Chapter 8 #2
I’d thank him later when I shifted back. Now I focused on these new sensations and smells around me. With each breath, the world around me came alive. My vision sharpened, my hearing attuned to the whispers of the wind, and the scents of the forest filled my nostrils.
As a wolf, I felt the untamed energy of the wild possessing me entirely, but a sense of responsibility tempered it. The wolf spirit brought with it a legacy—a duty to protect the kingdom and its people as their werewolf Queen. As my father did, his father, and the previous Queens and Kings.
"Embrace this feeling, Anna," Torin said, his voice full of warmth and understanding. "This is who you were always meant to be."
I nodded, though my wolf form could not convey the depth of my gratitude.
“I’m going to shift, too, and we can run together,” Torin said, pulling his shirt by the collar.
I immediately sat on my hind legs, looking to the side. The rustling of his clothes echoed around me. In an instant, Torin shifted into his silver wolf form and stood before me, his body a fluid dance of grace and power. His wolf head loomed over me.
Then he came to my side, and our wolves circled around each other. Torin’s wolf took off fast, but after several feet, he waited for me.
We moved in perfect synchrony, our paws hitting the earth in unison. The world around us blurred as we picked up speed, the wind whipping through our fur.
I reveled in my wolf form's freedom, and every beat of my heart solidified my conviction—I was now truly the werewolf Queen.
I enjoyed being with Torin in the forest, bathed in sunlight and surrounded by nature's embrace. As our run slowed to a gentle trot, I knew our time together would soon end.
My keen senses caught a delicious scent carried by the wind—Torin's. Turning around, our eyes met, and our invisible connection ignited as if it were never lost.
But there shouldn't have been a mate bond anymore—unless there was still some link between us because I hadn't bitten and marked Hayden, not quite forming the full bond with him. That explained why I still felt this lingering love and lust for Torin.
As I looked into his crimson eyes, I made a decision—one that would forever change the course of my life.
I would never mark Hayden.
I wanted to preserve the special feeling of love toward Torin, even though I could never be with him. I would keep a small part of me away from Hayden. So I could recall how it felt to love Torin, while I stayed by Hayden's side.
With a playful glint in his red eyes, he took off, and I followed him, our paws pounding against the earth, our movements perfectly coordinated. We ran side by side, sometimes our fur brushing against one another.
The forest came alive around us as I heard things I couldn't hear before—the whisper of the tree leaves, the sweet scent of plants and flowers, the intoxicating fragrance of freedom.
That's how I felt in my wolf form—free.
And for that brief moment in time, all was right in my world. I knew that soon, I would have to face reality again, but I was invincible for that fleeting moment.
We nipped at each other's ears, our tails wagging in a blur of excitement. We yipped and howled, creating a melody of pure bliss that echoed through the trees. In my wolf form, time felt frozen, and I relished the sense of freedom, feeling more vibrant and alive than ever.
I was finally complete.
The sun dipped lower in the sky, casting golden rays through the canopy above us. As we continued to run and play, my heart swelled with happiness and love for this beautiful creature beside me.
Eventually, we slowed, my playful energy replaced with a sense of calm contentment. The silver wolf circled me, placing his muzzle at my neck, inhaling my scent, and rubbing the side of his body into mine. It was my clue to shift back.
We arrived back at the clearing where we’d left our clothes. Torin first shifted back into human form and dressed while I had my back toward him. I couldn’t trust my body and heart around him.
“Little witch wolf,” he said as he pulled his shirt down exactly as I turned to look at him. “Close your eyes, visualize your human form, and call on it, okay?”
The transformation was instantaneous, surprising me with how natural it felt. Perhaps I was so high on this feeling that I didn’t feel the pain as my bones readjusted to fit my human form. My skin prickled as I rushed to put my clothes back on.
The sun had moved closer to the horizon, hiding behind the tree crowns.
"A lot of time has passed. Hayden will question where I've been,” I said quietly. "Thank you, Torin…" I whispered, my heart aching. "Thank you for helping me regain my wolf spirit and guiding me through my first shift. But…I have to go."
I turned on my heels before my eyes became teary.
As I walked away from the forest, my chest swelled with the newfound presence of the wolf spirit.
My senses were heightened, and I couldn't deny the profound connection I felt to Torin—as if our souls had intertwined through the very essence of our wolves.
"Anna, wait!" Torin called out, his voice laced with concern.
Don’t turn around.
I whirled to look at him anyway, feeling exposed and vulnerable in front of this man who had just helped me shift for the first time. His pleading gaze met mine, but I knew I couldn't stay any longer.
With a final glance at the man who held my heart but could never truly be mine, I turned and ran towards the manor. My feet pounded against the earth just as my wolf paws had before, yet now that freedom felt like a distant memory, replaced by the heavy weight of duty and responsibility.
Torin didn’t follow me.
As the manor drew nearer, the dread within me intensified. Hayden was an unpredictable man. I didn’t know how he would react to the truth of my time spent with Torin.
But facing him was inevitable, even as a part of me wished to flee, to dart into the woods next to the silver wolf with crimson eyes.
As I approached the entrance of the kingdom manor, my heart raced. I hesitated briefly before pushing open the massive doors and stepping inside, scanning the foyer for any sign of Hayden.
I had hoped to make it to my room without encountering him. As I reached for the knob of my bedroom door, before I could even attempt to slip past him unnoticed, he grabbed me from behind, his arms wrapping around me in an embrace that was both comforting and confining.
"Sweetheart," he murmured into my hair, his breath warm against my ear. "Where have you been?"
The familiar tingles prickled under my skin where he held me. The intimacy of our position made it impossible for me to lie, especially when his nose brushed against my neck, inhaling my scent. I knew he would detect Torin's presence on me, and there was no use pretending otherwise.
"Torin helped me get my wolf back," I said in a raspy voice. "I shifted for the first time."
I felt his growl against my back as Hayden’s chest vibrated. He released me abruptly, spinning me around to come face-to-face with him. His stormy eyes were ablaze.
He grabbed my hand, his grip almost painfully tight, and led me through the manor's halls. We climbed the grand staircase and headed towards a part of the manor I had never visited—the floor beneath my parents’ bedchamber where other guest rooms were.
"Hayden, what is going on?" I asked, my heart pounding.
I could feel something was off.
"Since your first shift wasn't with me, I've prepared something special for us," he said, his tone icy.
I tugged on my arm, but he held it in a death grip. We reached a large wooden door with intricate carvings, and he pushed it open to reveal a stunning bedchamber bathed in the soft glow of flickering candles. He slammed the door behind me, causing me to jolt.
"Your first kiss, your virginity—I've had them all," he said, his voice trembling. "But you chose to share your first run as a wolf with another."
My heart beat rapidly. Tammy’s words popped into my mind. Hayden was obsessed with me in the toxic sort of way that made my skin prickle.
"Hayden, I didn't plan for it to happen this way.”
Although I wanted to lash out at him, I had to keep him and myself calm.
"Enough," he growled. He stepped forward, his face inches from mine. "Now it's time for you to mark me, since you finally can."
Looking into Hayden's furious eyes, I felt torn between the man I was bound to and the one I secretly—or not secretly—loved.
My heart clenched with longing for Torin, but refusing Hayden would only make matters worse.