Taming His Mate(18)

“Careful, Sunshine. I don’t need you busting open your pretty head.” Stephen sat beside her on the floor and caressed her back.

Why was he just sitting there? She wanted to scream at him to get help, but she couldn’t push the words past her throat.

Panic flooded her, and she tried to scramble upright with no success. Her heart hammered in her chest. She sucked in gulps of air, trying to accommodate her greedy lungs. Tears pushed from behind her closed eyes. Inside her head, an odd, guttural voice told her to calm herself. That’s when Kate realized she was going to die.

Potent energy crashed into her, jolting every molecule in her body with an electrical current that singed each nerve ending she possessed. She opened her mouth to scream, and a long, piercing howl filled her ears.

Then everything stopped.

Cautious, Kate cracked open her eyes, unsure of what she might find. She gasped and raised her head to take in the pinpoint clarity around her. Everything was the same, but then it wasn’t. She glanced over her shoulder to her mate.

His wide eyes held a mix of surprise and awe. She tried to speak to him, but all that came out was a high-pitched yip. He threw his head back and laughed, the action drawing her attention to the well-defined contours of his perfect neck. How had she never noticed something that sexy about him before?

Kate sat upright but scrambled for purchase when her hands slid out from under her. She landed on her stomach once again. What the hell? Glancing down at her hands, she gaped when a pair of furry legs attached to a set of paws came into view.

Stephen roared with laughter. “Oh, my God, Kate. That look is priceless.”

A growl vibrated through the air and her body. She would’ve fallen over if she wasn’t already flat on her belly when it dawned on her that noise came from her. From somewhere deep inside her. She’d felt it.

Holy shit! She’d shifted.

Shocked, she twisted around, taking in the soft, brown hair covering the Wolf’s body she inhabited.

“Here, let me help you up, Sunshine.” Stephen gripped her around the chest and assisted her as she rose to her feet. Uh, paws.

Upright, she tested her weight, lifting each leg. When she was sure of her balance, she inched her way out of the bathroom, anxious to get to the mirror in her bedroom.

Stephen guessed what she was after and opened the closet door, exposing the length of the mirror attached to her door.

With each step, her nails clicked on the hardwood floor until she paused in front of her own reflection. She stared at the beautiful brown wolf with a mix of disbelief and wonder. The set of white markings around her eyes and head set her apart from other wolves she’d seen in their pack. Baring her teeth, she moved closer to examine the sharp points.

Elation bubbled inside Kate. She’d done it. She wasn’t a failure, or defective. Damn it, she was a Wolf just like the rest of her pack.

Stephen knelt beside her, his intense blue gaze meeting hers in the reflection. “You’re gorgeous. And you’re mine.”

Pleased with his praise, Kate rubbed her head against his bare chest.

He stroked her ears. “Change back, Sunshine.”

She frowned, unsure how to accomplish the feat. Thankfully, he must’ve read her mind.

“Just think it. Imagine yourself human. It’s that simple. You control the Wolf.”

She closed her eyes and pictured herself in human form. For long moments, nothing happened, but then she felt it—the tingling at the base of her spine, the flush of heat, the rush of power sifting through her body, the startling series of snaps and groans.

Kate opened her eyes and glanced in the mirror, hesitant at what she might find. The brown wolf was no longer there. Instead, Kate sat in her place, wrapped in Stephen’s arms.

“I turned into a Wolf.” So what if she stated the obvious? By God, she’d shifted.

She laid her head against his shoulder and reveled in the feel of her mate wrapped around her.

Stephen chuckled against her temple. “Yes, you did. A stunning Wolf at that.”

Kate glanced up at him. “You weren’t surprised. You knew this would happen?”

“I had a suspicion.” He placed a tender kiss on her lips. “One of my aunts couldn’t shift until she completed the bond with her mate. Something about the mate bond brings the dormant Wolf gene inside to the surface.” Stephen nipped her bottom lip with a stinging bite. “And that was precisely what I wanted to explain to you this morning. Hell, I could’ve told you this years ago if you would’ve just opened up and trusted me like mates should.”

“Oh.” Of course, he just had to be right. She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Okay. I get it. No more secrets.”