Page 23 of Marked For A Bite (Rebellious Mates #2)
NINETEEN
ZOE
T he weight of three centuries pressed against Zoe's chest like a physical force, making each breath feel labored and significant. Her fingertips still tingled where they'd touched Logan's cheek, the connection between them humming with an energy that transcended the physical realm.
We've been together before. Not just lovers—warriors. Partners in every sense.
The certainty of it settled into her bones with the finality of truth recognized rather than learned.
Every moment since Logan had broken into her Portland home suddenly made perfect sense—the instant trust, the way their bodies moved together in combat, and the feeling that she'd been waiting her entire life for him to find her.
"The Council," she whispered, her voice thick with newfound rage. "Those bastards didn't just separate our worlds three centuries ago—they ripped our souls apart."
Logan's jaw clenched, his green eyes darkening with the same fury that burned through her veins. "Which explains why refusing their kill order felt like saving something precious," he said. "My wolf knew what my conscious mind couldn't comprehend."
"And why fighting alongside you feels like coming home," Zoe continued, her hazel eyes beginning to glow with golden fire again. "My body remembers every movement because we've fought together countless times before this lifetime."
The revelation should have felt overwhelming, but instead it filled the hollow spaces inside her that had ached since puberty. Every restless night and every inexplicable moment of longing for something she couldn't name—it had all been her soul calling out for its missing half.
No wonder I picked up combat skills so quickly. No wonder shifting with him felt natural.
"I think there's more," Lena prompted gently, watching Zoe with those perceptive violet eyes. "Something else in the prophecy that's troubling you."
Zoe's gaze dropped back to the ancient scroll, her stomach knotting as she focused on the section that had made her earlier confidence falter. The symbols seemed to shift and dance, their meaning elusive and ominous.
"Yes," she admitted, frustration creeping into her voice. "There's another part, but it's... confusing. I can only make out fragments—something about ancient bloodlines, tragic circumstances, and..." She swallowed hard. "An ultimate sacrifice for protection."
Logan's entire body went rigid beside her, those protective instincts of his flaring so violently she felt them through their bond like a physical assault. "What kind of sacrifice?"
"I don't know," Zoe said, her voice small. "The symbols reference terms I don't understand, events that must have happened during the past three centuries that shaped our territory's current situation. Without that context, I'm essentially trying to read a story with half the pages missing."
Lena leaned forward, her healer's instincts apparently recognizing Zoe's growing distress.
"My mentor Rhea would understand those references.
She's lived through the major events of the past three centuries, and her seer abilities allow her to interpret prophecies in ways that escape the rest of us. "
"Then Zoe has to go see her. Now," Logan declared.
His fierce tone sent heat surging through Zoe. God, when he gets all commanding like that...
"But I'm going with you two," he continued, already standing up. "I'm not leaving Zoe unprotected, especially when we don't understand what this sacrifice element might mean."
Kieran nodded approvingly from across the room. "Maya, Malcolm, and I will remain here and continue strategizing our next moves against the Council. If Rhea provides clarity about the prophecy's full meaning, we need to be ready to act."
Logan moved with efficient grace as he retrieved Zoe's custom leather harness from where he'd carefully set it aside.
The sight of him handling her weapons with such reverence—adjusting straps and checking blade positions with the same attention he gave his own gear—made something deep and primal purr with satisfaction inside her.
He's not just protecting me. He's preparing his partner for battle.
"Arms up," Logan murmured. The subtle command sent shivers down her spine as she raised her arms, allowing him to settle the harness across her shoulders.
His large hands worked with practiced precision, securing the leather straps across her torso and thighs. When his fingers brushed against her inner thighs while adjusting the thigh straps, Zoe had to bite back a soft gasp at the electricity that shot through her system.
"Too tight?" Logan asked, though the heat in his eyes suggested he was perfectly aware of the effect his touch was having on her.
"Perfect," she breathed, meaning far more than just the fit of her harness.
Lena carefully tucked the ancient scroll into her concealed pouch, her violet eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Rhea's hut is about two miles north through the forest. The path can be treacherous, but it's well-hidden from anyone who might be tracking us."
Logan's hand found Zoe's back as they went to leave, the contact grounding and possessive. "Stay between Lena and me," he instructed, his enforcer instincts taking command. "If we encounter trouble, you follow my lead without question."
Zoe turned to face Logan fully, her chin lifting with familiar defiance. "Actually, if we encounter trouble, we handle it together. That's what power couples do, remember?"
The slow, dangerous smile that spread across Logan's face made her heart race. "Together," he agreed, his voice rough with promise. "Always."
The treacherous path to Rhea's hut wound through dense autumn foliage, forcing the three of them into single file as they navigated fallen logs and sudden drops in the forest floor.
Zoe was sandwiched between Logan's commanding presence ahead and Lena's quiet determination behind, exactly where Logan's protective instincts demanded she stay.
He's treating me like precious cargo again, Zoe thought. But she couldn't deny the thrill that shot through her when he'd positioned himself as her shield without even thinking about it. My alpha warrior.
The weight of her leather harness felt different now—not like borrowed equipment, but like armor she'd worn in countless battles. Every knife secured to her body seemed to hum with anticipation, as if they too remembered the countless enemies they'd faced together.
"Careful here," Logan's deep voice rumbled ahead as he navigated a particularly steep section of rocky terrain. "The path gets narrow."
Zoe's enhanced senses picked up the subtle tension in his shoulders beneath the black henley, and the way his hand never strayed far from the tactical knife on his right thigh. Even now, heading to see an elderly omega seer, Logan remained in full enforcer mode.
He's so magnificent when he's all protective and commanding.
Before long, a small hut materialized through the trees ahead, so perfectly camouflaged it seemed to have grown from the forest itself. Smoke curled lazily from a stone chimney, and herbs hung drying from the covered porch in neat bundles that perfumed the air with earthy magic.
"Rhea," Lena called as they approached. "I've brought visitors."
The door opened before they'd even reached the porch steps, revealing a woman who appeared around sixty-five but whose bright violet eyes held the depth of centuries. Despite her seemingly frail frame, power radiated from Rhea like heat from a fire.
"Lena, child." Rhea's voice carried the warmth of aged wine.
"This is Logan Cross and Zoe Raymond," Lena said, making formal introductions. Lena turned to Zoe. "Rhea Moonwhisper has been my mentor for a decade. She's the wisest seer in all four territories of the Pacific Northwest Cascade Territory."
Logan inclined his head respectfully, though Zoe noticed his stance remained alert. "Thank you for seeing us."
"The pleasure is mine," Rhea replied, her violet gaze fixing on Zoe with unnerving intensity. "I've been expecting you since the autumn equinox. Come inside."
The hut's interior defied its modest exterior, filled with shelves of ancient texts, crystalline formations, and herbs in countless glass jars. The air thrummed with old magic that made Zoe's birthmark tingle.
"We retrieved the original Lunar Prophecy scroll from the Council's hidden bunker this morning," Lena explained without preamble, producing the ancient document from her concealed pouch. "Zoe was able to interpret most of it, but there are sections that require historical context."
Rhea's eyes sharpened with interest as she gestured for them to sit around a small wooden table. "Show me."
Zoe carefully unrolled the scroll, her fingers still reverent despite their familiarity with the ancient parchment. "I confirmed that Maya represents the first part of the prophecy—her role as Luna bringing reforms to traditional pack structure."
"And you, dear one, are the second part," Rhea said with certainty.
"Yes." Zoe's voice grew stronger as she shared her discoveries. "The prophecy indicates I possess special abilities that will be enhanced by my fated mate. It also revealed hints at other abilities I might develop, though I can't decipher what those might be."
Logan shifted beside her, his protective energy spiking through their bond.
"The prophecy indicated we're the ultimate shifter power couple," Zoe continued, warmth flooding her chest at the words. "Our souls have been bound through lifetimes, destined to reunite now to help bridge our two worlds and fuel the rebellion against Council corruption."
Rhea nodded thoughtfully. "The timing aligns with the ancient texts I've studied. But what troubles you, child?"
Zoe's expression darkened as she pointed to the confusing section. "There are references to tragic circumstances and an ultimate sacrifice for protection that I can't interpret. The symbols reference events I don't understand."
"And there might be two additional parts to the prophecy beyond Maya and me," Zoe added. "Though those sections are even more cryptic."
"I'll investigate the additional parts," Lena interjected quickly. "Let's focus on clarifying Zoe's role first."
Rhea's ancient gaze studied Zoe's face with unsettling intensity. "May I touch your hand, dear? Sometimes physical contact enhances my visions."
Zoe extended her hand without hesitation, though Logan's tension beside her ratcheted up several degrees.
The moment Rhea's weathered fingers made contact with Zoe's palm, the older woman's violet eyes rolled back, her entire body going rigid as visions flooded her consciousness.
Time seemed suspended as they waited, the only sound Logan's carefully controlled breathing and the crackling of logs in Rhea's fireplace. Zoe felt power swirling around them, ancient and wild and completely beyond her understanding.
When Rhea's eyes snapped open, they blazed with shock and something that looked like joy.
"Your father," she whispered urgently. "He's alive."
The words hit Zoe like a freight train, stealing the breath from her lungs. Alive?
"What?" Zoe's voice cracked with disbelief.
"He's being held somewhere on these pack lands," Rhea continued, her grip tightening on Zoe's hand. "Imprisoned for twenty-five years. The vision showed me stone walls and magical bindings designed to contain a powerful wolf shifter."
Zoe's world tilted sideways as twenty-five years of believing her father was dead crumbled in an instant.
"No," she breathed, though deep in her soul she felt the truth of Rhea's words. "My mom made it seem like he died when I was a baby."
"Your mother hid the truth about your father to protect you," Rhea said gently. "Just as she hid your true nature until your twenty-fifth birthday."
Hot tears spilled down Zoe's cheeks as grief and rage warred in her chest. Her father—her flesh and blood, the other half of her heritage—had been suffering in captivity, while she had been living with her mother in a happy home free to chase her dreams.
"Where is he being held?" Zoe demanded, jerking to her feet with such violence that her chair toppled backward.
"Zoe." Logan's commanding voice cut through her rising hysteria. "We need more information before?—"
"We need to find him NOW!" Zoe's eyes blazed bright gold as her wolf surged to the surface, responding to her emotional turmoil. "He's been imprisoned for twenty-five years while I lived my life thinking he was dead!"
"Listen to me." Logan rose slowly, his hands extended in a calming gesture that only inflamed her further. "We can't go tearing through the territory blindly. We need a plan, intelligence, backup?—"
"Don't you dare try to control me right now," Zoe snarled, her canine teeth beginning to lengthen as her control slipped. "That's my father out there, suffering because of the same Council corruption that tried to have ME killed!"
Her rational mind recognized that Logan was right—charging off without a plan was suicide. But the newly awakened daughter in her, the girl who'd spent her entire life mourning a parent who was actually alive and captive, couldn't hear reason through the roaring in her ears.
Before anyone could stop her, Zoe bolted for the door, desperate for air and space to process this earth-shattering revelation.