Page 59 of Fallout

I wipe my nose and grab another tissue. “But I should be able to control this.”

He doesn’t say anything—likely because he knows I’m right. I should know how to control my powers.

But how am I supposed to learn about my powers when I come from a supposedly extinct species?

“Do you need help?”

I turn at the familiar voice and stiffen when I see the phoenix approach us.

Will takes a step forward, half putting himself between me and the phoenix. But the phoenix doesn’t even glance at Will. His focus is solely on me.

“I can help, you know,” he says. “I can teach you how to block out the voices.”

I look at him, noticing how normal he looks. On my first day of school, I was puking in a trash can. But he looks perfect.

Does he really know how to block the voices?

“I don’t need your help,” I say, through gritted teeth.

He nods to my nose. “If you want to keep having nose bleeds, be my guest.”

“Real nice,” Will says through gritted teeth. “I can see why history wrote such kind things about your species.”

The phoenix isn’t at all effect by Will’s attitude. He just chuckles, keeping his attention on me. “I see the wolves treat you well.”

It’s not hard to hear the sarcasm in his voice.

My head spins, so I lean against Will for support. Before he can ask me if I’m okay, I spot Parker rushing down the hallway toward us. He nearly knocks into the other phoenix to get to me. He pulls me into his arms and the moment our skin touches, I sigh at the relief.

Parker pulls back just enough to look at me. “Are you okay?”

“I am now.” I let out a breath of relief. “Thanks for coming.”

“I will always come for you,” he promises.

The phoenix clears his throat, once again bringing my attention to him. But with Parker now holding my hand, the phoenix’s presence doesn’t bother me quite as bad.

“Can I help you?” Parker asks, his voice is deceptively calm. But I swear I can almost taste his anger as it seeps out of him.

“No.” The phoenix scoffs at Parker, looking at me once again. “But I can help you.”

Parker growls deep in his throat. “The only way you will be helping her is if I am by her side the entire time.”

The phoenix stiffens. “I won’t be around a disgusting wolf shifter.”

Parker stands up straighter. .”And I won’t allow my mate and the future luna of the pack to be around an unknown phoenix without protection.”

He furrows his brows. “Mate? No. Impossible. Phoenixes don’t have soulmates.”

“Well, I do.” I stubbornly set my jaw. “And Parker is right—I won’t be around you unless he’s there too. I’m sorry, but I don’t know you well enough to trust you.”

“But you trust a pack of wolves?” He wrinkles his nose in disgust as he looks between Will, Parker, and me. “Do you know none of our history? Wolf shifters led the charge against our species long ago. They’re the ones who convinced the other supernaturals to hunt us down to what they thought was extinction. But we will be strong again. The wolves will regret what they did to us.”

Parker and Will both growl.

I stand between the two wolves, making my stance clear. “My dad is a wolf shifter, and these guys are my pack. Parker is my soulmate. Nothing you say is going to change my mind. Our long forgotten history doesn’t matter.”

“You will regret that, Serephina.” His eyes seem to glow with his threat.