Page 9 of Broken Fate
What was wrong with me? The question echoed in my mind on repeat. Why couldn’t I just accept this and enjoy it? It wasn’t like there was anything I could do to stop it.
“Let us begin,” the Alpha said, calling out the first name—a young woman.
Those who had come of age closest to the last Fate Night would be called first. My birthday was nearly seven months ago, so I would be in the first half called.
I watched as individuals were called up. Not everyone found their mate right away. Sometimes they came later in the evening. Sometimes they weren’t called at all. One of the first women to go up and lay her hand on the glowing green orb was mated to a male who’d come of age last Fate Night.
Maybe that would be my lot. To remain unmated for now.
“Jada Saunders.”
My heart leaped in my throat as the Alpha called my name.Myname. Me. I was up next.
“Jada Saunders,” the Alpha repeated.
My feet stayed rooted to the ground. I was unable to move, frozen in place as everything came to a head. It wasmyturn. Reality rushed in, stealing my self-control.
“Jada,” someone hissed from behind me. “Go up there.”
Clued into who I was, shifters near me parted, leaving me alone in a circle, drawing the Alpha’s eye.
He smiled and extended a long arm toward me. “Come, Jada. There is no need to be afraid.”
Hesitantly, I started forward, unable to resist the summons of an Alpha, however gentle he may have been about it. My steps were stiff and ungainly, like I was a puppet being operated on strings by some unseen controller.
The closer I got to the platform, the more I started to shake. My lip trembled, and my arms all but spasmed at my sides.
“That’s better,” Arcadus said as I ascended the platform and stood across the Fate Stone from him, staring at his face, noting the set of his jaw.
Was that anger tightening the corner of his eyes?
Fresh fear gripped me. Did he think my inability to move was some sort of refusal of his position? I licked my lips and prepared to stammer out an apology, an explanation,anythingthat might show I wasn’t trying to challenge him.
“Put your hand on the stone,” he ordered before I could get a chance to sputter out any incoherence.
I stared at the egg-shaped orb, its blinding brilliance forcing me to squint. The swirls of green energy moved lazily in random patterns, leaving nothing that might indicate any intelligence lay within.
And yet …
“Touch the stone,” my Alpha growled under his breath a second time, his command twitching my right hand, forcing me to act.
My fingers spread across the surface, feeling the cool, smooth—
Abruptly, my conscience was yankedintothe stone as something grabbed hold of me and pulled me down. I was falling at a speed too fast to comprehend.
Then, without warning, I came to a halt, shrouded in gray-green mists. Grass and soft earth pressed against my feet. The temperature dropped even as the mist faded. The air was clean and crisp, smelling of mountain springs and pine needles that tickled my nostrils.
The air around me cleared, revealing a mountain meadow. In the middle of it, a giant beast of a wolf stood, watching me with eyes that glowed like the Fate Stone. The jade orbs never wavered in their focus.
Was it Fate herself? Did everyone see her when they touched the stones? I’d never heard of that happening before.
I see you, Jada Saunders.
The voice cracked through my skull, leaving me with a splitting headache.
All at once, I was back on the platform, my hand on the Fate Stone with my Alpha staring at me. Waiting.
How long had I been down there? He didn’t look like he’d moved an inch. His hand came up, and he pressed it to the Fate Stone as well, signaling his guidance and blessing of the pairing that would come from the bond between my mate and me.
