Page 17 of Forsaking His Mate

I can see the confusion before it morphs into something else, something that twists my gut.

Dismay.

He staggers back from me, gripping the edge of the counter behind him, as if it is the only thing keeping him on his feet too.

My wolf howls, pawing at the ground as if she wants to rip free of my body. I urge her to calm.

He opens his mouth, and I hold my breath, expecting him to claim me.

I recognize him as mine. My wolf recognizes him as ours.

But what comes out of his mouth puts a damper on everything.

“No,” he hisses.

My wolf is done being submissive. My back arches as she tries to force a shift, as I’m internally screaming for her to stop.

I can’t shift.

Nothing will happen but pain.

She doesn’t listen.

My back contorts in an impossible angle, pain exploding through me. My spine feels like it’s being torn in two. I try to hold back my cry, but it erupts from my mouth. I drop to my hands and knees, splaying my fingers against the tile beneath me as my legs twist and crack.

Every inch of my body is in agony as my wolf tries to come to the forefront. My skin heats until I am burning from the inside out. My eyes water as my bones continue to change and break. The torture of it almost makes me pass out.

I wish I would.

Screams fill the air, macabre, ear-piercing sounds.

They are my screams, I realize.

I’m dying.

My body continues to fracture and splinter, twitching and thrashing as my wolf fights to surface.

She’s close.

I can feel her struggling to get through the barrier between us, but there’s no path to freedom.

I sob with the pain. I can’t stand it. I feel like I’m being cleaved in half. Clawing desperately at the ground, dirt sliding under my nails, I whimper and cry, my throat feeling like I’ve swallowed blades. My back bows and I sob as my hips dislocate.

The only word I hear over and over in my head…

Mate.

Ours.

It goes on and on, over and over, but as with the last time I tried to shift something is stopping my wolf from getting through. I am a tau wolf. I am not full-blooded. No amount of trying will bring my wolf out of me.

Yet, my body continues to break, my bones cracking.

He’s not recognizing me as his. I know I should focus on that, but all my attention is on the agony tearing through me.

Then the pain dissipates, and my wolf stops trying to shift.

I collapse to the floor, breathing heavily. My lungs burn with every inhalation and I feel sick to my stomach.

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