A wolf stalked out onto the road, its fur a glossy silver in the dimming starlight and lavender-streaked skies. The beast was huge, a good head taller than me, broader at the shoulders. And a predator to his core.

But he was a beautiful creature, and I wanted to run again because I knew he would give chase. He’d been doing so for hours, tracking me across the river and into the woods. It was in his nature to do so.

But he hadn’t been hunting me. I knew this, even in my…nota form. He’d been watching over me, as he had done for most of my life.

The silver beast drew closer, its intelligent gaze locking with mine. Silver eyes.

I froze.

The wolf stopped a foot from me and then changed. It was like the stars themselves danced over the wolf’s fur in a wave of shimmering, silvery light that lasted for only a second or two. The silver fur retracted. Hard, golden-bronze flesh appeared. Muscles lengthened, becoming leaner. Paws shrank and thinned, becoming fingers. Legs with a dusting of dark hair formed, and then arms.

His scent…

A man now crouched before me in the same place the wolf had been—a russet-haired man I knew was tall even though he wasn’t standing.

My gaze flickered over his features. The high, broad cheekbones were familiar. So was the full mouth. I…I knew those lips. Had felt them on my skin. Heard them whisper sweet words. But this was no mere man. He was powerful.

Primal.

A Primal of Death.

And he was…

The mist drifted over the road, drawing my attention back to the wall. To the gateway.

“Liessa,” he spoke, and I shuddered at the shadowy sound of his voice. “You can’t go through there. Not like this.”

My head snapped back to his, and our eyes locked.

“Plus, you must be tired,” he said, keeping his voice low. Gentle. “You’ve been running for hours.” He glanced up at the pink-and-purple-streaked sky. “Dawn is approaching.” His chest rose in a shallow breath, and then he extended a hand. “Let’s go home.”

Home.

I leaned forward and sniffed his hand. Fresh air. Citrus. His scent.

My other half.

My heartmate.

My King.

Husband.

My everything.

He was mine, and I was his.

The cork in the neck of the vessel loosened even more. I became more of myself and less the wild, free animal. My gaze shot to his arm. The four half-moon cuts were gone. So was the blood, but I could still see it in my mind. My head lowered.

He dropped his arm. “I’m fine, liessa,” he assured me, somehow sensing where my mind had gone. “But I’ll be perfect once you come back to me.”

I wanted that, but I…

I wanted to be free. There was no looming war or crown I didn’t even want. I was stronger in this form. I was myself. Nothing could gain the upper hand. If they tried, they wouldn’t have a hand—or a head. In this form, I could be the monster.

He lifted his arm again, once more extending a hand to me.

Hissing, I swiped out a paw in warning.

He didn’t even flinch.

His hand didn’t waver.

“Come back to me.” He tilted his head, and a lock of hair kissed his cheek. “Will you do that? Please?”

A shudder went through me. I was never able to deny him when he said please. No matter what. No matter what form I took—unless it was for something I wasn’t ready to share.

I stepped toward him and then stopped. I wasn’t even sure how I’d turned into this or why it had happened, so I didn’t know how to come back to him.

“All you have to do is will it.” A charge of energy passed between us as his fingers sifted through the fur on my cheek. “Like you do when using the eather. Just want it, liessa.”

Something beautiful.

Something powerful.

Closing my eyes, I nuzzled his palm and then concentrated. I wanted it, so I willed it.

The change came at me faster than before. Silvery light appeared all over my limbs and then washed over my body just as it had done with Ash. The process was far more fluid. Tendons loosened as my bones contracted, snapping back into place. My fingers thinned and lengthened, and my jaw shrank. I felt my hair slide over my shoulders, but I never felt the roughness of the road beneath my bare knees.

Ash didn’t allow that.

He swept me up in his arms and rose. He didn’t speak as he held me tightly against him, his cool body a relief against my overly hot skin. For several moments, I just focused on his thumb smoothing back and forth along my side, but inevitably, the reality of the situation rose.

“I…” Wincing, I cleared my throat. “I don’t know what happened.”

“It was your nota.” One hand ran up my back, slipping under my hair. “The nota is still you, but it’s the most instinctual part of your Primal being. Just like with the eather, it can respond to your emotions or a potential threat.”

“Great,” I murmured. “So, what you’re saying is that the next time I’m anxious, I’m just going to shift into a cave cat and eventually end up naked somewhere?”

“Not necessarily, liessa.” His tone had lightened, but only for a too-quick moment. “It has to be pretty severe for that to happen. At least, now. After the first time you shift, you have more control over it.”

That would be a relief, except for the fact that I clearly had no control over my anxiety, my breathing…or my own head.

Turning, I looked down at his arm once more. I couldn’t believe I’d hurt him. I couldn’t believe I’d done any of that.

Shame scalded my cheeks. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

His arms tightened around my waist. “Liessa, you have nothing to apologize for.”

Gods, that wasn’t true. “I scratched you.”

“Barely.”

“You bled.”

“You’ve stabbed me before,” he reminded me.

“But that was intentional. Kind of.”

A rough chuckle teased the wisps of hair at my temple. The sound of his laugh caused the corners of my lips to tip up, but the humor was all too brief.

I really couldn’t believe what had happened. That I had freaked out like that and lost control. That he knew I was afraid of him feeding. That I was even afraid of that. That I could somehow forget that it was Ash I was with.

That he knew a piece of me remained in that cage.

“I’m tired,” I said hoarsely, and it was true. A bone-deep exhaustion had settled over me.

Without saying a word, Ash shadowstepped us back to the bedchamber and then took me to bed. I was sure I had dirt on me, and the gods only knew what else, but I rolled onto my side and folded my arms over my chest.

Lying down behind me, Ash pulled the blanket up over us. A moment passed, and then I felt the weight of his arm on my waist. Immediately, my mind wanted to go back to when I was in Dalos, to when—

No. I pressed my lips together, welcoming the sting of pain as my fangs scraped my lip. It stopped me from putting space between us. Even if it felt like I did at that moment, I didn’t want that. We slept like this all the time because the feeling of him touching me was comforting. Grounding. It was my thoughts that weren’t.

His chest rose against my back once more. “Sera…”

I heard it all in his voice. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered, feeling my nostrils burn.

“Okay. We won’t,” Ash said without hesitation, but I felt the fine tremor that went through him. “There is something I need to say, though. Something you need to hear. You don’t have to respond. You don’t have to say anything.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“I would give anything to be able to go back and take your place. Fucking anything,” he swore. “But I can’t.”

And I was glad he couldn’t because I knew he would.

“All I can do is tell you that nothing—absolutely nothing—has changed between us,” he said. “No matter what happened, it hasn’t changed how I see you. You’re still the same brave, strong Seraphena I saw that night in the Shadow Temple. It hasn’t changed how I feel about you. Nothing can. Nothing ever will.”