Page 45 of Fated to the Lone Shifter
I scrub my face hard, trying to wash away the doubt, the fury, the heat rising in my chest every time I think of her out in the woods with that thing. What if that had been the one that had attacked her? Would we have been able to hold it off? Or would we be underground in caskets with Nicole right now?
I turn off the water and dry off with the towel, making my way back to my locker. I spin the combination and open it. There’s the body cam. Sera must have felt so desperate if she was willing to share its footage with me. A glimmer of hope flies through my brain like an air tanker dousing one patch of a giant wildfire. Perhaps she is beginning to trust me.
I’m still angry with her though. Who was she meeting with? And what is she really up to? There’s still too many secrets between us.
Last night, I was too stunned to ask questions. Caught in her orbit and everything it stirred up in me. But today, I’m grounded again. Sharp. In control. It’s time to get answers.
I step into the firehouse kitchen and instantly regret it. The smell of bacon and hash browns should feel comforting. Instead, the cheery clatter grates on my nerves. Marcus is back in full story mode, throwing animated gestures across the table, andthe probies are eating it up. Sera sits among them, cool and unreadable.
Too cool if you ask me.
She’s the first to break the banter.
“So… what did they find on the body cam, Marcus?”
Forks stop halfway to hungry mouths. The air shifts.
Marcus blinks, caught off guard. “What?”
“I saw you with it that night,” she says. Calm, but pointed. “I thought maybe the police told you something.” She tries to make it sound like a perfectly routine question. It isn’t.
Marcus hesitates, then shakes his head slowly. “Nah. Haven’t heard a thing.”
That’s a lie. He’s many things—smooth, charming, loyal—but not a good liar. Not to me.
I catch her eye and give her the briefest shake of my head. Not here. Not like this. But she’s already pulled the pin. Still, she gave me what I needed. Marcus had the cam. Now I just need to know who he gave it to.
After breakfast, I pull Marcus aside near the truck bay. The doors are cracked for ventilation, but no one’s around. “Did you turn the body cam into the police?”
He doesn’t answer right away. “I turned it into the authorities.”
“Which authorities?” I growl.
Marcus shifts, glancing around. “I can't say.”
“But you watched it. You saw the footage.” No answer. A silentyes.
“What did you see?”
He lowers his voice. “Weird shit, man. Real weird.”
I grab his arm. He breaks free.
“I can’t say. I promised.”
There's been a lot of promises made as of late. And each one piles more secrets on the fire.
I clench my jaw, glance back toward the kitchen. Sera’s leaning against the counter, pretending to listen to the television as she watches us out of the corner of her eye.
How did she even get the cam? The police had it—unless they didn’t.
“She promised.”
The phrase snakes through my thoughts. Who the hell is she making promises to? And why does it feel like every one of them pulls her farther from me?
No matter. I’ve got to clean this up before any of us burn for it. First step? Get that camera back into the Captain’s hands… without turning us all into suspects.
He’s already in the gear room, laughing too hard at some joke only he finds funny, while the other probies prep their packs for the morning drills. I’m duly impressed with how quickly Marcus has been able to set his grief aside. Now that the service is over, he is back to his old self it seems. Was it all an act?
