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I shook my head. “No, I’m not feeling so well.”

“
You’ll be all right; it’ll go away shortly. Trust me, Tessa, come outside,” he whispered into the night, his gaze shifting toward the full moon.

Even though my legs were trembling beneath me, I still managed to climb out my window without falling on my face thanks to Jace. The cool night air gently swept across my skin, cooling my itch upon contact. Jace took my hand in his and slowly we began walking away from my house and out into my darkened backyard.

I took in a few deep, measured breaths while we walked and didn’t glance over my shoulder once to see if my mother was watching for me. I didn’t care if she saw me; it was the least of my problems at the moment.

The beautiful full moon caught my attention as we neared the edge of my yard, and I stared at it, mesmerized. My pulse quickened. I could feel it pulsating in my fingertips and wondered if it was as loud to Jace’s ears as it was to mine.

“
Let’s go back a little farther tonight,” Jace insisted.

I nodded, grateful for the first time in my life that my parents and I lived on three acres of land. Stepping over twigs and weaving through branches, we made our way farther into the wooded lot. I found it extremely easy to see where I was going. My eyesight had grown amazingly clear.

When Jace finally came to a stop, I shifted my gaze to his face and marveled in the look of childlike excitement etched into his features. I wished I could feel even a tiny portion of that right now. Instead, all I felt was a crippling fear eating away at me.

“
You’re shaking. You okay?” Jace asked, gripping both of my clammy hands in his and looking directly in my eyes.

A tiny hysterical giggle escaped me. “No, I’m not okay. I’m scared to death right now. I’m so freaking scared that this is going to hurt just as badly as being bitten did.”

His face softened, his excitement washing away at my words to become replaced by an intense look of guilt. “It won’t, not if you don’t fight it. You’ll be all right. I promise. I’ll be here with you the whole time.”

My lips formed into a hesitant smile as I looked deeply into his eyes. The smile was more for show than anything.
Don’t fight it?
How did you not fight something like this?

CHAPTER SIX

Jace returned my hesitant smile with the crooked grin of his own. Raising his shirt above his head, he slipped it off, revealing his bare chest. I watched in silent shock as he folded the shirt perfectly before placing it on a pile of nearby leaves. His fingers then reached for the button of his jeans and unclasped them, the sound of his zipper coming undone echoed loudly in my ears.

“
Whoa! What are you doing?” I asked, feeling pleasantly surprised at the sight of him undressing in front of me, but entirely confused and embarrassed by it.

Jace raised an eyebrow in mild amusement as the corners of his mouth twisted into a slight smirk. “Preparing for the change,” he answered smoothly, his tone insinuating this was something I should know.

“
Oh, right,” I fumbled, my eyes darting toward the ground.

“
You should, too. You don’t want to rip those clothes. It can get a little expensive if you don’t take the time to undress first. Not to mention, early in the morning when you head back home, it’s not quite as strange for your neighbors to see you emerging from the woods fully clothed instead of naked,” Jace said, his irresistible little smirk still lingering on his face.

I swallowed hard. “So you want me to undress… here… in front of you?”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I hadn’t given much thought to undressing in front of Jace yet, not even while preparing for the change. I lifted my eyes, meaning to meet his stare, but I didn’t make it past his solid abs.

“
You’re making me nervous staring at me like that,” Jace muttered.

My eyes darted away from him and I shifted on my feet.

“
Would it make you feel more comfortable if I turned around?” he asked.

I picked at my fingernail polish, hesitating before finally answering, “No. I’m going to have to get used to this part anyway, right?” I dropped my gaze to my toes and began to peel off my pink long-John shirt.

“
Yeah,” he answered a little breathy.

I could feel his eyes on me while I slipped out of my gray sweatpants and folded them neatly before placing them on top of my shirt lying on the ground.

“
Now
you’re
staring,” I muttered, a nervous smile tugging at the corners of my lips as I watched his eyes drift up my body.

“
Sorry, I can’t help myself.” With blushing cheeks he cleared his throat and shifted his eyes away from me and out into the surrounding woods.

“
It’s fine,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself tightly.

Jace let his pants fall around his ankles, revealing his green plaid boxers. A jolt of shock zapped through me at the sight of him almost completely naked, and I tore my eyes away quickly.

“
If you leave those on you’ll have to throw them in the trash later,” he insisted, pointing to my bra and underwear before slipping out of his boxers and tossing them to the side.

I glanced down at myself. “Right.”

My face flushed through ten shades of red as I unhooked my bra and tossed it onto the pile of my clothes. Without looking up, I slipped off my panties and tossed them aside, too. Now standing completely naked, I fought against the urge to cross my legs and cover my chest.

“
Okay, now I’m going to walk you through this,” Jace suddenly said in a professional tone, making me remember why it was exactly that I was standing naked in the woods. “Do you feel the warmth I told you about before, yet?”

I evaluated my body, wondering if what I felt at the moment was the heat of embarrassment across my skin or the warmth of the coming change Jace had told me about before. My legs didn’t feel nearly as shaky and my skin didn’t itch any longer, but my pulse had sped up.

And then I was sure I felt it.

A surprisingly warm feeling had spread across my skin. It was almost like I’d been wrapped in a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer. It was a strange sensation to notice when you were standing outside in the chilly November air.

“
Yes, I can feel the warmth.” My voice shook as I answered.

“
Good,” Jace said, the childlike excitement returning to his features. “Feel the warmth seep through your skin and mingle within your veins. Enjoy it, because in a moment it’s going to turn into that burning sensation I talked about.”

Fear stalled my heart, causing it to skip a few beats in my chest. All I could think about was how badly I didn’t want this to hurt. I didn’t want to feel any burning
anything
.

“
It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s just a bit uncomfortable,” Jace said, obviously noticing the panic reflected in my eyes.

I flashed him a slight smile as the warmth began to seep through my skin and trickle into my veins. My smile grew as I gave in to the sensation. It was like drinking hot cocoa after coming inside from playing in the snow until your fingers were so cold they hurt—how nice the hot cocoa felt as it trickled down the back of your throat, slowly warming you from the inside out.

But just as Jace had said it wouldn’t, the incredible sensation didn’t last long. The moment my brain began to feel fuzzy and numb with pleasure, a burning sting slowly started to take its place. A gasp escaped me at the first little sting of it.

“
Don’t be scared. I’m right here. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, but you can’t fight it. Please try to relax,” Jace insisted.

The burning sting radiated from where I was bitten and up through my veins, overtaking the feeling of warmth completely. I clinched my teeth together, fear making me forget how to breathe.

“
Breathe, Tessa,” Jace reminded me.

Breathe, relax
, I repeated to myself over and over as I felt the burn reach all the way to my fingertips and the crown of my head. It had consumed me in a matter of seconds.

“
Your muscles are going to become a little tense now as you begin to feel the pressure weighing on your bones and muscles as they start to shift into place,” Jace continued to coach me.

Right on cue every muscle in my body suddenly became tense and stiff. As I felt muscles I didn’t even know were there begin to twitch and tighten, something happened to Jace in front of me. His entire body began to shake and shiver. His skin visibly rippled over his bones, changing his shape entirely. Time seemed to stand still as I watched Jace shift from his human form into the golden wolf from my attack. A swift pang of panic shot through me at the sight of it.

Before I had time to dwell on what I’d just witnessed in front of me, the pressure of the change entered my head, clouding my mind and making it hard for me to think of anything at all. When I felt it was too much I let out a bloodcurdling scream. Midway through, my scream turned into a howl.

Startled, I clamped my mouth shut and forced my eyes to look at my body. My skin had begun to ripple, and I could see my bones shifting beneath. The sight made nausea bubble in the pit of my stomach. I watched as my fingers curled, and my nails became longer and extremely thick as they transformed into the claws of an animal.

And then it was over.

A yelp of astonishment erupted from my throat as I glanced down to take in my new form, amazed. But the sight I saw was nothing like what I had expected. I wasn’t even on all fours like Jace—I was still standing upright.

My hands had been replaced with paws and so had my feet. My legs were no longer straight, but slightly bent at the knees. And I was not completely covered in fur like I’d assumed I would be. Instead, I had irregular-sized patches of blondish fur protruding sporadically in areas across my skin.

I brought my paws up to touch my face and felt that I had a muzzle where my mouth used to be and sharp pointy ears on top of my head. I glanced over my shoulder and realized I’d grown a long, blond, bushy tail. It swayed slightly as I stared at it, and I couldn’t help but think of how odd it felt—like when you lay on your arm for too long and it fell asleep, that awful, weird, dead feeling. You knew it was yours because you could clearly see it attached to you, but at the same time it didn’t feel as though it was.

As I concentrated more on my tail, I watched with wide eyes as it swayed beautifully back and forth. After a few minutes I decided it was the only thing about myself in this form that I liked so far. When I began to think of everything else, my heart started to pound.

I turned toward Jace and let out a whimper—the only sound I could make besides a howl. I felt like a monster. I wanted to scream and shout it at him. I wanted to yell and tell him to not look at me, but the only thing I managed to get out were more tiny whimpers. Feeling embarrassed and utterly disgusted with myself, I covered my face with my paws and turned my back to Jace.

I’m a monster, don’t look at me!
I shouted at him in my mind, desperately wishing he could hear me so that he would understand the meaning behind my gesture.

I heard his footsteps creeping closer behind me and I wished I could run away without having him chase after me.

If you’re a monster, then you’re a beautiful monster.
Jace’s voice echoed in my mind.

Shock rippled through me and I spun to face him.
We can speak? How?

Moving directly in front of me, Jace sat and looked straight into my eyes. He was beautiful, even in this form. His golden fur was fluffy and thick. His amber-colored eyes were familiar and warm, generating the same amount of safety toward me as they were when he was still human.

Easy, with your mind
, he answered.

I stared at him in complete astonishment because nothing on his face had moved as he spoke to me. For the first time I realized just how magical this entire situation actually was.

How else did you think we communicated in this form?
Jace asked, a curious tone etched deep in his words.

I don’t know
, I answered honestly.

You’re really good at this, you know? I can hear you loud and clear.

I chuckled, but to my ears it merely came out as huffs of air.
Well, imagine that. I’m good at being a telepath, but I can’t change fully. I guess I don’t get to have my cake and eat it too, huh?

The golden wolf in front of me began to shake. He grumbled and grunted at the same time as Jace’s wonderful laugh echoed through my mind.

So this is what a wolf looks like when it’s laughing
, I snapped sarcastically and folded my oddly bent arms across my patchy chest. At least the patches were covering me in all the right places. That was one thing that had gone right.

I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh at you, I know. It’s just that your little attitude still manages to shine through in everything you say,
he said, gathering control over himself.
This is the halfway form. It won’t last forever, only for the first full moon because you are a half-breed. On the next full moon you’ll be in your completed form
, he reassured me.

Good to know
, I said, relaxing slightly.
So, you can read my mind? Only in this form though, right?