Page 45 of Alpha Unbound

Wings flapping like war flags, he barrels straight toward me.

I brace instinctively, but the little bastard doesn’t stop. He crashes into my shin, beak open, wings smacking my leg like he’s scolding me for crimes against goosekind. What the hell?

“Something’s wrong,” I mutter. “Something’s very wrong.”

I crouch, look him in the eye. “Where is she?”

Hank honks again, flaps his wings, and launches.

He circles above the compound once, twice, then arcs back toward the woods with a series of wild, frantic cries.

I don’t waste time.

Thunder booms through my ribs like it’s echoing straight out of my chest, a deep, ancient drumbeat that calls something feral to the surface. Lightning forks behind my eyes, not just seen, but felt—streaking white-hot through my blood. The transformation hits not with pain, but with a surge of elemental force.

Mist coils up from the ground like summoned smoke, alive with shards of silver and violet, the air crackling with energy that lifts the hair on my arms. It wraps around me, swallowing human thought and skin, until all that’s left is instinct andhunger and purpose. Everything soft and civilized rips away, leaving only power in its place.

And when the storm inside me clears, I am the wolf—every sinew primed, every instinct razor-sharp. I don’t just see the world—Ifeelit. Every sound, every scent, every vibration through the dirt.

I crouch for a breath; the wind brushing against my muzzle, rich with pine and Kate and something darker on the edges. Then I explode forward, four paws pounding the earth, gray fur rippling over tight muscle, claws chewing into the trail like it's trying to hold me back—and failing.

Hank is a blur in the sky, banking hard left as we approach the tree line. My muscles coil and release like pistons, the wind slicing past my ears.

I catch the first trace of her scent at the edge of the woods—sharp, familiar, laced with adrenaline.

She’s close.

My heart slams. My wolf howls inside my chest.

And then I see her.

She bursts through the trees like a shadow set loose, her new gray coat catching flecks of light between the branches—thicker, stronger, built for force over speed. There’s more muscle in her frame now, more power in every stride. She’s still stunning, but in a way that commands respect and sets every instinct inside me on fire. My breath catches in my throat—relief and awe slamming into my chest all at once. She’s here. She’s alive. And even after everything, my heart stutters like I’m seeing her for the first time. My mate. Her eyes catch mine for half a second, and that tether between us pulls taut.

I follow her without a sound, matching her stride for stride until we reach the back trail to the house. She shifts mid-run, the swirl of mist catching the late afternoon sun and by the time she hits the porch, she’s Kate again—naked, strong, radiant.

Hank lands beside her, panting, feathers ruffled, and rubs his head against her thigh like a dog.

I shift as I bound up after her, mist curling around me like a secret. When I step onto the porch, I’m a man again—bare feet, wild hair, and the bite of wind on my skin.

She turns.

One of our people hands her a robe, which she ties around herself. Another tosses me a pair of sweatpants.

“I’m okay,” she says, tying the robe. Her voice shakes. “But that was too close.”

I pull on the sweatpants and cross the space in a blink, take her face in my hands. “What happened?”

“I was being followed. Black SUV. No plates. I shifted to lose them.”

I kiss her. Hard. Fierce.

Hank honks and flaps at our knees like he’s telling us to take it inside already.

We do.

The shower is hot, and so is the arousal and feeling that flows between us.

We press against each other beneath the spray, mouths hungry, bodies slick and straining with need. But it’s more than just heat—it’s the desperate kind of closeness that follows a scare you can’t quite name. I need her, not just physically, but soul-deep, to know she’s alive, here, safe in my arms. And she needs to feel it too—how tightly we’re bound, how hard I’d fight to keep her with me.

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