With one last fleeting look over my shoulder, I slipped inside.
My eyes adjusted to the low light as I scanned the space, my pulse quickening as I spotted a dark figure slumped on the floor near the back. My heart sank when I saw the chains, glinting in the faint light, binding his wrists and ankles.
“Rowan,” I whispered, rushing over to him.
He didn’t move at first, his head hanging low, but as I knelt beside him, his eyes fluttered open, filled with a combination of relief and pain.
“Kendra,” he rasped, his voice rough, as if he hadn’t spoken in hours.
I reached out, gently cupping his face, trying to keep my voice steady despite the panic rising inside me. “I’m here. Are you okay? What did they do to you?”
Rowan let out a slow breath, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
“Suppressants. They’ve got me drugged. Can’t shift, can’t fight.” He grimaced, tugging weakly at the chains that bound him. “But it’s you I’m worried about.”
I frowned, confused. “Me? I’m fine. I got past the guard, I?—”
“No,” he cut me off, his voice urgent. “Your eyes… You’re not fine. You’re… changing.”
I blinked, taken aback by the intensity in his voice. “My eyes? What do you mean?”
Rowan’s gaze softened, though I could see the worry etched in his features. “The mark. When I claimed you… it activated something in you. I didn’t want to scare you before, but I knew it would happen. The virus—it’s inside you now.”
My heart pounded, and a strange heat began to stir inside me, rising slowly from my core. “What are you talking about?”
I suddenly felt lightheaded, like the room was spinning. My skin tingled, every nerve in my body on edge. The warmth that had started deep inside me began to spread, becoming more intense with each passing second, like a fever that was growing hotter, more uncontrollable.
Rowan watched me carefully, his chains rattling as he tried to move closer. “You’re a wolf too. You’re shifting, Kendra,” he said, his voice calm but firm. “It’s happening now.”
Panic surged through me as the heat intensified, my breath coming in short, ragged bursts. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me before. My body felt strange, foreign. I looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers, but they didn’t feel like my own anymore. My muscles ached, stretching and pulling in ways they shouldn’t.
“I don’t—” I gasped, pressing my hand to my chest as the heat roared through me. “I don’t know what’s happening!”
Rowan’s voice was steady, despite the pain I could see in his eyes. “I know it feels like your body’s betraying you, but you have to stay calm. You’ve seen me do this. You know what it is.”
“I—” I choked on the word, the heat now surging through my bones, my muscles trembling as they began to shift, to warp. My vision blurred, sharp bursts of light and color flickering across my eyes. “I don’t know how!”
Rowan tugged at the chains again, his voice gentle, though I could see the strain in his face. “You do. You just have to trust your instincts. Let the wolf take over, but don’t fight it. It’ll hurt, I’m not going to lie—but it’ll pass.”
I gripped my head, feeling the cutting pain of bone grinding against bone, my muscles stretching, changing, as if my body was being torn apart from the inside. My skin burned, and a strangled cry escaped my throat as the first wave of transformation swept through me.
“Rowan—” I gasped, my voice breaking.
“I’m right here,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “Focus on my voice. You’re stronger than this. You’ll get through it.”
I could hear my heartbeat thudding in my ears, faster, louder, like the sound was coming from all around me. My senses exploded—everything was too bright, too loud, too sharp. The world seemed to shift and warp, bending under the pressure of my changing body.
But then, something clicked. Like a door swinging open inside of me, I felt the wolf waiting, clawing at the surface. My instincts took over, just as Rowan had said, and I felt my body begin to surrender to the change instead of fighting against it.
My muscles snapped and stretched, my bones cracking painfully as they realigned. I fell forward, my hands hitting the cold concrete as they shifted into paws, thick fur sprouting across my skin. The agony was overwhelming, but somewhere in the backof my mind, I clung to Rowan’s voice, to the steady beat of his words guiding me through the pain.
“Breathe, Kendra,” he urged. “Don’t hold back. Let the wolf take over.”
I did as he said, letting the wolf inside of me come forward fully, and with a final, brutal surge of heat, the transformation completed itself. I collapsed onto the floor, my limbs trembling, my heart still pounding in my chest—but it was different now. I could hear it stronger, feel it in a way that was more animal than human.
I blinked, trying to steady myself as I lifted my head. The world was sharper now, more vibrant. I could smell the dampness of the warehouse floor, the scent of Rowan’s skin mixed with the metallic tang of his chains. I could hear the faint hum of electricity buzzing somewhere overhead, the soft sound of my own breath in the silence.
I wasn’t just Kendra anymore.