Kelsey inched closer to Danny. Every instinct screamed at her to lower her gaze, but she forced herself to keep eye contact. If she wanted to guide him through his First Change, she needed to establish herself as the more dominant Syak first. Don’t look away! You can do this.
But fear and insecurity leaked from her every pore, and she knew Danny could smell it.
Okay, here we go. She steeled herself and reached out a hand, cursing herself for the trembling in her fingers.
A wild growl rumbled through Danny’s chest.
Oh, shit! He’s not buying it. Kelsey froze. “It’s okay. You’re going to be fine. Just trust me and let me help.” With shaking hands, she repeated her words in sign language and hoped that some part of Danny still understood. Imitating the confident grip of an alpha, she grasped Danny’s shoulder and tried to pull him away from Rue. For this to work, she needed him to focus on her.
Danny jerked around and, teeth bared, leaped.
Kelsey crashed to the floor, one hundred and twenty pounds of out-of-control Syak on top of her. Spittle hit her cheek. Wild eyes glowed just inches from hers.
Then pain flared through her shoulder and down her arm. She let out a surprised yell and tried to pull away, but Danny wouldn’t let go. His teeth dug deeper. They weren’t wolf canines, but they hurt nonetheless.
Fire spread through her limbs. The need to shift, to defend herself hammered against the restraints of her self-control.
Instinct took over. She went limp beneath Danny’s teeth and with her gaze cast downward exposed her throat. Urgent whimpers escaped her.
But Danny was too out of control to recognize her submission. He shook his head back and forth, tearing at the skin of her shoulder.
A drop of blood trickled across Kelsey’s tongue as her own teeth lengthened. She barely stopped herself from biting back in panic.
“Danny!” Rue called and tried to pull him off. “What the hell are you doing? Let her go! Now!”
When Rue clamped her hand around the back of Danny’s neck, he finally let go.
Kelsey scrambled back, away from Danny. Heat pulsed through her in time with the painful hammering in her shoulder. Her skin stretched over thickening muscles. She cradled her numb arm and fought down the urge to shift.
Danny was still growling, but his teeth were that of a human, not yet lengthened into canines. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face.
Panting, Kelsey leaned against the wall and stared at him.
“Shit!” Rue kept Danny away from Kelsey with one hand while her other hand pulled back Kelsey’s coat and shirt to look at her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Kelsey’s voice trembled. She blew out a breath. “This isn’t working.”
“You need to try again,” Rue said. “There’s no other option.”
“If I try again, he could seriously hurt me. Or I could lose control and hurt him.” Kelsey glanced at Danny, who bared his teeth at her but didn’t try to escape Rue’s grip. “He won’t submit to me. I told you only his alpha or someone high up in the pack hierarchy can guide a pup through his First Change.”
Rue pushed away from Kelsey and glared at her. “Danny doesn’t have a pack or an alpha!”
A week ago, Kelsey would have agreed. But now... She stared at the effortless way Rue kept Danny away from her. She’s wrong. Danny does have a pack and an alpha. His pack bonds were with Rue. “You,” Kelsey said. “You need to do this.”
“Me?” Rue wildly shook her head. “I don’t know the first thing about the Wrasa or shape-shifting. I’m not an alpha.”
“Yes, you are,” Kelsey said, putting all her hope into her voice. “It will work.”
“If you’re wrong, Danny could die,” Rue whispered. “Look at him. His body is at the limit of what it can take.”
“Remember how you stopped me from shifting in the subway station and again in the tunnel? How you got me to shift back in the warehouse? I know you can do the same for Danny.”
Rue raked her teeth along her bottom lip. “What makes you so sure?”
A blush heated Kelsey’s cheeks, and she hoped it wasn’t visible in the dim light. “I’m sure because my wolf side reacts to you as if you were an alpha.” My alpha, she mentally added but kept the thought to herself. “Danny does too. Even now, as out of control as he is, he lets you handle him.”
Rue threw a glance at Danny, who was rubbing against her, then moving back and scraping against the chamber’s walls as if he wanted to strip off his skin. Her shoulders lifted and fell beneath a deep breath. “All right. Let’s try this. What do I need to do?”
“First, you need to immobilize him.” Kelsey glanced at Danny, who snarled in her direction when their gazes met. “Clamp your hands around his face. If you have to, force him to the floor and use your weight to keep him still. Keep eye contact and don’t look away, no matter what. You’ll have to stare him down until he submits.”
“But won’t that scare him even more?”
“No. You are his alpha. If you establish your dominance, it’ll let Danny know where he stands in the pack. It’ll give him a place and security.”
Rue nodded but still looked skeptical. “Then what?”
A whine echoed through the chamber, and Kelsey raised her voice. “Hold him down and order him to change, just like you did with me in the warehouse.”
“You really think that will work with him?”
Kelsey’s gaze tracked Danny. He stopped scraping along the wall and started running in circles. His teeth flashed as he bit at shadows.
Kelsey squeezed her eyes shut. “No,” she whispered. “I don’t think it will be enough. He’s got no clear mental image of his wolf form. Normally, the mentor would shift along with him to help him realize what he needs to do, but...” She pointed at Rue’s body.
“I can’t do that,” Rue finished her sentence. It was probably the first time in her life she had needed to say those words. Her shoulders slumped. Then she looked up and straightened. “But you can. You can show him how it’s done.”
“No,” Kelsey said. “Only his pack can be present during a pup’s First Change. I’m not part of Danny’s pack.”
The sound of paper ripping drifted through the chamber. Danny was on hands and knees, scratching at old newspapers.
He’s marking his territory, and he won’t want me here while he shifts.
Rue folded her arms over her chest. “The alpha decides who’s part of the pack, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then you’re in. Stay and help me.”
Their gazes met and held. Rue’s overpowering scent wafted around Kelsey, and she wanted to duck her head and agree to whatever Rue demanded. Stop! You swore to never again blindly follow an order!
But was it really blind obedience if she chose to follow Rue’s order? Hadn’t Rue earned her trust?
She held Rue’s gaze for a second longer and then looked away. “Okay, let’s do this together. Hold Danny down, but make sure he can see me shift.”
Rue nodded. She wiped her hands on her pants as if her palms were sweaty.
“Once Danny is in wolf form, don’t let go of him.” Kelsey hoped Danny really accepted Rue as his alpha and wouldn’t try to bite her. Wolf canines could do a lot of damage. “Don’t let him run around. Shifting is very draining, and we don’t have any food. If he wastes energy, he might not make it back into human form. Get him to shift back immediately, or he’ll get stuck in wolf form.”
“How do I do that?” Rue asked.
“You just hold him down and calm him. Normally, you’d use your voice to do that, but I hope your scent and touch will be enough. Then I’ll shift back and show him how it’s done.” Kelsey threw a glance at Danny.
He was crouched down on a pile of crumpled newspapers, his teeth flashing as he growled.
“Get him over here,” Kelsey said and stepped beneath the lightbulb. “He needs to see me shift.” She slid out of her coat and unbuttoned her shirt.
Rue led Danny into the middle of the concrete chamber, one arm around his shoulder. Unlike Kelsey, she didn’t need to drag him; he followed her willingly. “I never thought I’d force my underage son to watch a naked woman,” she murmured.
Kelsey stripped off her pants and draped them over a metal chair. “Seeing each other naked before shifting is completely normal for Wrasa. He’ll barely remember any of this afterwards anyway.” She shivered as the cool air hit her bare skin. Despite her words, she had to fight the urge to cover herself with her arms. Somehow, Rue seeing her naked was different. She glanced at Danny.
He stared into the shadows beyond the circle of light.
Not long now. We have to hurry. “We shouldn’t waste time trying to get him out of his clothes,” Kelsey said. “Just get him to turn his head and look at me.”
When Danny struggled against Rue’s grip, she wrestled him to the floor and used her full weight to hold him in a prone position. He bucked beneath her but didn’t try to bite. His muscles convulsed, and he groaned.
Lying half on top of him, Rue freed one of her hands and wiped the sweat off Danny’s face. “Easy, easy. Just breathe. I’m here. We’ll help you.” She repeated her words in shaky signs and then clamped her hands around his cheeks. Her thumbs met under his chin, immobilizing him.
Finally, Danny lay still and let Rue guide his head so that he was staring in Kelsey’s direction.
Kelsey gave Rue a nod and then let the image of her wolf form flow through her. With the adrenaline already pumping through her, the first signs of change materialized immediately. Fur rippled along her forearms, and she looked at Danny, willing him to watch and learn.
His hands moved over Rue’s back as if grappling for some hold.
Then Kelsey looked more closely. He’s signing!
He was beyond clear communication, but his hands formed rough, shaky signs that Kelsey could barely understand. He repeated the same signs over and over, like a mantra. Stop. Pain. Danny was saying, “Stop the pain,” like a child who still believed his mother had the power to make that happen.
Joints aching, Kelsey dropped to her hands and knees. The skin of her palms thickened into leathery pads. Pain shot through her spine as it lengthened into a tail.
Her senses sharpened. Her gaze pierced the shadows, and as she watched Rue hold down a moaning Danny, realization hit her. We got it wrong. Jorie misunderstood her vision, were her last thoughts before the change swept over her.
* * *
Crouched low, careful not to hold her head higher than the alpha’s, she approached her pack. They lay on the floor in a tangle of limbs, the alpha on top. She nosed the alpha’s shoulder, drinking in the soothing scent, and then licked a soft wrist.
The alpha’s pup, still in his human form, squirmed.
She ducked beneath the alpha’s front paw and gave him a lick too.
He growled, but she didn’t move away. Somehow, she knew the alpha wanted her to stay near the pup. She needed to protect her helpless pack member. The scent of his pain and fear made her whine. She put her paws on his chest and crawled closer to lick his neck, then up to his face until he lay still and accepted her touch.
The three of them huddled together, sharing the warmth and security of a pack.
Noises from outside of the den made her lift her head. Her ears swiveled toward the sounds. Gravel bounced against the tunnel wall.
She lifted her nose and sniffed the air. Humans!
Their footsteps came closer, approaching the den.
Baring her canines, she leaped over her alpha and the pup and rushed toward the den’s entrance. She crawled through the hole, ready to defend her pack. Her excellent night vision pierced the darkness in the tunnel.
Two humans walked toward the den.
Fur bristling, Kelsey took a stiff-legged stance in front of the entrance and let out a warning growl.
The beam of a flashlight flicked toward her. The humans’ steps faltered. One man waved his hands as if trying to shoo her away.
She stood her ground. Her rumbling growl became louder.
Still the humans didn’t back off. The taller man took a step toward Kelsey and the den, pointing a dangerous looking object at her, while the second man talked into another object that emitted strange noises.
A whine rose up her chest. She ducked until her belly nearly touched the ground. She wanted to whirl around and flee back to the safety of a pack, but then she would lead the men directly to the defenseless pup. No. She had to stay and scare off the humans.
The other man stepped closer too.
If they came any closer, they’d discover the hidden den.
She let out a sharp bark.
The men flinched but stayed where they were.
Baring her teeth, she leaped forward.