She curled tighter until I worried she was going to snap bones.Maybe he’ll go away. Just don’t move and you won’t die. Do I want him to go away? I didn't get to see everything before the clothes went on.
My mind stuttered. All my life, I had been told my mate was the one person who would accept me. That she even breathed the want for me to go away drove a spike through my heart. She shook, trying to keep herself tightly curled up. She clearly didn’t know I could hear her thoughts as the bond began to form.
“Shift, viper, and I will explain. Duncan was not feeling his best. No harm will come to you.” I stroked her head, and she uncurled slightly, only to sink her little fangs into my finger.
More surprised than hurt, I yelped and stood, trying to use her own weight to dislodge her as she curled around my finger.
“Viper! Let go.” My mate had a determined spirit, at least. She hung from my finger like a demented wedding ring.
“Shift now,” I told her.
Mrehm gngrl, she said like she needed her mouth to speak. Something was very wrong.
“You can shift, right?” I asked.
What in the seven hells is he talking about? He’s hella hot, but definitely crazy. No one said there would be kidnapping. I thought they just rage killed everyone in sight.
As gratified as I was to know, she thought I was sexy. I needed to speak with her. I had been fighting the fever for weeks and I was the strongest amongst us in Harrowood. If I was slipping into rage, then Duncan proved every shifter could be doing the same thing. We didn’t have time for miscommunication.
“I can hear your thoughts, viper.”
If snakes could blush, she would have managed it. Her jaw relaxed enough for me to pry her off my finger.
UM, HELLO MISTER BEAR MAN.She shouted into my head like I was deaf.I WOULD LIKE TO BE HUMAN AND NOT BE DEAD. IF IT’S NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK, I WOULD LIKE TO GO HOME, TOO.
Icy dread settled in my bones. Even my bear shivered. Why did my mate know nothing about shifters? She couldn’t be human. Her scales were there before my eyes, wrapped around my hand. Where else was her home but with me now? I set her in my lap, opening a channel and spoke the structure of a transubstantiation spell and put most of my considerable power behind it, pushing forward her human form. The spell only took with sheer grit and determination taking two repetitions before the magic built on itself. I strained to keep it running through her.
She filled out the tunic until it was tight across her hips and chest, a mouthwatering bounty straining against the fabric. Her dark brown hair, the same shade as my bear’s fur, cascaded down her neck, her chest. Some strands glinted gold and auburn in the dim light. A strong chin, plush lips, heart-shaped face, and ice-blue eyes that blinked up at me.
“You're huge,” she said, her mouth parted.
My eyebrows crawled upward. She said it like no one ever had before—with awe. As if she forgot to be afraid for a second. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment until the den filled with her delicious whiskey and orange scent combined with something darker. I shifted my weight back and forth to ease my muscles tensing all at once. Would she let me lick it off her skin?
“I’m Ward, actually. And I was even bigger just a moment ago,” I said and bent toward her neck to see if I could take in more of that scent.
She scrambled back out of my lap, the tunic bunching up to reveal her long, long legs. Tall for a human, possibly 5 foot 9, but still small next to my 6 foot 10. Her head would lay perfectly on my chest. I lunged, unable to lose contact with her without hearing the fever rushing through my veins again. I managed to grab some toes. They wiggled in my grip.
“Please don't be afraid, mate.” Something sharp lodged in my heart—a memory of cruel screams as I entered a room.
“Evie,” she corrected. “Don’t eat me and we’ll be off to a good start.”
When she began to shake again, my bear tried to flatten us to the floor. We were scaring our beloved regardless of our best efforts and if we needed to look small, we would try.
A snort sounded through the cave. “What are you doing?” she asked.
I fought back the urge to wrap around her, trying not to come into any more contact with her body than needed, despite the desire mounting in my blood.
“I know I can look intimidating.”
She gave a funny barking laugh. “Not like that, you don’t.”
The sound allowed me to sit up a fraction. “Then it worked and I can assure you, there’s no eating unless you give me permission.”
She took a beat, scanning the lust that made my eyes glow, but she tensed with fear instead. I took a shaky breath to stuff down my bear’s snarling and my own need now that my mate was in reach.
“Just like that wolf wouldn’t eat me?” she asked.
“Duncan wasn't acting like himself. I wasn't either when I found you. This is why the Godds were supposed to remain dead. Not even Veretis needs to make an appearance in the Harrowlands again.”
