Chapter 12 #3
Dropping to all fours, I threw my head back and screamed.
My voice climbed, soaring up and up and becoming a howl.
My bones shifted and snapped, bursting from my skin like one of those nature films showing plant roots shivering over the ground in fast-forward.
Blood poured down my arms, only to disappear as fur sprouted in its place.
I lowered my head and watched through the crimson veil as my fingers elongated, forming into canine paws tipped with vicious-looking black claws.
The pain raced up my neck and exploded in my mouth, but I was ready for it this time.
I didn’t fight as it reshaped my jaw, replacing my human teeth with rows of incisors and long, conical canines.
My face warped, my skin bubbling as my nose grew into a snout.
Scents bombarded me, the bite of snow floating under layers of rich, potent soil and sharp green leaves.
Animal scents flooded my senses, every squirrel, deer, and bird distinct.
Abruptly, my vision sharpened. Colors burst into view, and it was like that night in the park when I’d attacked Welch.
Everything was brighter and bolder, every line pure and perfect.
I stared at a tree ahead, wonder spreading through me.
I’d always hated Boy Scouts. Had never understood how anyone could enjoy sleeping in a smelly tent and walking half a mile to the shower block just to piss.
Now I got it. The forest was magic. Trees soared around me, every leaf tipped with light from the rising sun. Snow lay in thick, fluffy piles. Dew glittered like diamonds on leaves and fallen logs. Water dripped somewhere…
I turned toward the sound. Something clicked in my head, and I knew the source of the water was a half-mile away.
The wonder inside me blossomed into something as bright as the sun.
Joy.
An enormous wolf with brown fur and bright yellow eyes stepped into view. Jesse opened his jaws and gave me a fangy grin.
The connection in my chest tugged hard, pulling me into him, and it was the most natural thing in the world to rub my whiskers down his flank and let his scent flood my nose.
He tolerated it for a second, then bumped my head away with his and circled me, his gaze assessing. He went round and round a few times, leaving footprints in the snow and checking me out like someone on a used car lot looking for flaws or something.
But the whole forest was waiting. I’d just shifted into a wolf, for Christ’s sake, and he expected me to stand still? The third time he circled me, I darted forward and bit his tail.
He whipped around, his teeth pulled back and his glowing eyes wide with shock.
And the chase was on.
A barking laugh spilled from me as I bounded away, my claws digging into snow and dead leaves.
He caught up quickly and smashed his body into mine, knocking me sideways.
Without thinking—without any effort at all—I landed on my feet and kept going.
When I glanced at him running beside me, he gave me another broad grin.
I yipped and ran faster, my blood pumping and a steady stream of joy careening through my veins.
Side by side, we crashed through the forest and leapt over half-frozen streams. Branches snapped, and animals scurried from our path.
When I scented a deer, I tore after it, chasing it over fallen tree trunks and clumps of shrubbery.
It was fast, though, and it had the benefit of being an actual wild animal.
After several minutes of the hunt, it launched itself from a big rock and soared over a leaf-strewn creek.
I attempted to follow, but the rock was coated in a thick layer of melting ice, and I slipped and went crashing into the water.
I came up sputtering and found Jesse literally howling with laughter on the bank.
Asshole. I exited the water with as much dignity as I could muster, then stalked to him and shook out my fur, spraying water droplets everywhere.
He snapped his jaws in my face, startling me so badly that I staggered backward and landed on my ass in the snow. Then he took off again, his barks of laughter echoing back to me.
Grinning, I jumped to my feet and raced after him.
We played for hours, running and exploring.
He taught me how to catch rabbits, and we ate them standing side by side, crunching through the bones.
Which, gross, but it wasn’t somehow. Afterward, he licked my face with his long, barbed tongue, making me squirm like a toddler getting baby-wiped by an overzealous mother.
Eventually, I wriggled away, and he swiped at my tail as I danced out of reach.
Then we were off again, occasionally smiling at each other as we tore through the trees.
When the sun was high in the sky and the forest was flooded with midday light, we stopped at a river so I could look into the water and see my bright blue eyes and buff-colored fur reflected back at me.
I was smaller than Jesse, our size difference more pronounced in wolf form.
Our noses were the same coal black, and our scents were the same.
I knew without asking that our mate bond made it so.
He’d said we were dating. But now that I’d shifted, I realized we were more than that. On four feet, we were married.
When I looked at him, he was gazing at me with the same tender expression he’d worn in bed when he told me I was a treasure.
My heart sped up, the beat thumping in a slightly different location than I was used to. But the heat that snaked through me was exactly the same.
He led me to our piles of clothes. Then he rubbed his snout along mine and huffed in my face, telling me without words to watch him.
I bobbed my head, and he lowered his body to the ground, looking like a werewolf sphinx.
He closed his eyes, and the change melted over him, rearranging skin, bones, and sinew in a gruesome, mesmerizing display.
When it was over, he stood and ran both hands through his hair.
Then, still nude, he came to me and scratched gently behind one of my ears.
“It’ll be a lot easier for you this time,” he said. “Just lie down and let it happen, okay?”
I gave another bob of my head and settled in the snow. He crouched and continued stroking me as he spoke in a calm rumble that sent shivers coursing through me.
Except they weren’t shivers. That rumble was magic. His magic, I realized, opening my eyes and meeting his gaze. He’d said teaching was his gift. That I was lucky to find him.
More realizations slammed into me.
He’d planned the whole morning, waking me early and making me angry. Denying me an orgasm. Withholding breakfast and putting me on edge. Taunting me until I snapped.
And shifted.
He’d manipulated the shit out of me, but all for a good purpose. If I’d seen it coming, I probably would have fought the transformation harder.
I stared at him, wonder and gratitude blooming in my chest. And somewhere under the bone and sinew, a third emotion flowered. Its name hovered just out of reach. I recognized it anyway.
Jesse booped my nose. “Close your eyes, baby. Let it happen.” When I obeyed, he ran his fingers through my fur, stroking and petting and making me feel so damn good.
After a minute, I sighed and rested my head on his knee.
And a minute later, the shift rolled through me.
Pain blossomed and faded. My skin itched fiercely as fur receded and skin shivered over my bones.
He took me through all of it, his low, steady voice guiding me back to myself. And when I was human once more, he pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead.
“I’m so damn proud of you,” he whispered, his voice unsteady.
I pulled back, shock tripping through me as a tear tracked down his cheek. “Jesus, don’t cry.” I wiped it away. “You did everything.”
“Not true.” He cupped my jaw and feathered his thumb over my cheek. “That was all you.”
The wind shifted, fluttering our hair and spinning his scent around me. Sunlight gleamed on his broad shoulders and caught the stubble already darkening his jaw. We were both naked in the snow. Lust hit me hard, tightening my dick so hard and fast that I clenched my jaw against a groan.
Jesse drew back, his brown eyes dipping to my groin. “Hello,” he murmured in a voice thick with appreciation.
I put a hand over my erection. “Ignore it.” Out of nowhere, another bolt of lust hit me, and I squeezed the base of my dick, struggling not to come. “Oh…my god.”
“It’s normal,” he said, pulling me to my feet. “Shifting does that.”
“Why aren’t you hard?”
“I have a lot more control than you. But standing here with you looking like all my wet dreams definitely isn’t helping.” He scooped our clothes from the ground, and we dressed hastily as the sun climbed above the trees.
I’d barely yanked my pants over my straining dick when he grabbed my hand and tugged me in the direction of the car. His voice was more wolf than human as he cast a heated look at my groin.
“Come on. Let’s get you someplace where I can take care of that.”