Page 73 of Fated to the Lone Shifter
A soft creak. A boot hitting metal.
Too late.
Marcus jumps down from the back of the rig, landing with a thud. His eyes lock on mine—and widen. His mouth opens, but no sound comes out. My hands are human, but my spine hasn’t finished realigning. My eyes glow. My teeth—still too long.
Frozen.
There’s a long silence between us. The kind that stretches time and tightens lungs. Two men. Two secrets. And one devastating truth hanging in the air like smoke.
He saw.
He knows.
Marcus doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. Just stares like he’s not sure if I’m the man he’s trusted with his life—or something else entirely.
I don’t speak either. Because if I do, this thing between us will shatter. And there’s no putting it back.
I could lie. Play it off. Pretend he saw wrong.
Or I could tell the truth.
But either choice rewrites everything.
So I pause. Because the decision I make next will change everything.
And I will live to regret it.
Chapter twenty-three
Broken Oaths
SERA
I’m shackled to a fake rock on a dusty movie set, wrists and ankles bound in silver-laced chains that burn against my skin. The metal hums with dampening magic, its sting ever-present—a cold, buzzing ache that crawls beneath my skin and presses against my magic like a lid on a boiling pot.
Around me, Bode’s wolf paces in tight, agitated circles. His eyes gleam in the afternoon light, ears flicking at every sound. The rest of the pack stands guard nearby, still in human form but coiled tight with tension.
This was always a risk. The revelation spell—of course it could end like this. With chains, silver, failure clawing down my spine. I saw the possibility, even as I lit the match. I had planned forcapture. Had invited it, in a way. But not like this. Not with Noah caught in the middle. That’s the part I didn’t anticipate. That’s the part I can’t forgive myself for.
My head throbs as I close my eyes and try to focus. I summon a vision—not a spell, just instinct and desperation. I see Noah. His wolf form, sleek and powerful, fighting his way through the woods. Blood on his flank. Teeth bared. Determined.
My chest aches. No. He can’t come. It’s a trap. I reach for the magic still simmering deep inside and cast a warding spell, one last attempt to blur my trail, to shroud myself from his senses.
I don’t know if it will work. I don’t know if I have enough left to overcome the effect of the iron.
For now, I lean in. I have to. Until I can turn the tables. Until I can bring Bode down from the inside—or burn him from the outside. But until then, I act the part he cast me in.
He approaches—massive, monstrous, fur thick with dust and sweat. He steps close, too close, and brushes his snout against my cheek. “How can you take me,” I say, voice steady despite the tremor in my heart, “when I’ve already imprinted on another?”
Bode’s wolf laughs, a low growl that vibrates through my skeleton. “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s been done in the Lunaris line," I hear in my bones.
I flinch on the inside but keep my face passive. “On guard,” I whisper, casting a mental shield to block any probing thoughts.
He lowers himself beside me and rubs his neck against mine, the scent overwhelming—feral, intoxicating, too close to Noah’s. I cling to that overlap, use it as armor to help me deliver the performance of my life.
“I’m glad,” I murmur, forcing softness into my voice. “I’ve wanted you since we met at the grocery store. I just thought… it was too late.”
He wags his tail and bites my neck lightly, a possessive gesture meant to mock a mate’s mark. I let him. I play the role.
