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I shrug, feeling a little smug about the awe in his voice. I cannot mind-talk with them, so that is the best I can do.
* * *
“Tomorrow,” Jacob says as he casually joins me on the edge of the clearing beneath the trees later that day.
I nod, feeling a rush that the moment is finally here.
Tonight, I will leave Jasmine with Bron for protection and seek out the wolf shifters who live in this region.
* * *
Jasmine clings to me when I tell her I must go. We are close to shifter lands, and I will need to run hard and fast if I’m to make it to their territory and back again before morning breaks.
To get there, I must yield power to my beast for the night. I’m nervous about it but also exhilarated, even though this is dangerous and there are risks.
It is strange to have another half to yourself that is part of you and yet distinct. I worry that we are not well integrated, and this is a dangerous time to test this new skill. My beast grumbles under the surface of my skin that my worries are foolish.
“Bron will stay on guard while I am away,”I say to Jasmine.
“Does he, ah, know?” her words are tentative as she glances between me and Bron.
“Jacob spoke to him. The alpha is determined, courageous, and perhaps foolhardy, but he also has a good sense of people and orcs. Bron has had my back many times. I trust him. He understands and is prepared for the risks.”
Bron, who pretends to stare at the trees to give us some privacy, suddenly swings his head to face me, making a mockery of his pretense.
“Are you talking?” He looks between us.
Jasmine bites her lip to hide her smile and glances up at me.
“You can tell him.”
“Since we are, ah, mated” —it is dusk and the light poor, but I can still see her pretty blush— “We can speak to one another with our minds. Perhaps part of Doug being a shifter.”
Bron’s eyebrows rise. “What does he sound like then?”
Jasmine chuckles. “Like a big grumbly orc.”
Bron huffs a laugh.
“It is time,”I say.
Jasmine nods. “Will you? Will you change into a beast here?”
“I will move further away from the camp, just in case I am seen.”
Her eyes search mine. She’s curious about that side of me. I’m not quite ready for her to see him, even though she has been in his presence twice. Will she fear that side of me?
My beast rumbles that she will like him, might even favor him.
“Does he want to meet me too?” she asks, tentative as if he would not love her equal to me.
“My beast loves you.”I don’t point out that he is a presumptuous bastard with delusions that she will favor him.
A beautiful smile breaks out across her lips. “You have both saved me twice. I already know I shall love that side of you, too.”
Emotions stir inside me, strong and compelling. I love this woman with all my heart. I will make this work tonight. I’ll convince the fucking wolves that we can be allies. I will make them fucking understand. It is not only my life and Jasmine’s but those of many others who are relying onus. The beta shifters are former hunters who will be nothing but expendable soldiers and die swiftly against a well-honed pack of alphas and betas who are warriors at the core. Jacob has driven trained warring skills into them, but there is only so much that can be done in the short time they have had. If they die, their human mates and children will be left alone as bondservants to orcs.
I press my forehead to hers. How swiftly and surely my perspective has changed. Once, humans were nothing but a nuisance that I would thump occasionally to keep in line. Now, I am part of a plan to save them.
