Page 23 of Her Immortal Protector

I lean down, biting into her shoulder as I roar, filling her with my release as she floats in her euphoria, lost in the feeling of my blood and the way I made her come.

And fuck, if I'm not glad this is the way she's going through the Change.

I quickly clean her up as she shudders. She's unconscious, thankfully, and I curl around her as her body breaks and remolds. Small whimpers spill over her lips, but she never wakes. I hope that she's not feeling it at all.

"You can do this," I whisper to her as I brush her hair back. "I won't let you die."

But I have no option. I can only pray she makes it as my heart seizes with fear with every jerk and snap of her body.

Please, don't die.

14

ARIA

I'm floating in a sea of bliss, waves of pleasure washing over me. But beneath the surface, something's changing. My bones ache, a deep, grinding pain that starts in my core and radiates outward. I cling to the euphoria, desperate not to sink into the agony I know is waiting.

"You're doing great, Aria," Christos's voice reaches me through the haze. "Stay with me."

My skin feels like it's on fire, burning and stretching. I want to scream, but my throat constricts. My back arches involuntarily, muscles spasming. Something's pushing against my shoulder blades, trying to break free.

"Christos," I choke out, my voice raw and unfamiliar.

"I'm here," he whispers, his cool hand on my forehead. "Focus on my voice."

I try, I really do. But the pain is everywhere now. My bones are shifting, grinding against each other as they reshape. I feel my rib cage expanding, making room for... something new.

And still, there's a haze of pleasure that seems to help numb it. I cling to that.

The pressure on my back intensifies. It's like something's trying to claw its way out of me. I bite my lip, tasting blood. The coppery flavor sends a jolt through me, awakening a hunger I've never known.

"Wings," Christos murmurs. "They're coming."

With a sickening crack, my shoulder blades split open. I cry out, the sound more animal than human. But even as the pain peaks, another wave of pleasure crashes over me, dulling the edges. I'm grateful for the numbness, clinging to it like a lifeline.

My vision blurs, colors shifting and intensifying. The room seems brighter, every detail in sharp focus. I can hear Christos's heartbeat, smell his skin. It's overwhelming.

My back feels wet. Blood? I try to look, but my body won't obey. Something unfurls behind me, new muscles flexing for the first time. Wings. I have wings.

The Change ripples through me, remaking me from the inside out. My skin pales, taking on an otherworldly sheen. My senses sharpen even further, the world around me becoming almost painfully vivid.

I'm slipping, consciousness fading. But I fight it, clinging to awareness. I won't let the darkness take me. Not now. Not when I'm so close to becoming something... more.

I'm drowning in a sea of memories and sensations, past and present colliding in a kaleidoscope of pain and transformation. One moment, I'm back in my tiny apartment, hunched over my laptop, piecing together the corporate scandal that led me here. The next, I'm writhing on the bed in the cabin, my body twisting into something new and terrifying.

"Stay with me, Aria," Christos's voice cuts through the chaos, anchoring me to reality.

A flash of my childhood bedroom, the walls covered in posters of far-off places I dreamed of exploring. Then, I'm back in the present, my skin burning as it pales to an unearthly shade.

The scent of the sea fills my nostrils, a memory of the Greek island where I first encountered Christos. But it's different now, sharper, more intense. I can smell the salt on the wind, the decay of leaves on the forest floor, Christos's unique scent - all magnified a thousandfold.

Pain lances through my skull as my senses heighten beyond human limits. Colors become too bright, sounds too loud. I squeeze my eyes shut, but it doesn't help. The world presses in on me, overwhelming and alien.

Another memory surfaces - the thrill of my first big story, the rush of exposing the truth. But it pales in comparison to the raw, primal energy now coursing through my veins.

My bones crack and shift, reshaping themselves. I feel myself changing, becoming something other than human. Part of me wants to fight it, to cling to my old self. But another part, growing stronger by the second, embraces the change.

"You're doing it, Aria," Christos murmurs, his voice tight with worry. "Just a little longer."

---