Chapter 7

My hands began to tingle, then burn. I looked down and watched in fascination and terror as my fingers elongated, nails darkening and sharpening into claws. The sight should have been horrifying, but instead I felt a strange sense of rightness, like pieces of a puzzle finally clicking into place.

"That's it," Kyle murmured. "Let it happen. Don't fight it."

Easy for him to say. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to resist this transformation, to stay human, to stay safe. But my body had other plans. My jaw ached as my teeth shifted and sharpened. My hearing became impossibly acute; I could hear Kyle's heartbeat, steady and reassuring beside my own frantic rhythm.

The world exploded into scent. I could smell everything: the rich loam beneath my hands, the sap in the trees, the lingering smoke from the bonfire miles away. And Kyle, pine and earth and something uniquely him that made my emerging wolf whine with recognition.

"Almost there," he said softly. "You're doing great, Imogen