Another sound cuts through the wind—a guttural roar. It goes all the way through me, vibrating in my bones. My pulse kicks. Every instinct screams to run back inside, but I can’t. I push forward, half-blind, heart in my throat.
“Holt, where are you?”
A flash of movement near the tree line—huge, fast, gone. The snow muffles everything.
“Holt?” I whisper again, smaller now.
Then I see it.
Between the trees, something moves—shoulders too broad, a shape that ripples with power, breath steaming in long bursts. In a heartbeat, the storm clears, and two rings of gold flash through the dark.
I stumble back, hand clapped over my mouth, every thought dissolving into the rush of wind and the thunder of my own heartbeat.
The shape lifts its head, watching me — and for one dizzy second, I swear the look in those eyes is the same one that’s been undoing me all night.
Then it turns and vanishes into the dark, snow swallowing the sound of its retreat.
I stand there, shaking, trying to believe what I just saw.
Holt.
Not gone.
But not human.
And somewhere deep inside me, beneath the shock and the fear, a strange new certainty rises like a second heartbeat.
10
Holt
The shift tore through me too fast to fight. I didn’t even try. The beast roared out of me, pure and unrestrained.
Now I’m running before I know I’ve moved. The ground shakes underfoot, trees whipping past in a blur. Every sense explodes to life—the earth’s pulse, the snow crushing under my paws, her intoxicating scent burning through the dark.
Lila.
The bond sings through my blood. Calling me back. Calling me home.
But I can’t go to her like this.
I crash through the trees, every heartbeat a battle between hunger and reason. Somewhere deep inside the animal, the man claws for control, whispering her name, begging the beast to stay away from her.
But she’s close. I can smell her fear and need, feel it like a physical pull, dragging me back toward the cabin.
The bear inside me slows, panting, steam rising from its back. The sound that rumbles out of my throat isn’t anger—it’s longing.
I lift my head toward the house, knowing she’s there, and some fragile, human part of me whispers the truth I can’t hide anymore:
She saw me.
“Holt!”
The sound hits like a dart, clean through the chest.
She followed me. Of course she did.
I drag in a breath and force the shift back—but my beast’s blood is up and it refuses to retreat.
