Page 19 of Wolf Chosen

“I'm so sorry you had to find out like this,” he murmurs.

A wave of foreign emotions crash through me too fast to catalog. I clutch my chest as though that will ease the ache inside me, but it does nothing to stop the pain.

“You're...you're a wolf,” I blurt, the obviousness of the statement doing nothing to lessen its sheer ludicrousness.

Liam drags a hand through his tousled hair. “A wolf shifter,” he corrects softly. “I have two forms, man and wolf. I was going to tell you, I swear. But I…I didn't want to scare you.”

I can't help the hysterical bark of laughter that escapes me. “I think I’m way past that now. A little heads up might have been better!”

The words come out sharper than I intend, the foundations of my reality cracking. Liam's expression twists with regret and sorrow so profound, it echoes inside me. The ache blossoms and my clenched fist over my chest does nothing to help ease my unease. A vice tightens around my heart, a whirlwind of recrimination and soul-deep anguish swirl through me.

“I'm so sorry,” Liam whispers again, taking an abortive step forward. I can't help the way I stiffen, pressing back against the unforgiving stone at my back.

He freezes, agony written across his features as he holds up his hands in a placating gesture. “You have to believe that I wanted...I wanted to explain everything to you gently. To help you understand.”

There's a desperate edge to his words, an urgency that resonates straight into my soul. His urgency. His desperation. I shake my head slowly, trying to make sense of the thoughts whirling through my mind in a cyclone of confusion and disbelief.

And then I have to ask. Have to know, even if it means making this real. “What...what did Rowan mean? About a bond? About me feeling what you feel?”

A weary sigh escapes Liam's lips and when he meets my gaze again, there's a resolute set to his jaw, a determination that has my breath catching.

“I know it doesn’t sound like the truth. That I’m backpedaling, but it’s what I was going to tell you today before...before all this happened.” He gestures vaguely to our surroundings, a pained grimace twisting his lips. “I promise you, Taylor, it was killing me not to share the truth with you. I wanted the perfect time and place. I didn't want to lose you before I even had the chance—”

A churning sensation blossoms in my chest, a physical discomfort that ripples outward until every nerve sparks. “We’re mates. We share a bond that only happens between those who are fated. It means that forces larger than us have brought us together, so our souls can be united on Earth.”

My knees threaten to give. Fated mates? It's the stuff of fantasy, of fairy tales and make-believe.

“What does that mean?” I wheeze.

“It's a blessing from the Goddess herself. A gift. We're bound together on a level deeper than anything humans can comprehend. A connection of mind, body, and spirit that transcends the physical realm.”

He takes a tentative step closer, and this time I don't flinch away. “That's what you're feeling. My emotions, my essence, bleeding into yours through our bond. It will only grow stronger from here, until we become inseparable.”

A tremor races through me at the implications of his words. “Is that...is that what happened?” I breathe, scarcely daring to give voice to the notion blossoming in my mind. “When you gave me your blood? Did that...did that start this?”

He shakes his head. “My blood hasn’t changed anything. All it did was awaken your shifter DNA so you could fight off the disease. We’re still fated mates despite me giving you my blood. That, I had to do. You were dying. Your human doctors didn't understand what was happening because you have wolf shifter blood in your heritage. They were treating you wrong. Their treatment would have killed you, and I...I had to act. Had to save you, even if it meant you’d feel the bond before you were ready.”

My head is spinning, thoughts and half-formed realizations whirling through my mind. “I have...shifter blood?” I echo numbly. “You're saying I'm...like you?”

The intensity in Liam's gaze burns. “It's the only way you could have found Willowbrook. This town, this sanctuary, it's shielded by powerful magic, guarded so that only those with shifter heritage can pass through.”

He takes another step closer, hand outstretched in wordless entreaty. “My blood...it cured you, Taylor. It awakened the dormant genes inside you that would not have surfaced had I not done that. That's why you feel better. You’re healing. It’s just working faster than you’re accustomed to.”

The words reverberate through me and it takes my brain a few seconds to catch up to what he’s telling me. “Are you telling me, I'm...cured?”

Liam nods, his expression a complicated tangle of joy and desperation as deep furrows gouge his brow. “All you need now is time to recover.”

I can't deny the truth of his claims, not when I feel more alive than I have in longer than I can remember. The lethargy, the weakness that's dogged me for so long is gone. When I woke this morning, there was only a little fatigue. I had energy. I wanted to hike, when normally it would have been beyond me to go outside and lose myself in the forest. I was enthusiastic. Nothing had held me back.

“Can you...” The question sticks in my throat as a fresh surge of foreign emotion washes over me. “Can you feel what I'm feeling too? Through this...bond?”

His eyes glow bright and I’m not looking just at human eyes. “Everything. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, the bond snapped into place for me. If you weren’t human, you would have felt the same as instantly as I did.”

This is enormous. Overwhelming. Crippling. I open my mouth, a dozen more questions burning on my tongue, but the words shrivel. My lungs feel too tight. I need to move but when I do, my boots scuff on the blood-strained rocks underfoot, jarring me back into reality.

We're trapped. Imprisoned in this place by a madman with unclear motivations and unfathomable powers.

“Rowan...” I breathe, fingers curling against the stones at my back. Who the hell is he? How did he lead us here? Why didn’t I have any control over my actions? I force my gaze back to Liam and whisper, “Why does he want to turn you...feral?”

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