all I could think about was how beautiful you were.”

The blush that creeps up Ember’s face is worth every bit of nerves that the honesty brought on in me.

“Well,” she whispers, fidgeting. “I guess we should get going then.”

“Lead the way, Ember,” I say with a smile.

When she turns, something clicks inside me. I’d follow her anywhere. This is just the first step. No matter who I am, or what I’m doing here, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that for me, this is what I want.

Ember leading. Me keeping tabs on her, having her back.

Always.

We don’t see any other pack members. About a hundred feet from where the gravel road opens up to the first few buildings in Oakwood, Ember stops and steps to the side. She moves out of the way off of the main road, into the trees, and gets out her phone. Nodding, she looks up at me. “This should be good.”

She holds the phone out to me, and I grab it. I dial my mom’s number quickly, hoping that she’ll answer.

It rings. And rings.

Finally, it gets to her voicemail. Disappointment soars through me, but I quickly leave one, letting her know that I’m okay, and this is a good number to call back, then turn to Ember and shrug. “I guess she was out…”

My sentence is cut off. Both Ember and I notice at the same time that something is wrong.

There are other wolves here.

I move to stand in front of Ember, watching as other men file in to the little spot in the woods where we’re standing. One of them, a tall guy with dark hair, steps forward.

“Ember,” he rumbles.

“Evander.”

“Care to introduce us to your… guest?” This comes from the wolf next to him, a brown-haired guy stacked with muscle.

“I don’t need to introduce anyone to you, Orion,” Ember barks.

Orion, the second wolf, growls back. “I outrank you by a long shot, Ember.”

He makes her name sound like a threat. I swallow the growl that’s clawing at my throat. I want to beat the shit out of these guys, but logically, I know that’s probably not the right move.

I’ve always been better at waiting than most other wolves. I don’t know why. I just have the kind of patience that they lack.

One deep breath later, and I’m doing my best to remember that. Because in this moment, I don’t want to be good at waiting. I want to fucking take them down.

Ember steps out from behind me and raises her chin at them. “This is Leander. He’s my cousin.”

“Cousin?” Evander’s eyebrows raise. “I didn’t know you had a cousin.”

“Luckily, Evander, it’s none of your fucking business if I have a whole fucking litter of cousins,” she spits at him.

The other wolves rumble at Evander’s side. They’re probably all pack enforcers as well, and my body tenses. I’m ready for a fight.

“I don’t know your life or your business or whoever the fuck you call yours, Ember, you’re right. But it’s one of the pack rules to have all strange wolves check in with Thorne or me within two days of bringing them in, and that’s only in an emergency. The pack laws state that you need to tell us ahead of time if it’s a scheduled visit.”

“It was an emergency, and he got here yesterday,” she snaps at Evander.

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