you to sit, please.”
Sean sat in the chair Maximus had been in a short time ago and stared at him. “What now?”
Declan placed his hands on Sean’s shoulders from behind. Maximus reached out and touched the collar with one hand, closed his eyes, and started to murmur something under his breath. Sean watched in fascination, only to jerk in surprise when the collar began to grow hot beneath Maximus’s hand. “What’s going on?” Sean whispered.
Maximus didn’t answer and didn’t stop his chanting. The feeling of electrical surges began to pulse through Sean’s entire body and Sean started to sweat. He curled his fingers around the arms of the chair, his breathing deepening. The surges became uncomfortable and Sean started to fidget. He felt Declan’s hands tighten on his shoulders in a comforting gesture. Just as Sean would have spoken again, a pain unlike anything Sean had ever experienced struck through him and he couldn’t contain the scream wrenched from his very soul. He clamped his eyes shut and struggled to get away from the object causing him such agony.
“Hold him still,” Maximus grunted. Sean barely heard it, but he knew those words meant the pain would continue.
“No more,” Sean cried, tears running down his cheeks. “Please!”
“Maybe we should stop,” Declan growled.
“We can’t stop. It’s too late.”
Another jolt of pure excruciating torture struck through Sean and he scream again, his body bowing from the chair. Then Maximus was gone, the familiar weight of the collar around his throat disappeared, and Sean slid to the floor, his arms wrapped around his belly as something clawed at his insides. “It hurts,” he sobbed.
Declan knelt beside him, gathering him close to his chest. “I know, baby. Just let it take over. It’ll be over soon.”
There was nothing in the world, no words of any kind, that could describe the pure fire eating at Sean’s body. He could never describe the way every bone inside of him all seemed to break at once, pops and crackles echoing throughout the office. Maybe if he’d been able to, he’d have laughed at the nauseated expression on Maximus’s face, but all he could do was writhe in Declan’s hold, pleading for them to make it stop.
“Jesus! You never said it would be this bad, Cam!” Declan roared.
“I didn’t know! There’s no way to know how he would react. This is something we’ve never seen before,” Cameron protested. A low yowl came from Kyle’s direction, at least Sean figured it had to be Kyle since he’d been the only one standing near the far wall of the office. “No one could have predicted this. Not even me.”
The sensation of his fingernails being pried out all at once caused Sean to lose all coherency and he blacked out. He had no idea how long he was unconscious for, but when he did return to his senses, the room was quiet. No one made a sound and Sean lifted his head only to blink in shock. The majority of the colors were gone, replaced by varying shades of gray and white. All except for blues, greens, and yellows. He blinked again, wondering if maybe he just needed to clear his vision. Only the colors remained the same. He tried to speak, but only a low yowl came out.
Surprise brought Sean stumbling to his… paws? Wonder and excitement danced through him and Sean looked down to see paws instead of feet. They were covered in white fur with what appeared to be dark stripes. He glanced up at Declan and gave another yowl. Declan’s eyes were wide and Sean thought maybe something was wrong. He tilted his head, trying to understand.
“You’re beautiful, mate,” Declan breathed and then suddenly his arms wrapped around Sean’s very wide neck.
Then Sean remembered his ability to speak with Declan through his mind. “What am I?”
Declan pulled back and smiled. “Exactly what I thought you’d be. Only so much better.”
“Bring me a mirror,” Declan demanded of the others around them without looking away from Sean.
Sean rubbed against Declan, butting his head at the broad chest. Declan laughed, a husky sound which went straight to Sean’s groin. He would have frowned at the odd feeling, but wasn’t sure how to do that in whatever form he’d shifted into.
“Here, Alpha.”
Declan stood and took the large mirror from Victor. He slowly turned the surface around until Sean saw a huge white cat staring back. He could see the bright blue of his eyes, the white of his fur, and the dark