Wolf Shifter Diaries: Life Fated (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 1)

by E Hall

  The bond we share is as unavoidable as the coming fight, but she often seems distant, like she’d rather be anywhere but here.

  Her voice comes out quieter than it used to, and she slips around like a shadow. Her power has been growing, and I wonder if she’s called to the fae or the vampires.

  When we train in physical form, I catch glimpses of her other magic straining to come through—her fae ability to manipulate energy is a force to be reckoned with. Yet, it’s like there’s a curtain pulled around it or us. Perhaps she’s hesitant to let me see the extent of her skills after learning that I was slated to eliminate her.

  I need to regain her trust. She’s my true love, the woman and wolf I want as a constant in my life. I don’t want it flushed away or lost to a fight. I have the utmost confidence in her, but can’t shake the feeling that Amanda is up to something nefarious.

  Why did she challenge Kenna to a Mate Call-Out knowing our connection is forged by fate? Is Amanda’s ego that big?

  I can’t resist the pull and tug of my fated mate. Every cell in my body draws me toward her. But in these uncharted waters, I worry about what lurks beneath the surface of my knowing. As an Alpha, I’m tuned into changing conditions, intentions, and the vibe of my pack.

  They wonder if she’s mostly wolf, or if she’s adapting to who she’s around? Can she develop each facet of her magic? Is she a threat?

  I wonder these things too.

  I also have my ear on the ground after the attack on Richard Dubois after the last full moon. Like Kenna, I haven’t reported it to the Council yet. It’s as if I have half a puzzle completed and can’t find the missing pieces.

  My wolf tells me they’re nearby and to be patient. That it’ll all come together. I trust him, but after I betrayed Kenna, I hardly trust myself.

  I gaze over the ridge and to the mountains in the distance. Steely clouds fill the sky. The sun hides behind them and soon the full moon will too.

  As the evening descends, the flickering of a bonfire fills the open space where the fight will be held. Members of the pack start down there in physical form. The only two people allowed to shift are the contestants.

  Kenna jogs over the hill, greeting me with windswept familiarity. She catches her breath. I want to take her in my arms and hold her up. I’d give her some of my energy if I could.

  “Inga suggested I warm up,” she explains, wiping her brow. “She said it’ll get the adrenaline to kick in faster.” She cuts a glance toward the open space below as more people gather.

  Word about this fight spread fast and many magicals are allowed to attend—same as they would if we had to fight for any other Call-Out. Well, if anyone challenged us as Alpha. I haven’t told her that part yet.

  “You will win,” I assure her.

  “I’m not sure the fight is fair, Corbin,” she says. She hasn’t spared me from her opinions on our backward wolf ways.

  “Well, if anyone has an advantage, I’d say it’s you.” Despite Kenna being a hybrid magical, she doesn’t show any inclination toward violence as we’d feared—as most magicals do despite the strides we’ve taken to subdue our inherent natures.

  Maybe the spell of the Accord is still strong. Then again, she and I connected. When this is over, I will explain everything to the Council, not that I have a choice. The fae and vamp Alphas are certain to be here tonight.

  Questions will be asked. Answers will have to be provided.

  Kenna hangs back, but I close the space between us as magnetized as ever. My fingers graze her cheek, blazing a thrill of excitement through me as I lower my lips to hers. This kiss, like all the others, is like our first time all over again.

  She cuts it off sooner than I’d like and drops her head to my shoulder, hugging me tightly.

  When we pull apart, her breath is shallow and her smile shaky.

  Night falls as we walk toward the clearing with the bonfire. A gaze back as the jagged rocks, piercing the low-hanging clouds offer a painful reminder that blood will be shed and about the uncertainty of the future of our pack.

  But I can’t focus on that right now.

  Instead, the churning energy from everyone knocks into me, almost tangible. I deflect and let it dissolve, maintaining my Alpha status, making my pack feel secure in my presence as I lead Kenna toward the center of the dirt clearing.

  My shoulders are square. I release the tension and frustration about being in this situation. I give Kenna one more embrace. “You will win.”

  Her eyes are pleading because we both know this fight is to the death.

  “Corbin, be careful who you trust,” she whispers.

  “Of course.”

  “I’m still learning the ways of the wolves, but what would you do if someone from the pack betrayed you?”

  “Fae banish their own, vampires starve the offender of blood. We shun. We kill.” I grimace, knowing how brutal that must sound to her.

  She nods solemnly. If she’s afraid, she doesn’t show it.

  Amanda stands nearby, wearing a scowl on her face. Her purple hair hangs lank and her energy buzzes. My wolf snarls in warning—in defense of this irrational challenge to my mate or something else? I study the people surrounding her—a few from our pack and other magicals I don’t recognize.

  A horn blows. King Melchior, the fae representative on the Council is in attendance. It’s rare for him to leave his court. His crystalline gaze doesn’t leave Kenna.

  Several vampires linger near the bonfire. Others fall in and out of shadow as the moon continues to hide behind the clouds.

  Claude steps into the center of the stretch of dirt. “Amanda of Pack Hjalmor, state your purpose.”

  She lifts her chin. “I challenge Kenna for Alpha Corbin as mate.”

  Claude glances at Kenna apologetically as if to say I’m sorry. I can’t ask if you accept this challenge. “In the code of battle, Kenna cannot back out when an Alpha is challenged for a mate.”

  At my back, someone mutters, “The Alpha must love having women fighting over him.”

  Another replies, “Must do great things for his ego to have two women who want him so badly they’re willing to die.”

  I turn around and glower. “Not at all.”

  Claude continues, “This is a fight to the finish. Whoever survives, will call Alpha Corbin mate. If he accepts her.”

  A murmur ripples through the crowd.

  No way would I accept Amanda. She must be angling for something else? Is Amanda’s plan to eliminate Kenna and then eliminate me, become Alpha herself? The problem is, she doesn’t have Alpha blood.

  I ponder her motivation as the two wolves shift.

  The light from the bonfire tints Kenna’s fur a deeper shade of red. Amanda almost looks as dark as the night sky. Her yellow eyes glow.

  The fight begins. I cannot tear my eyes from Kenna’s confidence and grace as she stalks Amanda. She’s all instinct and strength. Amanda is scrappy and keen on weakness. She knows where to strike. Kenna doesn’t want this fight, but my hope when in wolf form, she won’t relent until she wins.

  The two circle slowly, hackles raised, heads low, lips pulled back, exposing sharp teeth.

  The crowd starts silent and then eggs them on.

  Amanda makes the first move, striking at Kenna’s neck. The magicals in her corner cheer.

  Kenna yelps. Just when I think she’s going to pull back, she coils and springs, not taking a moment to recover as she pounces on Amanda.

  Attuned to my fated mate, I sense the moment her teeth pierce Amanda’s skin. Blood pours from the wound. All of a sudden, Kenna is human again, clutching her throat. She rushes toward the fire, toward the vampires.

  I hurry after her, shifting in the process. No one has ever shifted out of wolf form when in a fight. Not only is it against the rules, to my knowledge, once the senses are engaged, there’s no going back until it’s finished.

  Her eyes are dark and wild. Magic crackles from her hands as though she can’t hold it back.
It’s like when backed into a corner, her entire being has gone on the defensive, but can’t agree on which type of magic to use.

  The guests scream at her display of power as bolts escape her hands like shimmering darts of light. They singe the ground...and some of the lawn furniture that members of the pack must have brought down here.

  My wolf reaches Kenna by the bonfire, beckoning her onto my back. I’m faster than the others but they’ll soon be on our tail. Something happened, and I need to get her to safety to figure it out.

  She clutches me tightly as I run blindly over the ridge, along the trail, and then veer east, pounding the ground as fast as I can. It’s only when I pick up the lingering and unmistakable scent of a werewolf that I stop. We’re outside Richard Dubois’ house.

  Kenna lowers onto the ground, and I return to my human form. I draw her into my arms. “What happened?” I ask.

  She pulls back, pressing her hand against her mouth. “When I drew blood, I was suddenly thirsty. It was a thirst unlike anything I’ve ever known. My wolf fell away.”

  “You ran toward the vampires.”

  Her eyes are wide with fear. “I don’t want that. I don’t want any of this. I always thought the sight of blood made me sick to my stomach, but now, I recognize it as something else. More like the kind of stomach ache that comes from dehydration.”

  I tuck a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, Kenna, but there’s no avoiding what you are.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know what I am. But Amanda does.”

  “How can she know if you don’t? If I don’t?” I ask, confused.

  “She’s the one who attacked me in Intherness and then Polaris. She must be a member of the Klave. She picked this fight to expose me to the Council but didn’t intend to finish me. Rather, the Council would intervene and stop the fight. Then there would be confusion and the Klave would abduct me.”

  My face falls, yet suspicion sharpens in my mind. “How can that be? She’s part of my pack. How do you know?”

  “I was out running. I smelled something in the air. The same foul scent as I did from those two attacks. She was talking to someone wearing a hood.” She shakes her head. “I overheard the entire plan.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

  “Because I don’t know where I belong or what I am. I’m the problem, and I’m the solution. I don’t want you to lose your position as Alpha.” She glances over her shoulder as the patter of feet head in our direction. They’ll find us soon.

  “You belong here, with the pack, if you so choose. I want her here with me. I can keep you safe from the Klave.”

  “But can you keep me safe from myself?” At that, she shifts and leaps into the night.

  My Alpha wolf forbids I follow. He wants me to ward off the others, to give her a head start. She’s my fated mate. I’ll be able to find her. I have to protect her and don’t want to hurt her because she should fear me. I’m the one who was going to eliminate her. It’s my fault she’s in this mess.

  I don’t like it, but that means staying put. If the other magicals get past me and pursue her, it will be a slaughter. Originally, that was what I wanted. I would destroy her before she came of age, before we bonded so I could keep my position as Alpha. Wasn’t that what I wanted? My wolf knew all along.

  I should’ve trusted him. I do now, even if that means losing Kenna.

  Chapter 23

  Kenna

  My wolf runs wild, practically runs herself ragged as I pursue a scent. I pass the bakery and village to the south and keep going, past houses that are so dark they look abandoned. I wonder about ghosts and what this place is other than for people passing through. I think of home, and the summer tourists along with the autumn “leaf peepers” who visited to admire the colorful trees.

  I keep to the rough terrain but don’t hear a single car nearby or in the distance. My thoughts turn rusty and vague before falling away like autumn leaves from trees.

  I don’t stop until I reach Lonsdale Manor.

  Approaching the gate, I sniff the air and ground, taking in the lingering scent of my last visit with Corbin and another smell that’s vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place it.

  As I shift back to physical form, my thoughts flood back. The fight, Amanda, and drawing first blood. The way it seized me with intense thirst, and like I’d suddenly waged an internal battle, it was like a vampire within threw off my wolf.

  In a moment, I’d shifted.

  Despite Corbin’s betrayal, my heart belongs to him. I’m grateful he helped me escape, but now what? Where to go from here? No matter what, he’ll be able to find me because of our connection, but if I’m not careful, Amanda, the Klave, and the Council will track me down too.

  I didn’t dare go to Pepper’s house above the bakery and endanger her. Trying to flee the country after shifting and not having any clothing, would be dicey. This is the last place I want to be, but the only place I thought to go.

  Inside the old Victorian mansion, previously owned by my parents, I listen carefully. I sniff the air, relying on my enhanced senses to alert me of danger. Aside from potential ghosts haunting the place, I think I’m alone. As I walk past the covered furniture, the sheets ruffle. I flip on my daydreaming mind and try to picture this place in its heyday.

  Upstairs, I find the bedroom and a large closet, filled with fancy, but moth-eaten dresses. Pawing through drawers and shelves, I find a white dressing gown that will have to do for now.

  I sit on a cushion in the window that overlooks the entrance to the property in the distance. If anyone trailed me, they’d be coming from that direction. Other than the occasional rumble from my stomach, the house is so silent, I cannot avoid my thoughts. The gash and wounds from the brief fight with Amanda already heal.

  After I left Pepper’s and encountered Amanda during her predawn rendezvous, I knew she’d betrayed her pack. I opted not to tell Corbin or the others. My wolf prompted me to engage in the challenge to prove myself and eliminate the threat.

  I never expected my inner vamp to come through and throw things off. It must have been because of their proximity at the fight. Or the blood.

  I’ve never been comfortable around blood and would never admit that the sight of it occasionally made me thirsty. Before I knew my ancestry, I figured my inner wiring got crossed up. Losing blood equated to wanting to replenish the supply, causing me to be thirsty.

  Apparently not.

  The air in the room suddenly cools and my hackles lift. At the same time, my vision takes on a reddish hue. I don’t see anyone coming up the road or in the dale surrounding the house. Oh, right, it’s haunted.

  “Kenna,” someone whispers.

  I whirl around to see my mother standing in the doorway. Only, she’s almost translucent like a ghost. Cautiously, I step toward her. The closer I get, the brighter she becomes until all at once her entire body heaves, thrusts forward, and then she’s fully solid and stands up, slinging a bag on the ground.

  She pulls me into her arms. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  “Mom?” I ask, muffled by her shoulder mashing against my face.

  “You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay,” she repeats, frantic. Her icy hands pat my arms, my back, and my face. “What do you need? Are you thirsty? Hungry? What are you wearing? Some kind of fae getup?” She holds her hand up in the universal symbol of surrender. “Please know that I come in peace.”

  My forehead furrows. “Mom?” I ask, bewildered. “Yeah, I’m hungry and thirsty. But, uh—” I glance down at my attire. “I got this from the closet. Your closet?” I ask.

  She pulls me into another hug before dropping to the floor and riffling through the bag. She passes me a pouch of red liquid, a hunk of raw meat in a Ziplock bag, and then shuffles back. “I mean no harm.”

  “Me neither. Um, did you bring doughnuts by any chance?”

  She pulls a greasy paper sack from the bag and then a wrinkled pile of clothing. “You�
��re still you. Oh, thank goodness.”

  “I’m still me, but I have no idea who that is.”

  “Go change, and I’ll do my best to explain.”

  I don’t bother going to another room. It’s my mom, after all. I don’t want to risk her disappearing again. I look down at the T-shirt my mother brought me. It says Slay All Day.

  Her lips quirk, and she shakes her head in answer to my question. “I was so looking forward to when you’d find that amusing.”

  For the first time in weeks, the ground beneath my feet no longer feels like shifting sand. Well, except the sight of the bag of blood sends ripples of excitement and unease through me in equal measure.

  She eyes it then holds it up for me to take.

  I shake my head. “No, thank you.” Despite my thirst, I can’t bring myself to drink it.

  She shrugs and drains the thing.

  I wrinkle my nose. “So I take it you’re a vampire.”

  “Yep, and I’ve never traveled as fast as I did to get to you.” Relief softens her features.

  I want her to explain her mode of travel, but a crash course in Vamp Life 101 can come later. “How did you know I was here?”

  “The day I sent you here, fae abducted me.” She tells me about booking my flight and then being abducted. “They kept me all this time, questioning me and harassing me.”

  Dirt smudges her face, and her hair hangs in tangles. I think she’s leaving the term harassing open to interpretation.

  “Then a few days ago, the atmosphere changed. It was like they were preparing for something big. Turns out everyone went to a fight between a couple of wolves. I gathered that it was a ploy, for show. Their spy didn’t intend to kill the other wolf. Now I realize it was you. Rather, they wanted to capture her. I escaped when the guards decreased since they were all excited to see their contact from the wolf pack battle and seize the spoils. I was too late getting to you in Polaris. But glad to know I still got my vamp skills.” She mock flexes for me.

  I can’t bring myself to laugh right now or ask exactly what she did to get here. “The spoils being me.” I shudder a breath thankful that we’re both okay, at least for now.