More headshaking. “No, not until you’re an adolescent. But since you’re an adult, you have the potential. Close your eyes. Envision what your wolf is. Your fangs bared, your legs muscled, your senses heightened.”
“Sounds… uh… difficult.”
“Give it a try.”
I pushed myself up off the ground and saw a larger-than-average tree. I made my move over to it. “Don’t look,” I said, blushing.
“Not a peep!” he promised.
“Are you lying?”
“Maybe. But try anyway.”
If my father was some grand and all-powerful alpha, I should be able to manage that, right? I took a deep breath and went through what Killian had taught me. Envisioning myself becoming the wolf, being the wolf.
I focused intensely, imagining my body becoming that, dropping to all fours, hair growing everywhere, my teeth becoming the razor-sharp daggers that lined a true carnivore’s mouth.
I opened my eyes. White-ish-blonde hair lined my arms, my bones bent slowly and painfully and claws curved out of my fingertips… I staggered forward a few steps… and then I proceeded to fall face-first onto the ground, letting out a very canine-esque yelp of pain as I did so.
The hair receded. I felt dirt against my tits.
The sundress had torn and fallen off of me. Oops.
“You okay back there?”
I groaned. This time the pain was human sounding. “I’m fine. Really, don’t come back here.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, Daphne. On you or anyone else.”
“I don’t want you to look.”
“You’re going to have to get over that sort of thing, you know. We’re animals. Nudity is not a big thing for us.”
“Yeah, I get that, but I don’t want you to see me like this.”
He laughed. “I’ve seen parts of you your doctor hasn’t seen, gorgeous.”
I didn’t dignify his teasing with a response, just crossed my arms over my chest. My bra was broken from the endeavor, and my panties had been basically shredded.
“I see you peeking, Killian!” I called out. I bent down, picked up what was left of my sundress, and fashioned it into a kind of toga.
Killian walked up to me. I let out a huge yawn. It had been a long day, but still…the sun hadn’t even set yet. “Are you always this tired after you shift?”
Killian shrugged. “It’s a muscle. And it’s one you’ve never used before. I’m not surprised you’re sore and aching, but I’m sure you’ll get a hold of it sooner rather than later.”
Then he reached and pulled me to him. I leaned against him with a sigh. “You seem to have a lot on your mind and look exhausted already. You’ll rest tonight. Tomorrow…” he grinned.
I let out a long sigh. The walk back to the house felt like it took forever, and we were halfway there when he stopped and swept me up into his arms. I was so tired and achy that I didn’t even protest, just nestled my face into his shoulder. We returned to my room, and he deposited me on the bed.
Killian smiled down at me.
“I want you, but I’m exhausted, and…” I yawned again.
“I know.”
He shifted, spun around on the floor, and lay flat, a huge, hulking guard wolf.
He closed his eyes, but I had no doubt that he’d hear a threat coming long before I did and leap to my defense.
