Rachel crouched down.
“Don’t worry, it’s Thorn, our top sniper.”
“Who knew a werewolf would shoot humans from a helicopter?”
Lev licked her face. “You are so beautiful, Goldilocks. And you saved my life.”
Wiggling her ass, thinking that’s how one wagged their tail, she whimpered in puppy giddiness.
Calopus stumbled toward the catacombs. Lev twisted. “Next time, take his head instead of his arm.”
“That will take a huge learning curve,” she snapped.
“Wait here.” Lev charged Calopus, who held his bleeding stump and reached the doors. Lev swiped a claw across the bastard’s neck, decapitating him. A toxic cloud that glowed black and orange left the warlock’s body and then his flesh shriveled into flakes of ash.
Two helicopters landed. Rylee and her team jumped out. She shouted orders. “Eliminate the oath breakers.”
The team shifted and broke into quads, each in pursuit of the enemy.
Lev returned to Rachel. He licked her neck and wagged his tail. Confusion raked his soul. Unlike popular myth as seen in horror books and movies, no werewolf had ever bitten a human and turned them. Had it been the toxin from the undead werewolf’s bite or because he was a mutant? Shit. What if she remained in wolf form permanently? Would she resent him for what she must perceive as a curse? “How do you feel?”
She shook her fur. “I smell you.”
“Good to know.”
“Seriously, I smell you down to the molecular level.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what happened to you.”
“My body is tingling.”
He sighed. “You’re shifting back.” Moments later, she stood naked and shivering.
He shifted to human form and drew her in, offering her the warmth of his body. She nuzzled against him and gazed up at him. “You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”
Rachel woke in her den and stretched her human arms. Toned as if she’d been working out, but not to the point of looking like she took steroids. Just fit. After three weeks of her father and Selene running medical tests, they confirmed her DNA had mutated due to Lev’s bite. Her transformation from human to wolf had apparently been the first in their recorded history. An anomaly. She learned how to encourage the change on command. In control of her she-wolf. Thankfully, she’d still be able to practice medicine or walk through an art museum or attend a concert. Lev did his best to encourage her to enjoy her wolf form. He showered her with wolfish affection without mating, since she refused to give it a try. Somehow the idea of having sex as a wolf bothered her. Cricket told her she’d eventually enjoy sex in wolf form as much as what she called skin to skin sex. Lev, Cricket and others helped Rachel appreciate her enhanced senses and powerful body. Rylee had given her pup status, which meant omega, until she met with the council to determine Rachel’s status or even exactly what she was. Pup worked, since like a pup, she had to learn what it meant to be a pack member. In many ways, it wasn’t any different than what she’d learned while living as a human within the pack.
Besides super senses and strength, being a wolf had its perks. Having a thick fur coat to hike in the snowy mountains, definitely a plus. Not to mention going out for hours without having to find a bathroom to pee. She still needed lessons on how to howl and how to voice the difference between a happy whimper and a sad one, but that would come in time. She loved sharing the wolf world with Lev. No more species barrier to come between them.
Where was Lev? Rachel grabbed her robe, happy to feel the fabric against her fur-less skin. Drawn by the scent of fresh coffee, she dashed to the kitchen. “Good morning.”
He laughed. “Get enough sleep?”
Rachel gazed at the clock. Noon. She frowned. “Um, so why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I thought it best, you rest. We howled until two in the morning.” He handed her a mug of warm coffee and smiled. “Howard wants to see you in a couple hours in the lab. Rylee will meet us there.”
Ugh, more poking and prodding. Her father was disturbed by her transformation into, for all intensive purposes, a new transgenic creature. At first, he had promised a cure, but once she told him she was okay with it, he resigned to the fact his daughter was a werewolf. Not the horror novel mindless rabid creature ripping people apart in a frenzy of murderous rage, but a woman who tamed her beast and could work in both worlds.
Rachel took the cup of brew and inhaled deeply. She sat at the table and sipped. “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”
He lifted a brow. “Wouldn’t you rather have beef?”
“Eating a horse is just a figure of speech. I would never eat a horse. Or hunt and kill for food.” She swallowed. “Or will I have to?”
“Of course, you don’t have to. Many in the pack have never hunted after the change.”
“Oh? I kind of feel like I can. Actually, a guilty desire to.”