20
Easton
Cat’s transition nearly killed me.
If I had to bite her to save her, I’d do it. Again and again. but the idea of hurting her—or that we’d misinterpreted Delphine’s words—was an agonizing torture beyond anything I’d ever felt before. Sitting and waiting for something to happen was the worst hour of my life.
The first thing to change was her breathing.
The fact that I could clearly see a steady rise and fall of her chest was the only reason I didn’t completely lose my shit as I sat and watched her. But slow and steady turned to rapid and shallow, and I could hear her heartbeat accelerating—a sign of the shift.
My wolf whined, and I began to pace.
After that, her bleeding stopped, and her wounds closed.
Healing.
This was a good sign.
But she still wasn’t awake. And she was still human.
Fuck. The stress of waiting was going to kill me before any of these deep, slicing wounds did.
They were bad. Travis had gotten me good. I didn’t bother telling Cat, and I had no idea if she’d noticed that if you looked closely enough at the one on my hip, you could see tissue and bone.
It hurt like a motherfucker.
My wolf didn’t even register the pain, though. Not while I waited for my mate to complete the change.
My mate.
The words gave me chills and filled my heart in all the hollow places. She had to survive this.
Or Delphine would wish she’d never met with me that day on her piece of shit porch. I’d make her pay if she took Cat from me.
Finally . . . finally, Cat’s body began to change.
First, fur sprouted along her arms and legs, and then her limbs morphed. The snap of her bones breaking and reforming echoed through the trees.
I stilled, watching and waiting.
And praying to whatever fate had sent us this gift.
At last, the change was finished. Cat as a wolf was fucking glorious. Beautiful and graceful and with fur the color of snow. My wolf was mesmerized.
It wasn’t until she began to wake that I jumped up and realized the movement hadn’t sent shooting pain through my organs.
I looked down and found all my wounds healed and closed—just like hers. Delphine had been telling the truth. Cat’s choice had saved us both.
Then I looked back at Cat, and our eyes locked. The feeling of seeing her awake and whole was one thing. Seeing her as a wolf on top of it all was like nothing I could have imagined. Happiness. Relief. Hope.
It was more than I deserved. She was more than I deserved.
I went to her then, my wolf tongue swiping over her furry face until she was pawing at me to get away. My wolf was undeterred, and we rolled over the grass, nipping and licking at each other.
Finally, I’d had enough. I needed to hold her, man and woman.
Shifting back to human form, I coaxed Cat along until she found the reflexes that allowed her to do the same.
When we were both back on two legs again, I scooped her into my arms and lifted her off her feet, kissing her with the force of everything I felt.
“East, I need to breathe.” Cat laughed, finally prying us apart, but I didn’t let her go.
I looked into her eyes, now free from pain and with just a hint of the beast she now had inside her. A wolf. My wolf. My mate.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“A little weird,” she admitted. “Healed, obviously, but . . .” Her stomach growled. “Hungry as hell.”
I laughed.
She smiled. “And happy to be here with you.”
“You are the most important person in my life, Cat.” I leaned in, pressing my forehead against hers. “I can’t live in a world without you in it.”
“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to.”
“A mate for a mate,” I repeated Delphine’s words, finally beginning to understand. “You had to choose me too.”
She nodded. “I think we needed the bond on both ends in order to heal each other.”
I blew out a breath. “I’m glad it worked.”
“Me too. That was actually easier than I ever expected.”
“You did complete the transition faster than I’ve ever seen,” I admitted.
She smirked. “So what you’re saying is I’m a badass.”
I shook my head. “Maybe. Speaking of, I can’t believe you jumped off that table and stabbed that asshole in the neck.”
Her smirk became a smile that lit up her whole face. “It was kind of awesome, wasn’t it?”
“It was reckless and stupid,” I said, and she scowled. “He could have killed you.”
“But he didn’t. I killed him.”
“Actually, I killed him.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are we really going to fight about that? Now?”
I grinned. “I would fight about anything with you. Especially if it means making up after.”
“You’re crazy.”
I kissed her. “I’m crazy about you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“Easton.”
The male voice was unexpected and, although definitely not Travis’s, still made me want to stab something right now. Huh. Maybe that was a mate thing.
I twisted to look at the newcomer, shielding Cat’s body with my own.
“Tobias,” I said warily. He was shirtless and winded, and I was sure he’d only just now shifted back to two legs after running here.
“Angus tracked me down. Explained there was trouble.” He nodded at Cat. “Evening.”
Cat eased out of my hold, but I stayed within reach.
“Tobias, this is Cat. Cat, Tobias.”
“Hello,” she said, and I could hear the wary note in her tone. Her wolf wasn’t ready for an outsider yet.
Tobias glanced between us and then past us to where I knew he had smelled the blood. “Everything okay out here? You two need some help?”
I jerked my chin toward the cabin. “One of yours in there. Travis Burns.”
“You said you’d bring him to me if there was trouble,” Tobias said.
“Yeah, well, Travis had other plans.”
Tobias looked at the angry red marks on my chest and hip left over from Travis’s claws. “He do that?”
I nodded. “Dragged Cat out here while I
