Page 56 of The Reluctant Alpha

I watched in horror as Phoenix knelt beside Kaylan, placing his hands on the mountain lion's chest. The tension in the room was palpable as Phoenix closed his eyes, his expression one of intense concentration.

"I accept you into my pack, Kaylan of the Sierra Pride," Phoenix intoned, his voice deeper than I'd ever heard it. "Your blood is my blood, your fight is my fight, your life is under my protection. I command you to shift."

The air seemed to thicken, a visible shimmer passing between Phoenix's hands and Kaylan's body. I felt it like a physical pressure against my skin, and beside me, Bayer stiffened.

For a terrifying moment, nothing happened. Then Kaylan's body convulsed, his back arching off the table as bones began to shift and crack beneath his skin. The transformation was violent, nothing like the smooth shifts I'd seen from Bayer or the other wolves. This was forced, painful to witness.

"Hold him!" Esther commanded, and Gavin and Leila moved to secure Kaylan's thrashing limbs.

Fur sprouted across his body – tawny gold rather than wolf gray – but the form was unmistakably feline. Where a man had lain moments before, a massive mountain lion now fought for breath, its sides heaving with effort.

"It worked," Bayer breathed, relief evident in his voice.

Esther worked quickly, applying pressure to the wounds that were still bleeding, though less severely now. "The shift should have completely healed him, but these aren't ordinary wounds. There's something...wrong about them."

"The revenant," Bayer growled, his voice low and dangerous. "These look like silver-skin bites, but corrupted."

I moved closer, needing to help if I could. "Will he be okay?"

Esther sent me a worried glance. "I’ve never seen wounds that resist healing like this. It's as if something in the saliva is preventing the natural process."

She dug around in her bag and withdrew a small pot. "This salve should boost his natural healing enough to overcome whatever's in these wounds."

As she started to smear it on, Phoenix turned to Bayer. "We need to know what happened. How he encountered the revenant. Where?"

Bayer nodded, his face grim. "Can we shift him back?"

"Not yet," Esther warned. "He needs all his strength for healing."

The mountain lion's breathing had steadied somewhat, though the wounds on his chest still looked angry and raw. I found myself moving to stand beside him, driven by an instinct I couldn't name. Without thinking, I placed my hand on his head, stroking the soft fur between his ears.

"You'll be okay," I murmured, not sure if he could hear me. "Just hang in there."

Bayer appeared at my side, his hand on my shoulder. "That's good," he said softly. "The touch of pack helps."

I opened my mouth to refute that as I normally did, but closed it quickly because…well, I couldn’t. I was pack and found the thought didn’t shower me in panic like it had before. In fact, I liked it.

I continued stroking Kaylan's fur, finding comfort in the rhythmic motion. Gradually, his breathing deepened, and the bleeding finally stopped. Finally, Kaylan opened his eyes. “Hey buddy,” Phoenix choked out. “I told you when you were twelve that if you ever scared me like that again, I’d make sure your chances of mating were over.”

I widened my eyes, but I heard the chuckle from Bayer and remembered that these three had been friends since they were small. Kaylan shimmered, and in an instant, he was back to human, and he groaned as Bayer helped him sit up. I averted my eyes as I still wasn’t used to the casual nakedness shifters displayed, not that I couldn’t appreciate all that golden skin, and—

We all heard the soft growl that left Bayer’s lips, and I glanced back only to see everyone staring at me. What? They were all mind-readers now? “What?” I challenged defiantly.

Esther rolled her eyes. “Your scent changed.”

I stared at her and was very tempted to sniff at my pits, but I refrained.

"My scent?" I whispered, suddenly self-conscious. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Kaylan rasped with a weak smile as someone draped a blanket over his lap, "that Bayer here is feeling possessive."

I felt heat flood my cheeks. "I wasn't—I didn't—"

"Don't worry about it," Kaylan assured me, wincing as he shifted position. "I'd be flattered if I wasn't in so much pain."

"What happened?" Phoenix asked, his voice gentle but insistent as he handed Kaylan a bottle of water.

“I was coming back from Minton, on my way here, and I was attacked mid-shift.”