Page 54 of Jace's Mate
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jace giving a small nod to the crowd.A signal.The people, who had been milling about in loose clusters, suddenly came alive with energy.A cheer broke through the clearing, followed by clapping and excited voices.
What the hell was going on?
Anikka could barely stay upright, and now everyone else was clapping like it was party time?
She tried to keep humming under her breath, a habit she’d picked up in the kitchen when she needed to calm herself.But the humming didn’t help now.Her back was itching—burning—and her body buzzed with some wild, electric pressure.
And then…
The crowd started stripping off their clothes.
She gaped.
Clothes hit the forest floor.Pants.Shirts.Dresses.Boots kicked aside.Bras dropped.She couldn’t look away fast enough to avoid seeingeverything.“What’s going on?”she hissed, spinning to look away while clutching the front of her hideous flowered dress.
Jace’s voice came from beside her, calm and rich with approval.“We’re going for a run.”
Hewasn’t undressed yet, but he was watching the others with clear pride, his arms crossed over his chest like a king overlooking his kingdom.
He looked radiant.Dangerous.Magnetic.His presence vibrated with an energy that pulled at something buried deep inside her.Her skin tingled again—sharper now, sharper than ever—and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from whimpering.
And then—
Before her very eyes, the crowdchanged.
Bodies shimmered.Glowed.Shifted.
One by one, people transformed—seamlessly, effortlessly—intowolves.Thick fur replaced skin.Limbs contorted.Bones realigned with frightening ease.What had been dozens of naked humans was now a forest clearing of wolves in every size and color.One of the pups, no more than seven or eight years old, looked anxiously at Jace before giving a shaky yip and bounding toward the tree line, but didn’t go too far.
Anikka blinked, utterly dumbfounded.“What the hell is going on?”she whispered, barely able to hear her own voice over the pounding of her heart.
Jace turned to her.He didn’t speak—he didn’t need to.He simply lifted one dark brow, that faint, knowing smile tugging at his lips.
She hated that it made her knees wobble.
And then, softly—sosoftly—he said, “Strip off your clothes, Anikka.”
She reeled back like he’d slapped her.“What?”she gasped.“I’m not taking off my clothes in front of everyone!”
Jace chuckled, voice low and velvet-smooth.“If you don’t, they’ll rip when you shift.”
Jace turned toward the semi-circle of wolves.His voice was calm but firm as it rippled through the clearing.“She’s never shifted before.Give her a moment.”
At once, the wolves obeyed, settling onto their haunches.Their ears pricked forward, their eyes trained on her.A few wagged their tails with quiet encouragement.Not one of them moved an inch closer.
Anikka wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or run.Her whole body was vibrating, fire and lightning running under her skin.She pressed a palm to her chest and curled forward slightly, breathing hard.Her dress stuck to her back, sweat clinging to her spine like a second skin.
“Shift.”Jace’s voice, deeper now, rolled through the clearing in that strange commanding tone.It wasn’t angry.It wasn’t loud.But it was a command that went straight into her bones and pulled something awake.
She gasped.Her knees buckled.She clung to the side of the van, but her fingers—were they still fingers?—scraped strangely against the metal.
She opened her mouth to argue, to scream,to ask what the hell was happening to her—
But her body was already obeying.
She fell to her hands and knees with a choked cry as the fire surged through her spine.Her body curled inwards, then stretched outward.Her skin prickled, stretched—and then, in an instant, it was over.The sensations vanished like smoke on the wind.
Panting, Anikka blinked and looked down.
