Page 19 of Claiming Her Alpha

She nodded her massive head.

“I’ll run behind you to the border. When we get there, keep running south. Don’t look back and don’t stop. It’ll make it easier to control your wolf when she realizes I’m not following. Keep her distracted until you are with Mike.”

He hated the thought of another man looking after her, but he hoped Mike wasn’t a complete idiot and would help her through this transition. Maybe he could even help Kendra control her new animalistic side.

Her blue eyes turned sad, but she nodded anyway.

“Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

Chapter Six

Her first steps were shaky as she tried to figure out how to walk on four paws. Though her wolf had already shown her how fast she could run, Kendra had no idea how to navigate the massive body of her wolf herself. She took small steps at first, each one a little surer than the other. As she turned south, she heard Gabriel give instructions to the others.

“Stay a little behind. We don’t want to provoke her wolf by making her think she’s being chased. Ryker will be closest since her wolf trusts him.”

“Good with us.”

She turned her head and saw that Ryker had already shifted. His beautiful, red wolf approached and ran his nose over her side as he gently encouraged her to keep walking. With each step, she felt more stable and after a few she quickened her pace. Her wolf pushed her to go faster and faster, her muscles burning in the best way possible.

Slowly but surely, she outran Ryker and the others. Though her heart felt heavy, she did as Ryker said and distracted her wolf by speeding up even more. When they reached the Silver Creek River, she crossed the bloodline. She splashed into the water and swam to the other side, not looking back at Ryker who should have stopped by the water’s edge.

After crossing the river, she sped up again, the wind drying her wet fur as she ran towards her home. Her wolf was so eager to be free that she hadn’t yet noticed his absence. She ran as far as she could without a break to make sure there was enough distance between the two of them before she dared to slow down.

When she neared the Shadow border, she reached for Mike’s mind. ‘Can you meet me north of the border by the rock formation?’

‘Only if you finally tell me what’s going on.’

‘Bring me some clothes and I will.’

‘I’m not even gonna ask because I won’t get an answer anyway.’

She closed her mind off to keep him from sensing her wolf–or her bond with Ryker. As she got closer to their meeting spot, she hid the mate bond, buried it deep within her mind and even tried to hide it from her wolf.

Mike’s impatience broke through her efforts. ‘I’m here.’

She stepped out of her hiding spot and Mike’s black wolf immediately jumped to the defence.

‘Me too.’

Mike froze. He took in her appearance and Kendra watched on as the realization dawned on him. Slowly, he relaxed . ‘Fuck, you’re huge.’

‘Guess I can finally beat you at something.’ She laughed. ‘The clothes?’

He indicated a small pile next to him.

‘Please don’t laugh at me–but how do I shift back? This morning I just passed out exhausted. I don’t remember how I did it.’

‘Just try to feel your human body again. Imagine yourself smaller and on two legs.’

‘Why does it sound so easy?’

Mike turned away to afford her some privacy. Kendra sat on the grass head down and closed her eyes. She tried to imagine herself kneeling on the grass as she had earlier. She focused on her hands first, wanting to feel her fingers again so she could get dressed. Her bones started to crack and rearrange but this time it was even less painful.

After a moment she kneeled on the grass completely naked–she had no clue how she’d done it. She didn’t feel exposed, at least not with Mike. But being human again felt odd. When she remembered her wounded shoulder that was no longer covered in fur, she quickly got dressed.

“What happened?” he asked, turning around once she was dressed.

“When I left the clearing last night, it felt like something was burrowing under my skin. I felt so restless–I couldn’t stop walking. After a while my skin started to burn and shred apart.” She shivered remembering the pain of that first shift. “My bones started to break and my wolf took over–both physically and mentally. She just started running. I had no idea what was happening but even when I figured it out, I wasn’t sure how to stop her.”

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