Chapter Four

Chapter Four

When the receptionist finally called my name and told me Dr. Colton Fenley was ready to see me, something inside me shifted. For the first time in a long time, I felt a flicker of hope — small, fragile, but real. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was the moment I finally started getting my life together. Maybe this was the first step toward clawing my way out of the hole I’d been drowning in for years.

I stood, legs trembling, and started up the stairs toward his office.

That’s when Samarah began pacing inside me.

My wolf rarely panicked. She was the calm one, the steady one, the part of me that kept me from completely falling apart. But now she was restless, anxious, her energy buzzing under my skin like static.

Samarah, what’s wrong? I asked her through our link.

She didn’t answer.

She just kept pacing.

I assumed it was nerves — fear of opening up, fear of facing my trauma, fear of being vulnerable with a stranger. I didn’t push her. I didn’t want to push myself either.

But the moment I opened the office door… I realized how wrong I’d been.

He stood with his back to me, facing a massive two‑story window that overlooked the city. Broad shoulders. Tall — impossibly tall. Six‑foot‑seven, maybe more. His hair was shaved on the sides but long on top, the reddish‑brown strands catching the light. He looked like someone carved out of stone and sunlight.

He said something — a greeting, probably — but the words didn’t reach me. My ears were ringing. My heart was pounding. My breath caught in my throat.

Because the moment he turned around, everything inside me shattered.

“MATE.”

The word ripped out of me before I could stop it. Before I could think. Before I could breathe.

His lips formed the same word at the exact same time.

My mate. My mate. My mate.

No. No, no, no.

He was gorgeous — painfully so. Slightly tan skin stretched over strong arms and a chiseled jaw. A dusting of reddish‑brown facial hair. Emerald green eyes that looked like they could see straight through me. He looked like everything I’d ever wanted and everything I could never have.

I felt the bond snap into place like a hook in my chest.

And I panicked.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered — or maybe I screamed it. I don’t know. My voice didn’t feel like my own.

He frowned, taking a step toward me.

I bolted.

I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just ran.

I heard him behind me — the heavy thud of his footsteps — but I was faster. I’d always been fast. And with the masking potion Oakley gave me that morning, I knew he wouldn’t be able to track me. No scent, no trail, no chance.

By the time I slowed down, my lungs burning, I was blocks away. The city swallowed me whole, and I let it. I walked the rest of the way to Oakley’s apartment, my mind spinning, my heart racing, my emotions a tangled mess of fear, anger, and disbelief.

By the time I reached his door, I was no longer panicked.

I was furious.

I didn’t knock. I slammed the door open so hard it rattled the frame.

“OAKLEY MICHAEL LAZAR!”

There was a crash from the bedroom, followed by frantic shuffling. Oakley stumbled out, hair sticking up, eyes wide.

“Kieara? What happened? Are you hurt?” He grabbed my arms, checking me over like I’d been hit by a truck.

I shoved him back. “What in the actual fuck were you thinking sending me to him? Did you know?”

He blinked. “Did I know what? You’re not explaining anything.”

I planted my hands on my hips and glared at him — the look that always made him cave. Oakley was intuitive, annoyingly so. He sensed things before they happened. He saw things he shouldn’t. And right now, he knew exactly what I was asking.

He sighed. His shoulders sagged. He didn’t answer.

I stepped closer, my voice softer but sharper. “Did you know he was my mate?”

Oakley walked to the couch and sat down heavily, patting the cushion beside him. I hesitated, then joined him.

He stared at the floor for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Yes, Kieara. I knew.”

The words hit me like a punch.

“How long?” I whispered.

“For a while now,” he admitted. “At first it was just a feeling. Then I saw it — in a vision. He’s good for you, Kieara. He’s going to be the one who saves you.”

I swallowed hard. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He stood abruptly, pacing the room, running a hand through his hair.

“Because I love you!” he burst out. “I’ve always loved you. And I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t go. You wouldn’t get help. And I can’t—” His voice cracked. “I can’t watch you destroy yourself anymore.”

I froze.

Oakley… loved me?

Not as a friend. Not as a brother. Not as a roommate.

He loved me.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to feel. My mind was spinning, my heart aching for him, for me, for everything we’d been through.

Instead of speaking, I stood, walked to him, and wrapped my arms around him. He stiffened for a moment, then melted into the hug, burying his face in my shoulder.

“I need a couple days,” I whispered. “But I’ll try. I’ll try to face this. I’ll try to face him.”

“Okay, Kieara,” he murmured, holding me tighter.

We sat on the couch for hours after that, talking about everything — the visions he’d had, the futures he’d seen. The one where I accepted Colton as my mate and healed. The one where I didn’t… and the darkness that followed.

He told me about his feelings — how long he’d carried them, how deeply they ran, how he’d never act on them because he knew I was destined for someone else.

We made a promise that night.

No matter what happens, we stay in each other’s lives. No matter where I go, he goes too. No matter who my mate is, Oakley will always be my family.

He was my rock long before I met Colton. And I was his.

We needed each other — not romantically, not possessively, but in the way two broken souls cling to the only person who ever stayed.

And as the night faded into morning, one truth settled deep in my chest:

My life had just changed forever. And I wasn’t sure if I was ready.

But for the first time in years… I wasn’t facing it alone.