Page 21 of Howl For A Kiss
ELENA
The shift back to Elena's human form from her full wolf form was awkward and difficult at first. Pain rippled through muscles that had just learned a new configuration. Elena gritted her teeth, remembering Damon's earlier words about working with her wolf rather than fighting her.
Breathe. Center yourself. We're partners now.
The ache subsided as bones realigned and fur receded, leaving her standing naked under the November moonlight. The cold air kissed her heated skin, but awareness of her nudity paled compared to the overwhelming realization of what stood before her.
Damon in his naked human form was a masterpiece of masculine perfection that made her mouth go dry.
She'd seen Tyler shift countless times over the years—they'd been friends long enough that nudity between them held no mystery or embarrassment. But this was different. This was Damon, and every inch of his powerful frame seemed designed to make her forget how to breathe properly.
His shoulders were even broader without clothes, tapering to a narrow waist and muscled abdomen that looked carved from granite. Dark hair dusted his chest, trailing lower to?—
Stop looking there, Elena.
But God help her, she couldn't stop stealing glances. Tyler had been attractive in a comfortable, brotherly way, but Damon possessed a raw masculinity that made her newly awakened wolf purr with appreciation.
"Your clothes are over there," Damon said quietly, his voice rougher than usual. He kept his gaze carefully averted while reaching for his own discarded garments. "Take your time."
Elena forced herself to move toward her fitted white top, black cargo pants, undergarments, and boots, hyperaware of Damon's presence even as he gave her privacy. Her hands shook slightly as she pulled on her clothes—whether from the lingering effects of shifting or from the way her body still hummed with awareness of him, she couldn't say.
The past three days had turned her world upside down. Tyler's death. Her rebel base destroyed. Discovering she was a hybrid. And now this first transformation into the white wolf that her very soul seemed to recognize as her true self.
But underneath all that chaos, something else stirred. Something that had awakened the moment she'd met Damon yesterday afternoon.
Something her wolf insisted on tonight when they were exploring the forest together in their wolf forms. Her wolf had called him mate.
The word echoed in her mind as she pulled on her combat boots. During their run through the forest, when instinct ruled over logic, her wolf had recognized something in Damon that Elena's human mind couldn't quite grasp. A connection deeper than attraction, more primal than desire.
"Elena?" Damon's voice drew her from her spiraling thoughts. He was fully dressed again in his dark jeans and thermal henley, but she could still picture every inch of that magnificent body underneath.
"Sorry," she murmured, securing her last boot. "Just processing everything."
They walked back toward the cabin in comfortable silence, the snow crunching beneath their feet. Elena felt different somehow—more complete than she'd ever been in her twenty-eight years. Her wolf settled peacefully in her, no longer clawing to escape but resting contentedly.
And she felt more connected to the enigmatic man walking beside her than she had any right to after knowing him for barely thirty-six hours.
As they reached the cabin's back entrance, Damon turned to face her. In the porch light, his green eyes held warmth that made her chest tighten with unexpected emotion.
"You were incredible out there," he said softly. "Your first full shift, and you handled it like you'd been doing it for years."
"I had good guidance." Elena found herself stepping closer, drawn by the genuine pride in his expression. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"You're stronger than you know, Elena." His voice dropped to that rough timber that made her stomach flutter. "Everything you're handling—Tyler's death, losing your base, discovering your true nature—most people would've broken under that pressure. But you're still standing. Still fighting."
The sincerity in his words hit her harder than she expected. When was the last time someone had seen her strength rather than just expecting it? When had anyone acknowledged the weight she carried?
Before she could second-guess the impulse, Elena rose on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. His skin was warmbeneath her lips, and she caught the intoxicating scent of pine and something uniquely him.
"Thank you," she whispered against his skin. "For everything."
When she pulled back, Damon's eyes had darkened to forest green, his pupils dilated with a burning intensity that made her breath catch. For a heartbeat, she thought he might close the distance between them, might finally give in to the electricity that crackled whenever they were near each other.
"Goodnight, Elena," he said roughly, but his voice held a restraint that suggested he was fighting some internal battle.
"Goodnight, Damon."
He turned and disappeared inside the cabin with movements that seemed almost hurried, as if he didn't trust himself to linger. Elena watched him go, noting the rigid tension in his shoulders.
