Mira watched the moonlight as it moved across the wall in white lines from the half-open blinds.She was listening to Leo’s heartbeat as they both came down from the heavens, her body still tingling and little flashes of pleasure lighting her up.His scent surrounded her, making her feel cared for and safe all at the same time.
He’d marked her and covered the wound with his own blood that he’d gotten from scoring his tongue with his fangs.It ensured it would scar permanently, no matter what.She could feel the connection to him humming under her skin and drawing them even closer together.
She was drifting in that place between awake and asleep when a lance of pain ripped through her lower back.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Mira?”Leo asked.He pushed up on one elbow.“What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t answer him.
The pain spread up her spine and through her arms and legs like lava burning its way through her.Her hands curled into the blanket covering them as she gasped for breath.
“Talk to me, Mira!What’s going on?”
Another flash of pain tore through her, and she arched off the bed with a cry.Her skin prickled like ants were biting everywhere, her skin stretching, her bones twisting.
Her joints cracked, one after the other, and she wheezed out his name, a plea for help she could barely make.
“Baby, I think you’re shifting!Shit, let me call Doc Whalen.”He grabbed his phone and after a moment of sheer agony as her bones felt like they were cracking into shards inside her, he said, “Doc, I need you right now.I think Mira’s gryphon is trying to come out, and she’s in terrible pain!”
“Leo,” she gasped, “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” he said, putting the phone down.He slid his arms under her and gently lifted her from the bed and set her on the carpet.He cradled her close, running his fingers down her arms.“It’s okay, Mira.Just breathe.Let it happen.If you fight what your body is trying to do, it will take longer and hurt worse.”
She shuddered violently, and her muscles locked and released in spasms.She ground her teeth together as the first sharp crack of bone echoed in the room.With a whimper, she clung to her mate, scared and elated at the same time.
“I’ve got you.Don’t fight it.Let me see your beautiful gryphon.”
Pain rolled through her in waves, stealing her breath.Her hearing sharpened with a whine, and her vision blurred.She heard Leo’s heart beating and the worried hum of his wolf.
Leo kept his voice low as he told her over and over tojust let go.
Then she felt her beast.
Really felt her for the first time.
And she gave herself over to the shift.
She screamed as her body transformed, her cry of pain morphing into the call of her gryphon.The air shimmered with red mist that smelled like ash and rosemary, and then it broke apart like glass and disappeared.Her body changed fully, two legs to four, wings pushing from between her shoulder blades, and everything inside her aligning with her beast.
No more spell keeping her from her gryphon, she was finally, truly as she had been born to be.
She let out a bellow from her beast as her claws dug into the carpet.
“Well, holy shit,” Leo said.“Mira!You’re amazing!You did it!”
Leo knelt next to her and rested a hand on her chest, his fingers sinking into her fur.She looked down and saw her big, white paws.Over her shoulder, she could see the tip of dark wings.
The bond between her and Leo pulsed like a living thing, and she bent her head and pressed it to his with a sigh.That hurt like hell, but she felt free now.
Outside, tires crunched on gravel, and Leo jumped to his feet.“That’s Doc.Come on, sweetheart.”
He tugged his jeans on, and she followed him out into the family room.
Leo opened the front door, and Mira peeked around him to watch as a male strode swiftly up the front walk with a medical bag.
His eyes went wide when he saw her.
