Page 21 of Claimed

I have never shifted in a plane before. My wolf form is much larger than my human form, and the same is true of hers. That means there is not much room left in our section of the cabin with the both of us shifted between the chairs.

I lick her face in an attempt to calm her down, soothing her with grooming as the change starts to slow a little. She’s a very beautiful wolf, small and elegant with wild-flecked fur and blue eyes. Her wolf scent is intoxicating and satisfying. It tells me that she is mine.

After a few minutes of being comforted, she starts to perk up a little. I know she is still in pain, but following the first shift there’s a flood of endorphins and dopamine that make a wolf feel very, very good. The agony of the breaking of one form and the becoming of another has to have some kind of upside.

She gets up cautiously, finding herself unsteady on four paws, but a moment later she’s bounding around, knocking glasses over, slamming into the chairs, and breaking absolutely anything breakable in the process. This is significantly worse than the problems we had before. Before, I was worried about her suffering. Now I am worried about the plane staying intact.

She manages to crack the interior window by slamming into it like a wild thing. Even as a beast, she should have some sense, but apparently she has absolutely none. She is acting like a panicked animal—and that is because sheisa panicked animal.

It’s not just her first shift affecting her. It’s the fact that she’s deeply upset after all that has happened. The loss of her mother, and now the loss of her friends are two sets of serious traumas. The animal side of her knows that in a way that her human mind probably refuses to acknowledge. Shifters cannot keep their emotions pent up for long. They get expressed in these wild animal moments.

I’ve got to make her settle before she brings the plane down.

I leap after her and bring her down, fastening my jaws in the loose fur at the back of her neck. I feel her soften immediately beneath me as that primal grip does what it is designed to do and calms her down.

She was only loose for a matter of moments, but a wolf can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time. Once I have her pinned, I look up to see how much damage has been done.

The cabin is in disarray. The chairs have been ripped open in several places by her sharp claws, every bit of decor is either on the floor or broken, and there’s all sorts of things spilled everywhere. None of that matters, however. All that matters is that she is safe and contained beneath my own much larger, masculine form.

This first shift is so brutal, but fortunately it also does not last long. The body doesn’t have the energy reserves to sustain it. Blood sugars tank pretty quickly, and from there the human form reasserts itself.

I know this, and that makes it easy to hold her down even as she whines and squirms, wearing herself out faster and faster. She’s trying to fight me, which amuses me. She should be submitting, but she is Lilly’s daughter, and that makes her a force to be reckoned with. Most wolves simply roll over and submit when they feel an alpha’s jaws.

I intend to give her absolutely no choice but to submit. I can pin her down quite easily, and that is precisely what I do. With my teeth on her neck, I keep her in place until she passes out and slowly sinks back into her human shape.

She is so helpless in this form. This soft, naked, human female body of hers draws me to her. Makes me want to protect her. She is mine, all mine now. Perhaps we are not legally married yet, but we are as bonded as we will ever be.

I scoop her up into my arms and sit down in one of the seats that hasn’t been gutted by the shenanigans of a newly shifted she-wolf. I pull her up against my naked body and keep her pressed up against me for my body heat.

With Anya in my arms, the light scent of wolf still on her, I feel complete. For over forty years I have roamed this planet, and for over forty years, I have felt a certain sense of something missing. I have watched my pack mates up and produce their babies. I have seen lives be made and lived, and I have stayed in control of it all.

Now it is my turn to immerse myself in love. My chance to feel the joy of having a mate for the rest of my life. We’re going to live happily ever after. I know that because it is what we both deserve.

A light tap at the door indicates someone wanting to come in. One of my advisors, no doubt.

“Come in,” I call out softly. “But do it quietly.”

The door slides open slowly and Elena, one of my pack’s advisors, comes in with a blanket, which she hands to me with a knowing smile. Elena is a few years older than I am, and an absolutely outstanding academic. She has dark hair with silver streaks running through it, tied up behind her head. She is wearing her usual attire, houndstooth jacket and skirt suit. Formality is Elena’s watchword, formality with a touch of gothic flair. I’m not supposed to notice such details, but cat’s-eye liner and nearly black lipstick are difficult to ignore.

“She looks tired,” she says. “Understandable. That first shift is unforgettable and absolutely brutal.”

“Yes,” I agree, settling the blanket over the pair of us, but ensuring Anya is entirely covered. She’s already started to shiver. If she were awake, we would be making sure she wasgetting plenty of sugar, protein, and fat, but for the moment I’ll hold her shivering body against mine.

“Is there something else, Elena?”

Elena gives me an excited smile that I am sure is not limited to the fact that I have finally claimed my mate. This is a momentous day in the pack’s world. We have known for several months that Anya is the female I will be claiming, and there is much general celebration. When we arrive in Russia, my sweet little mate is going to be greeted with a great excitement.

But Elena is looking at me with an intensity that is not limited to Anya’s first shift. She wants to talk about her pet subject. I brought her with me, because she knows more than anybody about the creatures that attacked Anya’s friends.

Vampires.

“I have gathered much information in the time we were in America,” she says. “Would you like me to brief you now, sir?”

I want to sayno, because I want to enjoy my mate’s nudity, but this is an important matter.

“Yes. Tell me.”

“It has been a very long time since any vampire felt comfortable making such a bold attack,” Elena says. “I’d say a good two, maybe three centuries. There was a time the things used to hunt with impunity, but with the advent of modern technology, most of the population has been dormant. There are theories that vampires went to sleep around the time the first cellphone was developed, and have no intention of waking up until after the fall of the current civilization.”

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