Page 103 of The Healer

She shrugged, unable to think when her skin rippled again, this time on both arms.

“A hot bath, bubbles, champagne?” Each option he matched with a kiss across her captured knuckles.

She flashed a smile. “Though, where would you find champagne at this hour?”

As he drove them home, he spoke of fetching a bottle or two after he ran her a bath.

Minutes later, she stood in their bedroom blinking at the steam rising from the bathtub with Lily of the Valley wafting from the bathroom. Her senses had heightened, more so after every time she bit him during sex. The cacophony from the forest was almost deafening. And her olfactory more enhanced, picking up the salmon in the fridge.

Making love had taken on a breathtaking intensity. The sweep of his hands ignited her nerve endings. His cologne clinging to his skin saturated her nose. His thumping heartbeat synchronized with hers. More than this, she sensed when his emotions altered if they were deep enough. And often, it was his uncompromising love engulfing her.

He stripped off her clothes and shoes, then led her to the bathtub. With a kiss to her temple, he hurried out, intent on buying champagne.

She faced the mirrors above the vanities. “If you plan to come out, can we do it now and get it over with?”

The presence huffed. Then something bumped against the inner walls of her soul, demanding release. Pain lanced outward like a spreading acid burn. She gasped and gripped the vanity’s stone, curling her spine as another wave hit her. Her skin rippled, and a thousand needles pricked, pinched, and caught alight. She screamed, as each hair extended, her bones snapped, and reformed, like logs in a bonfire. With her eyes squeezed shut, she dared not peek at her reflection.

This couldn’t be happening.

She was human.

Was.

Her vision blackened as something shook her skeleton and trembled her teeth in her jaw. The agony was excruciating, too much for her to handle. With that, she slumped into blissful darkness.

Awaking, she stared at the tiled floor, trying to recall how she got there. Rising onto her hands and knees, she rocked, gathering her strength to stand. But all she could manage was to lift her head enough to catch her reflection.

A roar escaped, bearing a wide mouth and tons of teeth that had no place being in her mouth. She plunged forward onto her front paws again.

Paws.

Her long claws tapped the tiles, and where her hands were supposed to be, brown paws flowed into hairy front legs.

Her bear.

She slumped, sat on her padded ass, and peeked at the Sitka brown bear in the reflection. She shifted to the right. So did the bear. Then to the left. The bear did the same while something inside her snorted. Ignoring the other presence, she yawned, exposing her elongated incisors.

Now what?

Forcing herself to walk, she staggered and lurched, unused to moving on four legs. She bumped against the door, the bed, and the couch, trying to reach the front door. But before she made it, a shadow fell across the floor.

“Lona?”

She growled, baring her teeth.

Move, Rhys. But he didn’t hear her. He placed bags on the counter, then yanked off his boots, all the while complaining about her stubbornness and impatience.

“What were you thinking? I wanted to share this with you, be there as you transitioned.”

It’s a matter of dignity.

As he stripped off his shirt and jeans, he went on about how something could have gone wrong, how beautiful he found her bear. Naked, he urged her to follow him outside. As she padded onto the porch, he changed into his bear, and a wealth of emotion crashed into her.

His alpha waves rolled across her senses, urging her to submit. She snorted. Instead, she raised her nose to sniff, picking up the earthy scents of sand, water, wind, then the sweetness of the salmon in the waters and honey nearby.

He nudged her with his head, almost toppling her. She growled a warning, but he chaffed, as if he laughed. Then he danced around her, urging her to move, to bat him with a paw.

Having never been one of those nature girls content to rough it in the wild, finding the sun on her face, the cool breeze ruffling her hair, and the feel of the dirt beneath her paws, there was nothing to compare it to.

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