"Does that help?" he asks.
I look around. There are no enforcers, men or women, in human form. Only wolves. "I, umm… yep. I think that's good."
Who the fuck knows, but this whole thing is so weird and outside my wheelhouse that I'm worrying less about my nudity and more about what's coming.
"Ready?"
That fucking grin is back. Pure evil. Devilish, anyway.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I hop in place, crack my neck side to side, shake out my hands. "So ready."
And with that, Grayson slaps my ass. It stings and I squeal and shoot him a glare, but his face has begun partial shifting, and it's fucking terrifying. I back up in horror. His psychotic grin stretches with the maw of his wolf, his teeth growing long and sharp, skin sprouting black fur. And just before he loses the ability to speak, he rasps out one word: "Run."
And I do.
Chapter 27: Mona
Grayson wanted me to shift back and forth at least two or three times before I reached Orion at the cabin. But running in human form while his wolves stalk me like prey, their alpha wolves snapping at us as we dodge and weave their sharp teeth, hiding in the tall grass, I can barely breathe, let alone focus on shifting once.
We've done it before,Beep reminds me.
That was a partial shift,I argue.And I don't like thinking about that time on the cliff.
Neither do I, but our mate is right. We are here to practice. Let's begin.
Past the field, the forest swallows me whole. A snarl rips so close I can feel hot breath on my neck. Goosebumps break out along my arms. I stumble, heart slamming against my ribs. Hints of different scents—pine and dirt from the forest floor, animals scampering about, and wolves—all swirling around as I run.
Why does it take us so long?I ask honestly.
Because you assume it will. You put a damper on our connection.
"Oh, so it's all my fault? You have nothing to do with how long shifting takes?" I growl out loud.
A wolf, hiding in wait, bursts through the bushes, jaw gaping wide enough to snap through my neck. I sprint, zigzagging deeper into the forest. A second wolf materializes from the shadows of the trees, blocking my escape. I wrench in another direction, and when he snaps his teeth in the empty air, the sound reverberating through my bones, narrowly missing my arm, everything suddenly feels unnervingly authentic.
You're right, Beep says, but I barely hear her. My skin crawls with that familiar buzz, the shifter magic blooming inside my human form.
"Wait—" my voice catches. "I'm not ready!" I'm still panting, trees blurring past, branches whipping me in the face. Two alphas, barely more than a body-width behind me, snarl as they chase. Grayson assured me they wouldn't hurt meintentionally. Why am I only now realizing how deluded that sounds?
Beep continues,I said, you are right. I've been relying on you to be ready. But you never will be.
The buzzing intensifies. Up my arms. Then down my legs. Through my abdomen, along my veins and nerves.
"Beep, what are you doing?"
I'm shifting.
"But I'm not—"
No. We've tried to be in sync, but the problem is, we never agree on anything. You're not even trying to shift, even now. And so I will, without you. I think I've figured it out, Mona.
"Be nice if you shared with the class," I screech, tripping on a branch, landing hard on the heels of my palms.
A shadow falls over me. Heavy paws stamp into the ground. The wolf smells of rosemary.
Eli.
The relief that I recognize him is short-lived. His eyes lock on mine, teeth long and sharp—without warning, they snap, dripping with saliva. He barely lets out a growl before I'm trying to scramble away, but his teeth sink into my ankle. My scream echoes through the forest as he whips me through the air like a rag doll. My body slams against a tree trunk, my ribs cracking from the force.
