Page 17 of Fated Wolf's Destiny

The sensation fades as quickly as it came, leaving me standing in the dark, alone and human. My chest tightens with frustration, my fists clenching at my sides.

“Damn it,” I hiss, pacing the clearing. “Why won’t you come out? Why can’t I...”

A low growl rumbles behind me, cutting me off. I freeze, my breath catching, and turn slowly. The trees form a dark wall, almost impenetrable, but there’s movement—subtle, deliberate. My heart pounds as I take a step back, my gaze scanning the darkness.

Then I see him.

Ryder steps into the moonlight, his shirt half-unbuttoned, his dark irises glowing with their faint amber rims. His presence hits me like a wave, heavy and undeniable, and my frustration twists into something sharper, hotter.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” he says, his voice low and rough, laced with an edge of warning.

“I could say the same to you,” I snap, crossing my arms even as my pulse races.

He steps closer, his gaze locked on mine, his expression unreadable. “What are you doing, Bella?”

“Trying to figure out who I am,” I say, the words spilling out before I can stop them. “WhatI am.”

He stops just a few feet away, his presence suffocating in its intensity. “You think you’ll find that by standing in the dark?”

“My grandmother told me to still my thoughts and call my inner wolf forward…”

He barks a short laugh. “Your grandmother told you?”

“When I was a child, she would tell me tales, and she left some letters with Arthur. I never even knew she knew him.”

“They were friends. What were you hoping to do?”

“Shift. Can you help me?” The fact that he doesn’t scoff at my request or even question my use of the word shift lends credence to my grandmother’s stories being true.

His jaw tightens, and the air between us feels electric, charged with something neither of us wants to acknowledge. “Doubtful. Your only ancestor with a full measure of wolf DNA would be your grandmother. With each succeeding generation, it would be diluted. I doubt there’s enough of it in your bloodstream to allow you to shift, and there’s no way of knowing if you shifted that you could control your wolf. She might take over and never relinquish control back to you.”

“That’s it?” I ask incredulously. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Go home.”

“This is my home, asshole.”

Ryder bristles with anger. “You find out something your grandmother told you as a child is true. Fine. What do you think should happen? Are we supposed to welcome you with open arms? You don’t belong here.”

“She was right about that too. You’re the alpha of the Nightshade Pack. Arthur thought I belonged here, and I’m beginning to agree with him.”

He steps even closer, his voice dropping to a snarl. “You don’t even know what you don’t know.”

“Then tell me,” I whisper, hating the pleading tone in my voice.

He just stares at me, his eyes burning into mine, and I feel like I’m standing on the precipice of something vast andunknowable. His jaw clenches, but before he can answer, the wind shifts, carrying a sound that makes his head snap toward the trees. His entire body goes rigid, something dark and dangerous flashing in his eyes.

“Go back inside,” he says, his voice a low command.

“Why?”

“Because I told you too,” he growls, his gaze scanning the woods.

The tone in his voice sends a shiver down my spine; I don’t argue. It’s almost as if I am compelled to obey. As I turn back toward the clinic, the feeling of being watched skitters along my skin, and I know one thing for sure—whatever is out there is closer and more dangerous than I could have imagined.

RYDER

I rush into the forest. It closes in around me, a tangle of shadows and whispers as I remove my clothes and call forth my wolf. For a brief moment, I imagine a time where I will run as a wolf with Bella by my side. She may not have enough wolf DNA to allow her to shift now, but once I have claimed her as my mate—the Elders be damned—the claiming bite should infuse enough of what’s needed to allow her to claim her heritage.

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