now it wouldn’t stay down anymore no matter what she did.
Garret scowled. “Don’t do anything crazy. We’ve all had enough craziness to last a lifetime, especially you.”
She laughed again and leaped forward. She let go of his hand and raced down the other side of the mountain. “Come on! Let’s run! I feel like running.”
She streaked away and left him behind, but only for a moment. Her wild energy shot her plunging headlong down the rough slope. In an instant, the trees swallowed her, but they only fed her with more insane strength and momentum. That forgotten nutrient flooded into her veins. It drove her on and on without ever tiring her. She would never feel tired again.
Garret plowed down the hill behind her. He caught up with her easily, but when she turned to laugh at him, he didn’t look happy—not at all. He trotted at her side without breaking a sweat, but he kept checking on her out of the corner of his eye.
She couldn’t imagine what he found wrong with this. Nothing could stop her. She could run for weeks without losing power. She dodged trees and vaulted fallen logs. She tore through brambles without feeling a single scratch. A halo of serendipity enclosed her. It protected her against any harm, but nothing could harm her when she was like this.
Her body responded to her slightest whim. The heavyweight of the baby in her belly didn’t slow her down. Her body moved easily around her pregnancy, almost as though it was made for this headlong running. It spurred her to run even faster. It lifted her feet off the ground. It suspended her over obstacles giving her plenty of time to clear them without difficulty.
What could be wrong with this? Why didn’t she realize before how amazing these woods would make her feel? She almost regretted that she would have to go back to the house someday.
She tilted down a precipitous ravine and veered up the streambed at the bottom. She crossed into territory she didn’t know, but her feet found their own way. The forest told her where to go and carried her there.
She ran along a granite cliff that ended at a curtain of spray coming from a hundred-foot waterfall. Without breaking stride, she rocketed up the next hill heading for the top. She dashed all the way to the head of the falls, but she still didn’t want to stop there, either.
She raced along the cliff edge. It ended at a steep point that plummeted over a sheer fifty-feet drop. This maniac power surging through her propelled her to the precipice. Instead of slowing down, she pushed herself to the brink and jumped.
Her arms and legs pinwheeled through the air. The next instant, she landed in a crouch and bolted away even faster. She dove into the trees running for…something.
Garret pulled up at her side again, but he didn’t look at her. He still ran easily, and he didn’t try to stop her.
Whatever was driving her—she tried to locate where it was coming from. Was it inside her, or did it come from the land itself? She didn’t know and she didn’t care. She gave herself up to it and let it sweep her off her feet. She crossed another valley and started up the other side when it happened.
She leaned forward and stretched out to streak over the ground. She extended every fiber to run even faster when a dizzying jolt of strange sensation hit her out of nowhere. It wrapped her in a skin of dark confusion.
Before she could stop it, it blanketed her consciousness. She remained aware of everything, but her conscious brain shut down. Something deep and primal took over. It transformed her into a being of pure instinct.
Her body contorted around that pocket of curious feeling. She toppled onto her hands, but she didn’t stop running. A ripple of strength and speed exploded out of her, and she changed. Fur burst through her skin. Running on all fours became easier and more natural.
A tide of smells and impressions catapulted into her brain. She glanced over at Garret to find him staring at her with wide, gaping eyes. Her awareness zeroed in on his eyes, and she saw herself reflected in them. She was a bear, but she already knew that. She had shifted for the first time.
The next instant, he shifted, too. He transformed without breaking his stride and became the huge bruin she knew so well—but different. She