I wait as she slips her boots on and grabs her bag. Once we're on the balcony, I tip her head back so she can look at my face.
Her eyes go wide at the way my body is already starting to ripple.
“I need to get you there. Now.” My voice is deeper, rougher than usual. The shift is seconds away. “But I can‘t do it like this.”
She stares at me suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
I’m going to shift, Lumi—my other form. You’ve seen pieces of it. But not... all of it.”
She hiccups. “The snout. When your face...”
“Yes,” I swallow. “I’ll be bigger, and I won’t be able to speak, but I’ll still be me. Do you understand? I would never hurt you. Not in any form.”
“Will it hurt?” she asks. “The shift?”
I almost laugh. I just ripped an antler from my skull for her without hesitation. “Nothing hurts when it’s for you.”
“Go ahead, I want to see you... all of you.”
That’s all my beast needs to hear. The shift rips through me like lightning.
My senses explode—every smell, every sound, every heartbeat within a mile floods into me.
I can hear her pulse racing. Can smell the adrenaline on her skin, the fear and wonder mixing together.
I lower myself to the ground and wait. I wish I could reassure her, but all I can do is watch her through sharper eyes and hope she sees what I need her to see.
That I would never hurt her. That this body—all of it—is hers.
My tail flicks against the ground nervously.
“Are you... waiting for me to get on?” She whispers.
I huff and tilt my head toward my back.
Yes,Saelûn.Get on.
She climbs onto my back, fingers digging into my fur. Her grip is tight, but not tight enough. I huff a warning, shifting beneath her, but she doesn’t understand. I swing my tail up and wrap it around her waist—once, twice—pulling her flush against my back. She gasps, her thighs squeezing my flanks as much as her little human legs allow.
“Andrik—what are you about?—”
I turn my head toward the balcony ledge. Then back at her.
Her eyes go wide.
“No. No, no, no. We are not-”
I crouch low.
“Andrik, don’t you dare?—”
I launch us off the balcony.
Her scream exhales through the snow as we drop six floors. My paws hit the ground, and I’m off.
Her fingers twist in my fur so tight I’d wince if it were anyone else, but all I care about is the way her body presses against mine. Her heartbeat thunders against my spine, her thighs locking around me like she was made to ride me.
My tail tightens around her waist.
