Page 88 of Beginning Fate

He looked a little surprised by that, then shrugged. “So she can’t hear. Doesn’t mean she can’t talk.”

“That’s exactly what it means. Are you seriously this much of an idiot?”

His chest puffed out, and he took a step closer to me.

Kylie grabbed onto his arm and tried to distract him away. I could smell the fear rolling off of her, but my wolf did not care. I was already seeing red as a menacing growl of warning felt as if it started in my toes and vibrated all the way through my body.

Maybe the guy wasn’t completely stupid, because he backed away slowly.

“That bitch is crazy!” he yelled as he stumbled and then turned to take off running.

Wrong thing to do, I thought as I readied to give chase.

My muscles coiled as I honed in on my prey, poised to attack.

Just as I moved to go after him, Kylie frantically grabbed my arm and distracted me.

I turned to look at her.

“Go home, Lauren!”

Her arms waved dramatically through the air, and then I watched in horror as she shifted right there. It was almost as if her wolf had burst from her. Shreds of her clothing slowly fluttered to the ground.

I knew I should have gone after her, but I just stood there, stunned.

I’d been the punching bag to her frustrations before, but not like this. Our earlier argument had barely even fazed me, but this time her words cut me to my core. And there had beensomething in her eyes that had terrified me and stopped me in my tracks.

My wolf still wanted to go after the guy but was also torn by a need to protect her. So I did nothing but stand there and watch.

Kylie had been demanding her independence for so long and I wanted to give that to her more than anything, but how could I when assholes like that existed in this world?

When I looked at my little sister, I didn’t see a weak, naïve child, but my Alpha and others had warned me that she would be. That she could never fully survive in our world. I stubbornly wanted to dispel that notion. I knew she was strong and fiercely independent. But I also knew that I didn’t always treat her that way.

Had I overstepped tonight?

I’d seen her clearly tell him no, yet she had kept kissing him.

There had been plenty of alcohol at the party tonight. Who's to know if she had been drinking? Had he drugged her? I read the news. Stuff like that happened all the time, especially on college campuses.

Or was I actually the naïve one?

I knew she didn’t really hate me, but it still stung that she’d lashed out like that.

Standing there staring out into the woods where I’d watched her disappear, I felt the fight flee my body. A chill ran up my spine and I hugged myself, running my hands up and down my arms.

Just as I turned to walk back into the house, I heard a noise that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

A strangled howl filled the silence of the night. It was a haunting sound that made my stomach turn.

“Kylie!” I screamed.

Without hesitation, I shifted and sounded an alarming howl in return, even knowing she couldn’t hear it. Then, I took off after her, chastising myself every step of the way.

How could I have just let her run off like that?

She rarely ever shifted, and I think that’s what had surprised me more than anything, but I knew better. Because she never allowed herself to shift meant she was even more vulnerable in her fur.

What had I done?

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