Echoes of Fate

I sit with my friends in the quiet heart of the deep woods, surrounded by towering pines and the soft rustle of leaves overhead. We come here to escape the city’s noise and spend a few peaceful days in nature’s calm embrace.

I am not paying much attention to the conversation. Instead, my gaze keeps drifting to the guy I met on the way to the woods.

He’s sitting with his friends and rubbing the back of his neck before flashing me a crooked smirk.

My stomach does a ridiculous little flip.

I take a long swig of beer and try to calm myself. I am twenty-three and a wolf, but my wolf hasn’t come out yet. That’s why I left my town and started living alone in a city. To get rid of the pressure, questions, and pity.

I am not a virgin virgin… It’s complicated… I have never had sex with any human in these three years. I have a fear. What if my wolf decides to come out during sex? Maybe tonight is the night I’m gonna have sex with a human guy for the first time.

I glance up from my beer and find him already looking at me for the third time.

We softly laugh this time, and without a word, we both push away from our friends and start walking toward each other.

The closer I get, the harder it becomes to remember how to breathe. He shoves his hands into his pockets.

“Well, looks like neither of us is excellent at pretending we’re not staring.”

I shake my head.

“I wasn’t staring.”

“Right,” he trails off.

“I was observing.”

“Is that what they’re calling it now?”

I roll my eyes.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

He grins.

“Too late. You walked all the way over here.”

“Maybe I got lost.”

“In a straight line?”

I bite back my smile.

“I am starting to think you forgot my name.”

I finish my beer but keep the bottle in my hand.

“Hard to forget the names of three guys who share their case of beer on the way to the woods.”

He runs his hand through his hair.

“You guys gave us a lift. Our car broke down, so this was our token of appreciation.”

I open my mouth, but whatever is on my lips fades—the smile on my face wavers. A strange heaviness settles behind my eyes. I blink once. Twice. The woods suddenly feel too warm and dark.

I hear the campfire crackle. My friends continue talking and laughing. Everything looks normal. Yet something is wrong. Very wrong. I sway slightly. The beer bottle nearly slips from my fingers.

The guy flashes me another lazy grin. I would have found it charming, but right now my stomach is twisting. I shake my head hard. The dizziness is getting worse. My pulse is pounding in my temples.

No.

This isn’t possible.

Alcohol doesn’t affect me, not like this. As a wolf, I can drink enough to put most humans under the table and barely feel a buzz. Yet my vision is blurring.

The beer bottle finally slips from my numb fingers, and the glass smashes against the rocky surface. The sound echoes through the clearing. The guy steps closer. Moonlight catches his face. His smile changes.

The warmth vanishes, and he starts looking like a cold, ugly predator. My heart stops. I try to step backward. The ground shifts beneath my feet, and he keeps reaching for my arm.

I slap his hand away, but my shove is far too weak. Fear begins crawling up my spine. I turn sharply to look at my friends. The view freezes my blood.

One by one, girls and boys are collapsing.

A girl falls sideways off a log. Another slumps against a cooler. A guy face-plants into the dirt. Nobody is getting back up. Panic rushes inside my chest.

“What the fuck...”

The words barely leave my lips. Around the clearing, the boys we met earlier exchange knowing looks. Their smiles are no longer friendly. Dark eyes roam over unconscious bodies. Their twisted intentions and desire fill their faces. It crashes into me that they have drugged our drinks.

My wolf erupts inside my mind.

Danger.

Danger.

Danger.

This is the first time my wolf talks to me when predators are advancing, and I back away. Every instinct screams for me to run. Then another sensation crashes through my body. A violent jolt tears through my shoulder.

I gasp. Pain spreads beneath my skin.

“What is happening?”

Then another.

My knees buckle. The world tilts and bones grind together beneath flesh. I want to scream, but half of it is buried in my throat as Wolf surges forward. Everyone has told me shifting requires control, preparation, and choice.

But mine feels different. It’s wild and uncontrolled. The drug affects both sides of me. My human side is weakening. My wolf is fighting to survive. I collapse to my hands and knees.

The evil boys stop approaching me. Confusion flashes across their faces.

My fingers cramp. A crunch echoes through the clearing, and I stare in horror. My hands are changing.

Fingers shorten.

Nails sharpen, and bones reshape.

Fur erupts through my skin. The transformation spreads through my body like wildfire. Another scream tears from my throat. Only this time it sounds less human, more like a growl.

The world blurs, then sharpens. Every scent suddenly becomes overwhelming.

Pine.

Smoke.

Dirt.

Sweat.

Fear.

Sex.

I can smell everything. My body stretches. Muscles expand, and my back snaps into new positions. The pain is unbearable. Beneath the power, raw and primal power lurks.

White fur spills across my skin. The ground seems to shift angles. I realize I am no longer standing upright. I’m standing on my four strong legs.

A growl rumbles from deep inside my chest. The evil guys stare at me. Nobody dares to move. I lift my massive head as my transformation has completed.

I hear a few of my friends gasp and scream. But I don’t turn to look. The world has changed for me now. The wind brushes through my white fur. Every vision and every sound becomes clear.

I hear heartbeats, smell emotions, and feel vibrations beneath the earth. Freedom surges through my wolf.

She is wild, beautiful, and dangerous.

The guys finally understand. They are no longer hunting prey. They have awakened a monster. A sharp crack splits the air, and pain explodes through my shoulder. I jerk back. A second crack follows, and then a third.

Gunshots.

Blood sprays across my white fur. A tortured howl rips from my throat. Agony burns through my shoulder and hind leg. I am nearly knocked off my feet.

They recover their predatory positions and raise weapons. Again, they start moving toward my friends and me.

I bare my fangs. A growl tears free. It sounds fierce, but panic rises inside. I’m injured, and this is my first transformation. I don’t know how to manage her fury in my head, but I am crying that I can’t protect my friends.

Another wave of dizziness crashes into me, and I’m going down.

This is the moment when the woods burst with a howl. Everyone freezes within miles. The sound is powerful, ancient, and dominant.

The trees shake. The men spin toward the woods. Fear floods the clearing. A massive black wolf steps from the shadows. He is enormous, and his golden eyes lock onto mine.

Everything inside me goes still.

Mate.

The realization slams into both my wolf and me. A bond snaps into place.

Instant.

Primal.

Unbreakable.

The black wolf stalks forward. The guys step back, trapped between the black and white wolves. One of them actually whimpers.

I feel a presence brush against my mind. It’s strong, warm, and protective.

A fucking mind link.

His voice doesn’t use words. It uses emotions. Like right now, he’s showing concern, possessiveness, and rage. His attention flickers toward my wounds, and pure fury follows.

I send back my emotions to protect my friends. He looks at them and then back at me. Another growl shakes the clearing.

Come to me.

The command is clear. I plant my paws firmly and refuse to leave my friends. The black wolf growls again in frustration, and I growl right back at him to make sure I am not leaving my friends behind.

For several seconds, we stare at each other. Neither is willing to back down. We are both furious, and neither one of us is willing to retreat.

The attackers exchange glances, and one of them drops his weapon. The black wolf keeps growling, so they step backward and mistakenly crash into me.

The black wolf suddenly moves toward me. His lips peel back, revealing deadly fangs. A savage growl tolls through the clearing.

This time, the message is clear.

How dare they touch his mate?

The black wolf lunges at my attacker and kills them instantly.

The black wolf isn’t just a stranger in the wilderness. He is my fated mate who came to rescue me. The black wolf runs toward me, his gaze fierce yet comforting. I can’t help but feel a strange sensation wash over me. My wolf is blushing. I want to take back control of my body, but it’s my first time, so I don’t know how to turn back into a human.

Everything blurs, then goes black, and the sounds around me fade into a distant blur.