Page 102

“Nettie!”

The shout was louder this time. Loud enough for me to understand what the person was saying, even if I no longer recognized my own name.

Through the blinding white light, a shadow of darkness appeared. It took shape, slowly, transforming from an amorphous blob into the faint silhouette of a human.

I growled.

“Nettie!” The voice pleaded again. The human’s facial features came into view. It was a female, thin and pale, with a hooked nose and dark brown eyes.

Her arms were on either side of me, her fists latched onto the fur around my neck.

I wanted to thrash. Howl.

How dare this human restrain me.

“Nettie…”

That word.

It sounds familiar…

“I need you to listen to me, okay?” The woman continued. I bit back a growl, and when my muscles tensed, she only gripped me tighter. “You can do this. Breathe.”

A stray sentence fluttered into my mind, settling atop my brain like an autumn leaf.

In through your nose, out through your mouth.

I didn’t understand what it meant, or why I needed to do it. But I did remember it was important.

“That’s it,” The woman whispered soothingly as I went through the breathing exercise. “Good girl. You’ve got this.”

The woman leaned forward, until her forehead was nearly touching mine. That was when I noticed the black fur spreading up her arms. The way her deep chocolate eyes turned wild and animalistic, and how her furry black ears twitched atop her head.

“Please, Nettie. I don’t have much time. You have to do this. Remember who you are. Remember us.”

Nettie.

I knew that name.

And I knew this woman, too. Her scent was warm. Familiar. Intoxicating. Flashes of her bare skin, her slender figure, and her petite beasts made me shiver with pleasure. I saw a sunrise atop a mountain, two lone women sitting in the grass, pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist.

I felt happy.

And most importantly, calm.

Rowena…

I promise…

I can do this…

The white light faded. The scene before me grew, with all the shapes and details coming into focus. Rowena gazed at me with loving concern, a sparkle of hope in her eyes as she watched the moonglow fade away. Behind her were roughly-woven iron bars that completely engulfed us, and beyond that were the bare off-white walls of a nondescript office.

I remembered now.

We were locked in one of the town hall offices. Then locked again inside this cage. I’d just shifted as the full moon took effect, and…

I paused.