Page 34 of Wolf Fated

I pack my belongings, thanking the kindly old landlady for her patience as I pay the remainder of the rent. I get in my car and simply...drive. I backtrack as far as my blurry memory of those first few panicked days can manage, searching for anything familiar. But the roads all seem to lead in aimless, repeating circles. I come to a T-intersection bathed in the fiery glow of dusk and realize with a sinking feeling that I'm utterly lost. My phone's GPS is useless, unable to get a signal worth anything.

Gripping the steering wheel hard enough to sting, I squeeze my eyes shut and simply...feel. Feel for that blazing bond burning inside me. And there it is. I find it so easily that I can’t believe I ever doubted it was there.

It’s warm and golden, glowing like a rope of sunlight tugging at the anchors of my soul. It thrums with a sense of home and welcome, of cherished belonging in a way I've never known.

This is love in its purest, most divine form.

My breath catches as the bond tugs, urging me to turn right at the intersection. To follow the gleaming thread back to its source—back to the other half of my soul waiting for me in Willowbrook.

I turn onto the road that feels so undeniably right, letting the bond guide me with nothing else but faith.

Chapter Seventeen

Mitch

Day falls into night. Then day again. I watch the sun pass until stars dot the night sky. The moon shines and then disappears when the gray light of dawn wipes it away. It’s day again and I go through the same motions I did the day before. And the day before that.

My world is a colorless, hollow husk. The same as me.

My wolf is silent. He’s withdrawn into the deepest recesses of our shared soul. He blames himself for the loss of our mate. His unending guilt is a constant sickly presence gnawing at the edges of my consciousness.

Night ends. Another day begins. I get up from the bed I’ve lain in all night, shower, dress and sit in my office.

Sally finds me slumped behind my desk where I stare at scattered papers and reports I can't even begin to focus on. She wordlessly sets down a burger and fries from the diner, but the smell only churns my empty stomach into nauseous knots.

"Mitch, you have to eat," she says gently, worry creasing her brow. "The town can’t have it’s sheriff and Alpha wasting away to nothing."

I grunt a hollow thanks. She's right. My clothes hang looser with every passing day but I can’t seem to care. I know I need to eat but I can't seem to muster the appetite. I look up into her familiar face, see the sympathy that radiates from her.

"I had everything when I found my mate. And I ruined it all in one gods-damned night."

Sally's expression softens and she lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. "Oh sugar, you didn't ruin a thing. Fate has a way of working itself out, you'll see."

I nod numbly at her platitudes, but they roll off me. Even if Sarah did return to me, how could she ever truly love all of me? The man and the wolf, whose animal nature goes against everything her human mind understands?

Sally pats my shoulder once more. "Just try and eat something, okay? I'll leave the grill on for you after my shift if you feel like joining the land of the living tonight."

I mumble thanks, knowing there's no chance in hell I'll be seeking company. Hell, I’m no company to keep. Sally seems to realize the futility and gives me one last worried glance before letting herself out.

As soon as the door closes behind her, my wolf chuffs wearily in the back of my mind.

Lost mate.

He sounds tired. Sick even. I reach out to give him comfort. It’s not you. Not your fault. He doesn’t listen. Just retreats to the back of my mind until I can barely feel him.

I know the warning signs of what’s happening to me all too well. Wolves don’t do well without finding their mates, let along losing them.

He's on the verge of going feral. Of completely divorcing his consciousness from mine. If that happens...I’ll become feral.

The thought makes me call out to Zane, my Beta, and ask him to come into my office. When the burly wolf shifter appears, I spit it out before I can reconsider.

"If I go feral, you'll have to cull me," I state flatly. "I might not be that far away."

Zane's eyes widen in shock and he shakes his head vehemently. "Like hell I will! We'll find another way, some way to reach you before it goes that far."

"And if we can't?" I say, feeling more tired with each passing moment. "Culling a feral is the humane thing to do, Zane. Especially as my wolf is an alpha. He can’t become out of control. It will put everyone here in too much danger. You know the laws as well as I do."

He frowns, clearly troubled, but doesn't argue further, then looks up at me, choosing his words carefully. “You really think you’ll be like the feral you culled?

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