Page 54 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

This isn't working.

I need to get to her.

I need to wake up!

Getting my wolf under control is not easy, which is a surprise. I've always been in control of my wolf. This is the first time I'm unable to reach out to it. It's blocking me off. Snarling, I force my will on it, ignoring its struggles to resist.

Our mate needs us.

Whatever she is trying to face, we can face it together.

Snarling, I push against the mental block he's placed around himself and this time my beast has no choice but to bend to my will.

My eyes fly open with a gasp.

For a moment, I am disoriented. My feet are not on the ground. I’m floating.

It takes me a few seconds to realize that that is not the case. My wrists and ankles are burning as if they’re on fire. That’s a sensation that can only be caused by iron. Wolf shifters and iron do not mix well. It is the best material to use to restrain my kind. I try to pull against the manacles suspending me in the air. The burning sensation is intense, scoring into skin, like a thousand hot needles piercing into me.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been restrained by iron manacles. Karina has done so a few times in that past in an attempt to humiliate me and hurt me. However, these chains are different.

Calming myself, I try to think back.

How did I end up here?

The last thing I remembered was eating a meal with those old women in the village, and then Sophia collapsed in my arms. That’s it. I don’t remember anything else.

How is that possible?

I look around. I am in some sort of stone chamber. There are candles all along the walls and when I look below, there’s a creepy-looking pentagram drawn on the floor with blood.

My blood, I realize.

Dark witches.

That’s the only explanation I can come up with. We were duped.

Groaning in embarrassment and anger, I try to think of a way out of here. There’s something different about my restraints that are holding me in the air. I have a feeling that escaping them isn’t going to be as easy as I first thought. And I’m proven right. The more I pull against them, the more they tighten against my skin till they’re digging into my flesh.

Hissing with pain, I look around. There has to be another way out of here. I don’t know where Sophia is, but she needs me. I don’t know what they’ve done to her.

Even as my worries grow, I maintain a sense of calm. No wonder my wolf was struggling. It must’ve been trying to escape.

If I bring out my animal, I might have a window of opportunity within that second split second of the shift. My bones will breakand reform and that will give me the opportunity to slip out of these manacles. It’s not easy to do anything during the shift. This is because during the transition from human to animal or vice versa, the magic of the shift is intense and we lose control for that split second. This is the first time I will have tried to pull off something like this during the shift and I don’t know if it’s going to work. But it is the only option that I have.

Closing my eyes, I reach out to my wolf. It is watching in grim acceptance. I have to maintain my consciousness during the shift. I don’t know how I will do it, but there is a first time for everything.

Closing my eyes, I call forth my animal. As my bones begin to break, I feel two hands on my shoulders and my father’s voice in my ear.

You’ve got this, son.

My eyes fly open, and I yank the manacles around my wrists and ankles.

I fall into the pentagram in my wolf form. Dazed for a minute, I stumble, unable to find my balance, and then my wolf gains control.

I move quickly.

Sophia.

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