The word still rings through her skull like thunder.
Mate.
Her wolf doesn't whisper it. She screams it. She howls it. The force of the recognition is so absolute, and so bone-deep that Heidi's body betrays her instantly. Heat floods her veins. Not just adrenaline or just the rush of shifting. No… this is something else, something scorching and unbearable, clawing at her insides.
Her wolf makes her pace madly with want, tail lashing, and teeth gnashing. "This wolf is ours, girl. He's ours!"
And Heidi… she feels it too. Goddess help her, she feels it.
Her body burns as though the moon itself has set her aflame. Her fur prickles, her muscles convulse, and slowly—too slowly… her wolf begins to retreat. Her bones snap again in a cruel and merciless way as it reshapes. Her claws shrink, her fangs recede, fur withdrawing into skin. The world tilts as she staggers backward, curling in on herself as the white brilliance of her wolf melts away.
