“I'm exhausted.” Azrael stood up. “I'm going to bed.”
I got up and hugged him. “I love you. You did the right thing.”
He kissed my cheek. “Thank you. I love you too. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” I watched him climb the stairs.
“I need a run.” Trevor stood up.
“It's your night with me. Why don't we go out to the cabin for the night?” I suggested.
Trevor looked around at the other men. They all nodded, Odin with a distracted air.
“All right.” Trevor took my hand, and we headed downstairs together.
The cabin was a massive, two-story building fashioned after the one Fenrir had in his territory for Froekn get-togethers. Set inside a valley on the shore of a lake, it was the perfect place for us to have a brief vacation without leaving the territory. A staycation.
We ran out to the cabin in our wolf forms. That piece of Trevor's soul inside me granted me a wolf form. I didn't shift into it often enough, so my wolf wasn't ready to shift back when we arrived, even after crossing nearly the entire territory. So, we did a lap around the lake and then lay down on the shore together. With the moon overhead and just the two of us below in a furry wolf pile, it felt like heaven.
Then I shifted back. Stretching my arms up to the moon, I settled into my main body. It felt naughty to stand naked under the moonlight, and I looked over at Trevor to grin. Then I froze. Trevor was still in wolf form, staring at me with wide, honey-colored eyes.
“Trevor?” I crouched before him.
He whined.
“What's wrong?”
Trevor shuddered.
I had connections with all of my husbands that allowed us to hear each other's thoughts when we concentrated. It was harder when one of us was in an animal body, but I tried anyway. Closing my eyes, I reached for Trevor through our connection. Emotions jumbled his thoughts, mainly panic, but I still caught the gist of it.
My eyes popped open. “You can't shift?”
Trevor shook his head.
My heart leapt. “Okay, just take a breath. I'm going to reach for you. Maybe I can bring you back.”
He nodded.
I sat down on the grass and took his head in my hands. Closing my eyes, I went down our connection again, but this time, I went deeper. Past his thoughts and into his man essence. My wolf whined inside me, but I held her back. I wanted to bring Trevor out, not Wolf. I mentally grabbed him and pulled. As soon as I did, I felt him shift beneath my hands.
Blinking, I let go. Trevor was panting and still wide-eyed, but he was a man again.
“Are you all right?” I cupped his cheek.
“Yes, I'm fine. I don't know what happened. I think Wolf didn't want me to shift back.”
“That's not like him.” I bit my lip as something occurred to me. “Trevor, what if the machine is interfering with shifting?”
Trevor blinked. “I hope not. If it is, that means it can affect gods.”
“You were transforming.”
“I know. But you shifted fine. Shouldn't it have affected you first? I was born a wolf. Shifting isn't innate for you.”
“I don't know, but the timing is odd.”
Trevor got to his feet, taking me with him. “Let's get inside. It's cold out here.”
