Page 30 of Fated to the Lone Shifter
I’m still listening—trying to pick up on scent trails, on energy signatures. Something familiar lingers in the air, but it’s not Nicole. And it’s not a bear or a wolf.
It’s him.
Whoever—or whatever—did this, I’ve smelled them before. In the ash. In the fire.
I crouch low and pick up a blood-slick stone, sniffing the edge.
Definitely not human.
The Captain starts giving orders, directing the others back to the firehouse. Sera and I hang back, both pretending to search for more clues.
I glance at her. Her expression is unreadable, but her hands are balled into fists. She knows something. But hell if I can figure out what.
The others are gone now. The quiet settles in like fog, heavy and clinging.
I kneel near what’s left of Nicole, heart thrumming, every nerve on edge. I should go. Should follow protocol. But I don’t. I need one more moment.
Sera crouches beside me again. "You okay?" she asks, voice soft, but sharp underneath.
"No," I say. "You?"
She doesn’t answer right away. She just keeps looking at the carnage like she's seeing something the rest of us can’t. I follow her gaze.
There, tangled in a bush at the edge of the clearing, something glints. She moves for it, fast, and pulls it free.
It's a piece of Nicole's jewelry.
She passes it to me. Our fingers touch—barely—but it’s enough to jolt something in me again.
That heat.
That damn connection I can’t explain.
I pocket the necklace. “We should let the forensics team handle the rest.”
She nods, standing slowly. “Yeah. Let the experts take over.”
We walk in silence for a few steps.
And then she stops. Turns.
“Do you feel it too?” she asks.
I blink. “Feel what?” I’m not ready to open that fire hydrant yet.
Her eyes are burning into me. “That something about this one isn’t just murder. It’s…personal. And there’s no fire this time. Whoever it was wanted us to find the remains.”
I say nothing. Because she’s right. And because saying so out loud makes it real.
We’re halfway back to the Firehouse when she turns on me.
“What’s going on?” Sera’s voice slices through the dark. “What do you know that you’re not telling me?”
I stop walking. So does she.
The moonlight washes over her face, and for a moment I forget to breathe. She’s beautiful fury—eyes sharp with firelight, fists clenched like she’s ready to take on the world. Intoxicating.
Dangerous.
