I snapped down on his throat, twisting my head back and forth sharply, snapping the neck and then severing it.
Spitting the bad-tasting blood from my mouth, I brought one paw down on the Rev’s skull, crushing it as I stepped over the remains, scanning the chamber.
Every part of my being focused on the female asleep on the bed, one arm at her side, the other lying across her stomach. Her head was turned toward me, leaving a waterfall of crimson hair to trail over the side of the bed.
She was…important.
My claws rapped off the floor as I prowled toward her, stretching forward. Her scent. My muzzle drew close to her still arm. Whiskers twitched. Fresh. Sweet. Mine. I turned my head, nudging her hand. She was mine. My Princess…
My heartmate.
My Queen.
Mine.
And I was hers.
My head swung toward the chamber doors. Footsteps pounded. A raspy, guttural snarl reverberated from me as I lowered my head, tensing.
The doors flew open, and a panting, brown-skinned male entered—one who smelled of rich, dark soil and us. Of her. His ultra-bright-blue gaze found Poppy first and then me.
“Holy fuck,” he whispered, taking a step forward.
I leapt onto the bed, crouching over her. I gave a warning growl.
The male went completely still, then threw up a hand—
Another skidded to a stop behind him, sword in hand and auburn hair windblown. “Is that…is that a fucking cave cat? A really large, strangely colored one?”
“That’s Cas,” the male said—the one who smelled of the woods and her. He smelled of us. Mine.
My eyes narrowed on the newcomer as my lips peeled back. He didn’t smell of us.
“What the fuck?” that one gasped, making another choking sound as he saw the blood and pieces scattered across the floor. “I mean, what in the actual fuck?”
I eased down to the foot of the bed, my claws scratching the polished wood. He was not us. He was a risk.
“No, he’s not,” the male said. “Emil is annoying as fuck.”
The one called Emil frowned.
“But he is not a risk,” the male continued. “He is one of us.”
He was not one of us. He was not mine. He was nothing but meat and blood. A meal.
“Meat and blood—oh, fuck,” the male said. “Emil’s more than that. He is yours, too.” He paused while this other thing’s entire face creased. “Just not in the same way.”
“Okay,” the soon-to-be dead one drawled. “I’m going to say it one more time. What in the actual fuckity fuck?”
I came down onto the stone floor, my tail swishing as I eyed the pile of talking meat.
“Fuck.” The blue-eyed male twisted at the waist, pushing the meat aside. “Keep his father and the others away,” he ordered.
Father?
Something stirred in the back of my thoughts.
“Tie them up. Knock them out,” the male demanded. “I don’t care what you have to do but keep them the fuck away from here.”
The meat sack didn’t get a chance to respond. The door was closed in his face and locked. The first male faced me.
“Cas?” he said, voice soft.
My head tilted. The name stirred something inside me. Cas.
“The name is familiar because it’s yours.” He slowly lowered himself and knelt before me. “Your name is Casteel Hawkethrone Da’Neer, and I’m Kieran Contou.”
Wisps of memories drifted from the recesses of my mind. Flashes of him much younger—of us as boys and then men.
Kieran glanced to where she slept. “And that is—”
Mine.
One side of Kieran’s lips tipped up. “Yeah, she’s yours, but depending on her mood, she may not be all that thrilled to hear you continuously snarling that.”
My eyes narrowed as I backed up so my head was level with her arm.
He took a deep breath. “I’m guessing by the state of the chamber, someone attempted to attack her, and it didn’t end well for them.” His blue eyes drifted over me. “And it changed you.” A bit of awe crept into his voice. “Holy fuck, you shifted.”
I… I had. Because this wasn’t my normal…existence. I didn’t see the spotted gold and black fur but a male with golden-bronze skin and dark hair.
“Cas?”
My attention swung back to him. He’d inched closer, on one knee now.
“Do you remember when we were boys, and I first shifted after being in my mortal form for a while? I had trouble separating myself from the wolf, but you were there. You helped remind me who I was,” he said, voice low and soothing as more disjointed images flashed and collided, building atop one another. “I know it can be difficult to pull yourself out of this, but you’re still in there, and I’m going to need you to come back to me as Cas.” His gaze held mine. “She needs you to come back as Cas.”
Kieran.
She.
Penellaphe.
Poppy.
My Queen.
She needed me.
At once, my sense of self came roaring back, clicking into place beside this new part of me, fusing. I took a step forward, then stopped as I shook my fur out.
“You just will it,” Kieran explained. “Like you would a compulsion. You will your body back into its mortal form. That’s how it works.”
I widened my stance. Like a compulsion? I tapped into the eather like I would for a compulsion, doing as Kieran instructed. I willed myself into mortal form, but the rush of power came at me faster and harder than ever before. Silvery specks of light appeared, seeping out of my pores and washing over me. The shift happened much more fluidly. Bones in my arms and chest shrank, muscles and tendons loosening to allow room for them to snap back into place. Canines retreated as my jaw reformed. I rocked back on instinct, my paws changing into feet. I rose, a little unsteady, as flesh replaced fur. I straightened, cracking my back as my ribs settled.
“Gods,” I bit out, throat scratchy as I watched my nails retract and my hands return to normal. “I thought you said shifting doesn’t hurt.”
A shaky laugh of relief left Kieran as he rose. “The very first time can be a bitch, but it gets easier—more comfortable each time.” He blinked several times. “Then it doesn’t hurt.”
“Good to know.” There was still a…a distinctive purr to the tenor of my voice as I looked down at my chest. I was fucking drenched in blood, but most of it was the Rev’s. The wound in my chest had closed, leaving behind a puckered line of almost charred skin.
I looked up at Kieran. “I think I was about to eat Emil.”
The skin crinkled at the corners of his eyes as he laughed again. “Yeah, you were definitely thinking that.”
Fucking Emil.
“What in the hell happened in here?” Kieran asked, moving to stand in front of me. He touched the skin under the wound. “What is this?”
“A Rev came in through the window while I was sleeping. I woke just as he was about to—” My hand fisted as I confirmed that Poppy was okay. She was alive, and she wasn’t vulnerable. “He got me in the chest with this dagger.”
I bent, picking up the one nearest me. “Get the other.”
Kieran went to where the other one had fallen near a few scattered Rev pieces. “What kind of blade is this?” he asked, eyeing the milky-white stone. “It looks like the same kind that fucker Callum used to curse me.”