My Rejected Mate

Chapter 10

SERENA'S POV

Kyle stared at me as if I had just told him I had never seen a wolf before. "I can't shift," I repeated. He finally looked away, running a hand through his hair as he seemed to process that. "You're telling me you've never shifted in your entire life?"

"I've tried."

"How many times?" I gave him a look. "Enough times to know it doesn't work." He didn't seem satisfied with that answer. He started walking toward me again, studying my face as if he expected me to suddenly admit that I was joking.

"I grew up surrounded by wolves who could shift," I said. "I knew what it was supposed to feel like. I tried it during training. I tried when I was angry. I tried when I was scared. I even tried after I was rejected, which, in hindsight, was probably not my brightest moment."

Kyle's expression softened. "Nothing happened?"

"Nothing."

He was quiet for a moment. "Then I don't think you don't have a wolf." I almost laughed. "How can you sound so sure when you don't even know me?"

"I know enough."

"From what? Three days of conversations?"

His eyes held mine. "There are things about you that don't add up." I folded my arms. "That's a very mysterious way of saying absolutely nothing." A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "I've heard stories about wolves who don't shift when they should."

I waited. "Dormant wolves," he continued. "It's extremely rare, but there are records of wolves whose animal remains dormant for years before awakening." I stared at him. "So you’re saying my wolf has been asleep for twenty-one years?"

"I said it was a possibility."

"And what wakes it up?"

"I don't know." I let out a breath. "That's reassuring."

"I didn't say it was a complete explanation." He turned toward the trees. "We should check the records."

"The records?"

"The old ones. If dormant wolves existed, someone wrote about them." I followed him out of the clearing. For the first time since I had woken up in Eldoria, I found myself wanting an answer almost as badly as I wanted to go home.

The library was housed in a large stone building near the center of the territory. The outside was plain, but the moment Kyle opened the heavy wooden door, I realized how old the place really was.

Shelves stretched across the room from floor to ceiling. Some books were stacked neatly. Others were tied together in bundles and placed inside wooden cabinets. There were scrolls, handwritten records and books with covers so worn that I couldn't imagine how many hands had touched them.

Kyle walked past several shelves without slowing down. "Do you actually read all of this?"

"I've had a lot of free time." I glanced at him. "Apparently." He ignored the comment and pulled out a large book. I opened it and the first page wasn't English. Neither was the second. Or the third. I flipped through several more pages and recognized a few symbols, but nothing that made any sense.

"What language is this?"

"Latin." I looked at him. "Of course you can read Latin." He gave me a confused look. "What did you expect?"

"I don't know. English?" That earned a laugh. He returned the book to the shelf and picked up another. This one was in Greek. I stared at the pages. "Do you speak Greek too?"

"Yes." I looked at him. "Don't tell me you can speak five languages."

"Seventeen." My mouth fell open. "What?" He seemed completely serious. "I can fluently speak and understand seventeen languages." I stared at him. He looked entirely too pleased with himself. "Why do you look like you just discovered I have three heads?"

"Because seventeen is ridiculous."

"It's useful."

"Do you ever get tired of being impressive?" He smiled. "I try not to make it a habit." I shook my head and looked back at the shelves. "I'd be happy if I could speak one language without getting into an argument."

"You're doing well so far." I looked at him and laughed. For a few minutes, the search was almost fun.

Kyle moved through the shelves with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where everything belonged. I followed behind him, pulling out books whenever I recognized words that looked remotely familiar. Most of them weren't.

Some were written in languages I'd never seen before. Others were so old that even Kyle had to slow down and examine them. Eventually, he stopped in front of a narrow shelf near the back. "This might be it."

He pulled out a thick, leather-bound book. The cover had no title. Inside, the pages were filled with old writing and illustrations. I leaned over his shoulder. At first, I couldn't understand anything. Then I noticed the drawings.

One showed a wolf standing beneath what looked like a full moon. Another showed a human figure surrounded by strange symbols. Kyle turned the page. There was an illustration of a person with a dark mark on their wrist.

My stomach tightened. "Wait." He stopped. I pointed at the drawing. "That." Kyle looked at it. The mark was small, but the shape was unmistakable. It looked like mine. He turned the page. The writing was mostly in another language, but scattered throughout the text were a few words I could recognize.

Wolf. Blood. Awaken. I didn’t understand the connection between any of those words. I traced one of the illustrations with my eyes. "What does it say?" Kyle began translating slowly. "Something about wolves who remain dormant beyond the usual age."

He turned another page. The next section was badly damaged. Several lines had faded almost completely, and part of the page had been torn away. I leaned closer. There were still a few words left.

Kyle translated them. "The mark appears before the awakening." I looked down at my wrist. The room suddenly felt quieter. "Before the awakening?" He nodded slowly.

I looked back at the illustration. The mark was exactly where mine was. "Then what does it mean?" Kyle didn't answer. I turned the page myself. There was another drawing. This one showed the same figure, but the wolf beside it looked different from the others.

Its eyes were dark. Not the usual golden or amber color I'd seen in other wolves. Black. Beneath the illustration, only a few words remained. Kyle leaned closer to the page.

His expression changed.

"What?"

He didn't answer immediately. I looked at him. "Kyle."

He finally spoke.

"There's something written here that I don't think you're going to like."