Page 27 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

“Well, no, but we don’t know what your powers do. What if they could help you identify what you are? Like my weird thing with the plants?” Olivia turned to look at Leigh.

Leigh gave a noncommittal shrug. “That is pretty freaky but useful.”

“Plant thing. The sleepwalking?” I remembered the incident she was talking about but couldn’t see how we could force Fiona to sleepwalk her way to the correct book.

“Yes, and no. You shared that you have visions when you have seizures. When you’re out of control of your body, even temporarily, the power takes hold. Right?”

“Well, kind of, I guess?” Fiona clutched my shirt tighter, and I knew from the bitter tinge to her usually sweet scent that she was nervous to talk about it, even though we were trying to help.

“It’s okay,” I murmured low against her ear. “We’re all here to help.”

Her grip on my arm loosened a fraction.

“You probably haven’t ever tried tapping in to it when you’re in control because you didn’t know that the visions might be real. But what if youcouldtap in if you tried?”

“How would one do something like that? I can’t force a seizure. I mean, there are triggers, but none I’d be willing to do to myself on purpose.”

“No, nothing like that. We definitely don’t want to trigger a seizure. What if you just closed your eyes andfelt.”

Fiona’s eyes dropped closed immediately, but I had a better idea.

“Wait. Let’s get closer to the stacks first.” I held her hand as we all crossed the library, the rest of our pack mates trailing behind us curiously. Leigh was still eating her brownie, but she’d abandoned the dragon book. “Try now,” I whispered, keeping her hand in mine.

Her eyes fell closed again, and we waited.

TWELVE

Fiona

Istood in the stacks, surrounded by the scent of old paper, happy in the bubble of Reed’s warmth. The sensation of our fingers intertwined was my anchor, holding me steady as I closed my eyes, preparing to lean into the unknown.

It was mildly terrifying; a quiet kind of panic. What if it worked? What if itdidn’t? There was no way to tell in the sea of emotions which I was hoping for. So I leaned back, letting my back just barely skim Reed’s firm chest, and tried to relax.

Then, I let all my expectations go, and just… felt.

At first, there was nothing. Blackness behind my eyelids, my feet on the ground. The slightnipin the air, the stone walls not keeping out the cold as well as you’d think. But after a while, more began to filter in.

A brightness here, a buzz there. Little sparks of sensation that I couldn’t quite grab hold of. And when I tried, they petered out.

And then, right when frustration was starting to build, I heard a new sound that drowned it out.

Raindrops on the roof.

The patter of rain took all the sting, all the struggle away. My breathing deepened, growing even and slow, deep as the earth’s heartbeat pulsing beneath my feet.

And that was when I felt it. Thepull. I stepped forward, eyes still closed, a shimmering blue tendril dragging me out of Reed’s arms and into the unknown.

My right hand trailed over the books in the case, none of them speaking to me—except one here or there that actually repulsed me, leaving a strange slithering sensation on my skin as I quickly skated past—until I stopped, rooted to the spot.

The shimmer was brighter, almost painfully so, but high overhead. I opened my eyes on a gasp, the blinding light fading quickly as the real light from the wall sconces poured in.

I was on my tiptoes, with the barest edge of my fingertips resting on the bottom of a book’s spine. The spine was black, with strange symbols down the length of it.

“This one. It’s this one.”

Reed’s larger hand came over mine, sliding the book down into my waiting grip. The tome buzzed under my palms as I held it, sending me rocking back on my heels with a hiss.

“Are you okay?” Reed asked, giving me space but hovering at the same time.

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