Page 65 of A Beta Protects

"And how does the bond feel to you?"

There’s no stopping my smile, even if I wanted to. "Like discovering the other half of my soul. Like my heart opening up and being filled with wonder. Like I'm no longer alone in the world."

And for the first time since I shifted and met the wolf half of me, my wolf is relaxed and content in a way he never was before. I feel whole.

She stares at me, looking pleased and a little jealous. "Really?"

I nod. "Really."

"But I don't feel any different."

"And you won't.” I take her hand and squeeze, needing to touch her.

"But I've seen movies with werewolves. Surely if you bit me then..."

I grin at her. "No, you won't start howling at the moon."

She pokes my chest with her free hand and yelps. "Ouch! You're hard all over."

I kiss the tip of her finger, soothing her hurt. " I would have to be a wolf when I bit you. Not all humans take this new change well, so it doesn’t happen often."

What usually happens, I’ve heard, though never seen, is the newly bitten human turns feral. Their human mind struggles to accept an alien presence in their mind. It isn’t easy being alone in your head to suddenly sharing your mind and your body with a wolf.

It took time for me to process that change, and I think it went easier for me because this is the way I was always meant to be. The change was sudden and shocking, but it felt right.

For a human who has lived most of their life one way, that change could break their mind or send them mad.

Kira muffles a yawn.

Taking it as a cue that this conversation has gone on longer than I should have let it, I get to my feet and grab one of my T-shirts from the dresser.

Yes, I could get one of the silky nightwear Tricia picked out for Kira, but I want her in something of mine. Especially on a day when I came so close to losing her.

“How about a rest now?” I offer.

She yawns again. “Okay.”

I help her out of her dress and into my T-shirt that’s too big for her, trying not to growl at the bruises on her legs and arms, or get aroused by her soft, sweet curves.

"But if you bit me when you were a wolf, I would be like you?" she asks once we’ve settled in bed, and I have her in my arms.

"Do you want to be like me?"

"Do I get to live forever?"

"No. We’re more long lived because we’re harder to kill and heal faster, but we age the same."

"And I’ll howl at the moon?"

I smile. "Only if you wanted to."

She lifts her head from my shoulder, meeting my eyes. "I think there's something else you're not telling me about this bite, something about how it affects you, but I think I understand why you would."

I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You’re very forgiving."

"What other way is there to be?" She yawns so loudly that her jaw cracks, but she tries to get up. “I need to braid my hair if I’m sleeping. It’ll tangle and I don’t have a brush.”

I muffle a curse at my stupidity. Kira came to Wylder with only the clothes on her back. Of course there was more stuff she needed. Things like a hairbrush.

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