Page 60 of Before the Bond
“Caleb,” I said.
Caleb was out of breath, but he managed a smile. “Sorry I’m late. Patrols and all.”
“It’s fine.” I hugged myself tightly.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Caleb reminded me.
I nodded.
“Don’t be startled,” he said. “I won’t let anything hurt you.”
“Will Jake be alright?”
Caleb smiled. “Always thinking about your patients.”
The clouds in the sky passed at an alarming pace. They made way for the moon, now fully round and shining down on the clearing.
A sharp, guttural scream came from the center. The hair on my arms stood on end.
I grabbed Caleb’s arm. Caleb didn’t move away.
Jake’s shift took approximately thirty seconds, but it felt longer. Even though I was yards away, I could hear his body crack and snap.
It was like Caleb’s. Only worse.
Jake's body didn't ease into it. It fought. His whole frame convulsed, every muscle firing at once. His shoulders widened past any human proportion, spine lengthening and curving, hands slamming to the ground as his fingers restructured themselves with a series of sounds. His shirt tore straight down the center. His jaw rebuilt itself — longer, wider — the scream still coming from somewhere inside him even as his throat changed shape around it.
The fur came last. Pale and thick, moving across him like a tide.
Then stillness.
A wolf stood where Jake had been. Light-furred, enormous, chest heaving. His breath came in visible plumes in the cold air. He was unlike anything I had a clinical term for.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Donovan and Stella run. I watched as their own bodies shifted, far faster. In a blink, they surrounded him.
Jake, in wolf form, howled loudly. He stared around frantically, panicked, and then began to growl.
Caleb pushed me aside and quickly shifted, too. It was the second time I saw Caleb’s wolf form, but it still shook me to my core.
Caleb’s dark-furred body lowered itself to the ground. He used the length of his body to cover me as Jake began to run in random directions.
Donovan and Stella growled as they tried to herd him, preventing him from heading into the town road and into the manor.
Jake howled, shaking his head. And then… his eyes landed on me.
Jake charged forward. He zipped past Donovan and Stella with no issue. Caleb ran in front of him, trying to collide with Jake. He howled back, trying to communicate with Jake. But Jake wasn’t listening.
Caleb tried to swat Jake back, but Jake dodged. Perhaps it had to do with his smaller form or the fact he was more panicked, but he managed to slip past.
Caleb howled as Jake ran past him and headed straight toward me.
He’s not himself, my body screamed at me.Let them handle this.
Another image ran through my head. I could see the wolves in Northern California. I saw flashes of my parents being scratched and bitten to death.
Jake’s wolf eyes gleamed.
I tried to remind myself of who the wolf was. This was Jake.
