KIERAN’S POV
The moment Sera’s hand closed around mine, my heart stuttered so hard it hurt.
Not because of the danger—we were long past that—but because I knew.
I knew exactly what was happening to her body, to her blood, to the ancient, primal machinery awakening under her skin as bone and muscle and instinct tried to adjust to something they’d never experienced before.
I was an Alpha. I had guided countless young wolves through their first Shift. I had stood steady through screams, broken bones, bloodied hands clutching at me in terror.
And yet I had never been this afraid.
“It hurts,” she gasped, her fingernails digging moon-shaped crescents into my skin. “Kieran…it hurts. I think…it’s starting—”
“I know,” I said softly, keeping my voice low and anchored. “I know. Breathe with me.”
She tried. Failed. Tried again.
