Page 14 of Forcing Fate (Wildheart Pack #1)

Nora

I think I could get used to this.

Sunlight filters through the trees outside the bedroom windows.

It casts shadows across the wall, making light dance with every breath of air that stirs the branches.

I’m sitting with my back to the headboard, a book in my lap, a glass of iced tea on the nightstand next to me.

There’s a bar of dark chocolate sitting there, too, and I let myself have a square after every chapter I finish.

A few days pass, and I’m still pretty much stuck in this room, but that’s completely my choice. I’m not a prisoner. It’s just that I still can’t bring myself to spend time with the Blacks. Maybe someday, but for now, I feel more comfortable up here.

I am comfortable, and my wolf has been content since the other night. I’m still drawn to Cole, I always am but sleeping with him on my terms put out the fire that was burning inside of me, at least for now.

Cole is out on a run with Tara, giving me some time to myself. I can sink into my book while the rest of the world keeps turning around me. Nobody’s asking anything of me, nobody’s making any demands. I can just… live. And how many times did I wish for that?

Everything is great—until it isn’t.

Something hits me in the stomach, and the memory of so many punches and kicks comes roaring to bright, vivid life. It actually makes me bend over with an arm across my midsection. Only I’m alone in the room. Nobody touched me.

And then it happens again, and with the sense of being hit comes a feeling of icy dread and fear.

Hair rises on the back of my neck, my mouth goes dry, and my heart starts beating triple time.

A cold sweat beads at my temples. Something is wrong.

Something bad is going to happen. It’s going to happen to Cole.

This isn’t all in my head. I’m not making it up. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Something terrible is going to happen. He’s in danger. Somebody might’ve hurt him, or they’re going to.

I can’t let that happen.

Without thinking about it, I scramble off the bed and run for the door. For the first time since I got here, I fling it open, then run down the hall and down the stairs at top speed. Every beat of my heart is a warning. Hurry. Hurry. Something terrible is going to happen.

Something terrible might already have happened.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Get out of there!” Male voices come from the living room.

I run in, breathless, panicking. Declan and Zeke are playing PlayStation on the TV, yelling at each other while wearing a pair of headsets.

They’re so busy shooting people, they don’t notice me until I practically throw myself in front of the TV to get their attention.

Right away, the headsets come off and their mouths fall open. “What is it?” Declan stands, his face scrunched in concern.

“Something bad is happening. Or it might’ve already happened, I don’t know. But I think…” Balling up a fist, I press it to my stomach and try to draw a breath through the pinhole my throat has become. “I think something is very wrong. I think Cole is in danger.”

Zeke jumps to his feet. “Where is he? Do you know?”

“Do you think you could find him?” Declan asks.

Can I? “Yes. I think so.” I have to. I have to find him. I have to get to him before something or someone else does. What if he’s already hurt? What if it’s worse than that?

A sob tears its way from me before I run for the front door, throwing it open, like I did upstairs, and running out onto the front lawn at top speed. Where is he? I feel him so intensely, I can almost smell him. Where can I find him?

“Nora? Are you all right?” The guys follow me, and I hear the worry in their voices. Maybe they’re right to be worried, and not only for Cole. He’s not the only one in trouble—I feel wrong, somehow. There’s something wrong with me.

My knees go weak enough that my legs fold, and I land on the grass, panting for breath. “What’s happening?” I gasp. I can’t stop shaking—my teeth are even chattering. My skin is hot and tight, and it feels like it’s going to rip off. “What’s happening to me?”

Declan drops to one knee by my side, raising his voice to be heard over my heavy panting. “Take your clothes off.”

“What?” I bark. What’s that going to help?

“I said, take your clothes off,” he urges, sharper now. “You are about to shift. Get your clothes off before it happens.”

Shift? As in shift into my wolf? But that’s not possible. I’m not able to do that!

And yet my body has different ideas. Something is surging in me, something I’ve never felt before.

It’s hot and wild, like lava rushing up from the core of the Earth so it can burst free.

My hands are shaking, but I do as I’m told.

I don’t even care that I’m outside, that I’m in front of the two of them.

And I finish not a second too soon, because something happens.

Something earth shattering. I feel my bones moving, lengthening, feel tendons stretching, feel my limbs bending like they never have before.

I open my mouth to ask what the hell is happening, but all that comes out is a high-pitched whine. Something from an animal. Me.

Closing my eyes, I give over to it like instinct tells me to, and everything around me becomes… more. I smell the grass, the breeze, the small animals currying in the trees, food being cooked somewhere nearby.

And when I open my eyes, everything is sharper and clearer. Including the blonde fur covering my legs.

My wolf. I shifted. And I don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to do now? A high-pitched whine comes out of me, and I back away from Declan and Zeke, toward the house. I don’t know what to do. What happens now?

“Calm down.” Declan holds his hands up in surrender. I still understand him even when I’m in this form. “Remember. We have to find Cole, and Tara. You shifted because your mate is in danger, and your wolf knows what to do. You need to trust yourself now. Can you do that?”

I can’t speak, of course. All I can do is nod, still trembling, still breathing hard like I ran for miles. My wolf. I’m a wolf, after all, covered in fur the color of my hair.

Quickly, the guys strip down before shifting into their wolves. Big and black, like Cole. Declan looks at me—he’s a little bigger than Zeke, but not by much. “Can you hear me?” His voice fills my head, even though his mouth never moves.

“Yes,” I think, and the way he inclines his head tells me he hears me, too.

“Do you know where to find them?” Zeke asks, pawing the ground like he’s anxious to get moving.

Yes, now that I’m my wolf, I can almost pick up Cole’s scent on the breeze. “I think I can follow his trail,” I tell them, looking around, trying to find where the scent is strongest.

Then I find it, and I take off into a run without saying anything. This is incredible—maybe one day, I’ll be able to take it all in, to appreciate the feeling of running like this. My body is strong like it’s never been before. Fast, powerful. For the first time ever, I’m not small and weak.

I use that to my advantage now, pounding the ground with my paws, cutting through the woods that start at the edge of Cole’s property.

It’s getting darker by the minute, but I can see clearly, thanks to my new vision, and between that and Cole’s scent getting stronger all the time, I move with confidence. I’m coming, Cole. I’m coming. My mate.

By the time we reach the clearing, the scent is so strong, I would think he’s right here next to me. I skid to a stop and hear Declan and Zeke crashing into each other behind me, but it’s the sight in front of me that makes me stare, panting, confused at first.

Two wolves are lying in that clearing, neither of them is moving. They barely look like they’re breathing.

No! Not Cole, not like this. An overwhelming sense of fear and dread overcomes me, and I realize if I lose him… if he dies, I’ll die. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I can’t live without him, I can’t!

I take two steps, just two, before Declan gets in my way. Baring my teeth, I snarl. “Get out of my way.”

“Just wait,” he urges, eyes glowing. “You need to calm down now. It could be a trap.” But there’s blood in the air, and I can’t tell whether Cole is breathing or not.

I would know if he died, right? I would have to.

I don’t feel anything like that, but still, it could happen.

Every breath I take, the blood smell gets stronger.

“We need to be careful,” he tells me, then turns away and takes a few slow steps into the clearing with Zeke and me behind him.

He’s barely passed the tree line when a gunshot rings out.

The three of us jump back in unison. “I’m fine,” Declan assures us, scanning the area in the direction the shot came from.

I see it, too. A flash of metal in what’s left of the day’s light. Someone has been waiting for us and using Cole and Tara as bait.

Forget being careful. I have to run. I have to be there. Whoever is holding that gun harmed my mate and fired at us. They won’t get away with it. Not as long as I’m breathing. Zeke and Declan are close behind, grunting and growling and panting like I am.

That blood scent is getting stronger, too, pulling me along until I have no choice but to skid to a stop because there’s a gun pointed at me. And it’s held by my brother.

“Who are you?” he demands in a tight voice, and I notice how the gun trembles while he licks his lips like he’s nervous. “I don’t know you.”

“Be careful,” Declan urges, but I barely hear him. Derik is in front of me, and he looks scared. I can smell it on him, the sweat that leaks from his pores reeks of fear. I wonder if he’s always smelled that way, but I only know it now, as my wolf.

“Why? Why?” The broken sobs coming from my left make me glance in that direction. A woman cradles a man’s body in her lap, rocking back and forth as she wails. “What am I supposed to do? How do I live without you? Why?”

I can barely believe my eyes. It’s Serena, and the man whose head she kisses… is Dad. Someone tore long, slashing wounds across his chest, but it’s him. Jessa is on her knees beside them, also weeping until she looks up and spots the three of us.

I wish Derik would shift. I want him to know who I am. Who he’s facing down now. “Whoever you are…” The gun steadies as Derik takes aim between my eyes. A growl sounds in my throat, getting louder, my muscles poised and ready to strike.

Movement from my right distracts both of us.

Something huge and brown lumbers our way, crashing through the brush before letting out a roar and taking Derik down.

His screams are high-pitched and full of agony that’s quickly cut off when the bear kills him, shredding his flesh in a wet, sickening symphony .

There’s no time to process that before Jessa jumps to her feet, scrambling for the gun. I’m lunging for her before I know it, catching her off guard, knocking her to the ground before she can take hold of it.

“Leave my family alone!” Serena’s enraged scream barely registers, but Declan’s growl sure does before the two of them collide. They were warned, weren’t they?

How many times have I wished to be in this position?

Pinning my heartless sister to the ground while she screams and writhes, kicking and clawing.

How do you like it? How does it feel to be the smaller one?

The weaker one? Her body begins to shift under me before I can immobilize her and in that moment, all I can do is remember every kick.

Every punch. My human memories and wolf instincts merge, giving me no choice.

When my teeth sink into her neck, her scream turns to a shriek that fades soon enough.

The taste of her blood is almost too satisfying, but the feeling passes quickly when the human side of me surges to the surface of my thoughts. I’m not interested in draining her body and don’t want another drop of her on my fur. Knowing she’s dead and will never hurt me again is enough.

Lifting my head, I watch Declan finish Serena off, tossing her body around like she’s a rag doll before she slams against a tree and falls lifeless at the base.

Good riddance—they should’ve stayed away.

The bear is still standing over what’s left of Derik, and now lowers his head slightly to Declan before lumbering off.

A bear shifter. I’ve never seen one before now, but I know we’re sworn enemies.

Why is he here in our territory and why did he help us ?

I can’t think about that right now. It’s Cole I care about when I lift my head to look back toward the clearing. He’s still there, still unmoving when we break into a run to reach him and Tara. Zeke reaches them first, sniffing them, nudging them with his snout. “They smell funny.”

“They’ve been drugged.” Declan stands close to me, where I lean over Cole and silently beg him to wake up. To come back to me. He has to come back to me. “They’ll both be fine. We’ll get them home and take care of them. Don’t worry.”

That’s the thing. I’ll never be able to not worry about him again. He’s my mate, my reason for living. Worrying about him—and loving him—is my purpose.