Rowan exhaled, the sound heavy with resolve, and stepped back from Holly just enough to give himself room. The air around him seemed to thicken as he let go of the fragile restraint he was holding. Holly watched, eyes wide, as Rowan’s body tensed—shoulders rising, spine lengthening beneath his coat, muscles rolling under his skin like something alive and impatient.
A heartbeat later, bones shifted with a series of deep pops that she felt more than heard. Fur burst across his skin in rippling waves of midnight black, swallowing the last of his human form. His wolf—massive, broad-chested, eyes like burning blue ice—stood where Rowan had been a moment before.
Holly’s breath caught.
She had seen him shift once before, but this was different. There was no desperation or battle-frenzy fueling
