My wolf wines and I push us into a sitting position, my claws digging into the carpet.
“What—?” Her eyes are wide like saucers and she takes an involuntary step back.
“I’ve got it from here,” Josué says as he stands just inside my room.
His dark brown eyes soften and he takes a step toward me. I lock up with that one small movement. He stops and turns to Natalia, a question in his gaze.
“She has a hard time with men right now.”
He nods. Taking a step back, he leans against the wall before sliding down to the floor and folding his hands in his lap. “Hey,” he tries again.
I paw at the floor before putting a few more inches between us. Another whine works its way up my throat.
Natalia hovers in the doorway and I can smell her fear as she sees my wolf for the first time. It makes my hackles rise.
“Do you want me to stay?” she asks Josué.
I growl and she blanches.
“No. We’re good. Thanks.”
She nods and turns to leave, closing the door behind her.
Josué and I stare at one another for several seconds, our eyes not quit meeting in challenge but getting close. “Can you shift?”
That one question has my lips curling into a snarl. I’m weak in my human skin. All but defenseless. I don’t want to shift. I don’t want to be weak again.
“Fuck, Isa.” Josué hangs his head, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. “I…” He looks at me, his eyes stark and raw with pain. “I don’t want to do this. Shift on your own. Please. Don’t make me force the change.”
I growl, bearing my teeth at him.
He shakes his head, resignation stamped across his face. “Forgive me.” Lifting his eyes to mine, he catches my gaze and silently issues a challenge. My wolf rises to meet it and our eyes bore into one another. A red sheen rolls over his gaze, his beast front and center, and my heart seizes in my chest when I spot the color so similar to the vampire’s crimson gaze.
My body shakes.
Josué’s expression darkens, his lips peeling back to expose his teeth. “Shift,” he grits out. His dominance wraps around me. It presses on my wolf, ordering her to obey. I try and fight it, but in the end I can’t. I’m not strong enough.
Bones snapped and fur recedes as my body changes back to my human skin, leaving me drenched in sweat and panting, naked on the floor.
Tremors wrack my body as I struggle to settle back into my body after being a wolf for several days.
“Isa.Fuck.Are you okay?”
I choke on a breath. “She told you?”
He nods. “I tried calling you a few times but your phone kept going to voicemail.” It must have died. It’s not like I bothered making sure to keep it charged. “Then this chick calls me out of nowhere asking if I’d be willing to come here for a few days. See if I can help.” He shrugs. “Isa, when she told me what happened to you. What you went through…”
My eyes sting and shame blossoms in my chest. Pressing my lips into a tight line I push my shaking limbs into motion, sitting up before dragging the comforter from my bed and wrapping it around myself. Josué’s seen my naked body more times than I can count. Hazard of being a shapeshifter. So, it’s not the fact that I’m naked making me want to curl in on myself, it’s the fear and shame coursing through me. Telling me that I’m weak. Dirty. Useless.
“Hey.”
I don’t look up.
“Hey!”
I shake my head. I don’t want to see the pity or disgust I know must be in his gaze. If Josué looks at me differently…I can’t handle this anymore.
“Isa. Babe. I love you. You are my best friend. Let me be here for you.”
