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This time, I let her come down. She’s clean and damn near boneless as I lower her into my lap, not caring that my hard cock is very noticeable.

It’s hard more often than not with her around, but this wasn’t about me.

I wanted to help her relax, and I’m pretty sure we accomplished that.

“I think we need to take a bath,” she pants after a few minutes, a smile pulling at her lips, full and bright and my reason for living.

Darkness consumes everything.

I’m unsure how long it’s been dark, but it feels like a lifetime. When I finally wake, I’m not only cold but soaked to the bone. Despite being in the dark for so long, I’m exhausted, and everything hurts.

Where the fuck am I? What the hell happened?

Everything’s hazy. I remember Serena disappearing and us trusting Garrett, traveling through a portal to…Anolas.

Fuck!

Everything comes back in a flood of memories: the attack on the village, Draven showing up and…

Nothing.

Fuck!

Where were the others? What happened? Is Serena okay?

It takes more effort than it should to roll over as my body protests, not only sore but as if I’m not fully in control.

Darkness threatens to consume me again, but I push against it. Now is not the time to pass out, especially when I have no idea how long I was already out.

I push to sit, and the world spins, making me groan, but the sound isn’t what I expected. Instead of my voice, the sound is a deep growl that is still all too familiar, or mostly familiar.

My beast.

That explains why everything is taking so much effort and why everything feels so strange. I’ve never been in the ‘driver’s seat’ when shifted. It's always as if I’m there, but second to my instincts. This isn’t like that at all.

The rain continues to come down hard enough that it’s hard to see even right in front of me, but after much too long, I manage to push to my feet.

If I didn’t realize I was in my beast form before, I sure as hell do now as I stand twelve feet tall, amongst the trees of the dark forest. I have no idea where I am or how I got here, but I know standing here won’t help me find her.

I should be worried about why I’m in this form and what happened, what memories I might be missing, but I can’t bring myself to care about any of that. Not when Draven wants her, not when it’s my job to keep her safe.

Dropping down onto all fours, I shake off some of the muddy water that’s drenched my coat and feel relief as the weight of it falls away. I’m going to need to soak in the bathhouse for a while to get this out.

Maybe I’ll bring Serena with me.

The thought almost feels foreign; for so long, I’ve tried to deny how I feel, but something about being here has made it harder. Seeing her with Garrett and her mating with Blair and Storm. Fuck, it’s killing me.

No, I might not know where she is, but I’ll find her. I don’t care where we are, what world or dimension; I’ll run through these woods until I find the castle, even if it takes days or even weeks.

Or at least I would if my body would move.

Don’t worry, little bear, soon the princess will come to us. Until then, I have plans for you.

The tiny bit of control I had over myself is gone, slipping through my fingers the same way the water slides through my fur, and just like that, the darkness pushes through, and it’s once again the only thing I know.

Ican feel him; now that I know that’s what I was feeling that night, it’s easy to pinpoint him.

The pain’s almost all-consuming, enough to steal the air from my lungs. Somehow, it’s connected to Lyle, and even if I don’t understand it, my shadows seem to, at least enough to bring me to him.