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My eyes flare with horror. “Why?”

He grimaces. “Because it kind of…did. The first shift is completely physical. Your bones and your body change and snap and rearrange themselves…becoming a wolf. And yourbody learns the patterns that magic later makes easier, makes…instant, fast, painless.”

I gulp for him even as I frown. “Magic? It’s magic?”

He shrugs, mouth twisting to the side. “We don’t have any other way to explain it. I mean, people have tied it to science and explained it as closely as we can. But…yeah, the explanation that we have for why we shift into wolves? When it comes down to it, the only answer left is that there is…some element of magic there.”

I look away from him even as my fingers continue their work, staring at the beige wall of his tent. “Magic…” I murmur.

Cole stays silent, letting me process.

I snap my eyes back to him. “And the whole mate thing,” I say. “Is that…is that magic?”

His mouth twists to the side as he shrugs again. “Well, maybe.”

My fingers stop, and I lean closer. “Maybe?”

He laughs a little, which just makes me scowl, which just makes him smile more. “I mean, we don’tknow. There are theories. Some tie it to the physical, saying that mating bonds are biological – just your body pointing out precisely the right person for you to have the strongest pups with.”

“Oh my god,” I groan, pulling my hand away from his hair and smacking it across my mouth.

Cole just laughs again, shaking his head and continuing on, wisely not acknowledging my embarrassment. “But other people say that it’s…magical. The most religious-minded, like my mother, suggest that it’s a sign from the Moon Goddess regarding who she’s picked out for you – yourdestinedmatch.”

“So,” I say, slipping my hand away, “your…mom doesn’t think it has anything to do with pups?”

“Oh, no, she thinks it has everything to do with pups,” Cole says, nodding deeply – which just makes me groan again and cover my whole face with both hands. He laughs. “She thinksthat fated mates have veryblessedpups with great destinies. That…they’re the people who shape the world along the lines of fate.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know. Dramatic, right?”

My hands drop, curiosity overtaking my embarrassment. “Areyoua fated mate pup?”

He slowly nods. “Yeah. But…mom and dad didn’t know they were fated mates for a while.”

“Why not?”

He grimaces a little.

“Why not?” I growl, smacking him on the shoulder, wanting to know now.

“Don’t make me tell you,” he says, laughing a little. “You’ll…run screaming from the tent.”

“Cole!”

I raise my hand to smack again, and he just laughs, lifting his arm up to block it. “They werecursed, all right? A magical curse that…got in the way of them knowing. Caused awholelot of trouble for them, when they were…just getting started, or whatever.”

I groan and fall to my side on the bed, curling into a little ball with my face in my hands.

“Nadia…“ His voice is all sympathetic, which just makes it worse.

“You have cursedme,” I mumble. “I was very happy being anormalnon-magical girl who hated royalty and wolves. And now here I am with a wolf Prince as my friend – and now you’re telling me that magic and curses arereal-”

Cole laughs softly, and I feel his large body shift on the bed. When I slip my hands down and away from my eyes, I’m not surprised to see him lying across from me, his face close to mine. Not…nottooclose, not close enough to kiss - and not an inch ofhim touching me. Just…close enough to talk softly, to listen to me even if I whisper.

Close enough to share secrets.

“I’m sorry, Nadia,” Cole says, smirking a little. “I didn’t mean to ruin your life.”