Page 20 of Resisting Fate

I blow out a breath. That’s an easy one.

There is one thing I have never told anyone.

That is what happened to me in the forbidden forest.

I blow out a breath.

“I’ll tell you what happened during the time in the forbidden forest. Everyone knows what happened to Ryker and Pen, but I never told a soul what happened to me in there. It’s something that I don’t think I will ever forget,” I tell her while looking straight into her eyes.

She nods her head and gives me her full attention.

“I’m listening,” she says softly.

“When I was in the forest, I had gotten into a fight with a shifter, or I guess a feral. You know what they are by now. A shifter who lost someone they loved and gave into their beast. I keep going over it in my head. She attacked me. It didn’t seem like it was a “you are in my territory” kind of attack, nor did it seem like she had felt threatened. The wolf didn’t approach me until I shifted back to my human. I thought that if she saw that I was human and not feral, she might not attack me. I was wrong. That made her pause for a quick second before she mauled me. That could be the only way to describe it. I barely had time to react to defend myself. It was like she saw who I was and was angry at me, though I have no clue who she was. Why would she attack me like that? I just don’t understand,” I tell Hailey.

She looks at me curiously. “Did she try to communicate with you when you were in your wolf form at first?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, it was like she had me blocked from hearing her words and I couldn’t get through to her.”

“That’s so sad. I wonder why she attacked you like that. Are all feral shifters like that?” she asks.

“No, this felt like revenge. She didn’t bother to attack until she saw my human form. I just wish I knew why. As far as I know, my family didn’t have anyone feral in the family; but my father probably had many enemies. He was just as bad as Hal. She could have been mad at me for any reason. The only thing I could think of was that I look like my father. Who knows what my father could have been hiding. I may never know now that he’s dead. There’s no one left in my family to answer that question,” I say with a sigh.

“Hopefully one day you will figure it out,” Hailey says, trying to reassure me.

“Maybe, but I doubt it. I had the house I grew up in torn down, and I don’t think anything was found. I have no idea where else my father would have hidden something; if he was hiding something,” I tell her.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll do what I can to help you figure out why that happened and who she is. If you feel like it’s something important to know then I’ll help in any way I can,” she says.

“Have you decided if you were going to tell your parents about what happened to you?” I ask.

She shrugs and looks sad thinking about the question. “Well, it would be nice to, but I don’t know how I would begin to tell them I turned into a wolf. Then I would have to explain to them that the whole town is full of them. I would probably sound crazy. I wouldn’t know what to do if they thought of me differently and then I never saw them again. It would break me.”

“I’ll help you in any way I can, whatever you choose, to tell them or not tell them. I’ll support whatever you want, though if you ever have pups then it would be hard to hide that they were shifters, especially if we mated. Kids don’t control the shift as well as we can. They would most definitely out us as shifters. Which is why we go to a small school of only shifters until high school and college. We are able to handle our wolves better at that age,” I say.

Hailey nods her head to my words. “I don’t think I could keep that big of a secret from them anyways. I just need to find the right time to tell them.”

“Whatever you decide, I’m right here,” I tell her, hoping she sees how genuine I am.

Through the next few hours, we move onto lighter subjects such as what our favorite things are. I find out that she hates being cold, so she lives in sweats and hoodies. She also has a huge collection of slippers that she usually keeps in every room of the house in case her feet get cold.

I tell her how I was never really allowed “silly hobbies” as my father would call them, so there is nothing I really do with my time. Stalking her really has become the only thing that takes up my time now that school is over.

She tells me that we will find a hobby for me with a soft smile on her face.

I feel the connection between us growing.

That night, she falls asleep in my arms. I hold her close to me and let her comforting scent, and the relaxed sound of her breathing, pull me to sleep.

Chapter Seven

Hailey

When I wake up, I feel Isaac’s warm body beneath me. We are snuggled up in his bed, and I can’t deny that sleeping in his arms has given me the best night sleep I’ve had in a long time. I can’t help but notice how content I feel in Isaac’s arms.

Why does this feel so right?

I decide to ignore that feeling and get up to make some coffee and breakfast. I had been eyeing that kitchen. I can’t wait to cook in there.

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