Page 10 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

That beast of a wolf wasReed? I grabbed onto the door frame for support. He was so kind to me, the electric blue of his eyes absolutely nothing like the terrifying red of this wolf.

A cooling flood of energy filled the room, the scent of water cloying in my nose that, for some reason, reminded me of the doctor. But I couldn’t focus on that, because the man who ran here with us burst out of his clothing, a snarling black wolf the same size as Reed’s suddenly charging into the too-small office. He bowled into Reed’s side, pinning him to the earth with his paws and a snarl.

The two began to struggle and tussle, all snapping teeth and flying saliva as they grappled for the upper hand. The second black wolf rammed into me when Reed shoved him back, and my tired muscles couldn’t hold me. I toppled to the floor, screeching like a banshee on the way down.

I landed with a hard thud, stars swimming behind my eyes at the pain in my wrists from where I caught myself before my face could smash into the ground.

“Fiona!” Olivia dropped to her knees at my side, worried eyes running over me as if I were going to be shattered like glass.

“I’m okay. Just lost my balance when he bumped me.” I held up a shaking hand, not wanting her to worry even as multiple parts of my body stung and throbbed with the force of impact.

In the next moment, two things happened at once.

Her eyes went wide, and she looked away from me at the same time that I realized the room had fallen into complete silence.

When warm, masculine arms scooped me off the ground, I gasped. Reed—the man, not the scary-ass wolf—was holding me against his naked chest, eyes full of concern.

“Fiona. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? You shouldn’t be out of bed.” He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead, and all the fear and stress I’d been feeling a moment ago melted away.

He was a wolf… but he was alsoReed. And even though I barely knew him, I felt this bone-deep sense of security when I was in his arms that I couldn’t explain. Like that pull wasn’t just this room, it was him personally drawing me in. It was absolutely ridiculous; apparently, my stranger-danger meter was completely broken.

But I couldn’t deny the comfort I felt in that moment, and I let my head rest against his bare shoulder. My breath was still coming in shaky, overexerted pants, but I was okay.

Once I was secure, he turned to face the rest of the room, everyone staring at us with their jaws dropped, including theverynaked man standing at Shay’s side, who I quickly looked away from as one of the others handed them both pants to put on. Reed begrudgingly set me on my feet long enough to dress.

But the silence lasted only one beat after they were clothed before the sword-wielding priestess stalked across the room.

Reed growled, the sound vibrating his chest and sending a thrill thrumming through my veins as he scooped me back up.

“You have ten minutes to remove yourself, your mate, and all of your belongings from our grounds, or we will consider it an act of war. Every moment a human resides within these walls is a moment our barrier weakens. And without the barrier, we cannot guard the omega. This is the only hallowed ground where she may remain safe and be what she is.”

“Is that what the bubble outside is?” I whispered the question, whether to Reed or Olivia, who was still hovering anxiously next to us, I didn’t know.

“Bubble?” Reed asked, looking down at me with a furrowed brow.

“Uh, over the enclave? It’s shiny. A big dome. It looked to me like we were inside a soap bubble. What does it look like to you?”

He blinked at me, then across the room at one of the men in confusion.

“Are you claiming that you canseethe barrier? You’re human. None can see it, not even the priestesses who protect this place and perform the moon rituals.”

“I… I thought you could all see it. It looks a lot like Shay’s magic when she touches Brielle. But instead of streaks of lightning, it’s smooth. I guess it could be iridescent glass instead of soap,” I stammered, confused. They were the ones with actual magic here. So why were they all looking at me like I’d grown a third eyeball in the middle of my forehead?

“None of us can see it,” Reed said, answering the question I hadn’t asked aloud.

Shame filled me, though I couldn’t pinpoint why. Even among the magical, I was weird. An odd duck, not the same.

Never in my life had I been ordinary. Chronic diseases were always an invisible barrier, blocking us from thenormalpeople. For a split second, I’d hoped the magical world would be different, that I might have found people I fit with.

But I was wrong. And it stung.

“I must have been mistaken,” I whispered, averting my eyes. Reed’s chest began to vibrate under me, a soothing rumble sound that took away some of the sting. Almost as if he was saying that he didn’t mind that I was different, even though that was absurd. Men always minded, in the end.

“If they leave, we all leave.” Brielle’s words snapped me out of my moment of shame, the priestess’s sharp inhale her only response for a heartbeat.

“You cannot. Your power grows here, despite the block. If you step outside these walls, you will be found and killed.”

Brielle shook her head, looking sadly at the man I assumed was her mate before addressing the priestess again. “We are pack, Priestess. If Reed and his mate are unwelcome, we are all unwelcome, and we’ll leave.”

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