Noble Wolf (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (11 page)

"Think, dammit! She's dying," Bryce yelled, anguish evident in his voice. "You're five fucking thousand years old. You must have come across this before!"

"Perhaps it has something to do with your bond. It could be the strength of mates is all that is keeping her alive."

"You're saying I should bite her myself," Bryce said, his voice calm this time.

"I fail to see how it could hurt. Otherwise, judging by the spread of the venom, she will be dead shortly. So, do it, young wolf."

Natasha could barely make out anything going on anymore. The only thing she was fixated on was the image of Bryce's face, inches from hers. He was trying to tell her something, but his words had become unintelligible and slurred. She tried to tell him she loved him, that whatever happened she was okay with it, and that she would die knowing he loved her.

The last thing she remembered seeing was Bryce mouthing the words "I'm sorry" as massive fangs burst from his mouth.

Pain blossomed on the other side of her neck.

***

Blood. Blood Everywhere. Iron.

Fear. The stink.

Rage. The hatred.

Freedom. Trees. The forest. Run. Fast. Faster.

Darkness. The moon.

Close by. Foe? Friend?

Unknown. Flee.

Attack! Ambush! Fight. Resist.

Overwhelmed.

Bryce

He yanked his fangs from her skin, giving her a quick shake, hoping it would wake her up.

"Natasha, don't you dare die on me. Don't you dare! You aren't allowed to die," he repeated, over and over again. The others were crowded close, except for Thomas. Jake, his hand on Bryce's shoulder, lent his quiet support, as did the others.

"Her heart is still beating," he whispered in a pleading tone, as if voicing the fact would ensure it stayed that way. "It's strong too. Why doesn't she wake up?" he said, looking up at Thomas for help. The old vampire simply stood there, doing and saying nothing.

"Look," Ethan said, pointing at her arm.

The blackness that had spread everywhere except her face was retreating from her hand, up her arm, slowly but surely. Bryce looked and saw the same process happening on her other arm, and her legs.

"Is it working?" he yelped, unsure of what it meant. "Does this mean it's working? What does it mean?" he yelled at Thomas, who came closer, inspecting his mate. Bryce watched as his eyes blinked and refocused on her several times.

Abruptly, Thomas yanked his head back to hers, prying open one of her eyes.

"Get back!" he yelled, putting action to his words. "All of you, get away from—"

He didn't have time to finish. Everyone but Bryce, who was holding Natasha, had backed away.

Natasha twitched once in his arms, her eyes flying open. Bryce began to smile.

Natasha looked at him, her eyes unlike any he had seen before. A snarl played across her lips.

Then Natasha was gone, and Bryce found himself face to face with a snarling, snapping, very large, and very angry wolf.

"What the fuck!" he cried, backing away from the snapping jaw.

In a heartbeat, his pack was there, putting themselves in the way of the attacking animal.

It recognized the numbers against it and fled the room.

"What the hell was that?" he yelled at Thomas as the other wolves charged after his mate.

"I think you changed her into a wolf," Thomas said, understating the obvious by several degrees.

"No fucking shit!" he yelled, heading for the door to follow. "But how?"

"My guess," Thomas said slowly, "is that your wolf venom bonded with the vampire venom. Instead of turning her into a vampire, it turned her into a wolf."

"I'm glad you find it so fascinating professor. But can she change back?"

"I do not know," Thomas said simply.

Bryce snarled and, hearing a commotion, ran over to the window. The wolves were outside, heading to the forest. Swearing, he did the last thing he wanted to do. He took two steps back and jumped through the window, landing in his wolf form and taking off like a bullet after the others.

This is impossible, he thought. It simply did not happen. Wolf shifters were
born
not
made.
Bryce had never before heard of a shifter being able to turn a human. Werewolves were not real; every shifter knew that wasn't how it worked. The bite was supposed to form a bond between him and Natasha, not turn her into a wolf!

What had he done...

The wolves careened through the forest, following the trail that her wolf blazed for them.

He could only hope that there was still some part of Natasha left within. Otherwise, Bryce knew that he would have to put her down. A wild wolf shifter was not something that could be permitted to live. Even if Bryce found he lacked the courage to do it himself, he knew Jake would.

But Natasha was his mate, and he would try whatever he could first before giving in to that possibility.

Bryce barreled through another bush.

He tried to pull up abruptly as he saw what was on the other side, but it was too late. Natasha, or her wolf, was there waiting for him. The two of them went down in a tumble of paws and yelps as they snapped at each other. Bryce was trying to avoid her attacks, all while keeping her pinned down until the others arrived.

Natasha went in for his neck, an opening he had left for her on purpose. As she did, he slammed his head against hers. His head rung after the impact, but he had been ready for it. Natasha, on the other hand, was lying on the ground, completely dazed and limp.

He howled quickly, to signal the others, then quickly shifted to his human form, taking a risk he knew he shouldn't. Still, he had to prove to Jake that the real Natasha was still in there.

Slowly the large wolf began to stir. Bryce backed away several steps, putting some distance between them, but ensuring that he was still close.

"Natasha," he called softly.

The wolf jerked in response, her head swinging up and around. The eyes focused on him as the wolf went into a crouch, teeth bared.

"I'm not going to fight you," he said slowly, putting his hands out to either side to show that he was unarmed.

Jake and the others emerged from the woods behind him, still in wolf form. Natasha snarled, suspecting a trap of some sort.

"Stay back," he said, motioning with his hands, never taking his eyes off the wolf. "I know you're in there. Somewhere. I don't know what happened, but we'll figure it out together. But you have to take control, you have to make the wolf understand that you're the master, not it."

The wolf growled at him as he took a slow, solitary step toward her.

"You can do it, Natasha. I know you can."

Another growl.

Another step forward.

"I believe in you, I know you have the strength. Focus Natasha. Focus on the wolf, and take control. Make the wolf sit."

Growl.

Step.

"I know you can do this!" he said, putting some more strength into his own voice. "I'll be with you the whole way, right there beside you. But you have to do it."

Step.

Whine.

Bryce froze. The wolf whined again and for just a second the eyes lost some of their feralness.

"That's it. I know you can do it. Keep fighting it," he urged.

The wolf whined again.

Then, as if a light had been flicked off, the wolf sat up straight from its attack pose. Its entire body language changed as well. No longer did it look ready to attack. Now she was simply sitting there. As if to echo his thoughts, she cocked her head sideways, then rolled over onto her back, before standing up and padding over to him.

"I know," he whispered as she put her head into his hands. "Can you change back?"

She looked at him strangely, and he almost hit himself for being stupid. She would have no idea how to do that.

"Okay, you need to picture a door in your mind. When you're in wolf form, you need to open the door, and picture your human self going through it. It's crude, but it will work."

The wolf nodded. The motion was out of place on an animal, but it confirmed to him in case he had any doubts that Natasha truly was in control. The wolf closed its eyes as she began to concentrate.

Nothing happened.

"Try again," he urged when the eyes focused back on him.

She closed her eyes again, but nothing happened.

"One more time. Please. I know you can do this," he begged.

With a sigh, the wolf tried again.

Moments later, she opened her eyes again, still on all fours and covered in fur.

"Bryce." Jake's voice came from behind. "Use the bond."

"There isn't one," he replied in shock, only just now realizing that he couldn't feel her, couldn't sense her. "Why is there no bond? What's going on?" He was so out of his depth now, but he tried to remain calm. There was no sense in getting Natasha all worked up again.

"I'm not sure," Jake said, his voice deadly calm. "But I think it's time we had another chat with our resident senior."

***

The two wolves ran in tandem, their movements so precise that they seemed to flow over the landscape, instead of the all-out pace they were in fact setting.

"Natasha wins again!" Ethan crowed from his spot on the boulder that the two had just passed in a flash.

"Bryce my friend, you aren't getting any better at this," Holden remarked as the two wolves slowed to a halt, sides heaving as they gasped for air.

One of the wolves shook itself briefly, before shifting into human form. Bryce swore, before turning to look at the sleek, reddish-brown wolf at his side. "You're just loving this, aren't you?"

If a wolf could look innocent, then that was the look he was receiving from her.

"Come on, let's go grab some water, shall we?"

The two of them padded off toward the restaurant, where the other wolves were hanging out. The Silver Bullet was closed, but Jake was in the kitchen making food for everyone, and had just brought out several platters. The weather was unseasonably warm for the day, which made it perfect weather for the warm shifters.

He poured some water into a bowl and placed it down for Natasha, and then slumped down next to it. Although she couldn't shift back, Jake still felt as if he and Natasha had become closer than ever before in the two weeks since everything had gone down.

He knew that she was getting frustrated at being trapped in her wolf body, but at least her wolf was being kept contained for the time being.

"You've gotta stop making me look bad in front of the guys," he complained softly as the two of them curled up on a bare patch of dirt.

She whined and shook her head, throwing her body at him.

"Hey now, take it easy!" he joked, grabbing her in a headlock.

"You know, I can't wait until you can change back. There's so many things I want to be able to do with you."

The big wolf exhaled abruptly. It was Natasha's best attempt at a sigh. She then got up and began to wander off.

"I just want to be able to look at you when I tell you I love you," he said softly to himself.

Natasha froze.

Shit. He hadn't meant to say that within audible range of her, but he kept forgetting her hearing was just as sensitive as his now.

The wolf turned to face him, moving toward him on what looked like four rather unsteady legs. She gave him what he had come to realize was her quizzical look.

He sighed. "I do love you, you know. I'll continue to love you, until we find out how to make you change."

Reaching out, he went to grab her paw in his hand. As he did, Natasha closed her eyes. The moment hand met paw, something
snapped
in his mind. Suddenly he could
feel
her. She was there, his mate, her presence within her mind.

His hand clamped down on her paw immediately, not wanting to lose the connection. It was far from the first time they had made contact such as this, but it was the first time anything had come of it.

Reaching out, he touched her mind as best he could. The bond between mates was not telepathic, but there was a distinct connection beyond anything humans could ever experience. So now he used that as best he could, showing her that he was there for her, that it was possible for them to live together. Even if she never changed back, he would stay by her side. Bryce took those images and projected them as best he could to Natasha.

"I love you too."

Bryce's eyes flew open.

Crouched there in front of him was Natasha. She looked exhausted and was still wearing the same clothes from the night she had first shifted, but it was her, in the flesh and blood human form.

"Natasha, oh my God," he exclaimed.

That got the attention of the others, who came rushing over.

"I want a shower, a steak, a glass of wine, and a big comfortable bed please," she said, before passing out.