Wolf Shifter Diaries: Lies Tamed (Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series Book 2) E. Hall (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📖

A rod leans against the wall across from me. I worm my way over, knock it down, and then struggle to grasp it. I wedge it under the rope, working it looser. A loud bang shakes the shed. Contorting my limbs, I growl with the effort to break free when the door flies open.

Chapter 21

Kenna

My fae magic swells inside. Like summoning my wolf, it exists just beneath the surface. I can call upon it at will. Wielding it is another issue altogether.

Leaving Corbin on the roadside wasn’t easy, but maybe fate was wrong. How could he double-cross me like that?

If his answer is to protect me, I can protect myself thank you very much. And considering I tracked him to the garden shed behind Lonsdale, it looks like he needs some assistance at the moment.

Instead of blasting the door to the shed, I use a good, old fashioned kick when the latch doesn’t work. The door doesn’t budge.

A faint mark glows on the wooden frame of the entry. I trace my finger over it and feel a trace of magic. I summon my own. I feel it rise along with my wolf—perhaps because I’m in such close proximity to Corbin. At least, I hope it’s him and this isn’t a trap.

The magic crackles at my fingertips and I cast it at the marking on the door. It explodes, sending sparks like fireworks.

The door flies open.

My mate is in physical form, wriggling and writhing as he works on getting free as an errant spark of my magic flies past his head.

His eyes are wide. “Couldn’t you have kicked it open?” he asks.

“I tried, but how about a thank you for coming to my rescue even though you don’t deserve it?”

“Thank you.” He gets to his feet and tosses off the ropes.

The marking on the doorframe pulses, sizzles, and then fades to nothing.

Corbin eyes it with an arched brow. “That was a Rune of Closure. No wonder you couldn’t use force.” He points to my fingers. “Must’ve been beginner’s luck, and I consider myself lucky you didn’t blow my head off.”

“I can’t say it didn’t cross my mind.” I scowl.

Our gazes meet. His eyes dip. I incline my head. Then Corbin’s arms are around me, and he presses his lips against mine. My inhale catches sharply. I kiss him back with fury, with passion, with fear this may be another last time. My wolf whines inside.

My hands don’t know where to land as they glide over his arms, shoulders, back, neck, and to his jaw. I want to pull him closer at the same time that I want to push him away.

I want the love we shared back, but I’m not sure it can overcome the lies. His rough stubble scratches my cheek, sanding away what I thought I wanted in order to reveal what I need.

Around our kiss, I say, “Corbin, I want the truth, whatever it takes.”

He draws back and the scowl that had darkened his features softens. I can’t deny the wash of warmth that flows through me at his ruggedly handsome face.

I hold up my fingers, still shimmering with magic. “If you try to capture me and bring me to the Council, I will use my magic against you.”

He holds his hands up in surrender.

“I’m not ready to hear your apology, but the werewolf is out there, and the betas need your help. The humans need your help. They need my help too. I thought I had to prove myself to the pack. In reality, I just want to do the right thing.”

Corbin draws a deep breath. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I was acting without thinking. Following orders, when I’m an Alpha. A leader. I know better than that. My role is to think for myself. I know you’re not a monster. Dangerous, maybe, but not more so than deceit. That can be the ruin of many good people.”

I move to kiss him again when my wolf’s hackles prickle.

Corbin stiffens. His eyes grow wide.

Then I pitch forward and meet the ground with a smash before everything goes dark.

I wake to a fetid stench that overpowers the earthy smell of the garden and fields. Am I still at Lonsdale? Where is Corbin? I’m groggy and my head aches.

The indistinct murmur of voices comes from nearby. “Make sure they’re both tied up,” says a familiar voice followed by a thin laugh.

“The wolf is husky,” a gurgling voice says as a figure lands beside me with a painful sounding thud.

“Oof,” I mutter when his right arm and leg land on mine.

“Corbin, wake up.” It isn’t friendly to kick my mate in the shin, but in this bound position, I can’t shake or otherwise rouse him. I kick him again.

He moans.

“Seriously. This is bad. We need to—”

“You need to what?” Clove hovers over me with his hands on hips and his face stony.

Once more, my heart sinks into flame. Anger. Betrayal. “What is going on?” I croak.

“Considering you’re the one tied up in my house, I don’t have to do anything.”

I blink my surroundings into focus. Sheets cover furniture, I smell mildew, and a clock ticks a lonely beat in the background.

“Whose house?” I spit.

I’m in Lonsdale. After I left Corbin on the edge of the woods, I came here, thinking this was where my father fled.

“I like to think of it as my place. A consolation prize for not having a father.” Clove leans on a side table and crosses his arms over his chest then stacks one leg over the other like this is a casual affair, and we’re just over for tea.

“But