Prologue #2
Dominic passed a pointed glance at Gwen. “I know exactly how you feel. My dad invited every alpha in the state to see me shift for the first time. That was a lot of pressure from a bunch of strangers, but everyone here cares about you. We’re here to show our support and to help you.”
A long stretch of silence settled over that part of the house.
“I don’t know how you can help.” Madison’s voice came out so softly that only Dominic and Jaime could hear her.
“Would it help if we shifted with you? Me and your dad?”
Dominic checked Jaime for any sign of disapproval but found none. It was a lot to ask of any wolf to shift on command, but the father appeared ready to do anything to comfort his daughter.
“Gross! I don’t want to see my dad naked like that.”
“You don’t have to look,” Dominic assured her. “And we won’t look at you. Do you have a robe you can wear?”
“I have one she can borrow,” Gwen added before hurrying to their bedroom to fetch it.
“See. Your mom is getting you a robe. Now, it’s best that you don’t shift inside. Let’s go into the backyard. You’ll be more comfortable out there.”
Another pause, and Dominic heard the rustle of sheets as Madison stood to come to the door.
It opened and Madison met their gazes with gold, wolfish eyes beneath a mass of dark, disheveled hair.
She looked more like she had just woken up from a long, feverish sleep than struggling with shifting pains.
Dominic gave her a sympathetic smile and stepped aside so she could lead the way.
The three of them arrived in the living room, the pack parting to let them through to the sliding doors that opened onto the back patio.
They gave her hushed words of encouragement as they passed, but Madison seemed no less anxious about what was to come.
Gwen scurried after them, a plush purple robe clutched between her hands.
They guided Madison a short stretch into the woods beyond their backyard, not only for privacy but so that the forest might absorb the sounds of her shift.
Sometimes, though not always, Dominic heard that shifting among the trees also appeased the inner wolf of the shifter, making the transformation a little smoother.
Dominic sensed the next wave of shifting pains would come over Madison soon, so he rushed through his instructions on how to ride the pain, how to breathe through it, and how best to welcome her wolf forward.
With their backs turned to her, Dominic could smell her fear mounting as she deftly stripped beneath her mother’s robe.
“It’s all right to be scared,” he said. “Everyone gets scared for their first time.”
Madison gulped. “I think I already know the answer to this, but … how bad will it hurt?”
Dominic and Jaime turned to see her shaking hands gripping the closed edges of the robe against her chest and stomach.
Again, Dominic didn’t want to lie but felt obligated to the Gabors and their young daughter.
“It’s going to be the worst pain you’ve ever experienced in your life, but it’ll get a little easier with time. ”
Madison’s wolf eyes darted to her father for confirmation, and he nodded. “It’s always the hardest in the beginning, but we’re here for you.”
Dominic pulled forward his dominance, a special aura that every shifter carried with them.
It was the strongest in alphas and could be used as both a tool to make other shifters submit as well as to soothe a distressed shifter.
For Madison, dominance could ease her fears.
Dominance, especially coming from the Prime Alpha, told her that she was safe.
She nodded, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes just before the shifting pains made her fall to her knees.
For the next several minutes, Dominic and Jaime coached her through the shift.
Bones broke and mended back together. Joints dislocated and reformed at different angles.
Smooth, youthful skin grew a thick pelt of brown and beige.
Hands morphed into paws, and her human facial features gave way to those of a wolf.
The screams that Madison had held in through the ordeal changed pitch into canine whines and whimpers.
When it was all over, Madison Gabors stood on all fours, her shift from girl to wolf complete, and the purple robe lying in a pool of fabric beneath her.
Dominic almost hadn’t realized that Jaime had begun his own shift in the middle of her transformation and loped toward them as a large, chestnut brown wolf.
Father and daughter greeted one another by burying their muzzles in one another’s manes, the equivalent of a human hug.
From the direction of the house, the pack let out shouts of victory, all of them able to sense Madison’s completed shift.
The air was no longer tense with her pain and struggle.
Dominic thought he heard Gwen sniffle back tears of pride.
Dominic sat back on his heels and took a few stealing breaths, inhaling the earthy scents around him, before shedding his shirt to begin his own shift.
He hadn’t lied when he told Madison that it became easier over the years.
Older werewolves, like his late father, could complete the transformation within a couple of minutes, sometimes in less time, but with much more pain and effort.
When his shift was done, Dominic stood, midnight black fur with silver accents rippling in the nighttime breeze.
Though he was a few inches shorter than Jaime, the subordinate wolf purposefully bent low and hunched his shoulders to appear smaller than the Prime Alpha.
Jaime licked the underside of his muzzle to express his submission and appreciation for Dominic’s help that night.
Once more, Dominic felt embarrassed, but wouldn’t show it.
Knowing full well that other shifters may have been watching from the house, he exuded alpha confidence to the shifted wolves.
Any show of weakness would jeopardize his title, and any wolf would jump at the chance to fight him for it.
To be Prime Alpha of Tolstone meant power.
But it also meant responsibility. It meant having your name and reputation known across the country.
There was no room for mistakes. No room for vulnerability.
Regardless of his feelings about following in his father’s footsteps, Dominic was determined to maintain order, if not for himself then for his pack.
Though he and his father didn’t always see eye to eye, one lesson stuck, much at his own expense. Pack was everything.