Chapter 64

After I shifted for the very first time, nothing else mattered except the urge to run. My yearning to be outside in the night, racing across the land, was overwhelming. It was far worse than any craving I had ever experienced.

“Let’s go,” Diana pleaded. “There is a door to the outside just over there.”

Diana was right. I hurried to the door to the left of the dais and growled as I threw myself at the release bar that would unlatch the door.

To my relief, the door opened, and I rushed outside.

The night was a totally different experience in my wolf form. I could see as well as I could during the day, and I could smell everything around me.

And not only the smell of things nearby. Intriguing scents also drifted to my nostrils on the wind.

“They smell delicious, don’t they?” Diana said. “We should track them and discover what prey is nearby.”

But on my way around the west wing, I passed by the darkened windows of the game room and saw my reflection in the glass.

“That can’t be me … I mean us.” I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Indeed it is,” Diana said with a chuckle. “You …we are a beautiful she-wolf.”

Gazing at myself in the glass, I was unable to look away.

I was larger than I expected, as large as some males. My back would reach higher than my human waist.

I blinked, noticing my emerald green eyes were brighter than usual, perhaps in sharp contrast to my thick, dark brown coat with golden highlights that glistened in the moonlight.

I turned in a circle and admired my lean and well-defined muscles, and I couldn’t resist wagging my tail a few times. It would be great for giving me extra balance.

Then I bared my large, sharp teeth at my image, delighted when they gleamed white in the moonlight. They were perfect for defense.

There was no doubt. I was an Alpha wolf.

“Come, Daisy, let’s follow the scent of prey,” urged Diana. “Hunting is one of the greatest pleasures of being a wolf.”

My enhanced hearing told me small creatures were hiding in the bush under the window of the music room.

Stealthily, I crept closer to investigate.

“I believe that smell is a rabbit,” Diana said.

I nosed aside part of the bush and discovered a mother rabbit shielding a nest of her young ones.

“She’s just protecting her children,” I said.

“It would be cruel to harm her,” Diana agreed. “Let’s go in search of larger prey.”

I took a last look at myself in the window and ran around the side of the mansion, through the rose garden, and past the pond.

When I reached the field, I raced toward the woods, marveling at how fast I was now. It felt wonderful to run. It was what this body was created for and what it wanted to do.

I entered the woods without any hesitation. After all, I was no longer the prey. I was the hunter.

Following my nose, I caught a scent that made my mouth water.

“There are beasts in these woods worthy of our talents,” Diana told me. “Can you smell them?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Tell me what to do.”

“Use your instincts,” Diana replied. “You’ll know what to do.”

Following the scent, I started to move soundlessly through the trees. But the prey must have been on the move because the smell grew fainter.

“Let’s go for a longer run,” Diana said. “I feel stifled in these woods, or maybe … maybe I feel a distant connection to our true mates.”

“How far away are they?” I asked. I had always dreamed of finding my true mate.

“I don’t know,” Diana replied. “I’ve never experienced anything like this feeling. I’m restless and excited at the same time. Perhaps a run would help me calm down.”

Happily, I agreed and ran around the perimeter of my father's property until I grew thirsty.

After running to the pond, I stopped for a drink. It felt strange to lower my face into the pond and lap up the water with my tongue.

“I wonder if I can swim now,” I said to Diana.

“Of course, you can,” she replied. “All wolves can swim naturally. You probably always could in your human form, but fear got in your way.”

“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “I feel like I can do anything right now.”

I went back to drinking the water. It tasted better than any liquid I had ever tasted.

As I drank from the cool, clean water, another scent drifted to my nostrils that excited Diana more than the smell of prey.

“Do you smell that, Daisy?” she asked in a way that echoed throughout my mind. “It’s two of the most intoxicating scents I ever imagined could exist.”

I could feel her excitement, but I didn’t recognize the scent. It wasn’t prey. What was it?

“But how? I must be mistaken. Why would there be two?” Diana mused. “How can there be two Fated Mates?”

I then knew Diana meant the scent only an inner wolf could detect. It was the scent of a Fated Mate. But it didn’t make sense for there to be two.

Nobody had two Fated Mates, did they?

“Let’s follow both scents and find out who they lead us to,” I suggested.

“Yes,” Diana agreed. “Hurry. The scents are close. I must know who they are.”

Turning toward the house, I galloped through the topiaries and the rose garden to the glass doors of the ballroom.

“The scent is coming from inside this room,” Diana said.

“In the ballroom?” I mused. “Was it possible that my Fated Mate was at my ball tonight? Fated Mates weren’t found that easily anymore.”

“There are two of them,” Diana insisted. “I'm sure I detect two of them, and they are both in this room.”

That’s when I saw Victor and William standing together near the fireplace. Judging by their stiff postures and the alarmed looks on their faces, something must be wrong.

I took a few steps closer when people noticed me and alerted the rest of the guests to my presence.

Both Victor and William turned and looked at me, and then they froze. Diana seemed to struggle inside my mind before she let out a howl, and I couldn’t resist joining in with her.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of fabric as Victor and William shifted into their wolf forms. Their howels split the air and joined mine.

Then the three of us looked at each other, unable to believe at first what was happening.

The two young males were the most appealing pair of wolves I had ever seen.

They were both large and well-muscled. Victor was a little larger and broader across his chest, but William was a bit longer in body length.

Victor had a coat the color of midnight. It gleamed in the light of the ballroom chandeliers and perfectly set off his magnificent turquoise eyes.

William was his opposite. He had a coat the color of sunshine and eyes the color of a late spring sky.

They hurried toward me with a lithe grace while every guest in the ballroom gasped with surprise.

One of the guests said, “I have heard of this, but I thought it was just an old story. It’s called a double Mate Bond.”