Page 19

19

How to Wolf (A Beginner’s Guide)

The drive to the preserve was mostly silent. I could feel my wolf getting closer to the surface with every mile, like she was pressing against my skin from the inside and dying to get out. Everything around me felt heightened: smells, sounds, even the texture of the leather seat beneath me.

As for Samuel’s scent, it filled the car and swamped my senses, the untamed undertone making my wolf want to roll over and show her belly. Or possibly jump him. I wasn’t entirely sure which and that was terrifying in itself.

“Not feeling like groping my thigh tonight?” he teased with a smile.

I groaned. “I’m trying to forget I did that.”

He chuckled. “I never said you couldn’t.”

I knew he was trying to lighten the mood. Still, I didn’t miss the sexual tension that sparked between us.

I suddenly remembered that I was still upset with this guy.

“Where’s Ethel?” I said coolly.

“Somewhere she can rest her weary wheels.” Samuel sighed at my expression. “She’s in our garage at the mansion.”

He turned the Bentley onto the dirt road leading to the training ground. Metal glinted faintly between the trees as we approached the clearing where Samuel had trained me. There were already cars parked in the lot ahead. My supernatural hearing picked up voices and laughter drifting through the woods, along with a distant noise that sounded suspiciously like howling.

Samuel killed the engine and turned to look at me.

“Whatever happens tonight, remember that I’m here. That we’re all here for you.” His quiet voice filled the space between us. “Trust your instincts, Abby. Your inner wolf knows what to do.”

I met his gaze and saw my own apprehension reflected there, along with something else. Something that made the mate bond sing between us.

Pale light filtered through the treetops. The moon was rising.

We got out of the car and joined the Hawthorne pack.

The clearing felt different tonight. The air buzzed with electric tension and the ancient oaks cast strange shadows across faces that were already starting to show signs of their wolves.

“Hi, Abby,” Caroline greeted cheerfully. She was helping Amanda out of her jacket while James bounced around them with barely contained excitement.

Kent herded some wayward kids back to the pack.

“The first shift is always memorable.” Aunt Lucille gave me a gentle pat on my back that almost broke a rib. Her dentures glinted in the night as she beamed. “I remember mine like it was yesterday. Took out three fence posts and someone’s prized hydrangeas.”

Hopefully not Mrs. Chen’s, I found myself thinking slightly hysterically.

“You still do that, Lucille,” Uncle Frederick reminded his cousin with a sigh.

Victoria approached, looking regal in a charcoal-gray pantsuit. Her expression was a mix of concern and something I couldn’t quite read.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I want to find Hugh and punch him again,” I said bluntly.

Victoria’s face softened a little. Several pack members chuckled. Even Samuel smiled.

“Speaking of Hugh, where is he?” I looked around curiously.

“He went on ahead,” Victoria said, indicating the looming mountains. She paused, her eyes glinting amber. “It’s almost time.”

An uncanny stillness came over the Hawthornes as they looked up at the sky. The silence that fell over the clearing and the woods made my heartbeat speed up and sent a shiver of fear and anticipation down my spine.

The moon finally crept over the tallest peak and sent dazzling light washing across the clearing.

All my hairs rose on end as the supernatural glow washed over me.

The first twinge hit me like a punch to the gut. My breath caught on a gasp of pure agony as something grabbed all my internal organs and gave them a sharp twist. The pain was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

It felt like everything in my body was trying to break and re-form at once.

I was barely aware of falling to my knees as I began screaming, the sound that escaped me so feral it sounded like a beast was trying to tear its way out from my very innards.

I heard voices dimly through the blood rushing inside my skull. Victoria was calling my name and telling me not to fight what was happening to me. Caroline and Kent were ordering the younger pack members to stand back.

A presence loomed close to me. One whose scent focused my scattered senses.

“Breathe,” Samuel said. “Breathe, Abby.” His hands cupped my face, strong and hot. “Look at me!”

His face blurred in front of me. I blinked and willed myself to focus on his amber gaze through my tears. Even through the haze of agony, it dawned on me once again how beautiful his eyes were.

Great. Trust me to focus on that while I was literally being torn apart from the inside. I cursed my inner wolf as another wave of excruciating pain washed through me and robbed me of breath.

“This part will hurt.” His expression grew determined. “But I think I can help make it easier.”

Before I could ask how, his lips found mine.

I froze even in the throes of the most savage agony I had ever endured in my life.

The kiss was gentle at first, his mouth exploring mine like he was testing the resilience of my lips. It deepened as the mate bond flared between us. Heat flooded my body, the fire filling my veins different from the burning torment of my transformation. My wolf surged forward with a joy and hunger that momentarily overwhelmed the debilitating pain threatening to drown me.

I found myself clinging shamelessly to Samuel, my nails lengthening and digging into his powerful shoulders as I molded myself to his body, seeking his heat just as he sought mine.

When Samuel pulled back, his eyes were fully wolf.

“Let go,” he whispered against my lips. “Let your wolf loose, Abby.”

I did. And it was easier than I could have imagined.

The last thing I saw before my vision shifted to that of my wolf’s was Samuel’s expression changing from concern to wide-eyed shock as my fur began to emerge under the moonlight.

Victoria’s gasp cut through the night air. “It can’t be!”

I was too busy marveling at my new senses to process her tone.

Everything around me was sharper, more clear, more vibrant than ever before.

The scents surrounding me painted vivid pictures in my mind, just as my new vision and nose did. Earth and greenery. Water gurgling in distant brooks. The wild tang of my pack and the fear of prey hiding in the woods.

Even the moonlight felt different on my fur.

Fur that was apparently causing quite a stir among the Hawthornes.

“After all these years,” Aunt Lucille breathed.

“But—I thought they were just urban legends!” Caroline mumbled.

I turned my head, trying to see what had everyone so worked up. My wolf moved with surprising grace at my command, like I’d been born to this form.

I froze.

I was white from head to toe. A pure, dazzling white and not at all like the mousy brown of the first morning after I’d turned.

Even my tail gleamed blindingly in the moonlight.

A low growl rumbled through the clearing. I looked around to find a massive black wolf where Samuel had been standing. His amber eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my fur stand on end.

More wolves emerged around us as the pack transformed. They spread out in a loose circle, all of them staring. Yet I did not feel in the least bit threatened.

“Why—why am I white?!” I said, my heart racing.

My words came out a questioning whine instead.

We can only communicate with our thoughts in this form.

Samuel’s voice rang clearly inside my skull. His wolf moved closer, his head lowering to touch his nose to mine. The mate bond exploded between us, no longer just a hum but a full-blown orchestra with cymbals and flutes.

I gulped, momentarily distracted from the white wolf issue. Wow.

He grinned. Yeah.

Well, this explains a few things. Victoria watched me with piercing eyes, the Hawthorne matriarch regal even in her silver-gray wolf form. And complicates matters.

I was about to ask what exactly it complicated when Samuel’s wolf nudged me gently.

Let’s run.