Page 105 of Marked

“Okay, then. We’ll need to get you back. First, close your eyes.”

Doing as he said, I closed my eyes and sank into blackness.

“Now, all you need to do is remember what your human body feels like. Your fingers, your skin, walking on two feet.Reallyremember that, and also let your wolf know it’s time to change back. She’ll understand and help you shift.”

Reaching out to my wolf, I sent mental images of myself as a human toward her. Recalling the sensation of closing a five-fingered hand into a fist, the way it felt to run on two legs, I tried to relive those moments as hyper-realistic movies in my head. I showed her what I wanted, and used my emotions and instincts to ask for her help.

The wolf presence within my mind seemed to understand. My skin grew hot and itchy again. Heat pulsed through my body. Pain tore through me, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been earlier. A moment later, I was looking down at my fingers splayed on the hardwood floor.

“Holy shit,” I muttered. “That was crazy.”

Nate scooped me into his arms. “Let’s get you back in bed.”

I yelped and pushed at his chest. “No, I need to shower. I’m all gross and sweaty.”

He tossed me onto the bed and leaned down, grinning at me. “I think after last night, you know I like you a little sweaty. Besides—” he buried his nose in my neck—“you smell damn good.”

Too tired to protest any further, I collapsed back onto the pillow. Nate climbed in the other side, dragged the covers up, and pulled me close, burying his face in the hollow between my neck and shoulder.

As I lay there, I tried to process everything. I could turn into a wolf. I had magic powers, for God’s sake. I could hear sounds that should have been too faint, smell scents that should have been impossible to catch. It was overwhelming, but I had a feeling that the wolf inside me was dulling it all a bit so I didn’t lose my mind.

Speaking of the wolf, I could sense her inside my mind. It wasn’t like having an intruder or parasite or something. It wasmore like a second part of me, one that stayed on the periphery and lived within my head.

“Shit.” Nate groaned and let out a dejected sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“All I want to do is lie here with you, but I need to tell Ollie about this. He should know you’ve had your first shift.” He rolled over and sat up in bed. “Where the hell is my phone?”

I blushed as I remembered how we’d tossed our clothes aside downstairs to get at one another. “Pretty sure it’s downstairs. In your pants. Uh, wherever those are.”

He chuckled and stood. “Right. Be right back.”

He returned a few minutes later, phone in hand, number already dialed. On the drive up here, he’d explained to me that Detective Vickers was also a shifter. That had been surprising, though not wholly shocking, since they seemed to be fairly old friends. Still, it was strange to know shifters were so completely integrated into society. Rick and his father, millionaire businessmen and lawyers; Ollie, a high-ranking police detective. God knew who else. It would be interesting to find out exactly how deep this societal integration went once I was officially part of the pack.

Nate put the phone on speaker to let me hear the conversation. He had to call twice before Ollie answered, his voice muffled and thick with sleep.

“Jesus Christ, Nate. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Yeah, like almost six in the morning. Listen?—”

“You really are theworstfriend, you know that?”

“Yeah, whatever. I’m here with Cameron. She’s done it. She just shifted. It happened like ten minutes ago.”

Nate shifted around in bed, and my gaze fell on the scars crisscrossing his back. I’d noticed them the first time back in my bathroom. Had I thought about it the night before, I would haveasked him during one of our many conversations. What could have happened to cause such awful injuries?

“If she’s fully shifted now,” Ollie said, “then Rick Masters will become a bigger problem.”

“What?” I blurted. “Why?”

“Your scent will be more powerful now,” Ollie explained. “It’ll make you easier to track and find.”

“He’s right,” Nate said. “If he does catch your scent, he’s gonna go crazy trying to hunt you down. The combination of him being bonded to you and you being a full shifter now is gonna turn him into a wild animal. If he’s bonded to you, he may have already sensed that the change happened.”

Nate’s jaw clenched, and I could see the worry in his eyes. The idea of Rick hunting me down like some caveman and dragging me back to his place to mate with him filled me with apprehension and disgust.

“Here’s what I’ll do,” Ollie said through a yawn. “My next day off is Monday. This is Sunday, thoughsomewould still call it Saturday night,” he added with a bitter undertone. “I can come up there and pick Cameron up first thing Monday morning and drive her out to meet JC. I’ll introduce her and see if the pack accepts her. Once she’s an official member, the pack will be obligated to protect her from Rick. Regardless of how powerful they are, no member can force a female to be their mate. JC will put a stop to that fast and tell Rick and Lincoln Masters to go pound sand.”

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