Page 30 of Furever Bound (Hollow Oak Mates #7)

MADDOX

T he afternoon snow continued falling as Maddox led Sera through the forest paths toward a secluded clearing where he could show her aspects of his nature that required privacy and trust in equal measure.

The federal surveillance made his study and home feel compromised, but the ancient woods offered sanctuary where supernatural revelations could unfold without bureaucratic observation.

"Where exactly are we going?" Sera asked, her boots crunching through the accumulating snow while her breath formed clouds in the increasingly cold air. "Because if this is about tactical planning for tonight, I should mention that Elena's agents probably have thermal imaging equipment."

"It's not about tactical planning," he replied, guiding her toward a grove where massive oaks created natural shelter from both weather and prying eyes. "It's about showing you what accepting the mate bond really means."

"Meaning?" She studied his profile with the perceptive attention that never failed to make his chest warm with appreciation for her intelligence.

"Meaning you've agreed to bond with a shapeshifter, but you've never actually seen my wolf form," he said, stopping in the center of the clearing where snow had created a pristine white carpet beneath the bare branches.

"Before we face whatever tonight brings, you should understand exactly what you're choosing. "

The gravity in his voice seemed to settle around them like the falling snow, and Sera's expression shifted from curiosity to something deeper as she processed the significance of what he was offering.

"You're going to shift," she said with wonder rather than fear. "Actually transform into a wolf."

"If you're ready to see it," he confirmed, though his protective instincts worried about her reaction to supernatural transformation that challenged every assumption about reality she'd learned in human society. "Shapeshifting can be overwhelming for humans who haven't experienced it before."

"I think I passed 'overwhelmed by supernatural reality' several crises ago," she said with humor that made him smile despite his nervousness. "Show me, Maddox. Show me all of who you are."

The simple trust in her voice gave him courage to begin the controlled shift that would reveal his animal nature completely.

He stepped back to give her clear sightlines while his human consciousness prepared to share space with lupine instincts that viewed Sera as mate, territory, and treasure worth protecting at any cost.

"It's not painful," he explained as warmth began building beneath his skin. "More like... expanding. Becoming more rather than less."

The transformation flowed through him with familiar ease, bones reshaping and muscles reconfiguring while his human awareness remained intact to monitor Sera's reaction.

His clothes dissolved into shadow as supernatural energy consumed ordinary matter, replacing human form with something larger, more primal, infinitely more honest about what he truly was.

When the shift completed, he stood before her as a silver-furred wolf the size of a small horse, his piercing blue eyes unchanged despite the radical alteration of everything else.

Snow clung to his thick coat, and his breath formed clouds in the cold air as he waited for her response to seeing him completely.

"Oh," Sera breathed, her voice carrying awe that made his lupine heart race with satisfaction. "Oh, you're magnificent."

Instead of fear or revulsion, her expression held fascination mixed with something that looked suspiciously like delight. She approached slowly, her movements careful but confident as she extended one hand toward his massive head.

"May I?" she asked with the same respect for boundaries she'd shown Ember.

He dipped his head in permission, and when her fingers touched his fur, the mate bond flared with recognition that transcended species boundaries. Her touch felt like completing something that had been fundamentally incomplete for years.

"Your fur is so soft," she murmured, running her hands along his head and neck with reverent attention. "And you're huge. Much bigger than regular wolves."

He rumbled with contentment that vibrated through his chest, the sound carrying emotional nuances his human voice couldn't express. Through their developing bond, he could sense her wonder and acceptance, her complete lack of fear despite his size and obvious predatory capabilities.

"This is why you were so protective," she said with understanding that proved her intuitive gifts extended beyond psychic manifestation into emotional perception.

"Why you could sense threats before I could, why you always positioned yourself between me and potential danger. The wolf's protective instincts."

He shifted back to human form with fluid grace, clothes reforming from shadow as supernatural energy reversed the transformation, a trick most shifters hadn’t learned.

When he stood before her again in human shape, her eyes held depths of understanding that proved seeing his wolf had strengthened rather than complicated their bond.

"Any regrets?" he asked, studying her face for signs of uncertainty or second thoughts about accepting partnership with someone whose nature included predatory instincts.

"Only that you waited so long to show me," she replied, stepping closer until she could reach up to cup his face with hands that still carried the warmth of touching his fur. "This is part of who you are, part of what I'm choosing when I choose you. I want all of it."

The simple acceptance made his chest tight with emotions too complex to name, especially when her touch carried the same electric recognition that had sparked between them from their first meeting.

"Sera," he said, her name rough with want and gratitude in equal measure.

"Yes," she replied, understanding the question he hadn't asked.

When he kissed her this time, it carried the desperate hunger of someone who'd found exactly what they'd been unconsciously seeking and the protective determination of someone who would fight any threat to preserve what they'd discovered together.

The snow continued falling around them, creating a world of pristine white silence that felt removed from federal investigations and manifestation crises and all the complications that waited beyond the forest's protective embrace.

Here, surrounded by ancient trees and winter's first blessing, they were simply two souls who'd recognized their perfect match despite impossible circumstances.

"Tonight," Sera said against his mouth, her voice carrying promise and determination.

"Tonight," he agreed, knowing she meant both their planned communication with Grimjaw and the completion of bonds that would make separation impossible regardless of what Elena's federal colleagues had planned.

But for this moment, surrounded by falling snow and the peace of the forest clearing, the future felt manageable as long as they faced it together.