We ran until my chest heaved and my legs were noodles made limper with every step. The smell hit me first, sharper, more pungent than ever. Rotting debris. Decaying fish corpses. Moldy leaves. The scents were so pure I tasted them and gagged. The high of running evaporated between one breath and the next as reality set in.

Graeson slowed, glanced over his shoulder. Swollen with recalled magic, I didn’t balk at the caress of a mind against mine. Expecting it would be Dell, I stumbled when a guttural voice rumbled, “Stay put,” before the wolf trotted off to scout the area. It stunned me so much I came to a full stop and stared after him, wondering if I was losing my mind.

“Oh my God.”

I spun toward Dell, heart thumping. “What is it?”

“Your face,” she breathed. “Good Lord, Cam. Have you seen yourself?”

“Is it bad?” Careful of my claws, I rubbed my palms on my throat and sucked in sharp breath as I discovered the elongated curve of my jaw. My fangs weren’t present. I hadn’t realized the shift had altered me to this degree. Each time it came faster, smoother, easier. “Tell me the truth.”

Fingers trembling, she traced the strange hollow of my cheek. “You’re beautiful.” She laughed. “It’s just—wow. You’re like a legend come to life. No one can hold a partial shift. Not even the alphas. We’re wolves or we’re people. There’s no in between.” Her fingers slid through my hair, and she presented a lock of hair out for me to see. Gleaming platinum strands clung to her hand, the ends black as if dipped in ink. “This is amazing.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me.” I tried to find some part of me that was upset by the change. I discovered none. “I haven’t shifted this easily since…” Not since Lori and I had practiced becoming. The change to her and back had been fluid, easy as breathing, painless. Her aspect had been a comfortable pair of shoes I sometimes slipped on for a walk. “It’s been a long time.”

“Please show this to Meemaw,” she pleaded. “She’ll wet her pants.”

I wrinkled my extended nose. “That’s a good thing?”

“Yes.” She hopped from foot to foot. “Cord will lose his mind when he sees you like this.”

The rush of embarrassment washed over me, and where my skin prickled the fur receded until I was left standing pink and plain and flushed. What would he think? A wolf might see the half-form as an improvement, but would the man? It shouldn’t matter what Graeson thought of my appearance, but it did.

I wanted him to share the same tight-throated, dry-tongued appreciation of me as I had for him.