Page 56 of The Sacred Wolf

Yes! My wolf exulted.

Kind of, I thought, but just to myself.

I tuned back into my body, confused, and found an aching need that screamed at me the farther I was, or would be, from Sebastian.

Just then there was a gentle knock and as Ruby entered, I sighed in relief. “See, she’s here. You can wait for me.”

Sebastian strode my way, and my tension eased with each step he took closer to me.“Elyse, I have to go now. If there’s any chance we can get ahead of this, we need every second. I’ll just be upstairs, okay? Come find me.”

Come find meeeeeeee.

He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek and whirled out the door.

My emotions ping-ponged inside me like tiny Molotov cocktails of instability: frightened to watch him leave, angry that he’d leave me behind, even for a few minutes, desperate to grab him on his way out and wrestle him back down onto the bed…it was madness. I’d become my own worst nightmare—a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

“C’mon Ruby,” I said, “No time for frills, I just need to haul ass.”

“Noted, Elyse.” She smiled primly, leaving the saucy grins to others, which I appreciated. “I’ll be speedy.”

In the ten minutes—that seemed like ten hours—that it took for Ruby to get my hair dried and contained while I pulled on the joggers, long-sleeved t-shirt, and running shoes she’d brought for the urgent occasion, my thoughts chased their tails and I grew more infuriated with myself with each moment.

What is this? I finally asked my wolf. Do you have any idea what’s going on?

No. But I feel amazing. And awful. Like I can’t focus on anything but my male.

I’m aware.

And then it hit me.

OMG. Do you think…? Is this what the fate bond feels like?

The next thing that emerged from her side of my brain was a lupine version of “He-Loves-Me-He-Loves-Me-Not.” Okay, maybe I hadn’t become a Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl, but my wolf was well on her way. She wasn’t going to be any help. But by now, I didn’t think I needed it. I’d figured it out.

I raced out the door the second Ruby said, “Done.”

That’s gotta be it. This feeling is exactly how Sebastian described the fate bond. Gods, it’s appalling. Something about last night must have ended any suppression that might have been left from Damien.

You’ve got that right.

Alright, you need to shut it for a while. Not that I needed to respond at all. She was back singing to herself in la-la-land.

I turned down the hall to the conference room, past the business aquarium that was the executive offices, and into the broadcast studio that was the security center for the Manhattan pack. As the guards dressed in crisp black suits parted, I entered just in time to see ten screens showing Damien’s smug face shouting from the parapet of Belvedere Castle, Yara at his side.

I clutched the door frame, barely breathing.

Thinner by at least ten pounds, Yara’s jaw was loose, and her hands clung lightly to a placard on a stick reading, “Eat shift and die!” in red, dripping letters. Though she was clearly shouting along with the crowd, her eyes were dead, shadowed and fixed on a point somewhere far in the distance.

My gaze flew to Sebastian, and his eyes couldn’t have been less dead. The anguish in those dark pools made me ache all the way to my bones. I stumbled in deeper and clung to a nearby chair to stop myself from running to him and holding him so tightly that he’d stop breathing. At least now I understood what was happening to me so I could prevent myself from looking foolish in public.

And it was public. The conference room was jammed with shifters who were sitting, standing, and leaning against walls. In my immediate view were Maximo, Mateo, Kenzo, Sebastian, Evan, and at least seven other Manhattan shifters who I didn’t know well, but I’d seen working security details. The head muscle, I presumed. Even Ayla was there, though she’d had the sense to leave her two space-cadet shadows in their quarters. Maybe she was smarter than I’d given her credit for.

Regardless, this was a crowd and the most serious of occasions. I’d have to just find a way to push this loopy fate bond into the periphery somehow. Sebastian was Alpha Heir here, and he couldn’t have me fawning or swooning over him like a fool.

“Hello, Elyse. I’m glad you’re here.” Max said. “I want everyone to hear the plan.” His voice was firm, but his eyes darted to the screen now and again, flinching whenever the TV crews focused on Yara.

“Count me in,” I said, stepping forward and placing a light hand on Sebastian’s shoulder.A bolt of need shot from my fingertips to the depths of my core, and my wolf… I had the sense of her circling and digging at something… nesting…

Absolutely not! I roared. You stop that right now!

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