Page 41 of Runaway Wolf
“I-I’m gonna be sick—”
Penny grabbed the wastebasket as Caitlin leaned over the bed. He gathered her silken tresses in his giant hands, holding her hair back as she heaved. He crooned soft words until she was done and helped her lean back into the pillows. He reached for the washcloth and cool water he’d been sponging her with, and wiped off the beads of sweat on her forehead.
All of a sudden, she sprung up, eyes wide. “Oh, God. It’s happening again. It’s too soon.”
He sucked in a breath. He knew how much it hurt, how sore she was from the constant flipping back and forth. Hewanted to take her pain for her. But all he could do was help her tame her wolf.
It started with her spine, just like always. She bowed her back and he could hear the snapping pops of her vertebrae as it broke, elongated, grew. She screamed and the long, high pitched sound turned into a deeper growl.
Calmly, he picked up her changing body, whispering soothing words as he carted her outside, warning Penny with one look to stay put. She was human, she couldn’t be anywhere near a changed Caitlin.
Not yet.
Setting her down outside, he quickly pulled off his clothes for a quick change. But didn’t do it yet. No, Caitlin had to get used to being around people.
Noah and Joaquin approached, pulling off their clothes too. No one complained about having to change so much, even though it left the body worn and sore.
Caitlin’s changes were painfully slow, which left her wolf angry when they were done. And like always, she went on the attack.
Snarling, she snapped at Joaquin, who’d been comforting her with touch. Slowly stroking down her leg. Had he not been a shifter, he’d have been too slow in getting his hand yanked back. As it was, he snarled back and smacked her nose. She leapt at him and he and Noah went into action, all three of them restraining her. He wanted to change, she was calmer when his was present, but she had to learn to be around human forms.
It wasn’t uncommon for a new shifter to have more strength than normal. There were so many hormones, rage andinstinct, and knee-jerk reactions. Wolves had to be taught to think with their human thoughts before reacting with instinct. It wouldn’t always be that way but for now? Until she understood that a bite could turn a human? She needed to learn, hard and fast.
With a growl, she reached Noah’s arm and latched on at the forearm.
“Fuck!” He roared, instinctively pulling back, but she didn’t let go. Joaquin hit her sensitive nose, but she was stubborn.
“Change!” Isaac yelled at him. A change was the only way he was going to get free. The power from a born shifter’s change would blow her backward.
In an instant, he was shifted and she yelped as she was flung away by the blast. Joaquin followed, and there were two wolves against her. Not that it would deter her, being a new shifter, she had the strength of two or three.
But she did something that surprised all three of them. Though he was in his human form, the she-devil threw herself at him…
And didn’t bite.
She cowered for his alpha protection. First time ever.
“There it is,” he crooned. They’d finally broken her. This was the starting point, the place where most bitten wolves began. She-devil, being a product of his monster, didn’t start her bonding process with her human from the first change. No, she fought it for weeks just to get to point zero.
Alex and Amos approached, both human again. Cautiously, they reached out to stroke her and while she shivered with anger, he held her muzzle against his chest until she relaxed under their touch. Then, the other two wolves began to nudge at her until she found comfort in touch. The way it was supposed to be.
When she calmed, he changed into his beast so they could run.
Chapter Twelve
“PENNY?” CAITLIN’S THROAT WAS so raspy, she tried to clear it.
Quick as a snake, her sister’s head bounced up. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her hair an unruly mess. “You’re awake.”
“I’m awake,” she verified softly. “Everything feels better now.”
“They tamed your wolf.”
Caitlin sat up, her body aching like she’d been lying in one position for months. “It took forever. Days and days of hell.” All she could remember was sleeping, pain, changing, pain, hunting, pain, pain, more pain…
Penny snorted. “Days? You’ve been out for three weekssincethe taming happened, Caity. If you’d still been employed, you’d have definitely been fired.”
“Three weeks? What? What’s… what’s today’s date?”
