Slowly, Macy wrapped her arms around his thick neck, holding him close.He smelled wild and earthy, yet unmistakably Kaelen.His scent was raw and magnetic, one she was already growing accustomed to.
“You’re not cursed,” she whispered, her voice firm against the rumble of his chest.“You’re a Shifter.That’s all.You are not a monster.You are Kaelen.”
Her hands lingered on his shoulders and along his neck, feeling the taut strength beneath the fur.He didn’t flinch or recoil; he simply allowed her touch, steady and solid.She wanted him to return the hug, but wouldn’t force.Disappointment started to creep in, but then his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close.Not tentative, not shy, but strong and protective.
They stayed that way for a moment, the world shrinking until there was only the heat of his body and the steady beat of his heart against hers.When he finally began to pull back, Macy let him, but her gaze stayed fixed on him.
Kaelen’s large, clawed hand lifted, brushing across her cheek with a precision that was almost startling—soft, but undeniably commanding.His golden eyes studied her face with something more than curiosity.She felt the intensity, focus, and a measure of respect in his touch.
“Soft,” he rumbled, his voice deep, gravelly, and unyielding, shaped by fangs and power, but filled with unmistakable awareness of her.
Macy leaned into the touch, her smile steady.Her eyes never left his.
He dropped his hand with the same controlled ease he carried in every movement, then glanced toward the cabin.She could see the edge of restraint, the pull to shift back.
“Go ahead,” she said, then started to step down off the table.Before she could move completely, he reached out, lifting her lightly and setting her firmly on her feet with a strength that left no doubt he could crush her in an instant, but chose not to.
“Thank you,” she said softly, meeting his unflinching gaze.He gave a brief nod, a single acknowledgment of understanding, before turning and striding toward the cabin.
Macy raised a hand to her cheek, feeling the lingering heat of his touch and the memory of his claws brushing against her skin.A smile curved her lips as she settled on the edge of the table, resting her chin on her fists.The woods whispered around her as the morning stirred, the animals greeting the dawn.
She closed her eyes, letting herself exhale.Never in a million years had she imagined a Werewolf would be standing in her cabin, and she hadn’t feared him for a second.Kaelen’s Werewolf wasn’t a monster.It was him...raw, powerful, and undeniably Kaelen.Just as Crow was a part of her, inseparable and true, his Werewolf was a part of him.Each stood fully as themselves, yet together with their Shift, they were stronger and complete in a way that neither could be alone.Kaelen needed his Werewolf just like she needed her Crow.Without them, they would die.
She laughed softly to herself, shaking her head as a tear slipped down her cheek.“Yeah… I’m tired,” she whispered, but her smile faded at the thought of Kaelen dying because he couldn’t live with his Werewolf.What a tragedy that would be.She refused to let that happen.
CHAPTER10
Kaelen braced his hands on the cabin’s worn wooden floor, his breathing rough as the shift tore through him.Bones cracked, muscles contorted, and fur gave way to skin.The change was always brutal, but tonight it was different.Tonight, it didn’t feel like punishment.It felt like freedom.
Macy’s voice still echoed inside his head, steady and certain:You are not a monster.You are Kaelen.
For years, he had lived shackled by that single word...monster.It had been hurled at him as a child, whispered behind his back as an adult, and etched into his bones until he believed it.But she hadn’t flinched.She hadn’t recoiled.Macy had touched him, even held him.Wrapped her arms around the very thing he hated most about himself and called ithim...not monster.
Kaelen sat back on his heels, running a hand over his face.The sting in his throat wasn’t from the shift this time.It was something far more dangerous.Something Macy had given him in a single breath.
Hope.
He dragged on the pair of jeans he’d left folded in the bathroom, the fabric rough against his skin.Once dressed, he strode to the door and swung it open, the cool edge of dawn cooling his hot flesh.
She was there, sitting at the picnic table, elbows braced, with her chin resting on her fists.Her eyes were closed, her lips curved faintly as though she was lost in some dream.The early light kissed her hair, and for a moment, Kaelen just stood in the doorway, drinking her in.She was beautiful not only on the outside, but also on the inside, where it truly mattered.
The beast inside him rumbled with a contentment he had never known, and Kaelen realized with sharp clarity what Macy had done for him tonight.She had accepted his other half and, in doing so, she had given him back a piece of himself he thought was gone forever.
His chest tightened, and his jaw clenched as he stepped down onto the grass, each stride silent but sure.He didn’t want to wake her.He only wanted to be close.To feel that steady calm that only she seemed able to summon from the chaos inside him.
Kaelen eased down onto the bench beside her, the wood creaking under his weight.For a moment, he just sat there, his arm resting on his thigh, watching the way her chin perched on her fists, her lashes brushing against her cheeks as she drifted half-asleep.
Macy stirred, her eyes fluttering open slowly.She blinked once, then a smile touched her lips as she saw him next to her.
“You’re back,” she whispered, her voice soft and drowsy.
He didn’t answer right away.Instead, Kaelen lifted a hand, hesitating only for a breath before letting his knuckles graze her cheek the same way his Werewolf had done.Her skin warmed under his touch.
“You feel the same,” he murmured, his voice rough but steady.“Him.Me.There’s no difference to you, is there?”
Macy leaned into his hand, her smile deepening.“None,” she said simply.“Because there isn’t one.”
For the first time in longer than he could remember, Kaelen let himself believe her—but the need to understand ate at him.“Why?”
