Page 32

Donal scanned the trees. "Testing the perimeter. Looking for weaknesses."

Finn's expression turned grim. "And they’re too fucking close. We reinforce every blind spot. Double shifts. No one goes out alone."

Donal gave a sharp nod, his expression grim, and strode off into the trees, already barking low commands into his comms as he disappeared into the dark.

Finn stared out into the woods for a long beat, something raw tightening in his chest. This wasn’t just about defense. This was personal. A warning. He looked back toward the house, where Keira waited, unaware. Vulnerable.

He would not fail her.

He was halfway up the stairs when it hit—an electric charge that jolted straight through his chest like a sudden bolt of static. His breath caught. Her scent had changed. No longer soft and familiar—it was edged now, sharper, feral. The hallway filled with it, thick and urgent, curling around him like smoke before a blaze.

He reached the upper landing and bolted down the hallway, heart hammering as he closed the distance to the primary suite. Whatever was happening, it was pulling at every feral instinct he had, and all that mattered was getting to her.

Finn burst into the bedroom just as Keira doubled over with a cry—more surprise than pain. Her skin glistened with sweat, hair stuck to her cheeks. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, her breath jagged and shallow.

"Keira!"

She didn’t respond. Her eyes shimmered faintly, the pupils dilating until they were nearly black. Her body trembled, caught in something that looked like pain—but wasn’t. It was more than that. It was instinct. Need. A raw, primal change taking hold.

"No, no, no… not like this," he whispered, dropping to his knees beside the bed. He cradled her shoulders, brushing damp hair from her face. Her skin radiated heat, her breathing a frantic rhythm.

"It’s happening," she ground out. "Finn… I can't…"

"You're shifting," he said. "Something's accelerated it. Just hold on to me. Breathe through it. I've got you."

She arched suddenly, her whole body caught in a full-body spasm as mist erupted around her like a pulse of energy. The room seemed to breathe with it—dense, electric, andcharged. Her outline shimmered, light and shadow folding in on themselves, as her body melted into something sleeker, leaner, more powerful.

"Fuck," he whispered, holding her steady as the transformation completed with breathtaking speed and eerie grace.

The transition had happened faster than Finn anticipated—startlingly so. One moment she'd been caught in a buildup of raw, restless energy, the next, her panther had surged forward, as if pulled by instinct and the scent of threat in the air.

Mist surged up around her, thick and charged with latent energy, as her form shimmered and blurred at the edges—less a transformation and more a seamless merging of flesh and instinct. The air seemed to contract, drawn to her as though recognizing its own. Her eyes burned gold, wild and alive, as the change took her—swift, complete, and undeniable. Mist burst up from the floor like steam from a ruptured pipe, swirling dense and electric around her as her body arched in a final, shuddering spasm. Her cry changed to a rasping growl, and then silence fell, thick and charged.

Where Keira had been moments before, a sleek black panther now crouched on the bed, her chest rising and falling in sharp, steady breaths. She was smaller than him, built with a delicate, deadly grace, each line of her body fluid and precise. Her coat gleamed like shadow poured in moonlight, and her golden eyes locked on his—not wild, not afraid, but burning with intelligence and resolve. Power radiated from her in steady waves, fierce and undeniable.

She looked at him—no fear in her eyes, only challenge. A flicker of defiance lit her golden gaze, sharp as a blade drawn under moonlight.

His throat closed, a rush of heat flooding his chest. Pride surged, sharp and visceral, as he stared at her—the creature shehad become. It was breathtaking, the raw beauty of it, the sheer rightness that thudded deep in his bones. She’d done it. Not just survived—she’d risen.

He rose with deliberate slowness, palms open in a silent gesture of respect and caution, his gaze never leaving hers as he gave her the space she needed to orient herself in her new form.

"You did it, love," he whispered. "You made it through."

She stepped off the bed with a fluid grace that knocked the breath from his lungs and brushed against him—a soft, tentative swipe of fur against his thigh.

Finn dropped to his knees and met her gaze. Now you really are mine."

She didn’t speak—couldn’t—but her eyes flared in answer.

And then, with one graceful leap, she launched herself through the open balcony doors, landing in a crouch below with feline precision. The wind stirred the grass where she landed, her muscles taut and fluid as she gathered herself and sprinted into the dark, swallowed by the waiting night.

He gave her a head start, a feral grin breaking across his face, chest still tight with awe. The energy she left in her wake pulsed through him—wild, electric, familiar. Pride warred with desire, and for a moment, he simply breathed it in—the sharp rush of adrenaline already coursing through his blood, the thrill of the chase alive in every beat of his heart. Pride swelled in his chest, fierce and protective. This was Keira—his mate—bold, wild, unbroken. For a beat, he let himself feel it fully: the awe, the connection, the raw promise of what they were becoming together.

With a low growl, he surrendered to the wild inside him and surged forward. Heat pulsed beneath his skin, his body caught in that breathless, suspended moment before instinct reclaimed him entirely. Power built in his limbs as the shift overtook him—effortless, silent, a rush of sensation like diving into a darker, deeper current. In the space of a heartbeat, man became beast.

Mist rolled in as his body answered the call. Heat surged over his skin, muscles flexing as the world around him narrowed to pulse and instinct. No pain, no tearing—just the seamless, breathtaking release of his other self. One breath he was man, the next he was predator, sleek and black as the night. With a growl that rumbled from his chest, he launched into the dark, paws barely touching the railing as he bounded off the balcony and hit the ground before he chased the echo of her wild energy through the trees.

CHAPTER 13