Moon Dancer

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

“So you’re doing this.” Claw’s voice was like fermented honey, sweet at first with a bitter aftertaste. Inside my belly, the tether between us widened, strengthened. The pack bond filled me with a caffeine-like boost of energy...and at the same time worked against me. The harder I pressed against the inside of my wolf’s skin now, the more she resisted my impulse to shift.

Pack, she whispered.

He’ll still be your pack when you’re Val’s wolf.

My wolf’s reaction was wordlessly dismissive. The future was unknowable. She wanted to rub up against Claw now.

Focus, I gritted out as the human we were supposed to be partnering with danced around me to greet her brother. In lieu of an answer, my wolf planted her feet and stood frozen until two pairs of legs reappeared at eye level.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Val told her brother. “I think Olivia’s stuck.”

I wasn’t stuck. My wolf was recalcitrant. Whatever the reason, though, Val’s words were growing more and more distant, my vision tunneling in on the pool of saliva puddling on the floor between our paws.

Claw’s face at eye level, however, drew our attention. “Do you want me to leave?”

I should have said yes, but his presence sent warmth tunneling through chilled muscles. United about this, at least, my wolf and I swayed our head side to side in denial.

“And you need to shift?” Claw’s voice was a lifeline. It pulled me out of the agony of a transformation that wasn’t happening, reawakening my rational brain.

Yes, we needed to shift. Again, my wolf and I were in complete agreement. My job and future depended upon untarnished humanity. My wolf just wanted fingers so she could caress Claw’s skin.

Rather than nodding, we pushed once again for humanity. Nothing happened. Well, that’s not quite true. Our legs quivered, barely holding us upright. Our ears rang so loudly the sound overwhelmed the roaring of our breath.

Claw sighed, the deep gust of exhaled air redolent with disappointment. He didn’t approve, but he was willing to help us. “Okay, then. Val, turn your back.”

Clothes dropped into a pile on the floor beside me. Despite everything, I let my wolf peek out of the corner of one eye.

Muscles atop muscles. The sinuous grace of a well-honed predator. As usual, Claw’s mere proximity was making us pant.

Then he was lupine alongside us. Man, then wolf...then man again.

The tether running between me and Claw pulled us along in his undertow. Wolf then woman....

For one split second, my animal alter-ego began to leave my body. Paws scrabbled up the inside of my throat while something invisible yet very tangible pressed out of the top of my head.

Then Claw cleared his throat and the wrist-thick rope of light drew tight between us. It stretched. Strained. Snapped like a rubber band.

Not broken. Resilient.

The rebound flung my wolf back into my body. Blunt human teeth bit into the plastic statue.

Still here, the beast informed me.

Together, we spat out the statue that had done exactly no good.

***