“Sundown is coming.” She paced the room. How would she save Kyle? She needed a plan.
“It can’t be that late. We haven’t been in here that long.” Kyle tapped his watch. “Hmm. It’s not working.”
Laina paced faster. “Alex enchanted the room to distort our perception of time. I don’t need a watch. The moon is rising.” She met his eyes and tried to explain. “A werewolf senses the full moon as you might sense a train coming by the vibration of the track. Our hearts flutter, our fingers tingle and grow cold, the air ripples with energy. The hair on my arms is longer than it was this morning. I can smell the soap you used yesterday. I can smell that you need to pee.”
“You can smell that?”
“Your blood is pulsing in your veins, a raging river of life. It makes my mouth water.”
“What?”
She lowered her head and continued. “Everything about you is sharper, how slow you move”—her breath quickened—“how easy it would be to catch you if you ran. I don’t want to chase you now, but I can feel my wolf, just under the surface, and she’s tracking you with her nose to the ground. The closer she gets to taking over, the stronger I get.”
Kyle backed against the wall, rubbing his chest with one hand. “Your eyes.”
“It’s coming.” The change was close, very close. She had to do something to protect him from her. “I need the cage. You’ll lock me in. It’s our only hope.” Laina grabbed the keys off the floor and tried to unlock it. Nate rattled the door when it didn’t open right away. “Fuck! Alex sealed it with magic just like the door.”
She dug her hands into her hair.Think, Laina,she said to herself. In her line of work, she solved complex problems before breakfast. All she needed was to focus. What could she use? Eyes darting around the room, she came up short. Her spine popped, and a ripple rolled through her body. “Kyle!” She whimpered. “It’s happening. There’s no time. Use the sword if you have to!”
As another wave of pain rolled through her body and she watched her fingers bend into claws, her mind finally kicked into gear. She was strong right now. Strong enough to bend metal. With a growl, she grabbed the bars to the cage and bent them apart. Nate joined in to help once he saw what she was doing. She slipped inside easily enough, circling Nate.
Nate wasted no time moving for the promise of freedom, only his portly form wedged to a stop halfway through. Kyle tugged at his arms to no avail.
Laina screamed as her ankles turned and her hips narrowed. She ignored Kyle’s expression and pulled off her shirt and pants at record speed. “I can’t hold it back much longer.” Panting, she moved to the back of the cage, then lunged forward, plowing into Nate with her shoulder. He popped out the other side.
As her jaw lengthened, she easily bent the bars back into position. She’d barely accomplished her goal when she pitched forward, landing on the pads of her paws. Thick black fur spread up her arms. She had just enough time to register Kyle’s horrified expression before the human mind that was Laina disappeared.
And then there was only the wolf.
ChapterThirty-Two
Nothing could have prepared Kyle for what he saw happen inside the cage. The woman he thought he loved, the one he’d been obsessed with for months, shifted into a wolf in a grisly display of breaking bones and stretching muscle. Kyle’s stomach twisted like a wrung towel, and he had to close his eyes to keep from becoming ill.
Nate slapped Kyle’s cheek and shook him vigorously by the shoulders.
“I’ve seen enough. I can’t watch this,” Kyle said.
His brother flicked the side of his head.
“Owww.” Kyle opened his eyes. Nate was holding out a cell phone. “What the fuck? Have you had this the entire time?”
With a flip of his middle finger, Nate went into a series of mouthed words and gestures that clearly indicated he’d had no plans of helping them as long as he was locked in the cage. He patted his throat and pointed at Kyle, then at the phone.
Kyle poked the text icon. Nate had, in fact, attempted to text his personal security detail, but the text hadn’t gone through. “For all I know, the magic that’s keeping us in is blocking the signal. I’ll try a call.”
He didn’t get a chance. Pain rolled through Kyle’s body, and he pitched forward, catching himself on his knees. What the hell was wrong with him?
Whatever it was sent Laina into hysterics. Her wolf paced the cage, then started throwing itself against the bars. Another wave went through him, and she lowered her head, growling at the two of them.
Nate grabbed Kyle’s shoulder and squeezed.
Ignoring the pain, Kyle thumbed through the contacts in Nate’s phone. He stopped on the one person he hated to involve but trusted more than anyone else. It couldn’t be helped. He pressed the call button.
“Kyle, where are you? Everyone is out looking for you!” Gerty’s voice was shrill with panic.
“I’m trapped in Nate’s basement. Gerty, everything is crazy. Laina’s a werewolf. The room is magic and won’t let us out. The door is gone. I don’t think anyone can get to us. They took Nate’s voice. I know I’m not making any sense, but you have to help me.” He groaned as more pain barreled through him. “Send. Help.”
“Kyle,” Gerty said calmly, “are you safely away from Laina? It’s a full moon.”
