Chapter Two: Seeds of Offerings

Chapter Two: Seeds of Offerings

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POV: *Fate*

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It had been two weeks since I met the woman who now took up most of my thoughts. If mortal lore is to be believed, I would have guessed she was my mate by fate. I had this pull to her that I couldn’t explain as anything else. I only wished I had gotten her name before we went into that closet or before we left it. I have no doubt that if I had asked her between kissing her skin she would have caved and given it to me. She couldn’t have been my mate though. She died when we were children. I just couldn’t explain who she was and trust me when I say I have been trying to find out ever since that night.

The chime of the door brought me back to the present day. It was the middle of the week and the library I worked out at was the least busy around this time. The bell chiming not for a consumer but for my friend, Cerberus. I watched the two ladies sitting in chairs across the way staring at him with interest.

“About time.” I teased as he took a seat behind the counter next to me.

“I will take it by your pleasant demeanor, you have yet to locate the mystery woman.” He chuckled and I shrugged.

“Luckily, for you, your best friend is freaking awesome.” He boasted and I turned to give him my full attention. He had been trying to find information about her from the rumor mills around town. Anytime a new shifter popped up there was talk of some kind. She had to have been noticed by someone else. She was too stunning not to have been.

“From the few rumors I have heard about possible newcomers only one really matched your description. She may be the charge of a council member.” The way he revealed that last part made my skin crawl.

Of all the mortals a shifter would be caught seen with, the council was the least expected. They were petty and cruel and fought constantly to take away shifter rights. They had been an issue even before the shifter community had been outed to the rest of the population. The members of the current chapter are the new generation of bigots from a long line of small minds. There was no way she was one of them.

“That rumor can’t have much stock.” I criticized her as I remembered the way she offered her hand up for me to take so confidently. She didn’t strike me as someone raised to hate our kind. Then again, I didn’t think we had more than one mate.

“It wouldn’t be the first time I had heard they had a pup.” He said as he watched me carefully. He knew what it could mean if she was one of them.

It was one thing that I might have a second chance to rejoin my pack. I could gain Alpha status. I could see a family I hadn’t seen since I was a child, but to risk bringing in an enemy, that could change everything. It was a decision I would need to make in order to decide if chasing after her was worth it. The problem was, I didn’t know if I had much choice in the matter.

I sat there and thought of everything I would be risking but to say I needed to was an understatement. It felt like the moment I had locked eyes onto her I knew I was no longer myself. I was hers. I was someone’s home, and I couldn’t go back to being just Fate Morrigan.

I didn’t have a chance to respond to him and set up plans to check it out before the computer chimed with an incoming email.

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From: Unknown Sender

To: FateMorrigan@CCPublicLibrary. com

Subject: Trade

Body: The council has heard rumors you are asking around about Lavender Ash. We are recently aware that she is a shifter such as yourself and we wish to make a trade. We will allow you to take her into your care under the condition that we are unharmed. Once she has been properly handed off, we will remain our distance and encourage you to keep yours. Meet us at eleven tomorrow night.

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I looked at the screen and read her name over and over again. The woman I cannot seem to get in my mind is named Lavender. I smiled slightly at the name. I spent my life wondering who named their children boring names so that they could find their names on license plates. The thought of the trinket brought the fact they wanted to trade her like an object. Trade.

What did they do when the council felt the need for protection? Did they know I was meant to take over as Alpha with Lavender by my side? I sent an email back to confirm the meeting. I didn’t care what they wanted in return. I was going to bring her home to me. Where she belonged.

I hit the send and looked over at my friend who had been reading everything over my shoulder.

“What if she is like them?” he asked, and his eyebrows crinkled together slightly in concern.

“I think we are fated,” I answered and watched his eyes grow wide.

“That’s impossible.” He confirmed everything I had ever been told. We got one. One person in our lifetime was meant to rule as a team.

“I can’t risk leaving her there if it is,” I said, and he nodded. I closed my eyes and imagined the way she rested her palms on my chest. I counted her fingers with my heartbeat. I wasn’t wrong here. It didn’t matter that it shouldn’t be possible. It just was and I needed her home. I needed her with me.

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