Fractured by N.O Darling

Chapter 0011

Chapter 11

The telltale growl of a predator grows louder as it approaches from the darkness. | urge my feet to run, but they

refuse. | try to force out a scream, but it won't come. The only thing I can do is breathe heavily as panic grips me

My legs begin to tremble under the weight of my fear.

“Don’t move,” A voice whispers from behind me. | want to respond that | couldn't move even if | wanted to, but

words fail me. | hear a whoosh behindand then a huge dog appears at my side, growling aggressively back

at the predator lurking in the shadows. The dog moves to stand in front ofprotectively, its thick black coat

shining in the moonlight. It edges forward, snarling and snapping its jaws. Then | see it, bright blue eyes emerge

from the shadows. Coming out to challenge my protector. It’s at this moment that | realise these are not just big

dogs, they're freaking wolves! Why are there wolves here? My mind goes back to the books I'd fead. The

originals were soulbound to the wolf spirits. One of the gifts of a Grey was shapeshifting. These are not just

wolves, they're Greys. They're people, and one of them wants to kill me. | have a sneaking suspicion | know who

the murderous wolf is. “Mason,” the nslips from my mouth as I think it. At my voice the snarling stops. The

wolf | suspect is Mason stares atwith curious eyes before letting out a whimper and disappearing back into

the shadows. | scan the darkness for any trace of him but he seems to have gone

“How can one girl causeso much in such a short amount of time,” the voice of Mr Collins snap

| look back to where my protective wolf was, wondering if he might bite Mr Collins in the ass for me, but the wolf

is gone. In its place stands Mr Collins. He was my protector. Great. | don’t even have the strength to cup

with a smart-ass reply right now. | stumble towards the fountain and sit on its edge, working to catch my breath

and process what just happened.

“Mason really wantsdead doesn’t he?” | whimper.

“Mason has sissues but | don’t think he'd actually kill you, I think it's more likely that he’s trying to scare

you away. I'll deal with him tomorrow. You need to get back to your room and keep your door locked,” Mr Collins

instructs.

“What good is that going to do?” | snort, “he practically turned it into wood shavings earlier. Just takehome,

back to the human realm. | don’t belong here,”

“I can’t do that, you are exactly where you should be,” he responds, his tone softer than usual. | glance up at

him and see concern in his eyes. There he goes with his Jekyll and Hyde act again. He pulls out his phone and

appears to send a message to someone before he comes to sit besideon the stone ledge with a drawn-out

sigh. “Josie, | can’t promise things are going to be easy for you, but | can promise I'm going to do everything |

can to keep you safe,” he says. His use of my nmakes my breath catch in my throat. We sit in silence for a

few moments, staring at the moon.

“Did you really just turn into a wolf?” | shake my head in disbelief that those words just cout of my mouth. It

is not something | thought I'd ever ask someone.

“Yes, and you will be able to soon. Our powers start to manifest in our eighteenth year and we usually gain the

ability to shift into our wolves by the age of twenty,” he tells me. | burst into laughter at his words. What the hell

is happening here? This morning | woke up as a normal human, just like | have done every single day for the last

eighteen years, and now I'm in a different realm, in a magic school, with magic powers, and at spoint in the

next fourteen months I'm going to start turning into a wolf! Oh, and let's not forget my multiple soulmates and

that | might be the reincarnation of one of the originals and here to save the world! Happy freaking Monday!

“What's wrong with her?” | hear Theo ask. | guess he just magicked himself here from somewhere. | laugh

harder. “I think the shock has got to her, she’s having skind of trauma response. It's not unheard of in these

situations. Pick her up, I'll put her to sleep until it passes. Stay with her until I've dealt with Mason,” Mr Collins

1/2

Chapter 0011

tells Theo and | know | should protest, be outraged at him, but | no longer care. This whole thing is hilarious.

Theo scoopsup in his arms and | continue to laugh.

“Josie, you will sleep until this passes,” Mr Collins’ words float Into my mind and spread throughout my body,

soothing it like a balm until all | feel is peace.

When | wake again it’s still dark, there's steady breathing behindand a warm body pressed up against mine.

A heavy arm is draped over my waist, holdingprotectively. My instincts somehow know it’s Theo. | hate to

admit that he bringsso much comfort. I'm not used to this. | don’t let people get close tolike this, and

I've only known him for a few hours, but on my humongous list of shit to overthink, this scores low. | relax into

his hold, | need more sleep before classes tomorrow. As I'm drifting off back to sleep | notice that it’s not just

Theo's and my breathing | can hear, there's someone else in the room with us. | peek my eyes open slightly and

in the corner of the room, | see the silhouette of a person watchingwith glowing blue eyes.

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word

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