Page 9 of Enemies By Fate

All around us, the party disperses, clearing a full path of triangulation between us and the girl. The din quiets, the music dying, leaving all eyes on us and the panting stranger to gape at us balefully. She doubles over, her hands on her knees, and I wait for her shift, to show who she is as her fear gives way, but she remains in her human form.

Her eyes flick wildly, but she doesn’t speak, the distress on her face mounting more with each passing second.

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask conversationally, a bemused smirk touching my lips.

Malachi strides closer behind her, but Asher seems to see something neither one of us can.

“Wait,” Asher growls again as my eyebrow juts up in confusion. I don’t like this, not knowing what’s going on, or who this woman is.

“Who the hell are you?” I bark, taking command, ignoring Asher’s order.

She doesn’t respond.

“You’ll answer me when I ask you a question. Do you know where you are? Who I am?”

I stride toward her, determined to have my answers, regardless of her fear or my brother’s worry.

Yelping like a wounded animal, she lunges toward me, but I realize she’s not coming at me. She’s trying to escape.

Half-laughing, half-alarmed, I grab for her, intending to stop her from passing. “What the?—”

I don’t get a chance to finish my sentence. She transforms as I touch her, her human body falling onto all fours, her form elongating into a mass of ivory-white fur.

Shocked, I recoil, pulling my hand back as if she were on fire. I take in the sight with absolute dismay as my brothers gawk with equal perplexity. Her paws land effortlessly on the ground and she’s off running before I can recover.

“Don’t just stand there! Get her!” I hear one of the Apex pack members howl. “She looks just like Alpha Warrick!”

The words snap me out of my daze, and I also shift, fangs extending. Malachi’s dragon wings span, and he takes to the air, unleashing a spray of fire to brighten the shores for better vision around us. The party spans in all directions to search for the wayward white wolf.

But I have her scent, and I’m on her in seconds, her fear and sweat in my nostrils before she can make it to the parking lot where she’s trying to escape on foot.

Pinning her to the ground, I pant over her, my claws curled dangerously into her furry neck, identical to my own, her sapphire eyes the only difference between our two bodies at that moment.

It’s almost unbelievable how much of my traits she’s absorbed, but I force myself to stay composed. Her tongue lolls out, the stench of terror permeating the air around us as Malachi lands beside me, shifting back into his human form.

“She looks exactly like you,” my brother comments worriedly, echoing what I already determined. “Is she a shapeshifter?”

I don’t move, my claws tightening around her throat, and she squeaks as the ground shakes beside me. Asher bounds to a stop beside us, his massive mane swishing in the night as he does a double-take between us. I don’t glance at the lion, even as he stalks around us, his tail flickering.

“Hegother,” Malachi reassures him. “It’s hard to tell the difference, though, isn’t it?”

My brother roars lightly and also shifts back. He places a hand on my shoulder, trying to pry me off the other white wolf, but I refuse to move, my eyes still boring into hers.

“You can let her go, Warrick. We’ll secure her,” Asher tells me softly. “She’s not going anywhere.”

How the fuck did she shift into my form?

She’s defiant, refusing to blink or close her eyes. She’s not fazed by me. She’s angry. But why?

“Warrick.” Asher’s hand closes more firmly over my shoulder, and he urges me back as Malachi swoops in.

“Are you going to behave?” Malachi asks her.

She rises slowly, her head lowered, but she doesn’t shift back, even when I do.

“What should we do with her?” our youngest brother asks, reluctantly looking toward us. I look back toward the party, where a small crowd has formed at the edge of the parking lot.

“Let’s get her back to our estate,” I growl, rising as a nearby pack member drapes a blanket over my nude form. “We need to find out what the fuck just happened.”

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