Page 48 of Wild Fated

Shadow pack blood has always been hidden in weakness.

I spun around, searching for the light, but saw only the swirling haze. A broken sob ripped from my chest. “Show yourself!”

When I got no response, I fell to my knees, burying my face in my hands. I couldn’t save him. Our magic couldn’t save him.

What if I told you, Lana, that you could save him now?

The world seemed to grind to a halt. I sucked in a breath, my heart clenching. “He’s gone.”

The mist swirled around me, closing in.Shadow Pack is never truly gone.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. My wolf's ears perked up, and she stopped pacing, her eyes fixed on a point in the distance. The voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere, wrapping around us like a shroud.

You could bring him back. Bring him to you.

My wolf whined, and I felt her longing, her desperation to reach out and grasp what the muse was offering. I wanted it. I wanted it so badly.

I rose to my feet, wiping my cheeks. Yes. I wanted to scream the words out loud, but before my mouth opened, I stilled.

This was a test.

Why show me the mirrors? Why force me to relive these memories? “You’re lying.”

Cool air swirled around me.I am bound by truth.

Shadow pack blood has always been hidden in weakness.The words repeated in my mind, and a chill ran down my spine. My brother had been weak. He'd been vulnerable. And now I could fix that?

The surface of the mirror shimmered, and there he was. Standing in front of me. My brother, strong, standing straight. I rushed forward and pressed my hand against the glass.

The mate of Thorne Moreau,once stricken with disease, then revived with wine from the everlasting goblet.

I blinked.Those were words from my storybook.

The alpha and the crown.No wolf’s mind is his or her own.

Something tickledthe back of my mind. One wolf. No, lone wolf? Words sat on the edge of my tongue, then finally sprung into perfect, impossible clarity.

In the forest deep,a choice must be made,

One wolf stands alone, in shadow, afraid.

The pack howls a call, their strength in the night,

But the lone wolf’s cry tugs at your heart’s light.

If you run to the one, the many will fall,

If you stand with the pack, you answer the call.

What will you choose when the paths split in two?

The love of the one, or the pack that is true?

The one or the many.That was the test. But just like in the second challenge, I didn’t know what answer I was supposed to choose.

Both options felt right—and wrong.

The weight of the decision pressed down on me. The lone wolf, isolated and afraid, called to something primal within me.Alone. How could I leave someone behind in the dark when I had the power to help them? If I chose the pack over the one, wouldn’t I be betraying the very essence of what it meant to lead? Weren’t we supposed to protect those who needed us most?

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