A Curse of Fate (Shifter City Fated Mates #1)

Chapter 41

Chapter

Forty-One

T he week of the Summit passed without further incident.

Hunter had no choice but to head back to the office, with all of his entitled alpha duties and CEO responsibilities. Not that I’d been left alone since the attack, but thankfully today was the last day of their Summit meetings, and I found myself with Slade of all shifters.

Kellan and Finley had training, not that the bear would ever be alone with me, even if my life depended on him. I was probably in more danger with him than out on my own.

“We have two more shifters to question,” Slade said as way of greeting when I wandered down to the kitchen for breakfast. “You have ten minutes to get ready.”

I glanced down at my skimpy tank and PJ shorts, and then back up at the dragon, who was in his usual enforcer’s outfit of black army pants, fitted tee, and combat boots that could kill a shifter with one blow.

“Okay.”

Running up the stairs, I hoped that today was the day we unearthed useful information. The other sessions I’d attended had all led us nowhere, except for giving me nightmares about blood-soaked shifters.

I was back downstairs in under eight minutes, dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt that matched my eyes. I’d also thrown on black biker boots, because I had a tiny bit of Slade hero worship going on. It was safer not to question the weird shit that was happening in my head lately. Instead I embraced the chaos.

“Eat,” he said, as he stepped aside to reveal a heated breakfast sandwich on the counter, along with a coffee. “You have two minutes.”

“Yes, sir.”

His pupils flared, and I swung around and hurried to the food.

In my defense, I’d meant that to just be in my head, and I really hoped he wasn’t about to fry my ass. I relaxed as soon as the scent of bacon filtered into my system—the guys used these sandwiches as quick breakfasts on the run, but they were my favorite morning snacks.

Wolfing it down, pun intended, I finished by gulping the coffee, which was thankfully only lukewarm. “Done!” I declared, certain I’d made it under his deadline.

I hadn’t looked his way since my sir slipped out, but I felt his eyes on me. There was nothing quite like the coldly piercing stare of a dragon.

Without acknowledgement, he left the kitchen, and I hurried after him like a puppy. I’d be the one with Kellan’s nickname soon if I wasn’t careful.

Slade led me down to the garage, and I played my new game of trying to guess which of their amazing vehicle collection he’d take today. When he stopped by the bikes, I felt my eyes grow anime-style wide as I stared at him, and then at the bikes, and then back at him. “Holy shit. Are you fucking with me?”

The minutest of twitches pulled the corner of his lips. “Kellan wanted me to give you a gift.”

That was when I noticed one of the bikes had a black, shiny sheet draped over it. Slade nodded, giving me permission to approach, and I almost fell over my own feet as I raced forward. Gripping the edge of the sheet, my heart slammed in my chest, and I’d never been both this excited and nervous at the same time.

I pulled slowly at first, but my eagerness got the better of me. Red came into view and then I was screaming, jumping up and down beside the most beautiful bike I’d ever seen.

It was the match of Slade’s Ducati Panigale V4R, but while his was stealth black, mine had been painted a stunning reddish pink, close in color to my hair.

“He had it made custom for you.”

I lifted my head as the first hot tear spilled down my cheek, and Slade looked horrified as he took a step back. “You hate it?”

“Goddess, no,” I choked out. “This is the most amazing gift I’ve ever been given. I can’t believe Kellan did this for me… I’ll never be able to pay him back though.” The reality of that dulled my excitement, as I forced myself to acknowledge that I really shouldn’t take this gift. It wasn’t a few extra clothes or makeup. It was a very expensive piece of machinery.

Slade tilted his head as he took in my expression. “You don’t pay for gifts. That’s not how they work. It would hurt Kellan’s feelings if you refused it.”

Hurting that alpha was the last thing I’d ever do, and with that in mind I decided I would borrow the bike but not claim it as my own. A compromise we could both live with. “Okay, I won’t throw it in his face,” I said to Slade, before sucking in a deep breath. “So… does that mean we’re going to ride today?”

My wolf even perked up at the thought of being on a bike again, which told me she had missed it as much as me.

Slade nodded, sending a jolt of excitement through me as my stomach started doing somersaults. “Yes. Jacket and helmet are over there on the rack. Suit up.”

Yes, sir! This time I managed to keep my inside thoughts from spilling out.

The leather jacket was black, in a high-quality leather, folded neatly on the rack. When I shook it loose, I chuckled at the Shortcake stitched on the back in the same pinkish red as my bike. My full-faced helmet was also pink, and when I slid both on, I felt like a million dollars.

Kellan owned a large chunk of my heart, and he demonstrated repeatedly that his love was the sort that you’d burn worlds for. The longer I knew him, the more I understood there was no real future where I could leave him. Which was terrifying, but for the first time I embraced a sliver of hope that I might find a way to stay with this pack.

Even if it was never perfect, maybe it could be enough.

Slade slid on his black jacket and helmet and then swung a long leg over his Panigale. While I’d suited up, he’d turned mine around for me so all I had to do was get on and enjoy the ride.

“Fuckkk,” I groaned, sinking into the seat. It felt like heaven, and I wondered if I’d come in my pants when she started up.

Slade kicked over his bike first, and in the garage it was loud. Give me more . My energy bounced as I started mine, the two of us sitting for a beat to drink in perfection.

“There’s nothing like it,” I choked out, thrumming in the seat. “I swear, this is one of my favorite sounds in the world.”

Slade’s gaze was extra green when he met mine, right before he dropped his visor. “Mine too.”

He took off through the already open garage door, and I followed close behind. Excited tension held me as we started out slow, giving me a chance to get used to the powerful motor, but once we hit that open road, I had plans to explode like a firework.

Out of town, Slade took off and I was right there with him.

My body thrummed as my heart raced with the bike, and I wanted to ask Slade if this was what flying felt like, but we didn’t have any comms connecting our helmets.

If this shifter ever opened up to me, I had a hell of lot of questions to ask him. For now, I was content with watching him during the day and having secret naughty dreams at night.

My brief moments of hope should have warned me that everything was going too well. Life rarely ran smoothly for me. Even as Slade swung around to warn me, I never saw the attack coming.

A rocket hit his bike, and the blast smashed into me at the same time. The explosion threw me out into the desert, and I slammed against a tree, my spine cracking under the force. Darkness danced on the edge of my vision while my wolf howled and scraped at my insides.

A dragon roared in the background, but I was too far gone to see what was happening.

Pain dragged me from my semi-unconscious state, and I caught a glimpse of shifters surrounding me. Unfamiliar scents filled the air. I felt a prick in my neck, and warmth flooded my veins, bringing darkness with it once more.

It was a twilight sedation, so I was aware of being carried and thrown into the back of a vehicle. I had no idea of the extent of my injuries, but I’d definitely cracked a part of my body that shouldn’t be cracked.

Slade… The drugs kept me from the full force of my panic over what had happened to the dragon shifter. He’d copped the full force of the blast, but I’d heard him roar after, so he wasn’t dead. At least not immediately.

Had they murdered him while he was hurt and vulnerable?

Well, as vulnerable as a dragon ever was.

I wanted to scream and rage and destroy every one of these fuckers with my bare hands, but I couldn’t even lift a finger, let alone get closer to them.

“Hit her again,” someone grumbled, and the voice was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew it from.

There was another needle prick, and this time there was no fighting the sedation.

The thought of being unconscious and alone with strangers had me silently screaming all the way into oblivion.