Freya

I prepare to shift.

Maybe the snap of that branch that I’d heard brought their attention my way. One of the thieves must have heard me and snuck around and come up behind me.

I need to shift and fight him, now.

But my wolf doesn’t respond.

In fact, she resists. She wails through my request to shift in a way that sounds... ecstatic.

No, she says. Safety.

Mate.

The warm rush of electric tingles spread over me like a wave. Who is this who is touching me this way? And then I smell it.

Vanilla.

So, I push Matthew aside with a blunt shove, fighting my wolf’s objections...