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“Can the future be changed?”
“Yeah, sometimes.” She shrugged. “We still have free will, so nothing is set in stone, but I’ve learned if the vision is part of destiny’s plan, it usually comes to pass.”
“So they’re not just warnings of what’s to come?”
She nodded slowly. “Right… I had a vision of the fire that killed my parents, but I never saw how it started. We did everything we could to prevent the vision from coming true. My parents installed new fire alarms, and we had fire extinguishers. They thought we’d avoided the vision, but—” She shook her head. “We had no way of knowing lightning would strike the roof right over their bedroom.”
I squeezed her thigh. “I’m sorry. How did you get out?”
Her voice shook. “I woke up to the fire alarm. The smoke was so thick I couldn’t see, but somehow my mom crawled through the smoke.” She swallowed. “She pushed me out my bedroom window. Before she could follow me out the roof collapsed.”
“I’m sorry.”
She lifted her gaze to my face. “She and my dad didn’t make it.”
Her mother was a hero. I took a deep breath, bracing myself. “What did you see in this new vision?”
“My death.”
Her words sent a wave of dread through me. Every muscle in my body tensed as I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her eyes met mine. “You couldn’t stop it. In the vision, there was a massive red wolf. He had green eyes like you, and he was chained to a flat granite rock next to a ritual table.” She broke eye contact, focusing on the stars above us. “I couldn’t get to you, and I was gagged so I couldn’t call my magic. They cut my throat and caught my blood in a ritual bowl. Then the vision was gone.”
I could hardly breathe. “Who did this?”
“I couldn’t see their faces. There was snow on the ground, though, so I’m thinking it must come to pass during a full moon in winter. Maybe the ice moon later this year.”
So we had some time to change course and keep this foreboding future from becoming reality. I’d just found her. I wasn’t about to lose her in some ritual sacrifice.
“It has to be the Coven of Shadows.” My heart pounded as I took her hand. “After the new moon ceremony next week, we can lead the pack and the coven together and stop them.”
She finally looked at me again. “Or we can die trying.”
I frowned, shaking my head. “You sound like we’ve already lost. This can’t be our destiny. I just found you—my mate. And it wasn’t so we’d have to hide our relationship from everyone and die.” I released her hand and opened my door. “No fucking way.”
I got out and slammed the door. I needed a minute to cool off. Why was she giving up? Did she think we weren’t strong enough to fight this? I didn’t know her well enough yet to put the puzzle together. But I wasn’t going to go softly into that good night. I was going to rage the fuck out of every step if that was what it took. I walked to the front of the truck, leaning against the grill as I stared up at the stars.
When I’d touched Ruby last night and realized she was my mate, I’d thought I could finally see a future. I’d sweep her off her feet, marry her, and we’d start our lives together. Some kind of werewolf happily-ever-after. Was I really that naive? Nothing ever came that easily. But I hadn’t realized how bad I wanted it until now.
I was willing to fight for it. But Ruby didn’t seem so certain.
The other door slammed shut, and a moment later she was standing next to me. “I’m sorry. I thought you should know about the vision. It upset me, too. I just…”
I wrapped her in my arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, Ruby.” I looked down into her eyes. “I’m going to fight until my last breath, but I need your help, too.”
“Why would Fate choose me? I couldn’t save you.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “They gagged me. I couldn’t use my magic. Just like in Boston, I was helpless.”
Her fear stung my nostrils. I was starting to understand. The vision had triggered her. I cupped her face, wiping the tear from her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “Then we’ll have to learn some magic that doesn’t have to be spoken out loud.”
“There isn’t any, at least not that I can wield.”
“Bullshit.” I shook my head. “You said your magic is tied to your emotions. You don’t have to speak them. You feel them.”
“That’s not how magic works.” The faint moonlight shimmered in her brown eyes.
“Who says?”
She hesitated and finally shrugged. “That’s not how our magic has ever worked in the coven. Unless you’re an Elemental Witch, you need an incantation.”
