Page 33 of Reformed Wolf

“Where are we going?” There wasn’t anything for miles and miles, and our options while naked were limited.

“You’ll see…” He flashed me that cheeky smirk that made me fall in love with him all over again.

Fate doesn’t make mistakes, I reminded myself as I put my trust in him. For better or worse, I’d been brought here, and I had to believe it was where I was meant to be.

It felt foreign to be naked outside where anyone in the camp could see us. A few people turned to look, offering a smile or wave, but there weren’t any disapproving glares. It was a far cry from the city. Out here, away from humans, the connection the shifters shared with their beasts was different—freer, more in tune. It was… nice.

Tristan led me out of the cabin and then between the buildings to the edge of the woods, where the lily of the valley was tiptoeing its way into the clearing. Evening was descending, the shadows deepening, and a dampness crept out from between the trees that smelled fresh and green, of moss and new spring growth.

“Run with me,” Tristan invited, walking backward between the trees, our fingers still entwined—until they weren’t. His body rippled with the shift, and he dropped to all fours. I’d seen his wolf before, but I had a feeling no matter how many times I saw him, I would never stop being in awe. He was truly a thing of beauty.

He yipped at me and bounded back and forth, and I could sense his eagerness. It was contagious, and I felt my own beast surging beneath my skin.

I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” The shift was almost painful it had been so long. It was like rebreaking a bone to set it the way it was supposed to be. My panther sighed in relief, stretching our limbs and back. Our pelt felt tight and itchy, and almost right away, my beast prowled over to a wide fallen tree, sharpening our claws on the rough trunk.

He’d never blamed me for the way he was kept muzzled inside me, it was just the way it was for exotic shifters like us living in the city. In order to let our wild selves out, we had to travel to designated safe zones, marked to the public as private sanctuaries. The past few years, though, after my mother had died, my father had decided I was too much of a target.

And while I was probably still a target, I couldn’t bring myself to care right now. Not when our feet sank into the soft, fragrant loam, not with the way the breeze felt like it was running its fingers down my spine. My panther was purring even before Tristan’s wolf nuzzled into our neck, properly introducing our other halves.

He was bulkier than we were, with sharper angles, his back standing taller, but I’d bet he couldn’t climb a tree…

Feeling particularly frisky, the only hint our long tail flicking behind us, we lunged into the woods, and I heard Tristan’s playful yip as he gave chase. I lost track of time as we took turns playing predator and prey, but it was full dark by the time my panther broke through the trees onto rocky ground.

I found him there, my mate, as a man, standing on the borders of a pond, his skin opalescent in the silvery light shining down on him. The moon, just past full, was reflected off the water’s surface in a rippling pattern written by the wind.

My panther greeted him, butting our head against his leg to demand his attention, and Tristan crouched and ran his fingers down our sleek fur. “Simply beautiful,” he whispered.

When my panther finally decided I could have a turn, I shifted back to my skin, and Tristan stepped back, watching me with a soft smile. I barely felt the cool night air licking my body. Instead, I was warm and whole, more at peace than I ever had. Never once in my father’s house had I felt at home. It was safe and it was comfortable, but it was never truly where I belonged. They were just thick walls filled with hollow space, but somehow, I had never even noticed something was missing until now.

Now… all I could see was my mate.

The rocks were sharp beneath my feet, until I stepped forward onto the softer mud, with the water lapping at my ankles. I drew even with Tristan, and we reached for each other without conscious thought; it was simply where we were meant to be, arms encircling waists and entwining limbs, chest to chest and heart to heart.

“Look up,” he murmured, tucking his chin into my neck.

I did, and even though I thought I’d been prepared, I gasped, because how could I not when faced with an infinite sky flecked with ancient stars. Even with the moon’s bathing glow, it was breathtaking the number of stars compared to what could be seen in the city. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” I whispered reverently.

“Now listen. Tell me what you hear.”

I closed my eyes and breathed. I heard the undulation of water on the shore, crickets chirping, an owl hooting and its mate replying in the distance, but there was so much more. I could hear the trees, their wistful sighs as the wind tugged at their boughs, their roots extending deep into the ground among the wriggling of worms, an entire undergrowth teeming with life. I couldn’t just hear it, I could feel it. Earth and water and air, nature in harmony, and now, I was a part of that world. “I hear… everything.”

Tristan sounded tortured when he next spoke, and when I looked up at him, he looked like he was in pain. “I know living here in the camp means giving up so much of what you’re used to. No more hot showers, no silk sheets. But I promise, the forest has so much to offer you. If you give it a chance, I’ll make it worth your while.”

I felt like such a spoiled brat. None of what I missed about home were necessities. They were extravagant luxuries, and I felt embarrassed and humbled as I thought about everything I’d seen today. The Grim Wilds pack stayed together out of more than obligation and responsibility. They were a family, bound together by more than blood.

I gazed into my mate’s depthless blue eyes and stroked his cheeks, rasping with two days’ worth of whiskers. “I know you will.”

That crease formed between his brows again, and his Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow. “If you really want to go home, I’ll go with you. I would follow you to the ends of the earth if that’s what made you happy. You’re the only thing that matters to me now.”

“I am home,” I told him firmly, and I meant it. “Now take me to bed, alpha mine.”

His grin was equal parts relieved and mischievous. “It would be my pleasure—but more importantly, yours.”

We didn’t make it to bed that first time—or the second—but we got there eventually. And at the end of a long day, getting to crawl into bed with my mate felt like every kind of perfect. It made every sacrifice more than worth it, and I looked forward to a lifetime of days just like it.

Chapter 15

Tristan

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