Page 20 of Dual Nature

"Fuck!" Zander swore as he shifted us down to the floor. "Colt, Lane, get up here now! She's starting to shift, and it looks like it's gonna be one hell of a battle!"

I lost all track of time, senses, and self; stuck in an endless loop of pain, I fought back against what was trying to take over my body. I won't lose to you, damn it. I'm not an omega. I'm a motherfucking assassin who can take care of herself! Unfortunately, my wolf didn't give a shit about what I thought. It was here and moving in whether I liked it or not.

thirteen

Entering that room to find Finley on the floor, drenched in sweat, screaming, and convulsing, terrified me. This was nothing like any transitions I’d seen in my life; she looked more like she was demon possessed than shifting into a wolf. I'd been with Lane when he went through his first shift, but I'd had enough time to help him accept the fact that he was going to be a werewolf. My ferocious little mate hadn’t had even forty-eight hours to come to terms with being bitten, let alone losing her job, home, and life as she knew it. Add on the knowledge that this was happening way too fast and she was going to be an omega, the complete opposite of what I knew of her so far, and it was no wonder she was fighting this.

Shifting closer, I pulled her head onto my lap, brushing her hair out of her face. I started to talk to her in a soft, low voice I'd used when my brother was a baby. "It's going to be okay, little one. Let the shift happen; your wolf is a part of you. I know this isn't fair and you never wanted this, but we'll help you through it. Come on, Finley, don't do this. There are worse things than needing to lean on others."

I had no idea if she could hear what I was saying or if it was just our presence, but she finally stopped screaming. Her body was still twitching, but not as violently as it once was. Glancing up at Zander, I found him sitting there, watching her, his body frozen as if he were afraid to do anything.

"What happened? Something must have triggered her shift. The full moon isn't until tomorrow night."

Zander met my gaze, and something that almost looked like guilt flashed in them. "She wasn't submitting when I asked her a question, so I was disciplining her. I should have known it was too soon to push her that hard. She hasn't had her first shift, and even if she’s acting like an omega, she isn't one yet."

This made far more sense. When bitten wolves, particularly people who were turned into submissive ones that conflicted with their human personalities, fought against their new nature, their instincts tended to fight back. The new werewolf genetics were stronger than the human, forcing them to submit to their new role in life.

What we were witnessing right now was a battle between dueling natures. Would they be able to find balance? I'd never known a person who was bitten by a wolf whose nature was incompatible with their own. Lane didn't see himself as an alpha, but he’d taken to it like he'd been born that way. Sure, he was more gentle about things than I was, but that was his personality, and one could still be a strong leader while having a softer touch. He hadn't lost himself just because his wolf was more dominant. In fact, I thought his designation had simply shown another side of who he truly was. Would that be the same for Finley? Could there be a part of her, however small, that actually craved submission? That wanted to be cared for, pampered, and provided for?

"Zander, you said that for a bitten omega to be able to happen, the person needed to be innately compatible, right?" I asked, running my fingers through her hair as she quieted even more.

He shifted to take her hand in his, rubbing his thumb on the back of it. "I've never met one, but from what I've studied, yes. It's the only way that the mutation can happen from a bite."

Lane got up from the floor beside me and walked over to the bathroom. I heard the sink running before he returned with a damp washcloth and set it on her forehead. Always a medic first, no matter what the situation. I couldn't argue how useful that training was.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she?" Lane whispered, eyes locked on her face. "Should we strip her out of her clothes so she can’t get twisted up in them? I think that would just freak her out more."

I felt like an ass for not thinking of it myself. Between the three of us, we stripped her and placed a sheet over her stunning naked body. Even though I tried to be as respectful as I could, there was no way to stop the raging boner I now had thanks to the knowledge that her bronze glow was natural. Unless she sunned out in the nude…

She let out a sharp gasp, eyes snapping open to reveal her now-glowing breathtaking blue eyes. Her wolf was close, meaning her shift was too. "Guys, I think we should give her some space. I don't think she's going to be happy when her wolf emerges."

Rolling onto her stomach, she got up on her hands and knees before her skin began to ripple, then burst, replacing the beautiful woman with an equally gorgeous pure black wolf with shining cobalt eyes. Finley whined and dropped to the floor, panting, her sides heaving and tongue lolling out of her mouth as her body tried to compensate for the stress it was under. Happening without the pull of the full moon, everything about this transition was rougher and faster. I wasn't sure what the right move was at this moment; typically, I would also shift to address things as a wolf would, but being an omega, I feared it might be too much for her.

"Finley," I murmured, shuffling a little closer to draw her gaze to me.

The look in those haunting blue eyes made me pause—that was not the look of an omega. No, that was the look of an assassin. My wolf charged forward, and a growl trickled out of my lips as I narrowed my eyes on her. As if a switch had been flipped, the look was gone. She was on her back, belly up, head back, offering up her neck. There wasn't a more submissive pose she could take to convey her apology. I cut off the growl and moved closer until I was right beside her head, studying the way her ears flattened, as if she was waiting for me to hit her, when I reached a hand out."Finley, you have nothing to fear from me. I’m your alpha and protector. No harm will come to you," I promised. We were werewolves, and we loved our mates fiercely.

My hand settled on her head between her ears. Her fur was like silk to the touch, and it made me want to bury my face in it. As she shifted back to lay on her stomach, tail wagging, she watched Lane and Zander’s slow approach with a guarded stare.

"Easy, little dove. The first shift is always the worst, but it will get easier. You put up one hell of a fight, that's for sure," Zander shared as he ran a hand down her back. "Any idea who won?"

Her ears pricked up as she tracked him with her eyes, but that didn't give anything away.

"Guess I can't get mad at you for not answering my question when you can't speak… very clever," he teased. Finley made a chuffing sound that almost made me think she might be laughing.

Lane stood and started to take off all his clothes, tossing them on the bed. "Come on, guys. We have to take her for a run and a hunt so we can feed her wolf."

"Ah, yeah, about that… It's a little different when it comes to an omega. They can't make the kill themselves. If we want this to work how it normally does, we'll have to do it for her then give her part of the kill," I explained. "She might have better luck making the kill if we let her go with some of the less dominant wolves."

"You want to send our mate out on her own?!" Zander snapped, causing Finley to whine and jerk away from us, hiding under the bed. "Look at her! She’s a four-legged chew toy. There is no way that I'm letting her go without one of us."

"I'm not saying we can't be around, but we have to stay out of sight and downwind," I argued. "Giving her the chance to get even a taste of a kill will make her that much stronger. I've seen omegas that can fend for themselves if the need is dire, and I need to know that Finley can be one of those few. If the Dark Ring is really after her, then we owe it to her and ourselves to give her the best possible chance to survive. She's different, a trained assassin who’s been changed into an omega. Who knows what odds she could defy."

The two of them frowned at me, not at all on board with what I was proposing.

"There’s no need for her to survive when she has us looking after her," Zander challenged.

That was when I snapped and got right up in his face. "Yeah, well, so did my brother, and now he's DEAD!"