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In theory,shifting should be as easy as breathing; it was an inherent part of being a shifter. But she’d seen Draven shift, and nothing about it seemed easy. It looked downright painful.
Flora inhaled a shaky breath, her wolf whining on the exhale. She crossed her arms over her chest, and crossed her legs, completely uncomfortable with standing in the middle of the clearing with nothing but the moonlight on her flesh. It was one thing to be naked in the wild with Draven, because she was usually under the spell of those sex lines against his abs, leading to the part of him that promised to leave her breathless from screaming his name. It was another thing completely to be standing under his heated stare while she tried to let go enough to shift.
“My eyes are up here, Draven.”
A smirk painted his lips. “I know damn well where they are, but you can’t expect me not to look at my mate when she’s standing naked in front of me looking so damn fuckable.”
Heat flooded her cheeks, and her tummy dipped. She hoped she never got used to his dirty mouth, but she also needed him to control it along with the tent in his furs, because if she didn’t let go and shift soon, she didn’t know what would happen to her and her wolf.
Flora rolled her eyes, knowing how much it annoyed him.“You can’t talk like that and expect me to relax enough to allow my bones to crack and sprout fur.”
Draven strode across the clearing until he stood in front of her. He tugged her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Flora’s fangs pushed through her gums as she inhaled his scent and allowed it to wash over her. The damn things were out of control, thinking it was meal time the moment she got near him, which made doing anything impossible. She ran her tongue over the points as she nuzzled into him, accepting the warmth of his embrace.
“Bubbles,” his playful term of endearment sent a shiver down her spine. “We’ve been at this for thirty minutes. You need to shift.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to shift. She’d been giving it her best, but it was as if there was a mental block stopping her, and she wasn’t sure if it was the fear lingering in her mind from her human way of thinking, or something completely out of her control.
Flora exhaled against his chest. “I know. I just—I’m scared. She’s scared and pacing in my chest, and I don’t know how to do this. Even without the moonstone, you’ve been doing this each month for years. How am I supposed to let go and give in when all I have ever known is holding on to what I have for dear life?”
Draven let out a string of curses and shook his head. “The fucking stone. I forgot. Hold on. I think I know what the problem is.”
He turned and padded back to the cabin, leaving her standing there in nothing but the light of the moon above. She looked up at the round orb in the sky and wondered if it was the same moon as back in the mortal realm. It looked the same, with the same craterous features on its surface, but somehow it felt closer there. Whereas the moon back home only gave them light at night, in this realm, it was as if the moon were tethered to the very fabric of reality. Flora hadn’t noticed it before, but now that she was a hybrid, she felt it. It called to her.
When Draven returned, he had a small pouch and her necklace with her half of the moonstone still wrapped in his old shirt. He stretched out his hand, offering it to her. “Rieka left a note with her half of the moonstone. You need to put them back together before you shift.”
“You don’t think you should have told me this sooner?”
“I’m sorry, I was a bit busy saving your life and then trying to make sure you didn’t starve or kill your wolf,” Draven snapped, catching Flora off guard.
Her wolf gave a weak growl in her chest, and Flora was inclined to agree. He didn’t get to speak to them that way.
“Oh. Well—” She started to lay into him about how she couldn’t be the only thing he thought about anymore, but the absolute look of despair that plagued his features when he spoke about having to save her made her think twice.
Flora let out a tired sigh. She couldn’t pretend she’d do things any differently. They might be Rieka’s heirs intended, but they were mates first. And it wasn’t fair for her to twist her frustrations and take them out on him.
“I’m sorry. I know it must not have been easy on you. You didn’t even want me to be like you.”
Draven shook his head and wrapped his hands around hers, holding the pouch with the stone. “It wasn’t because I didn’t want to turn you, Flora. Believe me, there were plenty of times over the last month I wanted nothing more than to ensure you would remain at my side forever. It’s just, there is so much about this life I would rather protect you from. I know I can’t. You are exactly as you are meant to be, a hybrid and my mate.”
Flora smiled up at him. She didn’t deserve the man in front of her, but she’d selfishly keep him as long as he’d have her.
She carefully unwrapped the crescent half she’d worn and slid its gibbous counterpart from its pouch and into her hand. The second piece was a smooth white stone that matched the smaller stones on her silver half. Their edges mirrored one another. Two pieces to one whole stone. A stone that would right the curse placed on Draven’s people. Her people.
Both pieces warmed in her palms, but didn’t burn as she’d expected them to. As a wolf, she shouldn’t be able to touch them, but if she had to guess, this was the reason she couldn’t shift yet. Rieka had said she was the key, and this would be exactly the kind of shady contingency the Goddess would put in place.
Draven circled Flora and stood so his chest was pressed to her back. He traced his fingers down her forearms and cupped her hands from underneath. “Save our people,” he whispered in her ear.
Flora smiled and took the two halves of the stone between her fingers and gently pressed them together. The instant they touched, heat flared from the core of the stone and the clearing around them was bathed in a beam of light identical to the one that showed them the way to Rieka’s cave.
Draven spun her in his arms and wrapped them tightly around her. Forever her protector, he shielded her from the light and even though she clenched her eyes shut and buried her face in his chest, somehow she knew this light would do them no harm. It was more than a feeling in her chest, it was a promise from the Goddess who loved to meddle in their lives. Her wolf howled within her, and she could almost hear the echo of Draven’s wolf answering her call.
They were free.
When she pulled back from Draven, Flora surveyed the clearing to see if her suspicions that the moonstone was the key to leaving were correct.
No longer did a thick line of trees border the clearing where they’d appeared in the realm all those weeks ago. Instead a weathered path had formed in its place. It led to the mountains that surrounded the realm’s valley, and Flora would bet money at its end was the cave they’d walked through to get there.
“Can you feel that?” Awe laced Draven’s tone. “I can feel the pull of the other wolves. Of my own. It’s over. The curse is broken. You saved our wolves, Flora.”
