“Shift!” Draken commands.

My wolf instantly abandons our body. I barely stifle a scream as our spine breaks and reforms. It’s over in less than a minute this time, and the hardest adjustment is the return of color vision and the dulling of my sense of smell. I have to blink and sneeze a few times before the world comes back into focus.

I’m in a darkened alcove by the lodge’s front entrance, buck naked and shivering, and Draken’s looming, blocking me into the corner, so much wider and taller than me, furious. Seething. I’m almost more scared of the man than the wolf.

I hug an arm around my...