Page 57 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

I held up my palm, showing him the now nearly invisible mark. If you weren’t an inch from it and looking, you’d probably never know there was an omega seal there.

“Interesting.” He stroked it with his thumb and smiled up at me. “We’re probably far enough from Brielle that her power is no longer charging it up.”

“Well, that makes things easier, I guess.”

“Yep. Leigh hates covering hers, so she’ll be happy at least.”

I smiled, though nothing inside me felt like smiling, and took his hand as we left the jet. The rest of our party was chatting happily, discussing the first things they wanted to eat in Italy and taking in the views. All I felt was numbness and shame, so I kept my thoughts to myself as we loaded into a sleek black SUV—slightly smaller than the ones in Romania—and zipped through winding streets to a beautiful, modern hotel.

It rose up from the surrounding nature with tall, straight walls of dark wood paneling mixed with gorgeous glass windows. The high, peaked roof still held a sprinkling of snow at this elevation. The whole scene made me want to sip hot chocolate and sit by a fire.

But as beautiful as the hotel itself was, the Dolomites were magnificent. Sheer rock faces, dusted with snow, seemed to defy logic and the effects of time. I could almostfeelthe magic in the air when we stepped out of the SUV, which was less absurd than I once thought.

If the dwarf king made his home in an entire city beneath the stone, well, there probably reallywasmagic surrounding us.

Elodie threw an arm around my shoulder, gracefully stealing me from Reed’s side while he and Gael unloaded our luggage from the back. “Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? I mean, the little town was so quaint and perfect, now this freaking gorgeous hotel! And just look at the view! The whole back wall is glass. We’re going to be able to see every snowflake from our rooms.”

She squeezed me tight, dragging me into her happy bouncing and making a laugh burst free from my chest. Her joyful enthusiasm finally broke through some of the numbness.

“It is gorgeous. Have you been to Italy before?”

She shook her head, gazing raptly up at the mountains as we talked. “I’ve never been anywhere before now.” Her tone was wistful, and I found myself studying her more intently.

Elodie seemed so young and vibrant, but with what I’d seen of wolves, it was impossible to tell they were aging until they were practically ancient. “How long have you been in the enclave?”

“Since I was fourteen. They start training us pretty much as soon as we hit puberty.”

Damn. That was so young, there was no way she’d gotten to really live a full life, know what she wanted for herself. “And where did you live before that, with your family?”

She cleared her throat, stilled. “Ah, I was orphaned when I was three. My mother died in childbirth with my younger brother and took my dad with her because of the mate bond. I didn’t have any aunts or uncles, so I was taken in by the pack’s Alpha and his mate until I was old enough to be sent to the enclave.”

“I thought the enclave was a whole old family tradition. If you were adopted, why…”

She tried and failed to hide her wince. “Their daughter was meant to go. But since I was legally adopted per pack law, I could take her place. It’s traditional for the second child to go, and after they adopted me, I was the second child.”

“Well, that just fucking sucks. I’m sorry, they shouldn’t be able to do that.” I was angry on her behalf, so angry, in fact, that my vision sharpened,tingeda bit darker.

“Hey, it was a long time ago, and it’s okay. Honestly, my maiden sisters are way nicer than the Alpha’s family ever was. No harm, no foul.”

She slapped me on the back, hard enough to make me stumble, then apologized as she caught me.

“I forget sometimes you’re not a wolf.” Her admission and the crooked grin that accompanied it were a balm to my battered heart.

“I wish.” The words were off the cuff, unthinking, and I regretted them the second they were out.

But it was true. Painfully, terribly true.

What I wouldn’t give to be a simple wolf instead of a monster.

TWENTY-NINE

Reed

Ichalked up Fiona’s quiet mood to exhaustion, and tucked her into our hotel room bed early the night of our arrival. After that, it was a simple matter of contacting the dwarven ambassador, and letting her know of our request to see the king at his earliest convenience.

The next morning, though her color had returned, she still kept me at arm’s length.

There was nothing I could recall to make me think I’d hurt or offended her, but after a delicious but silent breakfast, I towed her into a quiet enclave in the hotel’s lobby, leaving the others to entertain themselves for the morning.

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