Page 44 of Wild Fated

My heart was no longer settling. “I’m glad you stayed.” Blood rushed from my limbs at the admission. It didn’t have to mean anything. The words themselves weren’t damning. But Destin could feel what was happening in my head and my heart.

I stepped back from him, dropping my eyes to the ground. “Is there anyone else we need to check on?”

Destin cleared his throat. “We don’t know where the other bone stalkers are.”

“I know. Do you think—” I didn’t finish my sentence. Ahead of us bloomed the same ghostly light.

No. I wasn’t ready for another challenge. My bones were heavy with exhaustion, my eyes already drooping. I wanted to speed through the trees and go back to our forest. Our quiet place with the trees, the rocks, and the fairytale bed.

But maybe that was the point.

Destin turned and followed her gaze. His nostrils flared.

“What will it be this time?” I murmured.

He drew a breath and exhaled, then reached out and took my hand. I gripped him tightly as we walked forward.

That time as we approached, there was no otherworldly voice. The light diffused like mist, and in the center was a single, glowing orb. My pulse quickened as we drew closer. Would we be thrown into another treacherous obstacle course? A battle arena? I shivered, thinking of the two bone stalkers we still didn’t have a location on.

The orb hovered in front of us, and I stopped watching its slow, rhythmic pulse. Destin stood next to me, not speaking. I didn’t have his psi abilities, but it was disturbing how well I was beginning to read him. His silences were nuanced. Specific. Comfortable.

I inspected the orb, waiting for it to do something, but it only hung in the air. My wolf prowled, watching, waiting. On high alert.

Then I felt a tug. A string pulling me towards it. I reached out with a trembling hand, my fingers brushing the air. I didn't know why I was doing it, didn't understand the compulsion, but I couldn't stop.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears as my fingertip neared the light. The air around it was warm, as if I was reached toward a slow-burning fire. My wolf growled low in my chest, a mix of curiosity and caution.

I hesitated for a split second, then pushed forward, my finger pressing against the surface of the orb. It was like a bubble, and when my fingers finally broke through, it felt like dipping into a pool of liquid silk, smooth and enveloping.

Warmth flooded through my arm, and there was a flash, a plunge as if I’d dropped beneath the surface of a lake, and then the world snapped back into focus.

I gasped, my lungs sucking in a breath.

The light was gone, and I was back where we’d started. There were the trees. The place where the table had been. And?—

My heart sank like a stone. “Destin?” I whirled, reaching out my hand as if touch could find him when my eyes couldn’t. “Destin!” I called louder, but my voice echoed back to me without a reply.

He was gone. And I had no idea where to find him.

Chapter

Twenty

Destin

My breath left my lungs in a rush, and I blinked, my eyes stinging as they adjusted to the light. I was lying on the ground next to the sacred stone. A shudder ran through me as I realized I was naked. The ground was cold against my skin, and the air bit at my exposed flesh.

I pushed myself up, my head swimming as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. The stone. The relic.Where the hell was Lana?

My heart raced, and I pushed up from the ground, searching the clearing for any sign of her. I stumbled forward, pressed my palm out toward a tree trunk, and hit solid wood.No.This wasn’t the realm I’d been in. This was the real world.

I charged back to the stone, my mind racing as I slapped my palm down. "Lana?" My voice echoed in the clearing, but there was no response. Panic clawed at my throat. She was alone. She’d touched the glowing light, and now she was alone there. Ilet out a guttural yell, my chest so tight, I thought my ribs might splinter.

It was then that I heard it. The soft crunch of leaves underfoot. I spun, my muscles tensing as I faced the source of the sound.

A figure emerged from the shadows, and my blood ran cold. It was a man, tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. His chiseled features were set in a mask of indifference, but I knew better.

James. My old Alpha.

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