Page 49 of Wild Fated

But then there was the pack. A wolf without a pack was as good as dead. Strength came in numbers, and the safety of the whole outweighed the safety of one. That was the harsh truth we were taught as pups: the pack must always come first, because when the pack fell, everyone did. If I gave in to my desire to save the lone wolf, the many would suffer—and how could I live with that?

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I imagined both outcomes playing out. Running toward the lone wolf meant leaving the pack vulnerable. But ignoring the lone wolf felt just as monstrous.

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, conflicted.

It was my brother.Truth washed over me. I’d go to him every time. But that terrified me because it wasn’t what a pack wolf would do. It was what a lone wolf—an outsider—would do.

I gritted my teeth, frustration twisting in my gut. This wasn’t just about the riddle. It was about what kind of wolf I wanted to be. What kind of wolf Iwas.

There once wasa man named Thorne Moreau . . .

I stepped backfrom the mirror, my hand shaking. “No. This power, the relics, none can be used selfishly.” If I used the goblet to save one wolf I loved, when would it stop? I would be just asbad as Thorne. Using the relics to play god, to get whatever I wanted.

That couldn’t have been why they were created.

The mirror's surface swirled, and a fourth time, I was dragged forward. The mist around me thickened, and I was drawn in like a leaf caught in a whirlpool.

This time, when I emerged on the other side, the air was different. Thicker. Heavier.

And then I saw them. My friends. Evelyn, Kael, Callista, Rowan, and?—

I gasped.Destin. Bone stalkers.They stood in the gap between the rock faces, the stone at Destin’s back. He was nude. Shaking. Three men I didn’t recognize faced him.

This wasn’t real. The words felt hollow when I thought them. There were our packs. Evelyn was wearing the same shirt she’d had on in the building.

How much time had passed? We’d moved through this realm in short bursts, but what had happened beyond this veil?

Callista winced, and my eyes shot to her wrists, tied behind her back. The trap. That tie looked exactly like the trap at Destin’s.

My wolf howled inside me, a cry of anguish that echoed through my bones. She wanted to run to them, to wrap herself around their legs and press her muzzle into their hands. She wanted to take Destin’s pack to him, to guard him while he dressed.

Why were they here? Why did they look like this? I wanted to scream, to tear at the veil between us and pull them into my arms. But I couldn't move. My legs were leaden, my feet rooted to the ground.

You can save him.

This was the test,I was sure of it. I’d answered correctly with my brother, and now I was forced to look at another person I loved in trouble. Loved? The word pulsed through me. It wasn’t love what we had. It couldn’t be. We’d known each other for a matter of days, and Destin . . . he was nothing like the mate I needed.

Alone. Living in shadows. I clenched my hands into fists. “What will happen to them?”

That is notfor me to decide.

Of courseit damn well wasn’t. In the forest deep, a choice must be made. I wanted to save him. I wanted to save all of them. That voice said I had the power to do so. But where would it stop?

My lips trembled. I forced myself back, as far as I could go before the air snapped around me, forcing me to stay in that moment. “I will protect the pack,” I whispered.

My wolf howled again, and it was a sound of pure agony. She wanted to leap through the mist, to tear down whatever barrier was keeping us apart. I wanted to join her, to let the rage and sorrow consume me.

And then, like a whisper on the wind, the voice. Once an alpha used the power to save those he loved, only to see his pack crumble because of it . . .

My breath hitched. This was the test. The ultimate challenge. To sacrifice my own desires. To wield the power of the shadow pack selflessly, or to succumb to the same fate as the alpha in the legend.

Destin was strong. My friends were strong. They could do this on their own, couldn’t they?

My eyes dropped to the bone stalkers. To the three men.

I wanted to hold him. I wanted to feel his lips on my skin.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I took a step back. "I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."

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