Page 242 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I looked at him and laughed. I didn’t like the sound of the laugh. It was brittle, like I was on the edge of going crazy. “You can say that again. I…it’s there inside me, getting stronger every second.”

He nodded. “It’s like it’s being born. As anxious as you feel, it’s feeling the same thing. Try to connect with it. Don’t fight it or push it away, that will just freak you both out more. Calm down and make contact.”

I released a shuddering breath and closed my eyes, trying to do what he said. I visualized my mind reaching out––tendrils of thought and emotion––toward the creature that was being born inside me. Tentatively, I felt it. My wolf was reaching toward me as well. Our minds and spirits intertwined, and things started to feel more…right. Before I even realized it, my breathing had calmed, and I was feeling more myself, though still markedly different.

“Better?” Miles asked.

I nodded, smiling hesitantly. I didn’t trust myself to speak yet. I opened my eyes and was surprised to find that the colors of the valley were brighter, more pronounced, and I could have sworn that I could hear and smell more than I had before I’d closed my eyes. Was I already changing?

Miles stepped closer and took my hands. “You need to shift. Visualize yourself as the wolf. Relax and let go. You are one being, but when you shift, you have to give yourself over to the wolf.”

I tried what he said, but it was difficult. I’d always been so insulated from the world. I’d spent my whole life being tense and on edge, terrified to do what he’d just said. Letting go wasn’t easy. As several minutes went by, the wolf got more anxious to come out.

Miles reached up and stroked my cheek. “Let go, Celina. You can do this. You can do anything.”

I looked into his eyes, and I believed him. He was telling the truth. He knew what I was capable of. I took one last deep breath and relaxed. A wave of heat cascaded across my body—not unpleasant—and then an instant of dizziness. I closed my eyes and felt my body changing. I tried to tense, afraid of what was happening, but I’d already crossed the point of no return. The wolf surged forward and altered my body. I’d been so scared that it would hurt, but all I experienced was a release of tension so great that I almost sobbed. When I opened my eyes again, Miles was kneeling beside me, running his fingers through my fur.

I looked down at myself and saw my body was that of a wolf. It was real. I’d changed. I was a shifter. I tried to laugh, but all I did was yip out a weird little bark.

“I’m so proud of you,” Miles said. “Do you want to go for a run?”

I nodded and pawed at his chest. Miles grinned and shifted. His change was much more fluid and quicker than mine. I was sure I’d get the hang of it before long. He nodded his shaggy head and nuzzled my face. I sprinted across the clearing and back again, until I joined him. We ran and played in the grass. I’d been a child the last time I played like that. Miles nudged me,licked my face, and ran toward the tree line. I followed, feeling more free than I’d ever felt in my life.

A couple hours later, we got back to the apartment. Between the sex, the shift, and the run, I was more exhausted than I’d ever been in my whole life. I got out of his truck and was having a hard time even keeping my eyes open.

Miles came around the front of the truck and put an arm around me. “Tired?”

“Bone-tired.” I sighed.

He nodded. “It’ll be like that the first few times you shift. It’s a lot for your body. It’s sort of like exercise. It gets easier after a while.”

I stopped in my tracks, grabbing Miles’s arm and putting my other hand on my stomach. I looked at him. “Do you feel that?” I asked. It was like an ache in my body but somehow emanating from ahead of us.

“What do you…” Before he could finish, his nose flared, and he sniffed. Recognition flashed in his eyes. He growled low in his chest and turned.

I looked to where he was staring. From behind the stairwell, Felicity emerged. I’d never noticed it before, but now? I could almost see a sinister aura emanating off her. I still wasn’t great with scents yet, but something about her smelled…bad. My wolf knew she wasn’t what she said she was. Now I could see why Miles had always acted so strange around her.

Felicity walked toward us, a look of disgust and derision on her face as she looked back and forth between us. “Celina, I really hoped I still had time to talk to you before this dog mounted you. I guess I underestimated him.” She shook her head slowly. “I can see how you are with him now. You’re tainted, aren’t you? Did you let this animal shove his filthy inhuman cock inside you?” She tilted her head and locked hereyes on mine. “I truly did want to spare you from the same fate he’ll suffer.”

“Why are you here?” Miles growled.

Ignoring him, Felicity went on. “I’m being honest when I say that. I hated Emily from the start. Why did the curse have to harm innocent women? I even argued against it to my—to our leader. Now it’s too late, because I can basically smell the dog on you, Celina. You’re my enemy now.”

Miles pointed at her. “Your leader? You mean your father, Mariana? Is Antonio here, too?”

There was only a moment of surprise in her eyes before the sanctimonious smile returned. “It’s good you know the truth. It lets you know that I really am untouchable. You can’t fight us. My father would burn this town to the ground if anything happened to me. We’ve been playing it easy with you. If you touch me? None of you are safe, and that includes your loved ones.” Felicity leaned toward Miles and pouted her lips. “Does that make you mad, little wolfy?”

Felicity’s smile slid away as she looked at something behind us. I could sense a presence, and turned to see the same man that had been in the restaurant—Felicity’s supposed bodyguard.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Felicity spat.

He shrugged. “Orders from the boss.”

“I’m handling this,” Felicity growled.

“You aren’t handling shit.”

Rage washed over Felicity’s face. “How. Fucking. Dare. You?”

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