Wolfsfoot (Kingdom of Wolves #1)

Being away from the pack andcutting the link to the Alpha commands that had been holding me under him, hasgiven me not just freedom but my shifter senses, something I didn’t know I wasmissing until now.

Hearing the sound of water, Iknow the river is close. I quickly make my way to it and stand, watching thegentle flow. It’s not a raging river, it is more the type you’d read in afantasy book, twining and flowing gently, where you can see the bottom clearlyand it sparkles in the light from the sun.

I sit cross-legged and watchthe water, enjoying the sounds the river makes, bubbling, rippling, andtrickling all fit, and the birds and rustling over other animals are brought tome as I close my eyes and relax my mind.

I’m ready Tati. Are youready to be one with me, be the wolf shifter you are meant to be?

Smiling in response tohearing Ebony. ‘I’m ready, Ebony.’

Remember to breatheslowly, let me do the work and I’ll come to you as fast as I can, then we’llrun.

Okay, I’ll let you lead theway. Closing my eyes, I take a steady breath and wait for what is going tohappen.

The sudden intense pain takesme by surprise, but I try my hardest to relax. Bones crack, then break,reforming into a smaller different shape from any they have been before. I canfeel the hair sprouting from my arms and legs and my face feels like it’s beingripped apart.

But as quickly as it starts,it’s finished, and I’m shocked because I thought it would take a long time, notthe minutes that it has.

I feel as though I’m in afog, not in control anymore. We are one Tati. Thank you for staying relaxed,it made it far faster and easier than I’d expected. When you are used to it,we’ll change instantly and it’ll be faster than any other, which will give usan advantage. When you want to be human again, you just think of yourself ashuman and I’ll step back, but if you think of yourself with your clothes on,then you’ll have them on and if you forget, you’ll become back to yourselfnaked.

Walking over to the river,Ebony trips over her own feet a few times, and I giggle at the huffs she gives.I’ll get it. Give me a minute. I hear her say and I can see through hereyes, but it feels very odd.

Next to the river, Ebonylooks down at the reflection in the water and I think we are both astonishedwhen we see the most beautiful black wolf looking back. Midnight black like acrow’s wing, just like my hair is in human form, but my blue eyes with goldrims show I am a rare Alpha female.

Grinning when Ebony turns tothe side and is checking herself out, wagging her tail slowly, then fasterbefore slowing down again. Turning a full three sixty degrees so she’s seenherself from all angles, she drops her front legs down, checks out herunderbelly, and gives a little growl of satisfaction before sticking her buttup in the air, and wiggles to herself, still admiring herself in the river.Before giving a high yipping and taking off into the forest.

Running through the forest,we fall over our feet, skinning our chin now and again. I’m feeling now that weare one, and not just Ebony or me. Now our transformation is complete and thefog-like feeling has dissipated, I can sense we truly are one with each other.

Shouldering a tree when wedon’t dodge quickly enough, we slow down, and rather than hurtling through theforest; we run with more purpose, dodging around trees, ducking under branches,and jumping over fallen trunks. The feeling of freedom is amazing and when westop quickly and turn, lifting our snout and smelling the rabbit that isrunning nearby, we become the predator.

Chasing the rabbit is all weare focused on at the moment, and we miss it a few times before we corner itand quickly kill it before laying down and eating our first catch. It’ssatisfying for Ebony, but a little nauseous for me. I’m sure I’ll get used toeating like this, but thinking I’m eating blood and guts isn’t good for thehuman side of me.

Hours later, we trot back tothe river and wade in a few steps, drinking our fill. Lying next to the river,we lick ourselves clean and place our head on top of our paws before taking aquick nap.

Waking to the sound of myname, we quickly get to four legs and trot towards where Lykos is standing onthe edge of the forest calling for us.

Seeing us trot towards him,Lykos stills, and we hear him whisper to himself. “Oh my, you are beautiful.”

Walking up to him, we don’thesitate. We rub against his legs, showing him affection, and he runs his handsover our head and digs his fingers into our coat. “Beautiful.” He murmurs tous, then kneels at the side of us, looking us in the eye. “I’m honored to seeyou Ebony, and I’ll protect you in any way that I am able.”

I give a little lick to hischeek, and he chuckles before standing. “Come on, let’s go see Akela. She’sgoing to be so excited to meet you.”

Trotting beside Lykos back tothe farmhouse, Akela is standing on the kitchen doorstep when she sees us andsteps forward, holding her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

“Tati, Ebony, you’rebeautiful. You are both beautiful and I’m so happy you are here with us. We arelucky that you chose our barn to sleep in and, in turn, became part of ourlife.” Akela holds her hand out. I walk to her, allowing her to pet us, and thegrowl of pleasure I give has her giggling.

“Now, shift back to Tati,”Lykos asks and I shift so fast I make myself dizzy and Lykos has to grab hold ofme. Thankfully, I’ve shifted with my clothes on.

Akela giggles loudly, and Ilook over at her. “Girl, that was so fast I just saw a blur, but you did itwith your clothes on and didn’t shock the shit out of Lykos. If he’d caught younaked, I’m sure he’d have not known what to do in case you called him apervert.”

I look at Lykos and he has anembarrassed look on his face, but when I laugh, he laughs with me. We walk intothe farmhouse and that’s when I realize it’s nearly dark outside and I’ve beengone all day.

“If you meet your mate,you’ll know it now, Tati, and I think we need to be careful who from out of thetown you meet. The last thing we need is you being found by some asshole, andhe takes you away before we can stop him. Once we’ve had the town meeting, wecan make sure we keep you safer, but we’ll have to get the meeting over first.Do you think you’ll be okay if I arrange that to be held in a couple of days?It may take longer, of course, but I’ll try and get it organized for as soon aspossible.” Lykos asks.

“Yes, let’s get it done. NowI have Ebony, I’m safer anyway. I need to become the Alpha female I’m supposedto be. But as yet, I’m not sure how to do that.”

“Come on, let’s get to bedearly and organize things tomorrow.” Akela pulls Lykos behind her and they headupstairs. I check the back door is locked before following them, and in myroom, I quickly shower and get into bed.

Sleep, Tati, we haveeverything in front of us. Let’s rest and take each day at a time.