Page 18 of Fated to the Lone Shifter (Curse of the Lunaris Alpha #1)

Chapter seventeen

Into the Pack

SERA

W e’re surrounded. Outnumbered. Trapped in a ring of snarling wolves with glowing eyes and blood-wet fangs.

Every hair on my body lifts like static electricity.

My breath catches, heartbeat stuttering as if my body already knows what’s coming.

Magic surges in my chest like a warning drum, pounding in time with the quickening thud beneath my ribs.

I raise my hands, whispering, “Protectio.”

Heat flares in my chest—violent, desperate. The shield blazes to life around us, a faint shimmer crackling through the air—like lightning caged in crystal, seething to break free.

Two wolves leap—too fast to track—but slam into the shield and go flying back with sharp yelps.

Shock shudders through the pack. They slow, recalibrating, circling more cautiously now.

“Still wish I stayed behind?” I ask, breathless but defiant. I’m rewarded with a sideways glare.

"How long can you hold it?" Noah murmurs beside me, his voice taut.

"I don’t know," I admit, sweat already beading on my forehead. "I’m still figuring this out."

Noah’s fists clench, his jaw ticking with frustration.

I can feel it—his wolf clawing just beneath his skin, teeth bared, pacing behind his ribs like it wants out.

His control is fraying, one heartbeat at a time.

But we’re too close to the crew. A shift would risk exposing everything.

And even if he did change, he couldn’t take on the entire pack alone.

The tension in him is unbearable. I see the flicker of fang behind his teeth.

My eyes scan the dark woods, weighing the idea of summoning my familiar. But calling the mountain lion would mean fire. Fire would bring the others running. More lives at stake. More secrets unleashed. I shake my head. Not yet.

Then a massive figure detaches from the tree line—the alpha. The one from the body cam. He has one red eye and one obsidian. Creepy.

He prowls right up to the edge of the barrier, steaming breath curling in the cool air.

His eyes lock onto mine, unblinking, ravenous.

It’s almost like he’s in a trance. Then he shifts his gaze to Noah, and the trance shatters—replaced by a low, menacing growl that coils through the trees like a memory come alive.

Noah’s thoughts are just out of reach; I’m too busy holding the barrier with everything I have. My arms tremble. My energy’s bleeding out.

The alpha’s snarl rises. He throws his head back and howls. Then, without warning, he turns and melts into the forest. The rest of the pack follows like shadows, one by one.

The last wolf melts into the trees. My shield flickers, then collapses like shattered glass.

My knees buckle.

Darkness swallows me whole.

And I drop into blackness.

Warmth cradles me like a blanket, the world bobbing gently with each step. I’m not walking. I’m being carried.

The scent of pine and smoke clings to whoever’s holding me, grounding me in the now. A deep, steady thrum—a heartbeat, not my own—beats against my cheek. I want to sink into it, let it carry me further into unconsciousness. But then the motion stops. I’m passed into another set of hands.

Cool air brushes my face. Someone speaks my name.

“Sera… hey, wake up.”

I smell something caustic. My eyes flutter open to the concerned face of Tori leaning over me, her brows drawn tight in worry. I’m lying in the back of the ambulance, her silhouette rimmed in the harsh dome light overhead.

“Where is Noah?” The words rip from me before I can stop them.

Tori places a warm hand on my forehead. “He’s alright,” she says gently. “Little banged up. Refused treatment until he got you out of the woods.”

Relief rushes through me like a tidal wave.

“What happened to the two of you out there?”

I hesitate. How much can I tell her? About the wolves, the alpha, the shield? The way my power crackled and surged, far beyond anything I’ve managed before?

“You remember that story I told you about my being saved by a young werewolf when I first moved here?” She has thankfully moved on.

I nod, not sure why she’s bringing this up now. Is she popping into my thoughts?

She smiles as if she did hear my thoughts. “That wolf was Noah.”

My breath catches.

“So you’ve known all this time that he was a shifter?” I ask.

She smiles her devious trademarked grin.

“You little Fae, you. And he never picked up on your magic.”

She mixes some kind of concoction, her fingers deft and sure, a sly gleam in her eyes.

I catch the flick of her glance—sharp, knowing—as if confirming her words hit their target.

There’s always a game with Tori, and somehow, she always plays it three moves ahead.

She was always up to something and ten steps ahead of me… even when we were kids.

“You used a lot of energy,” she says. “Here. Drink this.”

She hands me a ceramic cup—not standard EMT issue. It’s warm and filled with something that smells like rosemary, cloves, and molten citrus. I sit up enough to take a cautious sip. It bubbles faintly on my tongue but instantly chases the ache from my limbs. Magic.

I arch a brow at her. “What kind of ambulance carries herbal remedies?”

Tori gives a sly smile. “The magical kind.”

Despite everything, I smile too. She always knows exactly what I need.

I let the cup settle in my hands and lean back. My mind spins with questions, but for now, I’m just grateful—to be alive, to be seen, to not be alone.

And grateful this shift is over.

Back in my dorm room, I smile as I recall the story about how Tori ended up in Lolo. What was it she had told me?

She came seven years ago as a volunteer with the Red Cross, part of a clean-up crew after a wildfire scorched half the valley.

Back then, she was drifting—fresh out of a bad breakup, a stalled nursing degree, and one too many cities that never felt like home.

When she got off that bus in Montana, all she knew was that she needed to feel useful again.

But it wasn’t the Red Cross that changed her life. It was a supernatural rescue.

She’d gotten separated from her team while helping clear out a remote trail shelter. The smoke turned fast—hot, thick, choking—and she swore she wouldn’t make it out.

Until he showed up.

A massive wolf, black as ash and glowing like something out of a dream, tore through the flames and carried her to safety. She never saw the man shift. But when she looked into Noah Benson’s eyes two days later at the station, she knew. Same eyes. Same soul.

He never acknowledged that it was he who saved her. Too risky I guess.

But she knew. And she never left.

And he had taken an unnatural interest in her, helping her get into the program and acting like her big brother ever since.

She trained with the crew. Got her EMT certification. Kept her magic quiet—just enough herbal remedies, just enough intuition to pass as gifted. But she stayed close, because good men are rare. Good wolves even rarer.

And Noah Benson was both.

Of course, she had never revealed the wolf’s name. Until now.

I smile, thinking how surprised Noah was when Tori revealed to him that she was Fae. It was a testament to both her magical skill and his protective nature that he risked what he did just to save her. And I will always be grateful to him for that.

Unexpectedly, I breathe a brief sigh of relief for a completely different reason. Tori’s story means I can still trust my instincts. I know now more than ever that I need to protect my number one suspect like he did my cousin…until I can’t.

The door pulses with tension before I even hear the knock. My hand is already on the knob when Noah’s knuckles graze the wood.

I open it. He’s there—wild-eyed, breathing hard, chest still rising and falling like he ran the whole way.

Before I can speak, he surges inside.

His hands frame my face. His lips crash into mine. No words. No preamble. Just heat.

I should stop this—I know I should. I should ask what this means, what changed between us. But all I can do is melt into the press of his mouth and the growl vibrating in his throat. His kiss is unrelenting, demanding, hungry in a way that ignites every nerve in my body.

My back hits the wall, and his hands slip under my shirt, reverent and rough all at once. I gasp as his mouth leaves mine and finds my neck. Fangs tease—not biting, just threatening. My skin burns where he touches me, magic coiling beneath my skin like molten lightning.

“I should hate you for disobeying me,” he growls against my throat.

“I didn’t ask you to want me,” I breathe, even as my legs wrap around his waist.

“ And I didn’t ask to burn every time I touch you. ” he snaps, lifting me like I weigh nothing and carrying me to the bed.

Noah lays me down on the bed, his eyes blazing with a feral hunger that mirrors the storm raging inside me.

The air crackles with anticipation. His lips trail down my neck, each kiss a brand, a spark of magic leaping between us like visible lightning.

My skin tingles where he touches me, my own power answering his, weaving a spell of desire that sets the air alight.

His fangs graze my pulse point, a teasing threat that sends shivers through me, and I arch into him, craving the sting, the surrender.

His hands are everywhere, reverent yet urgent, peeling away my shirt as his mouth claims mine again.

Each kiss deepens the connection, our magic mingling, spiraling into something wild and uncontrollable.

I feel him, raw and unguarded, his need for me a force that matches my own.

My legs wrap tighter around his waist, pulling him closer, and he growls, a sound that vibrates through me, primal and possessive.