Page 4 of Fated Guardian

I stop. If I say more, I’m going to reveal more truth than I want to.

Lyra winks at me. “Just think about it, okay?”

“Okay,” I murmur. “I’ll think about it.”

That, at least, is a full truth. I’ll definitely think about it. I’ll think about it way more than I should, because I’m going to perseverate on this for far longer than I should.

“Are you ready to get caught up with the latest pack gossip.”

Thank all the powers that be. I smile. “Yes, absolutely.”

Lyra launches into a long story, involving a pack member that had a baby he never knew about, and I listen and nod.

When I feel the wolf, Nolan, finally leave the cabin and the meadow I’ve claimed, I pretend that it’s totally normal—and pray, to all the powers above, that he didn’t hear our conversation.

I just want to be safe. Here, I am. I can’t jeopardize that. Not for anyone.

If I am a little lonely, then it’s the price I have to pay.

Better safe and alone, than surrounded by others… with a target on my back.

Chapter 2

Nolan

The cabin is only there sometimes.

It’s the weirdest thing. I’ve been patrolling this section of pack territory for the last few months at Thorne’s request, and every time, I smell the best smell ever. It’s like… if jasmine and cherries exploded in the air. I swear I can smell some kind of emotion, too. Joy? Sadness?

You’re losing your shit, Nolan.

I huff, marching forward, trying to follow the route that Thorne assigned to me. I’m not usually on tap for patrols, but a couple of weeks ago, he told me to help protect this section of the Oakwood boundary. And now, I’m here.

It’s better than just hanging around my house alone. Or trying to play third wheel to my sister and my best friend.

It’s just weird for me to be around them right now, because no one wants to see their sister make out with anyone, let alone their best friend. I’m happy for Jasper and Amara, I really am. But that doesn’t mean I want to watch them kiss or make puppy dog eyes at each other. Constantly.

They’re all lovey-dovey in their new house together, which is fantastic. For them. I would hang out with them more, but everytime I do, I’m subjected to the very clear and persistent message that I’m not mated. I’m alone.

I’m on the brink of my thirtieth birthday, when I’ll lose my powers without a mate. I have no prospects, because I don’t really love to socialize with the pack much.

All of these problems appear when Amara and Jasper are blissfully happy around me. And I’m… very, very over it.

So yeah. I’m all about guard duty right now. And the weird little cabin in the woods, housing one interesting female, is a problem that I’m definitely interested in solving.

Thorne assigned me this area because of the inhabitant of the cottage. Coral. She’s fae, which is weird because up until recently, I hadn’t even been made aware that we had a fae on pack lands. Much less this type of a cabin. It’s like something out of a fairytale.

I call it a cabin, but I think ‘cottage’ comes to mind as well. White-washed walls, a green roof that I’m ninety percent sure is moss. Flowers that explode all around it in a riot, a circle of amazing smelling plants that are so thick and pretty, it’s hard for me to believe that it’s all natural.

Honestly, it looks like magic. Not like the magic that makes me change from a wolf to a human, but real, honest-to-goodness, bedtime story magic.

Also, it smells fuckin’ incredible.

The floral scent is always there, whether the cabin is visible or not, and it’s not sickening or too sweet. It’s literally like… the freshest of smells. Nature. Sunshine. The wind on a beautiful spring day.

I knew that Coral was in there, but the fact that the little cottage is there some days, and not others, seems like it’s a little odd, even for a fae.

I should probably ask Thorne about it. But I’m kind of worried that if I do, he’ll think that I can’t handle the job, andhe’ll pull me off of it. And then I’d be at home, alone, or third-wheeling with Amara and Jasper…

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