The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 82

The first shift–2

I only knew that something carried me forward, out of the room, through air and scent and sound. There were hands near me once, not holding, guiding. There was Caius’s voice, not close enough and then close again. There was cold air, sudden and clean, striking through heat like a blade through rope.

Then the world returned.

I was outside.

The ground was beneath all four of my feet.

For a moment I didn’t understand what feet meant. They weren’t feet. Paws pressed into cold earth, claws digging slightly into frozen ground. My breath came out in harsh bursts, white in the air.

I lifted my head.

The pack house stood behind Caius.

He was crouched in front of me with both hands raised, palms open, not touching me. His coat was gone, or maybe I’d torn it, I didn’t know. His hair was disordered and his face was unlike anything I’d ever seen on him before. Not fear. Not control. Something raw and fierce and careful all at once.

He looked at me like I was a miracle and a wound.

“Isla,” he said.

I knew that name.

It came to me from far away and landed slowly.

Isla.

Me.

I blinked, and the motion felt strange because my eyes were different. The world was brighter in shape, deeper in scent, wider in sound. Caius remained crouched in front of me, hands still raised, body angled low enough not to challenge.

1 took one step back.

୮

My body moved wrong and right at the same time. Four legs. Weight placed differently. Power sat under every motion like a thing waiting to be used. I startled at my own movement and a growl rose out of me before I could stop it.

Caius didn’t move.

“You’re alright,” he said. “You shifted.”

Shifted.

The word reached me and opened something else.

I looked down.

The best stat

Claren

Palc fur covered my legs. Not white exactly Not grey either. Something between moonlight and ash, with darker marks near my paws where the old chain had been. I stared at those marks and the growl died in my throat.

But the chain was gone.

I lifted one paw and set it down again.

The ground answered me.

I was standing without it.

Caius’s expression changed when I looked back at him. His eyes moved over me once, not hungry for spectacle, not curious in a way that took from me. He looked like he was checking that I was whole. Then his gaze came back to mine and stayed there.

“You’re safe,” he said.

I wanted to answer.

My mouth opened and only a rough breath came out. The sound unsettled me. I backed up another step and my rear legs nearly tangled because I didn’t yet know how to be this body.

Panic rose fast, but beneath it something else rose faster.

Instinct.

It told me where my feet were. It told me where Caius was. It told me the door behind him held many wolves, many eyes, many scents of fear and guilt, but none of them were moving toward me. It told me the cold air was good.

Caius stayed where he was.

Then he lowered one hand slightly and stopped, letting me see every movement before it happened. “I’m not coming closer unless you want me to,” he said. His voice was lower than usual, but not the way people spoke around danger. He spoke like every word mattered because I might need to hold one of them.

I stepped toward him.

Only one step.

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