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As anger fueled my steps, my confidence grew, and I no longer stumbled over my feet as Eduardo motioned towards my bedroom door. I thanked him and slipped inside the room to find that the omegas had already brought my bags upstairs.
I yanked out the oversized tee shirt I used as a nightgown and collapsed onto the mattress, my body heavy with angry exhaustion.
The room spun into silence, the only sound was my heartbeat thundering in my ears. As I laid there, staring up at the ceiling, the darkness of the room seemed to close in on me. It wasn’t just the weight of Brady’s gaze or the overwhelming scent of him that held me captive; it was the past, resurrected from a grave I thought I’d buried deep within me.
I remembered the days when Brady was everything I admired. His confidence had been magnetic, his smile disarming. There was a time when my younger self had watched him from afar, my heart skipping a beat every time our paths crossed.
However, everything changed when he made me his target. The day he started that rumor about me—claiming I was human—was the day my heart didn’t just break; it shattered.
I remember standing there in the schoolyard, watching as whispers spread like wildfire, feeling my cheeks burn with shame as his voice rose above the others. “She’s not one of us,” he’d said with a sneer. “Just look at her.”
Look at her... those words echoed through my mind even now. He picked apart everything about me. From that day on, I vowed to hate him.
And yet here I was now, years later, unable to escape his orbit once more because fate decided we were meant to be together.
Fuck the mate bond. Fuck The Fates. I fought against dangers that threatened packs up and down the Pacific. I was a powerful wolf, and I wasn’t about to fall weak to a man I never would have chosen for myself on my own.
I decided then that I was going to reject him. I would never bow to this fate. It wasn’t what I wanted. He didn’t deserve me. The look in his eyes told me that he hadn’t changed his perception of me as the pathetic girl from years ago, but I was not going to allow him to make me feel that way again.
I had often heard humans quote that people make their own fate. Well, if that was true, then I was going to choose a fate that would strengthen me.
As I lay there contemplating the fate I would build, my phone chimed from the pocket of my discarded jeans. I rolled to the edge of my bed and pulled my pants over to me by their hem. I already knew who the message would be from. I even knew what it would be about.
What I didn’t know was if I would tell her about Brady or not.
Paige: Hey, did you make it safe?
Me: Yeah. We’re here. Diego got churros with both caramel and chocolate sauce. He’s in heaven.
Paige: Color me jealous. How about you? Did you get caramel or chocolate?
I chuckled.
Me: Neither. I skipped dessert.
Paige: You sick? What’s wrong?
Me: No. Nothing, just exhausted.
I watched as the dots appeared and disappeared as Paige typed and erased her reply. I wondered if she already knew what I was facing here. I wonder if she had any visions in my absence. Had she had one to begin with and just didn’t tell me?
It made me nervous to think that she knew because I knew what she would say if I told her about my plan to reject The Fates. She was one of their oracles, a seer whom they could speak through in visions and prophecies, and she would tell me there was no fighting fate. It wasn’t a message I would welcome right now from my best friend.
Paige: Okay, well then, get some rest. You’ll need it.
My frown deepened as I stared at the message. The simplicity of her words did nothing to soothe the turmoil within me. Yet, she was right. I needed some rest.
Chapter Two
Brady
I had been working with Mom all day before Madilyn arrived. I knew she was coming, but I hadn’t thought much about it.
She was pack business, and I was more concerned with the Coven’s business before I realized just how important Madie really was to me.
It had started with the faint sizzle along my skin. Magic had been buzzing around me all morning and afternoon. It had grown stronger and stronger the more the day had progressed, as if The Fates were trying to hint to me of what was to come.
Next to come was the scent. It was faint at first. A scent of fresh coconut and sea salt drifting through the vents. It had been delicious and enough to finally distract me from the paperwork that Mom was having me check over for her.
