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“So, is she dead?” Madison asked with a grimace.
“No. I thought you might like a word with her first.”
“Oh, yes, please,” Madison replied, baring her teeth.
NINETEEN
MADISON
“I want to shift again,” Madison said when they got out of the office. “It’s so amazing. I thought I knew what I was missing. I was always so envious of everyone with the ability to shift. But I didn’t realize quite how amazing it really was until now.”
Fletcher laughed. “I’m not going to be able to keep you in human form at all now, am I?”
“Possibly not,” she replied. “Maybe to shower now and then and go to bed. I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.”
“Come on, then. Chuck your clothes by the door. I’ll come back for them or get someone to pick them up later.”
“I need to start wearing my own brand of clothing now, don’t I?” Madison said, shrugging out of her pants and folding everything up neatly.
But Fletcher didn’t reply as he had already shifted. He was wearing her magical material and didn’t have to worry about getting undressed.
The run around the palace lawn was wonderful. Her senses felt alive for the first time ever. She could smell everything that had passed that way from days ago. Even the earth beneath her paws smelled incredible when she tore it up with her claws as she ran. She felt a little overwhelmed by the sensory overload. She could hear everything, even the creatures that lived beneath the soil.
But despite the physical world being that much more complex, everything seemed much simpler. The worries and stresses of living day to day as a human evaporated. Not only was her vision in black and white, but her mental processing was also in black and white. Her wolf instinctively knew what to do.
And the power! She felt like she could run all day.
She lengthened her stride as she approached the palace again, a familiar smell pulling her forward. It was a smell she knew as well as her own but subtly different than usual.
Suddenly, another wolf leapt out and bore her to the ground. It was Addison, also in wolf form! Her sister tackled her, fake growling, her teeth gentle on Madison's throat as they rolled together to play fight.
Addison had also shifted. It was a miracle. Addison’s theory that she couldn’t shift until Madison could, as they were twins, may have been correct after all.
She threw her twin wolf sister off and then shook her fur out. There were more familiar smells assailing her sensitive nostrils. Standing in front of the palace, cheering with excitement, were the rest of her sisters, along with all their mates.
Without even realizing she was doing it, Madison howled a greeting. Both Addison and Fletcher sat on their haunches and howled also. A moment later, everyone was howling, even the ones still in human form.
The three wolves ran to the rest of the family. Because Fletcher was wearing his shifter clothes, he was able to shift back into human form to greet everyone. But Madison and Addison remained as wolves and were thoroughly stroked and patted by the entire family.
After a while, she and Addy broke free of the bunch and headed up to Madison's room to shift and dress. They ran helter-skelter through the palace like a couple of pups, nearly taking out a couple of servants who were preparing the main hall for a family party that evening.
Once in Madison’s room, they shifted, laughing delightedly at the transition.
“It’s so good to see you,” Madison said.
“I couldn’t stay away. I felt the wolf inside me wake up and knew you were bonded, and then I heard you’d been injured,” Addison said, looking her sister over for scars and bruises. “Damn, I thought people would be able to tell us apart now,” she added, smiling at not seeing any wounds on Maddy.
“That would certainly have taken some fun out of our lives,” Madison replied as she opened the closet. “My wardrobe is your wardrobe,” she said.
“Hey, it literally is,” retorted Addison as she sifted through Maddy’s clothes. “Half the dresses in here are mine.”
Madison laughed. “You always had too many clothes anyway. I bet you didn’t even notice them missing.”
“That’s not the point,” Addison said in mock severity, her hands on her hips. “That’s the trouble with having a twin. Nothing is sacred.”
“Well, I am the eldest, so that really means I should get first dibs on everything.” It felt good to banter with her sister. She’d missed it. Life had gotten too serious recently. “I’m pleased to see you waited for me like a good little sister before you started to shift.”
“Yeah, what’s with that? I thought after I mated with Tyler, I would be able to shift like the others. I was hoping we’d shift together since we are twins. I didn’t want to think the ability had completely skipped me. I guess we’re still in tune with each other even though we’re mated to other people.”
