Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,70
on the spot is because I was still alive.”
My wolf whined in my mind.
“You made me shift somehow?” I rasped.
Sascha leaned across and passed me a glass of water. The cool liquid soothed my throat.
I must have screamed at some point. For a while.
Shadows crossed his face. “I lay next to you for a time to give you strength, but I had to force your shift in the end. Others helped.”
“Who?”
“Those you know from The Dens. It took an hour, but once you got there, your natural healing took over.”
I was out for all that? “Sascha?”
He briefly met my gaze.
“I owe you my life.”
Sascha stood abruptly. “There’s no debt between us. But I didn’t realise you weren’t shifting. You should do it once a day after recovering from the first shift. Doing so helps you find balance with your wolf. The more you shift, the closer you will become.”
Will we get stuck again? I asked her.
No, we are stronger now, she answered.
I dragged the sheet with me as I stood. “Okay. Let’s shift now. Then I need to get back.”
A terse nod was my answer. I followed him to the stream and wrenched to a halt when Sascha undressed.
Oh…
Uhm. Over to you? I told my wolf, dropping the sheet.
Despite the horrendous snapping noises, the shift was like sliding into silk pyjamas. The rapidness of the transformation made it impossible for my mind to process the pain at all. My senses and brain were overwhelmed—like watching a movie in quadruple time—and then it was done.
On all fours, we shook, glimpsing the deep auburn fur covering our forelegs. Trotting to the stream, we peered down at our reflection.
Shit! We’re a wolf.
Yes, Andie, she replied patiently.
Okay, but it’s still a shock to be a wolf. We’re pretty. Are we good-looking for a wolf?
What do you think?
I bared our teeth in a grin as she faced Greyson. She snarled, a polite warning not to fuck around, and then approached, smelling him.
If you sniff his butthole, we’re done.
Human sensibilities. What do your handshakes tell you? Nothing. I can learn a whole range of things from the secretions of another wolf’s anal glands—his breeding status and health, diet, and current emotion.
Sounded illegal but handy. I’m of the opinion that if a task involves anal glands, it’s a hard no.
She huffed and, thankfully, left Sascha’s butt alone.
Greyson lowered his head to look at me. He was around two thirds bigger than me, around the same size difference as our human forms.
I wondered if Sascha was talking to Greyson about buttholes too.
See if you can keep up, beautiful wolf. His words echoed.
Over to you, I told my wolf, giving up everything for the time being. It was only fair with my behaviour of late. After saying I’d never stick her in a box, I did just that. Even if I felt she went over the line to prove a point, reacting that way showed how strongly I’d refused to admit the truth.
The sun touched my fur and energy poured into me, soaking into my tired bones and filling them. Greyson set into a steady lope that I mimicked. When we cleared the stream and left the cabins behind, he took off without warning. Flattening our ears, we took off after him, bounding over fallen trunks and roots. He weaved between ancient trees, pine needles and dirt flying up behind him.
We ran straight, trying to head him off.
Snapping at his heels, we only just avoided smacking into a tree.
Greyson’s laughter rang in our ears, and we set off in pursuit again.
Silence.
He’s hiding somewhere, my wolf hushed.
Crawling on our belly, we panted, listening for signs of life. He had to be close.
A muted thud sounded to our right and we readied for his attack.
Boo! Greyson erupted from the trees at our back.
Yelping, we leaped directly up, scratching our way onto the lowest sturdy branch.
A very human roar of laughter rang out.
Flopping over the branch, we glared down at Sascha.
“A tree-climbing wolf,” he gasped, naked and covered in dirt. “That’s a first.”
What else were we meant to do? He startled us, I said to her.
He tricked us.
Sascha had never looked more carefree as he continued laughing, but my sidekick wasn’t happy about the slight.
She pounced from our branch and bowled him to the ground, standing over him, teeth gnashing over his throat.
He exposed his throat more. Reaching up, he threaded his fingers through our fur. “Sorry, beautiful wolf. That was unexpected is all. I admire your creativity.”