The ground was cool beneath my trembling paws.
The full moon poured silver over everything, making the world feel too bright, too sharp.
Killian hadn’t moved.
He crouched a few feet away, patient and steady, as if daring the chaos inside me to lash out, to break—but never once abandoning me to it.
Slowly, he lifted his head and gave a soft, encouraging rumble.
‘Come back.’
The words weren’t spoken aloud.
But somehow, I understood.
‘Come back to yourself.’
I whined low, torn between the wildness burning in my new form and the aching pull toward something familiar—something mine.
Killian lowered himself even further, exposing his throat—a universal gesture of trust.
He wasn’t my enemy.
He was guiding me.
Somehow, I knew what he was asking.
Shift.
Shift back.
It wasn’t logical
