I took a hesitant step, slowing my breathing until there was virtually no sound from me except the rush of pulse and beat of heart. Even I couldn’t hide those from beings with advanced senses. But still, I needed to be cautious until I knew for certain there was nothing out there but Braxton.

My creeping was slow, silently placing one bare foot in front of another, the ground prickly – soft undergrowth, but there were sticks, stones and other unknowns. I thought briefly of shifting to wolf again. I knew I was faster in my other form, but I wanted to focus, and while my wolf could be the queen of focus at times, if a rabbit bounded past I was screwed. I was scanning as fast as my eyes could process images, my nose elevated as if that would help with the detection of enemy.

Outside the door of the cabin the landscape was overgrown, tangled, ancient. Forest, but unlike any I’d seen before. I catalogued the scene: trees, vines, bushy undergrowth and large, probably poisonous, pink flowers, the kind that drooped over and had some sort of sticky dew rolling out of their center. They lured their prey in with beauty and then killed them.

Where the hell am I? This place was one giant plate of freak-me-the-hell-out.

The growling started again, louder than before, coming from the left, sort of through the vines and on the other side of the round cabin. There was no clear path for me to take, blocked in a cage of greenery so tightly interwoven that I had no idea how to get through. Shifting my hands into claws, I started to rake across vines in the direction of the growl.

It took me a while, but I managed to force a path, the vegetation scratching my exposed arms, but I barely noticed. A flash of black and blue caught my eyes and my heart rate both sped and calmed at the sight. I knew those scales. Braxton was close. But, judging by the vinery around that scaled leg, he was pretty tangled in the vegetation.

I let my claws fade away and whispered in his direction, keeping my tone low and soothing. “Shift back, Brax, you’re too large to fit through this dense undergrowth.”

The growling cut off, and I knew he was working to calm himself. I could sense a minute variation in the air. Usually it was very distinct when a shifter pulled energy to change, but the air here felt so dense with power it dulled everything else. Still, I knew when he was shifting back. And sure enough, within seconds the scales had disappeared. Then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Braxton.

“Jessa babe … are you okay?”