Page 15 of Called By Fate

He places a hand over his heart and pouts. "Oh, Angel. You wound me. You really should kiss me to make it all better."

“Nuh-uh, you've used that line on me before… Wait, his heart!” I turn, studying Vinson once more. “Should we take the dagger out?”

Kaos kneels next to him and seems to contemplate what to do. “Maybe the shadestone resonated with the bit in his heart and brought his soul back, but we need to do the rest. Good thinking, Little Flame."

Suddenly, there's a loud crack, and as if speaking the words aloud causes the dagger itself to act. It flies out of Vin's chest and clatters to the floor next to him, now in several shards.

Reacting quickly, Kaos places his hand over Vin’s wound, and it immediately starts to glow black as the familiar sight of his magic enters his body, and this time… it actually seems to be working.

Relief flows through me when he says, “The chest wound is healing.” That tiny sentence is enough to make me feel like a lead weight has been lifted off my shoulders. But I also notice the black veins scrawling up his neck are still there, so I add my own magic to the mix, hovering my hands over where he took the blast, watching as the lines slowly begin to dissipate. Thank the Goddess.

Another crack splits the air, but this one is different. This one is like bones breaking and grinding together as they try to realign themselves. The sound sets me on edge and my eyes snap back to Vinson as his body contorts.

Kaos and I are forced to scramble away when there's a blinding flash of light that surrounds Vin. The next thing I know there’s a giant black wolf—almost as tall as me—in Vin's place, surrounded by writhing shadows. He looks intimidating as hell, with his eyes a molten gold, meaning the wolf is in charge. He’s twice as big as the other wolves I’ve seen.

“Holy fuck. Is he smoking?” Dante asks, looking from me to Vinson.

“No… those are my shadows,” I whisper in awe, studying the magnificent creature before me. “Fuck. Yes.”

“What the hell?” Elian asks, eyes flickering between us. “Why did he shift?”

"When mated shifters are severely wounded, we shift to help heal the wounds," Alpha Darren says, strolling into the entryway, startling me. Apparently I'm not the only one startled as we all jerk to look at him. The man is so tall he almost takes up the whole doorway. His beta, Carter, trails in behind him. He’s a tad smaller than Alpha Darren, but not by much. I can see why Ash was struck by him. He’s cute, but he doesn’t hold a candle to my mates.

"How did you know he shifted?" I ask.

"I felt his wolf starting to emerge as soon as his soul snapped back to his body. I am his Alpha after all." He pauses, and a smile plays on his lips. "Not to mention, Hemsworth showed up and said it was urgent, so I came right away."

Hems struts out from behind Alpha Darren with a little shit-eating grin, showcasing his teeth. "I'm glad to see you accomplished the mission, Weaver." He trots over to my side and stands on his hind legs to give me a lick on the cheek. I wrap my arms around him and squeeze. "Mhpmh—" he mumbles.

"What?" I pull back so I can hear him.

“I said you were suffocating me, jeez.”

I ruffle his fur, making sure to give him an ear scratch since I know he loves it. "I missed you, you little shit.”

"You were only gone for, like, two hours," he points out.

"It felt much longer than that. I'm glad to be home, and I'm glad I could save him."

Alpha Darren clears his throat. "If you two are done, I'd like to focus on the matter at hand."

"Of course. Sorry," I apologize. "Do you know how long he will stay shifted?"

"It's hard to say—"

The wolf version of Vinson lifts his head, and those golden eyes zero in on me like I'm a juicy steak and he's starving, which he probably is after expending so much energy. Well, and being dead, but we're not going there.

He pushes up from the ground with his massive paws, stretching, testing out the waters before his eyes lock in on me once more and he descends into a crouch, lowering his head to the floor and prowls toward me. One step after another. The shadows swirl and coalesce around him with each step.

Alpha Darren tenses, and says, "Don't move, Sadie. His wolf is testing you."

Pfft. Easier said than done. Vin's wolf is enormous. Seriously, his head is to my chest. It's hard not to feel a little intimidated, even if I know the human version would never hurt me. The beast is very different.

When Vin’s wolf reaches me, he pounces, tackling me to the floor. A very unbadass-like squeal escapes my lips as I hit the hard floor with his wolf on top of me. He nudges my cheek to the side with his snout and proceeds to... lick me.

He freaking licks me with his rough ass tongue and sends an echo of his adoration for me through our newly formed soul bond.

"Jesus, Vin! Get off me, you big oaf. Your tongue is a lot rougher than a cat’s!" Not to mention it kind of tickles and I’m laughing like a loon in the middle of our foyer.

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