Page 140 of Storm of Shadows
I shrug off the pants and shirt I’m wearing, tip back my head and let the shadows overtake my body, let them twist bone, shape muscle, stretch skin, until I’m forced down onto four paws and the world has shifted on its axis.
I’m still me, hidden beneath this fleece of fur. Only fucking wilder, fucking stronger, and definitely more fucking impulsive.
I fucking love it.
I lean back on my paws, stretching out my back, swiveling my ears, and then nipping at my tail.
Like this, the world loses its colors; everything is muted, less bright, less vibrant. But the smells. Fuck, the smells! Millions of them all competing for my attention, all screaming out some story, promising some freaking amazing adventure. Sharp, sour, sweet, pungent, putrid.
And the sounds too. I can hear the path of a small rodent as he scurries through the distant undergrowth; can hear the ruffle of an owl’s feathers in the branches high above me, and hear the faintest whisper of voices from the academy far away.
I indulge in my wolfish side for just a moment, following the scent of a squirrel through the trees. I soon catch up with him and then it’s a chase. Me crashing through the undergrowth and leaping over discarded branches and broken brambles, hot on his tail. I nearly catch him, but then he’s scrambling up a tree and out of reach.
I stand panting, the adrenaline soaring through my veins. I let it fade and yank myself back. There was a reason for transforming. Another scent I intend to hunt out. One that stinks of sex – of wet pussy and soft limbs.
I drag my tongue over my snout and then I sprint off in the direction of the academy.
I can smell the humans before they see me, and so I hug the shadows. I don’t want anyone to see me but her. Not in this moment anyway. I track through the campus until I reach the tower that houses her room, then still hidden from view, I drop down onto my stomach, rest my head on my front paws and wait.
Time passes, my perception of it distorted in my wolf form. He’s more patient than me – even if he is wilder. But eventually I catch a hint of her scent. I lift my head and peer through the gloom. My wolf eyes may not be able to detect the colors my human ones can, but my vision in the half-light is far sharper. Soon I see her turn the corner, alone, her coat pulled tightly around her to ward off the cold and her head bowed down. I jump up onto my paws and trot towards her.
I’m guessing the little kitten is lost in her thoughts, because she doesn’t register my presence until I nudge my snout against her side and whine.
She jolts, jumping away, her hands raised like she’s either about to surrender or about to fight.
I sit, dragging my paw through the air and whining a second time.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says flatly, which was not the reception I was hoping for. The last time we met in my wolf form, she was all fucking over me. “Go away. I don’t need this today. The trial starts in less than an hour.”
If I could laugh, I would. Because, yeah, I’m not leaving.
I stare at her with what I’m guessing are a pair of adorable puppy eyes and whine some more.
“Don’t look at me like that. I know who you are under all that fur and you can’t fool me with this cutesy thing.”
Me, cute? I’m not sure it’s how the last person I ripped apart would have described me. But if the little kitten wants to call me cute, then I won’t be complaining.
I stand and pad towards her. She doesn’t try to turn away or run. She’s smart and she knows I’m faster than she is. Does she also know how much I like to fucking chase? In fact, this would be so much more fun if she were to run. Then I could hunt her down and …
“What do you want?” she says, scowling at me.
I nudge my nose against her hand and then lick at her fingers. Her skin tastes divine. But it’s her pussy I really want to eat.
She snatches her hand away from my mouth and crosses her arms over her chest, staring off into space and not at me.
I rub my head and body against her legs hoping she’ll relent and pet me, but she only huffs in annoyance.
I huff myself through my nostrils and sink to the ground, looking up at her again with hurt eyes.
She glances at me but refuses to relent.
This isn’t working.
Time for a new plan.
I close my eyes and the shadows creep from my veins, wrestling the wolf back into submission. My body transforms again. This time skin retracts, bones shorten, muscles turn. It hurts. Of course it fucking does. But it’s a part of who I am.
I roll up to stand on my bare feet, towering above the little kitten.
