The first thing I registered was whispers.
"She's stirring."
Then came feeling. The ground beneath me was itchy, poking at my skin from every angle.
Grass. Definitely grass.
My brain was thick with fog, but I could pick up flowers, trees, the general outdoors. Then underneath that — sweat. And something metallic. Blood. My nose scrunched on instinct, ready to be disgusted, but then something else hit me and the fog just... cleared.
What was that?
Musky. But sort of peppery too. Like warmth had a smell.
Something whimpered in the back of my mind and my whole body went still.
Okay. What was that?
Hello, Nova. A whisper. Inside my head.
I couldn't think. There was a voice in my brain — feminine, not mine — and this time it wasn't just a feeling. It was words.
I'll start with the basics. Gentle, almost cooing. You have shifted. I am your wolf.
I gasped. Shifted? But I thought I couldn't—
That's for another time. I was awakened because we have found our mate.
Mate?
Yes. The Alpha.
Alpha Phoenix?
Yes. He is yours.
A hand landed on my side and I shot upright before I even made the decision to move. I wobbled and caught myself on — four paws. A growl ripped out of me.
A growl. With a mouth full of teeth that weren't mine. On four legs that weren't—
Oh. Right. Wolf. I had a wolf now. Got it.
I shook my body out, my wolf helping me find my balance from somewhere inside. So — four legs. Smaller than usual. My 5'3 had apparently shrunk down to about four feet of pure canine confusion. I looked down at my fe— my paws, and black fur stared back at me. I flexed. Claws. Sharp ones, hidden under fur so soft it felt wrong.
I lifted my head.
A group of people were staring at me with varying degrees of concern. My eyes found Steven first. Arms crossed. Smiling like he'd been waiting for this.
"Nova, you've shifted." Like he was reading me the weather.
I almost snorted. Almost. Instead my wolf's head did this little shake of its own.
Can you hear me, Nova? His voice. In my skull.
The panic arrived fast. I didn't know how to block anyone out. My heart spiked and I stepped back. This wasn't right. I wasn't a shifter. This had to be — I was dreaming, I had to be—
The panic was settling in fast and deep.
Build a wall, Nova. Wrap your mind in something warm. Only you have the key.
I forced myself to breathe. Closed my eyes. Inhaled slow. I imagined a big soft blanket, the kind that made you feel tucked in and untouchable. Safe. Mine.
My wolf snorted.
I added a chain and padlock. Just for her.
But her attention was already dragging mine somewhere else, demanding it. My eyes opened.
And landed on him.
Six feet and then some. Hazel eyes that caught light like they'd been made to. My world sort of... narrowed. All I could hear was my own heartbeat and the blood moving loud through my ears. Like I was seeing him for the first time, even though I'd seen him before.
His pupils swallowed themselves whole. Black and bottomless. And I felt myself leaning in somehow, pulled by that smell — musky, peppery, warm — like falling into something deep that didn't want to let go. Gentle. Unforgiving. Both at once. My head went fuzzy, my mouth went desert-dry.
I blinked.
And the worry flooded in to replace everything else.
This was too much. Way too much. I'd shifted because I'd found my mate. My mate was a King's Alpha. This morning I almost died over a dropped coffee. But now I understood it — the way his touch had felt like something catching fire. I hadn't been able to name it until now. Until I was standing here on four legs realising he was mine.
My wolf purred.
No.
No. I couldn't.
I ran.
I bolted before the thought even finished, legs stumbling as they figured out the whole four-limbs situation. I heard gasps behind me, someone calling my name, but I didn't stop. My legs figured it out fast and I pushed harder. I ran until the voices were gone and then I kept running.
I didn't know where I was going. I just had to go.
I found a lake.
Stumbled to a stop in front of it, sides heaving. I was still on pack land — I could feel the borders pulling like a thread tied to something inside me.
I collapsed at the edge and drank straight from it, tongue desperate. Decided that wasn't enough and just... slid in. The water was cool and I let it close around me, trying to soothe whatever my muscles were doing.
Shifting had been horrible. The idea of shifting back terrified me. Every part of me hurt and the distance I'd apparently sprinted on instinct had made it worse.
I floated around a while longer before hauling myself back out. Exhausted to the bone. I shook out my fur and looked down at my reflection.
Stared.
My wolf stared back. Enormous head. Green eyes, same as mine.
Pure black.
Every single strand of fur on me — black.
I felt something cold settle in my chest that had nothing to do with the water.
Only high-ranking wolves came out pure black. Even Steven — deep brown, not black. But me? All of it. Every bit.
Where had I come from?
Why had I shifted so late?
And why did Phoenix have anything to do with it?
We'll find the answers. I can feel it, Nova.
I hoped so.
I let out a sigh — a very wolf-shaped sigh — and rested my head on my paws. Let my mind go quiet. Listened to the birds, the tiny scurrying things moving through the underbrush. It was calm. Actually calm.
The new senses had been chaos at first. Now I felt like they were mine. The tail was still weird, but I'd get there.
A breath. Snapping twigs. My ear swiveled before I'd made the choice.
Paws on earth, getting closer.
I rose slow into a crouch, hackles up, a low rumble climbing out of my throat.
Then he stepped into the clearing.
Black wolf. Big — a couple of heads taller than me. My wolf surged forward before I could think, dropping the aggressive stance, pulling us toward him like a magnet. I didn't fight her. I let her lead.
The closer we got the more she buzzed with it — this giddy, electric thing. My tail was moving. Actually wagging. I felt it and couldn't make it stop. She tipped our nose up and flattened our ears as we reached him, muzzle to muzzle. He smelled even better as a wolf. Which was genuinely unfair.
I licked under his snout. He rumbled, low, watching me the whole time. Then he pressed his jaw down the side of my neck, slow, before stepping back.
I watched him. He jerked his head toward where he'd come from.
I huffed.
Then nodded and fell into step behind him.
The closer we got to the training grounds, the more I dragged. Whatever energy seeing him had loaned me was long gone. I felt like I hadn't slept in three days. He glanced back when I slowed to a shuffle, paws barely clearing the ground.
Before I could register what was happening, he'd shifted back. I snapped my eyes away fast.
"Come on. You can't rest here."
I huffed. Kept shuffling. I really, really wanted to lie down right here.
He growled and suddenly jogged away from me, which made me stop entirely and tip my head. What—
He was back in seconds. A t-shirt landed on my nose.
I looked up.
He stood in nothing but cotton shorts, arms folded, watching me with something between patience and amusement.
"Change. And I'll carry you."