My bones popped, my sinews shortened, my features restructured. Thick brown and white fur poured from my pores, everywhere but on my waxy scar, which was proportionately smaller in this form. Once the change had rolled through me, I stretched and let out a low yowl of joy.
Smells, sounds, colors . . . they all intensified, heightening my already frenzied pulse. I took off at a leisurely trot toward the dense copse of naked aspens lining the fence, then increased my speed until the metal rods, slender white trunks, and snow-covered ground smeared together. The bone in my hind leg clanged, but still, I pushed myself. I’d never recover if I slowed each time the going got tough.
My breaths puffed out in milky clouds that moistened my long muzzle and dampened my fur. I inhaled lungfuls of the delicious air, exhaled ragged breaths that helped mitigate the ache growing around my stiff joint. When I reached the barren orchard, I slowed. I told myself it was to absorb the smells and check out the construction progress of the new residences burgeoning on the nearby hill, but deep down, it was because the throbbing had become too insistent.
I picked up the scent of a squirrel and trailed it to a blue spruce on the outskirts of the orchard. I circled the bristly base, craning my neck, but then remembered a warm breakfast awaited me on the stove and left the rodent to live another day. Halfway around the compound, I ran into three other wolves, one of whom was Grant. The other two were his best friends, Jared and Cane.
Grant’s grass-green eyes dropped to my leg, which trembled. Damn. I slammed my paw down, and the bolt of pain that streaked through my leg almost made me whimper.
You can shift again,he commented.
Were you hoping I’d lost the ability?
Don’t be like that.
I inched past him, keeping my gaze affixed to the massive log cabin which used to belong to Alaric Weathers, our Aspen Alpha, and now belonged to his brother and his children.
Shift, and I’ll carry you back.
The hell I was letting my ex play hero.You’ll drop me midway and leave, so, no thanks.I swung around and cut across the compound, taking the quickest and shortest path back home.
Even though my leg trembled, I forced my paw to graze the ground each and every time. Grant could’ve caught up but had enough sense not to give chase. By the time I reached the bush behind my house, I’d broken out into so much of a sweat that the idea of putting on my clothes was revolting, but I wasn’t walking into my house butt naked with Liam in attendance, so I chucked them on, the fabric clinging to my slick skin. One hand pressed against the smooth logs of the outside wall, I walked to the front door and let myself in, stumbling like a drunk. I smacked into Nate, who was hanging up his leather jacket on the peg by the door.
“Nikki,” he gasped. “What happened?”
I straightened, shrugging his hands off. “Nothing.”
His brown eyes, which were as amber as mine were gray, took in my windblown locks and reddened feet. “You shifted?”
Gritting my teeth, I limped toward the stairs. “I did.”
“I’ll get you an icepack.”
“I don’t need one. I’m fine.”
Nate walked up to me. “You’renotfine.”
I gripped the handrail and forced one foot in front of the other before the heat pooling behind my lids could trickle out and reveal my pain. Once I reached my bathroom, I locked the door and staggered toward the bathtub, turned on the water, then knocked back a double dose of extra-strength painkillers—our metabolism chewed through human medicine quickly—and peeled off my clothes.
Even though the icy water felt like a bed of needles, I breathed through the prickling and massaged my leg until the muscles stopped spasming, and then I stood up and showered under hot water. A half hour later, as I slid on a white thermal top and skinny jeans, the pain had faded to a dull echo. I rolled my shampooed locks into a bun and secured them with a hair tie before heading back downstairs.
“You pushed yourself too hard, didn’t you?” Mom was standing in the foyer with Storm on her hip and a musical toy in her hand.
I palmed Storm’s silky curls as I passed by them. “Nothing a cold bath couldn’t fix.”
Storm extended his arms toward me. I let him latch on to my finger and placed a kiss on his knuckles.
“I swear I’m okay.” I kissed my mother’s cheek.
She let it go. For now.
“I’m dying for breakfast.” I glided my finger out of Storm’s, whose bottom lip overtook his upper one.
Mom clucked her tongue and tapped his button nose. “How about you and I go read a book, baby?”
As she whisked him into the living room, I padded into the kitchen. I went straight for the drip coffee maker and poured myself a mug, then leaned against the counter and took a glorious sip. Nate and Liam were sitting at the island. Although they’d stopped talking when I’d walked in, tension simmered around them.
“What’s with the mood? Did something happen to the halfwolf?” I ended up asking since both were alarmingly quiet.
