Chapter 216

Ethan

The bond between Fiona and I is blocked, and I can’t figure out why. I was trying to let her know I would join her shopping trip, but I couldn’t get a response. I also couldn’t get ahold of Laxus.

Fiona is still new at mind linking, so there’s bound to be issues, but I’ve never not been able to mind link with Laxus, so my worry increases beyond measure.

Zev rams against the barrier separating my mind and Fiona’s mind.

“Anything?” I ask, jumping over a fallen tree. I race through the forest connecting my land and the Kingdom Center. I’m starting to think I shouldn’t let Fiona out of the house. Every time she’s away from my side or out on her own, she gets into some kind of trouble.

“I can’t get through. The barrier isn’t a mental shield. There’s something wrong.”

I try to think positively, but deep down, I know this wasn’t normal. Growling, I push myself to go faster. My mate needs me.

“Michael, Robert. Have you heard from Laxus?” I call through our link.

“No, Alpha. He had us patrolling near where he and Luna Fiona were, but we haven’t seen him,” Michael answers immediately.

“There’s no sign of them, but I found a patch of blood and several rogues. Three dead. Two unconscious,” Robert says.

My mind and my wolf revolt.

“A-l-Alpha.”

“Laxus? What’s going on?” The sound of his voice is interrupted and stuttering, but it’s there. “Laxus?!”

“Luna… attacked by… might… hurt…”

His words continue to break up, and the last thing I hear him say is, “Hospital.”

Changing my direction, I head for the hospital, praying to the Goddess that Fiona is alright. I order Michael and Rober to clean up the rogue mess and hold onto the two that are alive. I wanted to avoid outright attacking rogues, but five of them working together to attack on pack land is strange.

The fact that this is the second attack on my mate tells me this wasn’t an accident.

“I will get to my mate,” Zev growls, ramming the barrier again. He slams and slams until a crack forms. It spreads up the wall, and with one more hit, part of the barrier falls away.

“I’m coming, Fiona.”

“Ethan? Where are you?” Her panicked voice screams through my mind, almost sending me tumbling to the ground from the volume. A slight relief settles in my chest, but I won’t be fully alright until I see her, touch her.

I need to know she’s alright.

“I’m almost there. Hang on, baby.”

There’s no response, but that’s okay because the hospital comes into view. Without stopping, I shift and run into the hospital. Fiona’s scent leads me to a room, but the closer I get, the more I realize her scent is a little off.

The metallic smell of blood and her normal sweet scent are mixed with a more natural forest scent. The blood alarms me to move faster while the forest scent confuses me.

“Fiona!”

I skid to a stop just before I reach the bed, my eyes landing on a gorgeous reddish-brown wolf that’s growling at everyone in the room. The healers and Laxus all stand several steps away, keeping clear of the she-wolf.

“What is going on?” I demand, my focus returning to the wolf. “Where is…”

Fiona’s scent. I move a bit closer, taking in the female wolf’s scent to find it’s the strange mixture from the hallway.

“Fiona?”

The she-wolf whines and claws at the bed, trying to shuffle forward. Everyone in the room jumps, shouting, “Don’t!”

She growls, baring her teeth at everyone before turning her big brown eyes on me.

“Mate,” Zev rumble, pushing me to get closer to the she-wolf. He rubs against the link connecting me and Fiona, and the she-wolf whines in response. Holy shit.

“Fiona,” I whisper. She focuses solely on me and my mind whirls. What the hell is happening? How is she a wolf.

“Ethan!”

“Mate.”

Fiona’s voice and another female voice ring in my mind at the same time. Zev barks with excitement at the development while I try to stay calm.

“She’s scared, Zev. Calm down,” I order, reaching out to her slowly. She’s gorgeous but scared. This is so far out of the realm of anything that’s happened before that I don’t know what to do. How did a human turn into a wolf?

Was this some kind of side effect of our mating? Did I do this to her?

Shit.

Was that possible?

The blood on her fur catches my eye as she leans closer to my hand. That had better not be her blood. If it is, someone is going to pay with their life.

The she-wolf sniffs at my hand right before a pink tongue darts out and flicks across my palm. The rough texture of her tongue brings all my attention back to the present and I gently rub my hand down the back of her head.

“I’m going to need you to come back, Fiona. I need you to focus and come back to me,” I whisper, and when she lowers her head, I sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m right here, and you’re safe. You can come back.”

When she doesn’t respond, I run my hand from her head down her back. The tension in her body eases a bit, and I realize that Fiona may not be fully in control.

“Hey, pretty wolf,” I murmur. Her head tilts to the side a bit, and her eyes flash brighter gold. Right. There’s something going on here that I don’t understand, but I do understand the struggle between the two entities in one head.

“It’s nice to meet you, but right now, I need Fiona back,” I tell her softly, then I lean in and press my forehead to hers. The touch eases more tension in her body, and her breathing slows down a bit more. “We need to check her injuries and make sure the pup is okay. Can you let her come out for a while?”

The she-wolf releases a humming whine before she licks my arm and rubs her nose against it. I accept the affection, returning it with a forehead rub and a soft nip at her ear. The little hum of pleasure that vibrates from her chest has me smiling and nipping at her ear again.

It’s a bit strange, showing wolf affection in my human form, but I feel that if I shift, she won’t come back to her own human form.

A sense of acceptance filters down our bond, and I wait patiently, letting her take the time to fully calm down. She rubs against me, leaving her scent on my body like females do when they find their mates. Again, she nuzzles my neck, and surprisingly she licks the faint bite mark that Fiona left on my shoulder.

After a few more minutes of touching, she finally lays back on the bed, flops onto her side, and rests her head in my lap. A sense of readiness follows her acceptance from earlier, and within a minute, Fiona is laying on my lap, staring up at me with wide eyes.