Page 48 of Bitten Shifter

Do I understand?I nod, though the truth weighs heavily on me. I understand the logic—clear but crushing. Yes, I need to settle things with him, but am I strong enough to face Paul? Am I brave enough?

As much as he deserves my anger, I know he is not dangerous. He isn’t plotting against me. Honestly, I’m more worried about myself—about losing control, saying things I can’t take back—or doing something I will regret, like going furry.

Merrick won’t let that happen. Right?

“Is that why you brought up the state of my marriage—implying I left him for a job?” I eye him suspiciously. “Have you spoken to him?”

Merrick looks at me, his face unreadable. Maybe I see guilt again; I’m not sure. I don’t know him well enough to interpret that stare.

“You are going to shove me in a room with the man who broke me, who tore my heart to shreds, and expect me to ‘deal with it’ so I can… what, turn into a monster?”

“Shifters aren’t monsters, Lark.”

“Most shifters aren’t,” I snap. “You are not a monster. But you said yourself—nobody my age has ever turned. You don’t know what I will become.”

My throat tightens as the enormity of everything presses down on me. The weight of it all seems to crush me. I’m teetering on the edge, about to splinter. This man standing across from me represents everything I don’t understand, everything I can’tcontrol, the unknown, and now he is forcing me to face what I’ve been avoiding.

Paul.

“Couldn’t you at least have given me a couple of days? A chance to get used to this face, this body, before making me confront my soon-to-be ex-husband?”

Fate has not just come knocking—it’s kicked the door off its hinges. You can’t run from your problems. I know that. But knowing it and being ready to face them is another matter entirely.

I want to be furious. I want to scream and shout.

Instead, I breathe, forcing down the fire in my chest.

Merrick is right—I need to face this. It’s been gnawing at me for months. Maybe it’s better with no warning—less time to spiral. Less time to overthink.

Still, I can’t help but question him.What is Merrick’s job, exactly?His role puzzles me. Is he Ministry security, a pack leader, or something else? The alpha aura is unmistakable, yet the thing inside me does not defer to him. It’s… strange. What does that mean for me? Might I be an alpha? Or something else entirely?

I shove that thought away. One crisis at a time. One problem at a time. One bloody problem at a time. Let Paul sign the divorce papers, and then I will cope with the fallout later.

I take a deep breath and lift my chin.

“Okay, all right. I can do this. I need a computer with an internet connection.”

“Why?” Suspicion edges his voice.

“If you are insisting I sit in a room with him, then I’m insisting on coming armed with evidence. I need proof—ammunition for my closure.”

His brows lift slightly, but he does not speak.

“Paul’s going to deny everything. He will twist the truth, act like the wronged party, make himself out to be the victim like he always does.”Like he did to you.My hands form fists. “But this time, I will show him—every ugly, undeniable detail. I have a home video. Of him and?—”

My throat constricts. I swallow hard.

The thing inside me rumbles, a low, approving purr.

Chapter Nineteen

Unwilling and dreading it,I follow Hannah to the conference room on the far side of Merrick’s office building, the borrowed laptop tucked under my arm. She leaves me at the door, and my hand trembles as I press the handle.

Paul sits with his back to the door—who does that in a shifter building? Just seeing him makes me itch. Has he never heard of predators?

Even with the band’s magic dulling my senses, I can smell his emotions: anxiety, anger, and something sour. It’s strange—these scents are tied to his feelings, but I understand them instinctively, without conscious thought.

He is practically vibrating, a bundle of nervous energy barely contained. Whether he’s angry at me, the situation, or the inconvenience of being kept waiting, I can’t say.

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