Page 16 of Marked For A Bite (Rebellious Mates #2)

THIRTEEN

ZOE

L ena suddenly leaned forward as they sat around Kieran's dining table discussing the High Council's corruption.

Her unusual violet eyes gleamed with a piercing intensity that made Zoe's breath catch in her throat.

The petite healer had been quiet throughout most of the dinner conversation, but now she commanded the table's attention with quiet authority.

"It's absolutely crucial that we find these hybrids before the High Council does," Lena said, her voice carrying weight despite its softness.

"The High Council isn't just protecting their current power structure—they're guarding secrets that run three centuries deep.

The hybrids represent a direct threat to exposing those secrets as well as being the keys to bridging the human and wolf shifter worlds back together. "

Zoe felt Logan's tension spike through their bond. His hand squeezed hers under the table, his fingers tightening possessively as he listened to Lena's words.

"Which brings me to why I'm here tonight," Lena continued, her gaze settling on Zoe with an expression that felt almost reverent. "The Lunar Prophecy is unfolding in real time around us. First with Maya, and now with you."

The words sent an electric shock through Zoe's system. Her birthmark tingled with warmth against her wrist, as if responding to some ancient recognition. "What is the Lunar Prophecy?"

Lena's voice took on a ritualistic cadence, as if she were reciting sacred text. "'When the blood of both worlds runs through the one who bridges understanding, the old ways shall return and harmony restored.'"

Zoe's breath hitched as the words resonated through her body like a tuning fork struck against something deep in her soul. Through their bond, she felt Logan's protective fury building, his wolf clearly not pleased with the implications of ancient prophecies targeting his mate.

"Maya fulfilled the first part," Lena explained, her eyes shifting between the hybrid women.

"By becoming Luna of the Silvercrest pack and beginning the reforms that challenge centuries of rigid traditions.

Before Maya's influence, our laws strictly forbade any human integration into our shifter society. "

Logan's jaw clenched visibly, and Zoe watched that familiar shadow pass over his face.

Through their connection, she felt the wave of regret and shame that crashed through him—the weight of all the enforcement actions he'd carried out in service of those very laws.

Her heart ached for the burden he'd carried alone for so long.

"How am I involved in this prophecy?" Zoe asked, though part of her already suspected the answer.

Her obsession with Pacific Northwest artifacts, her inexplicable connection to the wolf imagery, and the way her body had reacted to the art critic's dismissive words—it all felt like pieces of a puzzle finally clicking into place.

Lena's smile held both sadness and hope.

"You're the second part, Zoe. The prophecy indicates that one who can read and interpret the ancient texts will reveal the truth about bridging our worlds.

The High Council has hidden away an ancient scroll in a secret location—a document that contains the real history of human-shifter relations and the instructions for restoring the harmony that once existed. "

The revelation hit Zoe like a tidal wave. Her academic background, her expertise in ancient Pacific Northwest cultures, and her ability to decipher symbolic language and artifact significance—it hadn't been random interest. It had been preparation.

"I'm a museum curator," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "I've spent years studying Pacific Northwest ancient texts and artifacts. I've been obsessed with them, actually."

"Because you were being called to it," Lena said gently. "Your hybrid nature recognized what your human mind couldn't yet understand."

Logan's entire body had gone rigid beside her, his protective instincts warring with the terrible understanding of what this meant. When he spoke, his voice carried a dangerous edge.

"This is extremely dangerous for her." His green eyes flashed with protective fury as he looked around the table. "If this scroll is hidden in some secret location, it's probably heavily guarded or protected somehow. The risks are astronomical."

Zoe felt his fear for her safety through their partial bond, but beneath it was something else—a deep, primal terror of losing her that went beyond normal protective instincts. The mate mark on her neck throbbed with warmth as his emotions flooded through their connection.

"I'm one of the chosen hybrids who can help you get to the bottom of this corruption and expose the High Council's secrets," she said, turning to meet his intense gaze directly. "I'm the only one who can read that ancient scroll and figure out exactly how to bridge our two worlds together."

Logan's hands clenched tight into fists on the table. "Zoe?—"

"She's right." Maya's voice cut through the building tension. "The pattern is too clear to ignore. Two hybrid women, both with specific skill sets that directly threaten the Council's power structure. This isn't coincidence—it's destiny."

Zoe felt a thrill of validation alongside her concern about the risks involved. She knew now that her obsessive interests and unusual abilities served a greater purpose than academic curiosity.

"We all need to work together to unravel whatever the Council is hiding," Maya continued, her green eyes bright with determination. "Find out who the corrupted members are and take them down before they kill more innocent people."

Logan's protective fury radiated through their bond like heat from a forge. "And what happens when they realize what she can do? When they figure out she's the key to exposing everything they've hidden for three centuries?"

The questions hung in the air like a threat.

The weight of ancient prophecy settled around Zoe like a cloak she'd been unconsciously tailoring her entire life.

Every artifact she'd cataloged, every ancient text she'd deciphered, and every sleepless night spent obsessing over Pacific Northwest indigenous culture—it had all been leading to this moment.

Kieran's silver-blue eyes hardened with Alpha authority as he leaned forward across the dinner table. "Then we protect her with all of our lives. She's part of our pack now as your mate, even if she's not officially claimed yet, and we will keep her safe."

Zoe could feel Logan's skepticism crash against her consciousness like waves against stone. His jaw worked silently, those deep green eyes calculating threats and probabilities with the ruthless efficiency that made him the territory's most feared enforcer.

"The rebellion is going to flare up even more when they catch wind of the Council's corruption," Kieran continued, his commanding presence filling the cabin's dining room.

"They won't stand for the threats against reform or the hybrids who are the keys to their cause.

The rebels will have both Zoe and Maya's backs, as well as any other hybrids.

Zoe has more protection around her than she may realize. "

Before Logan could voice his obvious disagreement, Lena's violet eyes brightened with a burning intensity that made the air around the table shimmer. Her petite frame seemed to vibrate with barely contained energy as she cut through the tension between Alpha and enforcer.

"So anyway, I have good news," she announced, her soft voice carrying surprising authority. "If Zoe agrees to interpret the ancient scroll, I know where it's located. My mentor Rhea had a vision, and it revealed the exact spot. We can go tomorrow morning."

Logan's protective fury spiked so violently through their bond that Zoe gasped, her hand instinctively reaching for the partial mark on her neck. The heat radiating from him was palpable, his entire body coiled like a weapon ready to strike.

"Absolutely not," Logan growled. "We don't even know what kind of security?—"

"This is imperative to all our futures," Kieran interrupted, his Alpha command brooking no argument. "The longer we wait, the more time the Council has to eliminate threats."

"Fine. But we strategize and plan every detail before we breach whatever security protects that location.

And I need to train Zoe more aggressively than planned—hone her combat skills and shifting abilities at a faster pace.

" Logan's green eyes locked onto hers with a fierce intensity that made her heart skip.

"We'll have to accelerate everything if we're going to pull this whole thing off. "

The possessive heat in his gaze made something deep in her belly flutter with anticipation. Even discussing danger and ancient scrolls, Logan managed to make her feel like she was the most precious thing in his world—something worth killing for and worth dying for.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes," Zoe declared, lifting her chin with the fierce determination that had gotten her this far.

"Not just to protect myself, but all hybrids like me who are in danger.

If I'm one of the keys to exposing the Council's secrets and bridging our worlds, then that's exactly what I'll do—I'll become a lethal weapon. "

Maya nodded approvingly from across the table, her copper hair catching the lamplight. "We'll meet back here in the morning to strategize before?—"

Logan's body went rigid beside her, his head snapping toward the cabin's front windows. Zoe could sense his predatory instincts surge to full alert, every muscle in his powerful frame coiling for action.

Kieran was already rising from his chair, those silver-blue eyes brightening as his wolf pressed close to the surface. "Multiple heartbeats approaching through the tree line. Moving with tactical precision."

"They tracked us here somehow," Logan growled, his enforcer training taking immediate control. The gentle lover who'd held her earlier vanished, replaced by the deadly weapon the pack feared and respected. "Zoe, stay inside. Don't come out no matter what you see or hear."

Both men were already moving toward the door, their movements synchronizing with the deadly efficiency of warriors who'd fought side by side before.

"Maya, stay inside with Zoe and Lena," Kieran commanded, his tone holding absolute Alpha authority as he stripped off his henley with fluid grace.

Through the living room's large window, Zoe watched in breathless fascination as both men shifted into their wolf forms with explosive power.

Kieran's midnight black wolf was massive and commanding, but Logan's dark russet form moved with a predatory grace that made her mouth go dry with primal attraction.

The brutal efficiency with which they tore through the four human hunters who emerged from the forest was both terrifying and mesmerizing. Logan's wolf moved like liquid death, his powerful jaws crushing threats with the same protective fury she felt pulsing through their bond.

These were the men hunting her—the Council's operatives sent to eliminate the hybrid who could expose centuries of corruption.

Watching Logan and Kieran eliminate them with such devastating effectiveness should have terrified her, but instead it filled her with a fierce sense of safety and belonging.

When both wolves returned to the cabin minutes later, shifting back to human form and pulling on their discarded clothes, Zoe felt the weight of her destiny settling deeper into her bones.

"I'll drive you both back to Logan's cabin," Kieran announced, his Alpha composure barely masking the violent satisfaction of eliminating threats to his pack. "It's not safe to walk through the woods tonight, even though we handled the immediate danger. There might be more out there."

"Tomorrow we get that scroll. Whatever it takes," Zoe declared, meeting Logan's intense green gaze with unwavering determination. "Our future depends on it."