Her voice cut through the red haze. Not the words. The commanding sound. Something in the frequency of it reached the human part of him that was buried under all the fur and fury.Memories of the night before washed through his mind. The smell of her body. The taste of her sex.
He didn’t want to come back. Coming back meant being small. Vulnerable. Afraid.
“Reed.” She took a step toward him, then another. She was close enough that he could smell her naked body. Close enough to kill.
“Come back to me.”
She put her hand on his muzzle. Her palm was warm. Her scent filled his nose, cutting through the animal smell, bringing him back to himself.
The fear resisted. Fought. Didn’t want to let go. But her hand was on his face, and her voice was in his ears. Slowly he started to shift back. And it hurt when his bones ground against each other. His muscles screamed. The world spun and blurred and reformed around him.
When it was over, he was on his hands and knees in the grass, naked and gasping.
“Siren. I almost killed you,” he managed.
She knelt beside him, cupping his face, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“No, you didn’t. You couldn’t have. I’m much faster than you.”
“I tried. I was trying to…”
“This is exactly what we were trying to do. Your bear thought it was in danger, so it attacked. And now you’re back. Now we start again.”
He looked up into her steady blue eyes, feeling her strength and calm enveloping him with safety.
“Let’s go again.”
The second time was worse. Siren didn’t bother with slapping or insults. She just shifted and circled him in her wolf form. He stood there naked and trembling as her growl was a constant low rumble that vibrated through his flesh.
Reed’s bear was already pushing, already fighting to get out. He could feel his bones aching to change, his skin crawling with the need to shift. She had told him to stay human. As if he could decide.
The wolf snapped at his leg, inches away, and his bear exploded out. This time the shift was faster, like his body was already primed. In one breath he was human, the next a grizzly. The wolf was already moving away, dancing out of range.
He chased her, unable to resist it. The bear wanted blood. But she led him in circles around the clearing. Every time he got close, she darted away. And then she shifted, her commanding, steady voice pulling him back to himself.
The third time he lasted longer. The wolf circled, growling and snapping. The bear raged inside him, slamming against his ribs, demanding release. He breathed through it, focused on Siren’s blue eyes in the wolf’s face. He reminded himself that this was his mate. That she wasn’t going to hurt him.
But then she lunged at him, teeth bared, and the bear tore free.
The shift hurt worse this time. His body was getting tired and the transformations were taking a toll. When he came back, he could barely stand.
She let him rest, drink water, and eat something, covering his shoulders in a blanket while she put on a robe. After he had rested, they went again. He lasted for ten minutes before his hands shifted into claws after she’d lunged at him. He caught it before it took him over and forced himself back into his human form.
Siren shifted. The wolf emerged, dark and beautiful and terrifying. She lowered her head and growled, the sound rolling through the clearing like thunder.
Reed’s bear surged.
He breathed. The wolf circled him. Her claws clicked on a patch of exposed rock. Her hackles were raised, her lips pulled back to show her teeth.
The bear screamed inside him. Demanded release. He breathed through it, holding back the shift. The wolf snapped at his hip, and he flinched but didn’t shift.
She circled closer. Her growl deepened. She was right there, close enough to touch, and his bear was going insane, howling for him to shift, to fight, to protect himself.
He thought about Siren. About her hands on his body. The commanding sound of her voice pulling him back, telling him what she wanted. The look on her face when she came.
He thought about being worthy of her. Strong enough to stand beside her instead of behind her.
The wolf lunged.
