As if sensing my fear, the wolf’s mouth opened and a long, pink tongue lolled out. His cuteness helped me relax. I wasn’t in danger. I was with Marduk and Danzig. I couldn’t imagine any wild animal attacking them.
As I watched, the wolf dropped into a playful bow, tail wagging. Then the wolf ran off, disappearing into the dark.
“I’ve never seen a wolf do that,” I said.
“That was Miller,” Marduk said.
My mouth dropped open. “What? No! We were just talking to him.”
Even as I said that, another wolf streaked by. Then another one.
“I think that was Manny and Kayla,” Danzig said. Marduk made a sound of agreement. I believed them, but it took mea moment to come to terms with seeing the people I’d been hanging out with only moments ago as wolves.
My introduction to the magical world happened abruptly several months ago. I’d tried to stop some men from kidnapping Mila and ended up being taken with her. To save us, Carter and Gio had gathered a bunch of help, including Danzig. He'd hidden in a bag of ransom money as a tiny snake.
He’d gotten much bigger and used his coils to keep us safe from the bullets and fighting. That was the first time I’d met him and also when he decided I was his mate. It occurred to me that I’d never seen Marduk shifted.
“I want to see Marduk’s snake form,” I blurted and immediately regretted it. Was that an appropriate thing to say? Or had I done the equivalent of “I haven’t seen you naked yet” in a completely unromantic and demanding way.
“That was rude. I’m sorry, I….” My words faded as I faced Marduk and found him tugging his shirt off over his head. “What are you doing?”
Why did my voice sound so high-pitched and squeaky?
“He’s stripping down so he can show you his serpent,” Danzig said.
Marduk handed Danzig his shirt. “My beast is eager to meet you!”
“And I was worried I’d been insulting,” I murmured, watching him pull off his shoes.
“You’ve seen Danzig’s form, but not mine,” he said. “I didn’t want to force myself on you, but it's been hard to wait. I’m honored you’ve finally asked.”
When he pulled off his pants. I caught a glimpse of his long cock that must’ve been tucked down the leg of his pants.
Feeling my face go red, I looked away. I didn’t know what to say or do so I looked at one of the trees, only to see yet another wolf run by. When I heard a strange, soft whooshing sound, Ilooked back. Marduk’s clothes were in a pile on his shoes and next to them was a snake about the size of a large python.
He was green, like his brother’s snake form, but a slightly darker shade with white at the tip of his tail. He was loosely coiled and watching me with unblinking eyes, his forked tongue flicking out.
“He won’t approach you,” Danzig said, standing off to the side as if to give the two of us a little room. “He can also make himself smaller or bigger if you like.”
Keeping my eyes on Marduk, I addressed Danzig. “How big can you guys get?”
“Undetermined,” Danzig said. “One of our distant relatives made himself so large that he was able to put his tail on Norway and his head on England, but he only did that once, and it took him years to recover. Or at least that’s the story Mom told us. The size I was when we first met is as big as we can maintain without it being draining.”
I nodded. “That was pretty big.”
Marduk was still waiting patiently. I took a step toward him, and he dipped his head, as if trying to encourage me to come closer. Another two steps put me within touching distance. He lifted himself up a little, then very slowly nudged my hand, a lot like Hugo asking for pets.
I ran my fingers over his head and down his back. His scales felt incredibly smooth and surprisingly warm.
He did a little shimmy so his head was under my hand again. I petted him a few times, then pulled my hand away. I swore he looked disappointed. Feeling a little guilty, I rested my palm on his head and looked at Danzig.
“What’s it like to be a snake instead of a human?” I asked.
Danzig frowned. “I’m not sure how to answer that. Human is our secondary form. We’re born in our serpent bodies and spend about a century like that before slowly learning to shift.”
I looked back at Marduk. “Can I see you get bigger?”
Marduk bobbed his head, then grew so quickly his shape blurred. I made aneepsound and jumped back, although I didn’t need to since he was careful to move his long body away as he grew so when he was finished, he was stretched around Danzig, me, and several trees.
