I sensed Kaillen’s wolf’s happiness. He was just as eager to be with my wolf as she was to be with him. For the two of them, it was very simple. He wanted her. She wanted him. End of story. Neither of them had the complex thought patterns that humans did. She didn’t give a damn that their bond was decided by the gods and magic, and not by her own inner self.

I pushed more, trying desperately to break free, to be me again.

But she wouldn’t back down.

Damn you! I wailed at her, because this wasn’t fair. So much of my life was slipping out of my control, and now, I no longer even had control of my own body. It’d been bad enough to deal with my awakening power while trying to learn how to understand it, all while Jakub was hunting me, but now this? Now I had another being inside me who could override my wishes and shift as she chose. Not cool at all.

I curled up inside myself as my wolf and Kaillen’s frolicked through the woods.

A sob shook my chest because none of this was okay. But I had no idea how to make it right.

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Chapter 6

Hours later, my wolf finally relented when I began pummeling her with my fists. She let me shift back, and I emerged in a shudder of sweaty limbs shaking with exertion. I fell to the forest floor like a newborn fawn. Rage made me tremble. My wolf had literally taken over my body for hours.

Kaillen shifted instantaneously, his large nakedness hovering above me. “Tala?” He gently lifted me up, but my breathing was still coming too fast.

“I hate her. I hate my damned wolf!”

His eyes dimmed as the late afternoon sun dipped toward the mountains. “She’s strong. It might take a little longer than normal to gain control, but I have no doubt you’re more dominant than her.”

I huffed, not even wanting to remember the past few hours that were clearer this time, not nearly as fuzzy as my first shift. My wolf had been over the moon, running, hunting, and playing with Kaillen’s wolf. She’d done it all while I’d fought her tooth and nail, but she didn’t give a damn about my wishes because she was with her mate. She’d been happy, so ecstatically happy.

I wiped at my mouth and was surprised that no blood coated my fingertips, because an hour ago, our wolves had hunted a small deer and eaten it for lunch.

Gag. But at least my human senses hadn’t been awake for that, so while I was mentally aware of my wolf happily munching away on deer organs, I couldn’t actually taste it. Still, so gross.

“I hate this,” I said again.

A groove appeared between Kaillen’s eyes when his brow furrowed.

“How do you do it?” I asked him. “How do you shift so easily and at will?”

“It takes time to learn. You’ll get there.”

“Right.” I shook my head. “Can we go back to your place before she takes over again?”

His frown grew. “It’s not usually like this, Tala. Males’ wolves are puppies when they emerge in us. They’re easy to mold and shape, but your wolf is fully grown and very dominant. You’ve been born with a wolf as strong as you.”

I dusted the leaves off myself. “Meaning what? That she’s in control now? That I no longer have any say in who commands my body?” I shredded one of the leaves clinging to me, then shredded another just as furiously. Gods, how could I live like this? I couldn’t work or drive or go to restaurants if I would suddenly shift just ’cause my wolf got the notion to howl at the moon.

Kaillen’s throat bobbed. “I don’t know. I didn’t anticipate this, but I know you’re just as strong as her. The gods don’t give us wolves that we can’t control.”

“Except the gods didn’t give me my wolf. You did.”

Cold hurt slammed into his face, and I glanced away. I didn’t want to hurt him. While I was still grappling with what he’d done to me, I knew he hadn’t done it maliciously. But what I’d said was true. He’d done this to me. Not the gods. And now I was a freak. An abomination.

Cameron’s taunting jeer came back to me in full force, and I gritted my teeth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, but can we please go back to your house? All I want is a shower and normal food right now.”

That ashy scent wafted from him again as black flames leapt into his eyes. I sighed. Perhaps it was for the best that his demon came out for a bit. Then maybe my wolf would shy away and leave me alone for a while.

A muscle in the corner of his jaw worked. “Do you want me to carry you? We’re about five miles away from my house.”

“Would it be faster than me running with you in my human form?”

He cocked his head. “I hadn’t thought of that. You have her strength and speed now. Do you want to try?”

“Yes.” I needed to because I was so freakin’ angry at how my wolf had controlled me that if I didn’t work off some steam I was going to be howling in rage. Probably a wolf’s howl. FML, seriously.

“Follow me.” Kaillen took off, breaking into an easy sprint.

I let my toes sink into the mud, still reeling from the fact that I’d been nude outside all day during November, and I still wasn’t freezing my ass off. So weird.

I pushed off the forest floor and took off after him, catching up with him easily. The wind whipped through my hair as my arms pumped at my sides.

He smiled at me, hesitantly at first, but when my lips curved at how amazing it felt to move this fast, he grinned.

We dipped around trees, leaped over logs, and sailed clear over small streams. The entire time, I kept pace with Kaillen and stayed at his side. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before we reached his house. He slowed at the outer pastures, and I jogged at his side.

“You’re fast,” he commented when we finally slowed to a walk.

Both of us were winded, but the strange thing was that I didn’t need to stop. I felt like I could keep going.

I made a face. “I guess raw venison agrees with me.”

He cast me a crooked smile, even more so when I scrunched my nose up. “You needed calories, and she knew that. Just ’cause your wolf has been ruling you, doesn’t mean that your hunger fades.”

I gave him a sideways look. “But raw deer? Yuck.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

I tried to smile but all I managed was a grimace, ’cause would I?

When we reached his home, we slid in through the back patio door. According to the clock, it was nearly five in the evening. I ground to a halt, my jaw dropping. It was already the next evening.

Only twenty-four hours ago, I’d been shoving chocolatey lava cakes into my mouth while dreading the full moon. Now, I had a bitch of a wolf who felt entitled to rule my body.

“Will the moon force another shift on me tonight?” I asked when Kaillen closed the door behind us.

Our feet were caked in leaves and mud, and we left filth in our wakes as we padded across the floor. “No, only the true full moon can force a shift for newly born werewolves. It’ll be that way for the next year, and then it will get easier. Eventually, the moon won’t control you at all. The urge will still be there to shift, but it’s something you can stop if you choose to.”

“But my wolf isn’t normal.”

“True. She may want out again tonight. It’s hard to say how persistent she’ll be.” Kaillen grabbed two glasses from his cabinet, filled each with water, and handed me one.

I drained the entire glass in continuous swallows, then grumbled as I processed what could happen again when the moon rose. I made sure to keep a big mental distance from my wolf. I didn’t want to shift again. Not tonight. Not ever. Losing control like that . . .