Page 71 of Marked By Alphas 2: Claimed

By the time I stood naked in the clearing, my skin was flushed with a combination of embarrassment and something else entirely. The way they looked at me—like I was something precious and delicious all at once—made it hard to remember why we were here.

“Now what?” I asked, fighting the urge to cover myself. “Do I just… think wolfy thoughts?”

“Now,” Marcus said, stepping closer, “we help your wolf find its way out.”

He placed his hand over my heart, palm warm against my bare skin. The simple touch sent electricity racing through me. Derek moved behind me, his chest pressing against my back, while Caleb flanked my other side. I was surrounded, their scents and body heat enveloping me.

“Close your eyes,” Marcus instructed softly. “Feel the bond between us. Follow it down.”

“Down where exactly?” I muttered but did as he asked, letting my eyes fall shut.

“Inside yourself.” Caleb’s voice came from my right, his fingers tracing patterns on my arm that left goosebumps in their wake. “Past all the sarcasm and deflection.”

“I resent that accurate characterization.”

Derek’s chuckle rumbled against my back. “Focus, little mate. Find the part of you that’s been sleeping.”

I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. The mate bond that had been a constant hum since I’d met them suddenly flared brighter, more insistent. It was like having three warm spotlights trained on me, illuminating parts I’d never seen before.

“That’s it,” Caleb murmured encouragingly. “You’re doing great.”

I followed the sensation deeper, past the anxiety and sarcasm, past the boundaries I’d always known. Something stirred in response, curious and eager. It felt like discovering a room in a house I’d lived in my whole life but somehow never noticed.

“There you are,” Marcus whispered, his voice seeming to reach both me and the presence I could now feel unfolding inside me. “Come out and meet us properly.”

Heat bloomed under my skin, starting at my core and radiating outward. Not painful exactly, but intense—like being underwater too long and then breaking the surface for that first desperate breath. My bones seemed to vibrate with energy, muscles coiling with potential.

“Don’t fight it,” Derek’s voice rumbled through me. “Let it happen.”

And then the pain hit—sharp and sudden, a lightning strike through my skeleton. I gasped as my bones seemed to liquefy and reform, my perspective shifting as the ground rushed up to meet me. The world spun in an array of colors, scents suddenly so vivid they were almost visible.

My gasp turned into something else—a high-pitched sound that definitely hadn’t come from human vocal cords.

I blinked, disoriented. The world looked… wrong. Sharper, more detailed, but from a much lower vantage point. The brothers towered above me now, their expressions a mix of awe and delight.

“Kai?” Marcus knelt slowly, his hand outstretched. “Can you understand me?”

I tried to answer with a sarcastic “No, I’ve suddenly forgotten English,” but what came out was a series of yips and whines that startled me so badly I stumbled backward.

And promptly fell over my own four feet.

Wait. Four?

I looked down and froze. Where my hands should have been, delicate silver-white paws now touched the forest floor. I twisted, trying to see the rest of myself, and caught a glimpse of sleek fur with darker markings along my spine.

Holy shit. I’d actually done it. I was a wolf.

A really, really small wolf.

“Look at you,” Caleb breathed, dropping to his knees beside Marcus. “You’re perfect.”

I tried to ask “Perfect for what? A keychain?” but again, just wolf noises emerged.

“Try walking,” Derek suggested, his voice gentler than I’d ever heard it. “Slowly.”

Easier said than done. I took an experimental step forward and immediately face-planted into the moss. Having four legs was apparently more complicated than the wolves in nature documentaries made it look. I scrambled up, determined to maintain at least some dignity, and promptly fell over again when my back legs and front legs couldn’t agree on a direction.

Caleb was failing spectacularly at hiding his laughter. “You’re doinggreat,” he wheezed unconvincingly. “Really coordinated. Very majestic.”

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