My rat immediately pisses herself.
It’s the second time in one damn day, and it is not awesome.
Lug Nut though? He doesn’t even flinch, bless his heart. He simply plops me down on the bench and wipes his palm on the front of his jeans, getting rid of the little droplets of pee I accidentally left as a present. Nice guy.
I’d probably be more embarrassed about peeing on him if it weren’t for the fact that I’m now standing right in front of the jaguar’s face.
The fangs are a little distracting. His whiskers are as long as my entire body. When he exhales, it’s like being blasted with a hair dryer, and he smells like strength.
And the power wafting off of him? It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It scrapes against my skin like a chisel grating over a chunk of wood, curling my nerves into tight spirals of recoil.
I try to back up a step, but he lets out a low warning growl that stops me in my tracks.
Immediately, my rat responds to his call by going down on her belly and keeping still, totally submitting.
As I stay in that position, his giant paw comes up. Razor sharp claws hover in front of my face, each one sharper than a sword and longer than my tail. He lengenths them, flexing ever so slightly, and then with incredible control, swipes one against the side of my vulnerable neck.
I cry out in distress but keep still, feeling as his tongue comes out and licks the spot he sliced open. I feel a sting, but that’s almost an afterthought, because by licking up my blood, he’s just accepted the role to become my alpha.
I shudder as a crackle of power sinks into me. The alpha sits back on his haunches, his huge, pale eyes locked on me.
I try to stand, but in the next second, I feel my insides begin to quiver. The muscles in my neck jump, and like a ripple, the sensation moves down throughout my entire body until I’m struck stiff, paralyzed and yet shaking uncontrollably.
I suddenly feel the same way I did when my rat chewed through Rick Dick’s phone charger. As soon as my teeth chomped into the wire, electricity shot into me with a jolt, the shock making the hair on my back stand up. This is similar, except ten times stronger.
As my body quakes and my teeth clamp, I can feel my old alpha wound—the one on my belly where Sid marked me—come alive with angry, possessive power. Like two fists raising up to fight each other, alpha dominance wars inside of me.
Hugo said that he would only be able to claim me over my current alpha if his power is stronger. Well, now that I can feel both of them warring beneath my skin, I have no doubt in my mind who’s going to win.
Popcorn kernels of electrified power pop inside of me until I’m nearly exploding full of it, bursting at the seams. There’s a terrible noise coming from my rat’s mouth as I scream, and then one alpha fist crushes the other in a terrific burst of sparkling intensity, and it’s suddenly over.
One alpha won.
When I’m able to blink and regain awareness, my eyes roll over to see that Alpha Hugo has shifted back into his human form, and he’s kneeling right in front of me.
I twist back onto my belly, since I’d fallen onto my side during the whole ordeal, and stand up on shaky feet, my nose twitching as the remnants of magic threaten to make me sneeze.
“Did it work?” I hear Addie’s worried voice ask.
Instead of answering, Alpha Hugo keeps his steady blue eyes on me. And I know. I know what’s going to happen next.
I’m filled with so much worry that my eyes dart around, looking for a place to hide. As if I could possibly run from this.
“Shift.”
The moment his gruff order is issued, I feel it like a snap in my soul, and suddenly, I’m being cleaved in half. It’s like I’m a piece of firewood and someone is taking an axe to me. Hack, hack, hack goes the blade, digging into my grains and splintering me right down the middle.
I try hard to resist, but I feel the shift begin to happen anyway, because I can’t refuse his command. Because he’s my new alpha.
My rat squeals, and that squeal turns into a human scream. My scream.
My bones snap and grow. My nerves light up like a string of lights. Skin stretches, features form, my tail disappears, and slowly, agonizingly, my body changes back into the other half of me.
I’m panting, naked and curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the room, covered in sweat by the time the shift is over. Everything is...strange.
My eyesight is brighter, the curves of my eyes different from my rat’s, making my perception off-kilter. Murmurs sound around me, and there are scents of varying emotions that I can’t pick out. My body feels heavy and lanky, too spindly to be able to move swiftly. My long brown hair is half covering my slick face, sticking to my forehead and hooking onto my eyelashes.
Through the strands, I look up with watery eyes and see Alpha Hugo still kneeling in front of me. “Alright, kid?” he asks quietly.
I look away, unable to answer him. My throat works over an awkward swallow, my tongue feeling too thick in my mouth to speak. God, it’s been so long since I was human. So long since I’ve talked, or smiled, or walked upright.
“Here,” Addie comes down next to me with a long lounge shirt. Gently, she slips it over my head and feeds my jellied arms through the sleeves, the blue fabric scratching over my sensitive skin.
With her help, I sit up, looking around and trying to come to terms with all the new feelings and perceptions in my human body. It’s incredibly disorienting.
I manage to sit up on my butt, my legs curled under me at awkward, uncomfortable angles. The shirt Addie gave me reaches down to my thighs, covering me from view, but the clothing feels weird and unnatural, and all I want to do is rip it off again, modesty be damned.
Addie stands and backs up, and I’m forced to put my attention back on the alpha. He’s dressed in his clothes again, a pair of faded blue jeans and a worn leather vest that he seems to favor. I have an up close and personal look at the brown scruff on his jaw and chin as he looks at me.
“What’s your name?”
I open my mouth to answer, only to panic when I can’t quite work out how to talk. My tongue is big and floppy and dry.
“Take your time,” Addie tells me gently.
I clear my throat, hoping that will help, and feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I must look like an idiot to everyone. What kind of dummy can’t even remember how to talk?
Shame colors my face, and my lip quivers, but just when I’m about to burst into tears, a shiny lug nut appears in front of me.
Startled, I swallow back the sob that was about to come out, the sudden arrival of the silvery offering knocking me off kilter.
“Here you go, Mousey.”
Lug Nut holds it out to me, his smile like a soothing balm. My eyes flick down to the chain around his neck, where only two lug nuts now hang.
With a shaky hand, I reach up and pluck the lug nut from his fingers. As soon as the smooth shiny metal is in my hand, I relax a bit. I smile down at it, admiring the scratched-up steel. This would look so good next to my M&M’S. “Thanks.”
My eyes widen and my head whips up. Holy shit, that word just came out of me! I just spoke, like it was second nature. Sure, it was a little scratchy, but I actually talked, and it makes me feel...human.
Lug Nut grins at me.
“What’s your name?” the alpha asks again, breaking the moment.