Ayla's POV
I didn't stop walking.
Not when the bond tugged at my back like a thread pulled taut. Not when the pull of them lingered in the cold air behind me, low and steady and impossible to fully ignore. I kept my eyes forward and my pace even, and I didn't give myself the luxury of thinking too hard about what had just happened, because thinking led to hesitating, and hesitating was dangerous.
I was out of their sightline before I let out a breath.
Then I stripped off my clothes, stepped between the trees, and let the shift take me.
White paws hit the snow almost instantly. The change came easier this time—fluid and seamless, like something that had been waiting to happen rather than something forced. A strange relief moved through my bones as muscle and fur replaced skin, the cold
