Aurora's POV
The second I heard them say, "We move at dawn," something broke inside me. I glanced at the window and saw I had under ten minutes before the sun peeked above the hills.
I didn't have the luxury of waiting. Not when Kael had her life on a thread. I hit the ground with a sense of purpose I didn't even know I had and I ran. There was no time to think. No time to plan. I had to get to him.
The universe was funny like that, always sending human legs in my way and causing me to miss Kael by a hair.
What in the blazing hell…?!
I didn't close my eyes though, I watched his figure through the window in the door and then he stood up to leave. I got distracted and, when I turned back, there was no sign of him.
Oh crap!
I kept searching for him. It was just before dawn and I knew the poison had been put in his food.
Finally, I found his scent. It took me to the hallway and then outside.
The chill of the morning air nipped at my whiskers as I slipped through the glass doors, heading for the courtyard.
Kael was seated at the head of a long wooden table, surrounded by his pack members. The morning sun soaked the scene in gold, but the warmth did nothing to lessen the thump in my chest.
Then, I saw it. The maid set down the white plate in front of him. The damn food.
"No!" I yelled, but it came out as a mere meow.
I ran straight for him, racing around a guard who attempted to step in my path.
"Get the cat!" someone shouted behind me.
"Don't ever let it near the Alpha's table!"
My claws scraped the stone as I launched myself onto the table, landing directly in front of Kael's plate. He blinked, startled.
"Aurora?" he mused, arching an eyebrow. "What are you doing…?"
I didn't wait. With a single movement, I wiped the whole plate off the table.
The sound of the broken ceramic caught everyone's ears. Everyone turned their heads.
His men chewing their food froze mid-bite. Kael's hand floated above his glass cup, and he dropped his fork.
A dense silence strangled the air.
"What in the goddess' name…?" one of the men started.
"She's gone rabid!" someone else said.
"It's a damn cat! Take it off!" another yelled.
Kael rose slowly, his face unreadable as he looked down at me. I crouched low, my ears flat.
Please. Please see it.
I begged silently. My heart thudded into my rib cage.
"She's never behaved like that before," Kael said quietly.
A few men snorted.
"She's a cat, Alpha."
"She must have caught a glimpse of herself —"
Kael raised a hand. Everyone shut up instantly.
He looked at me, squinting his eyes. "Aurora," he whispered, his palm extended. "What is it?"
I moved forward with a step, and then thrust my head toward the broken plate, then back at him.
He followed my gaze.
"Is that it? The food?" he said, as I extended my paw.
I meowed, high and shrill, then sat upright, coiling my tail in a tight ball.
"It's nonsense, Alpha," Liam said quickly as he rose. "It's just food…"
Kael's voice descended an octave. "Is caring about my life nonsense, Liam?"
The Beta froze.
"Elara," Kael barked.
"Yes, Alpha," she answered.
"Get Dr. Hollen. Keep him to take the test of the food. All of it. Specifically my plate," Kael ordered
"Yes, Alpha." She hurried and was gone in a flash.
Kael glanced at the table. "Nobody touches another bite."
"But…" someone argued.
"I said nobody touches anything!" Kael said in a low voice.
Chairs scraped back as the men complied, some talking in hushed tones with one another. There were eyes on me, sharp and assessing, but Kael could not look away from me.
He leaned forward and scooped me into his arms. I didn't resist. I buried my face against his chest, inhaling the scent that finally felt like it was bringing me back to earth, the scent that I now knew I would be unable to let go.
He faced the table and walked away from it.
"Training's off," he said over his shoulder.
Once we were through the door, he ushered me into his private study and closed the door behind us with a soft click.
"What's going on with you?" he said softly, petting me between the ears. "You've never done something like that."
I wiggled a little in the cradle of his arms, bumping my head against his chest.
Trust me. Just trust me, Kael. Nothing is going to happen to you. I'm going back to being a human, and you're my ticket.
He sat in his chair and gazed through the large window at the forest beneath.
"I keep dreaming of someone," he whispered. "A woman. She has your eyes."
My entire body went still.
"She calls my name. Her voice...it lingers when I am awake."
I looked up.
"I think I'm losing my mind."
You're not.
But I couldn't say that. Not like this.
"I can't believe I am talking to a cat," he said, smiling.
As the sun rose higher in the sky I started to feel it again — the pull. The heat slithered under my fur. My skin stung, my bones elongated and an undetectable wave coursed through my body.
Not now. What's going on? What's wrong with me? Oh no, I feel strange. Please, no. Not in front of him.
I jumped off his lap and ran to the window, attempting to duck behind the long curtain.
But Kael had already stood.
"Aurora?" he called softly.
A soft growl rumbled in my throat as the pain lanced through me. My claws scrambled on the floor, my vision doubling. The shift was coming. My body was betraying me.
The full moon hadn't even come up. And it hadn't even been three months yet.
"Aurora!" Kael took a step toward me.
"Don't," I was able to whisper, although my voice was static, broken and low. Still feline, but cursed.
But he heard something.
His eyes burned wider, flashing silver, then glowing red.
I dropped to the floor, my breath catching in my throat as fur melted into skin, paws transforming to fingers. It wasn't a full shift. Not completely. Only enough to shatter the perception.
My long hair cascaded over my shoulders, my naked body curling in on itself, seeking to disappear.
Kael stood frozen.
"What the…" he breathed.
I dared to look up.
For an instant, our eyes met. His wolf, his spirit waited behind him. It grew, glowing dark shadows giving way to gold eyes going red. It turned its head at me, then blinked slowly.
I was scared. Was he going to kill me?
Kael blinked too. He looked confused. Torn between fear and disbelief.
"I'm not imagining this," he said quietly. "Am I?"
I wanted to answer. But the switch jolted me back, wrestling fur over my skin again.
I cried out, the transformation resetting, me now sprawled on the ground a cat again.
Kael stepped back. "What the fuck just happened?"
"You...you're not a cat. You…" His voice cracked.
I meowed weakly, exhausted.
"What exactly are you?" he whispered.
I'm the one trying to save your life was all I wanted to say.
But all I could do was stare.
He ran a hand through his hair, facing the window, jaw clenched.
There was silence for a long moment.
He turned back to me at last, his face a stone.
"I need air," he said.
He unlocked the door and walked out.
Leaving me behind.
Wondering if I had lost everything before it even began.