Page 12 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

“I—What?”

“Wolf shifters—most shifters, actually—have one other perfect person. The one they’re meant to be with. That person is their fated mate, and if the old stories are to be believed, they hold the other half of each other’s souls.”

Fiona blinked rapidly at Olivia as if she were speaking Chinese instead of English.

“And you’re saying that yourwolf—that terrifying, red-eyed wolf I saw just a moment ago—has claimed me as his? Do I even get a say?”

Shame filled me that the first time she saw my wolf I had been in a feral haze, pushed to the edge by the priestess’s threats against her.

“He’s not usually red-eyed, I…” I stopped, not really wanting to have this conversation with an audience. “If the priestess is willing to rescind her baseless threats, I can take you back to my room and explain everything.”

Every head turned toward the priestess, who stood stiffly, strange double-bladed sword still in hand. She walked over to her desk and picked up a phone. “Lisanne. Gather the other high priestesses. We need an emergency meeting, and to test the barrier. We may have a human in our midst.” She dropped the phone without further ado, turning a somber gaze on the group.

“I cannot deny protection to an omega and her pack without forswearing my vows to the Goddess. But know this—if you are wrong about your little pet, if sheishuman, you place every person in this enclave’s life on the line for hers. I will not force you out, but I implore your compassion. The Order of Maidens cannot withstand another blow. If we must go to war again, we will be wiped out. Our numbers are not so great that we could recover from the might of the entire ODL on our doorstep.”

I bristled at her referring to Fiona as mypet, but before I could say anything stupid, Kane stepped in.

“We will discuss it. Thank you for your hospitality, Priestess. We do not take your grace or your maidens’ lives lightly. If our presence here endangers them, we will leave. Let us know as soon as you can test the barrier’s strength.”

Marciana nodded acknowledgment to Kane and gestured for us to leave her office.

We filed out in heavy silence, my jaw ticking with stress as I carried Fiona out into the courtyard. She placed a gentle hand on my chest, stopping me mid-stride.

“I’m okay to walk.”

“I’m not ready to let you go yet.” The admission was unlike me, but true. She had brought me back from the brink of madness, and being apart from her felt like torture.

“You really don’t see it?” she asked, looking up toward the sky. The sun had risen, and all I saw were clouds scudding along, immune to the petty earthly dramas unfolding beneath them. I stopped and stared up for a moment, wishing I could see it through her eyes.

“What is it you see?” I asked gently, resisting the urge to stroke her cheek. It looked soft as velvet, so alluring, but we were little more than strangers. I felt it in my bones that she was my other half, but she wasn’t a wolf; I had to give her time to come to grips with that.

“Have you ever seenWicked?”

I blinked down at her, confused. “The musical? No, I haven’t seen it.” My assistant was a fan, and I’d bought her front-row tickets to see it on Broadway the year it came out, for her birthday. But that was the extent of my experience.

“Well, inWicked, Glinda the Good rides around inside a shimmery soap bubble, basically. And it looks like that, but… stronger. More like glass than soap, and…sparkling. It’s gorgeous. Pure, somehow.” Her eyes shone as she stared up at the sky.

“It sounds beautiful,” I murmured, resuming my pace back toward my room. Exhaustion was tugging at me, urging me to den up with my mate in the safety of a small, defensible space.

That… might make her think I was insane. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer her a room next door to one of the other females, her own space. Or perhaps to room with Olivia, since they seemed to have clicked.

I wanted to straighten my nonexistent collar with everything in me, but the deep sense of agitation I felt at the mere idea of being parted from her right now held me in a chokehold.

I wasn’t sure I had it in me to do the gentlemanly thing when it came to Fiona, much to my shame. The hall with our rooms was quiet, the mood somber as I stepped inside to see my pack mates—minus Leigh and Gael, who were still tucked away in their honeymoon suite, most likely—waiting, staring as we entered.

It took all of my willpower not to tighten my grip on Fiona, to dash into my room and bar the door. But my pack mates had my back, and they’d taken care of her without question when I’d dragged an unconscious human female into their midst. I knew I could trust them, but the protective instincts thrumming through my veins right now were like nothing I’d ever experienced. Over three hundred years of life, and I felt like I hadn’t really drawn my first breath until last night, when our eyes had locked for the first time.

I reluctantly set Fiona on her feet. But the way she smiled up at me was worth it.

“We have to consider the possibility that we need to leave the enclave,” Dirge said without preamble.

“What?” the raven-haired maiden, Elodie, blurted as she stepped into the hall, Gael’s sister right behind her. “Marciana told us to head over here to start our assignment, but she didn’t say anything about leaving yet.”

“Circumstances have changed,” I said, unable to keep the edge of bitterness out of my tone.

“Well, you’d better fill us in,” she said gaily, wholly unbothered by the news that her life as she knew it was about to be uprooted.

“Human,” Galyna hissed, eyes glowing as they fixed on Fiona. I snarled as her sword whistled coming out of its sheath.

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