The question catches me off guard, a sharp left turn from my panic about being hunted.
"Fate?" I hesitate, my fingers digging into the soft pillow. "What do you mean by fate?"
"Fate." She rolls the word around like she's tasting it. "When you're destined for something. No matter what you do, you can't escape it. Your path is already written."
My throat tightens. Once, I thought Rafe was my soul mate. I thought our lives would intertwine forever, that nothing could separate us. Then fate arrived wearing Ellie's face, and everything changed. The memory of his cold eyes as he chose her still burns in my chest.
"Fate took Rafe from me," I whisper, more to myself than to Lyre. "His fated mate appeared, and suddenly nothing else mattered. Not our years together, not our plans. All my happiness was taken away, and all I was left with was pain." The bitterness in my voice surprises even me.
