Her Fated Wolf

Another second closer. Every one
counted.

The moon expanded inside my skull,
the throb of my heartbeat intensifying with the gravitational pull. The second
hand of the old clock in the Lowe’s living room slammed forward. The rhythms
didn’t complement one another, and my vision became a dizzy swirl.

Time to shift.

All my life I’d been forced to hide.
Who I was, what I wanted. I’d been here a month, among my own kind, and had yet
to blow my cover. My feelings were conflicted about that. My camouflage was
like an armor. But I’d expected the Sawtooth wolves to know one of their own.

Unless I was so far removed from my
wolf they couldn’t recognize it in me.

Delaney, the only human here,
stopped dead in her tracks when she came around the corner. It was a shame she
was human, she would’ve made a great wolf, always a little on edge. She
couldn’t speak, and many days, I felt like I had no voice, either. I couldn’t
tell what she signed to me in the shadows, but her hands flailed wildly,
repeating the motion.

“I’m fine.” I backed away from her.
“Has anyone shifted yet?”

She shook her head.

I should’ve told her what was wrong.
She knew it was something. My head was in my hands. Sweat trickled down my
temples. Wrong didn’t begin to
describe it. This is what I’d wanted my whole life. To run as a wolf in
Sawtooth Forest. But I’d been questioned and judged the entire time I’d been
here taking care of X. These wolves didn’t trust easily, and neither did I.

We needed each other.

“Tell them I’ll be down in a
minute.” Everyone was anxious about this shift. X had healed completely from
the Christmas night battle, and he insisted on getting revenge tonight. He
wasn’t the only wolf that had been attacked, and it left a huge score to
settle.

Delaney ran down the stairs. Guess I
wasn’t getting an Oscar for that performance. It needed work, in all forms. I
stopped at the top of the stairs, lurking in the shadows I’d been dying to
break free from.

Everything seemed normal.

“Stop worrying, angel,” Shea assured
Delaney, taking her in his arms and kissing the top of her head. I loved it
when he did that. She was his girlfriend. Had Delaney been a wolf, Shea would
call her his true mate. “This is what we do. We’re wolves. We’re still here. We
might have wounds to lick, but we always come back stronger.”

It might not have helped her, but it
gave me comfort.

X was the only one who noticed I
came back into the room. No surprise there—everyone else was tangled in their
own drama. X’s older brother, Major, was busy with his mate, Cass, and her
daughter. Cass had been cold to me ever since I got here, and I had yet to
figure out why. X turned to me and his eyes lit up. He’d been standing by the
door, tail wagging in anticipation.

After tonight, I’d finally see him
in his human form. My tail wagged at the thought of it.

I wish they’d hurry up, he said. Wolves could understand
each other no matter what form they were in. Delaney would’ve heard something
totally different.

“It’s almost time.” I sank to my
knees and roughed his fur. His scent overwhelmed me, this close to my own
shift. Earthy, spicy, and hopefully mine.

He wriggled free, staring at me with
those incredible golden eyes. His brothers had them, too. They were gorgeous,
with their long, dark hair and defined muscles. There weren’t any pictures
around the house, so I could only dream of what X looked like.

You understand me, he whispered.

I nodded.

X pushed his snout into the crook of
my neck. You’re gonna shift. I can smell
it.

My skin stretched to the absolute
limit. I had an overwhelming urge to run. Hide. I’d had to do it all my life,
find a place to take cover. No one had ever known my true nature. It would’ve
cost me my freedom.

My secret ripped free as brown fur
blossomed over my arms. Long, black claws replaced my fingers and they
retracted into paws. Shifting always terrified me. It was one of the reasons
I’d studied veterinary medicine, desperate for the answers that no one wanted
to give me. When the wolf moon reached its full beauty, my skull snapped, and
there was no more hiding what I was.

I knew it, X said, smothering me in kisses. I can’t wait to run with you.

For the first time, I welcomed my
shift.

“Holy shit.” Major whistled low,
approaching us. He stopped short of touching me. I wasn’t sure of wolf
etiquette in Sawtooth Forest, but to me, it would’ve been as welcome as if he’d
grabbed me in a dark alley. “Can’t say I’m totally surprised, but it’s still a
shock.”

“There was never a good time to tell
you.” My voice sounded different when I was a wolf. Like it was made of the
same things that built the forest, it had grit. “Things have been crazy since I
got here.”

Shea approached, clutching Delaney’s
hand. He stopped next to his brother. “I knew there was something different
about you. You knew too much about us. But, hey, welcome. You may have noticed,
we need she-wolves like whoa.”

“Yeah, and this pack doesn’t have
any.” Cass slid her arms around Major’s waist. She’d shift next—her scent overpowered
me. “Who the hell is she? I don’t remember a Chandra growing up.” Her
expression hardened, and she pulled Major back with more force than I expected.
“We’ve had an enemy under our roof this whole time. Is she one of the Montana
wolves? What has she done to X?”

“I’d never hurt him. Even if I was
your enemy, harming a wolf would go against everything I stand for as a
veterinarian. There’s no right and wrong, just healing.” I scanned the room,
stopping on Cass. She narrowed her eyes, wanting something I had no intention
of giving her. A reason to doubt me. I swallowed hard. “I’m one of you. You’ll
see tonight. I’ll fight.”

“No,” Major snapped. “If you’re a
Sawtooth she-wolf, we can’t send you into battle.”

“Please.” All this time, waiting to
run, and they planned to hold me prisoner? Hell
no. “I’ve never been able to run the forest. Free.”

“See?” Cass raised an eyebrow. She
didn’t have a chance to say anything else, her back arched dramatically, and
she fell to all fours, her shift in progress.

Watching her transform was truly a
thing of beauty, even if she hated my guts. Her brown fur was tipped with gold,
and her body was sleek, power rippling below the surface. Her breath was noisy,
and now she didn’t hesitate to come over and check me out. X growled at her,
and she nipped at him. Good thing for her it was playful, because I would’ve
torn into her.

I had to get a hold of my emotions
if I expected to survive this night.

“Not convinced.” She sniffed, and
returned to Major. He was seconds away from his own transformation.

Connie, the woman Cass hired as a
nanny for her daughter, came into the room. I’d never been happier to see her.
She’d have my back. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Chandra’s my
niece.”

A collective gasp formed over the
wolves. Like a bubble, everything threatened to pop.

Connie called me Christmas night,
begging me to come immediately. X had been ripped apart and everyone feared the
worst. It was my chance to join the Sawtooth pack, and I had no plans of
letting him die.

Cass’ daughter, Emma, came over
wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck, burying her face in her fur.

“I don’t trust you, either,” Cass
growled, stalking over to Connie. “You tortured me when my husband was alive,
and the only reason I gave you a second chance was because Emma loves you.
Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“She’s my aunt.” My heart pounded. X
stayed by my side. He knew something they didn’t. “My parents left the forest
when they found out they were pregnant. They didn’t want to sell me. When it
was time for me to mate, they wanted me to have a choice.”

Cass’ body relaxed.

“That I can understand.” Her tone
softened. “You have a lot to prove to us, Chandra.”

I approached her, adrenaline
speaking louder than experience. “I’ve been taking care of X like he was my
family. Dropped my life to make sure your pack was taken care of. If that
didn’t prove anything, you need to think about your priorities.”

Cass growled, but I stood my ground.

X returned to my side. The heat from
his body comforted me before he came into view. “Knock it off. The last thing
we need is more fighting, especially between ourselves. You don’t have anything
to worry about, Cass.” He looked at me, the gold in his eyes like flowing lava.
“Because Chandra’s my mate.”