“It’s cool, Jez,” I called. “Come on in.”
“What in the f**k?” Raoul slammed his large fists against my barrier, causing a faint ripple. The wall held, though. “What do you think you’re doing, Alexa? Damn you. Let me out of this damn thing.”
“I’m fine,” Arys admonished as I studied the healing stab wound. “Trust me, I’ve had worse.” When I raised an eyebrow in response, he added, “Seeing you with my eyes is absolutely heart stopping.”
Crap. That’s why Raoul had reacted the way he did to me. I was suddenly very afraid to turn and look at Shaz.
“Alexa? Are you guys ok?” Jez’s head poked into the kitchen from the front room. She took in the scene before her with little surprise. “My, isn’t this interesting?”
Shaz was barely a step behind her, and he faltered when he saw me on the floor next to Arys with my matching blue eyes. Slowly, I got to my feet, brushing non-existent dust from my knees.
“Kill her,” I said to Arys, unable to take my eyes from my white wolf. His presence alone was creating the balance that I didn’t know I’d been missing.
“No!” Raoul’s voice thundered through the house, and my energy wall dropped.
With no hesitation, the vampire forced Zoey’s head to the side and bared her beautiful throat. God help me, but I eagerly anticipated the moment her blood would flow. As Arys sunk fangs into her tender flesh, Raoul growled and leapt.
Both Jez and I reacted, but she was faster. Raoul’s weight was at least twice that of hers, and they rolled in a ball of flailing limbs. The angry yowl of a pissed off cat filled the silence as they grappled tooth and nail to gain the advantage.
I hung back and waited for an opening. To use metaphysical power would risk injury to Jez. I feared Raoul would overpower her simply because of his desperation to save his daughter.
Turning to Shaz, I found him hovering between the front room and the spacious kitchen. I saw the conviction in his eyes, and it cut deep.
“Shaz?”
“You have his eyes.” The disbelief was strong in his tone. He could barely look me in the face.
“Shaz, I need you. Don’t you see that?” I positioned myself so that I could see the entire room.
Jez and Raoul took out two of the four table legs with a crash. A decorative fruit basket hit the floor hard enough to send grapes flying like bouncy balls.
Shaz looked at me with lost puppy eyes, and I grew desperate for him to understand. “I need you to balance out what he does to me.” I reached for him. I needed his wolf so badly that I could taste it.
“I can’t share you with him.” His jade green eyes flicked to the feasting vampire then back to me. “Lex, she’s shifting!”
When Zoey’s human body had ceased fighting for life, the wolf trapped within her was free to take over. The essence of the wolf flowed over her, and she began to shift beneath Arys. Blood spilled from his lips as he put a safe distance between himself and the writhing creature on the floor.
Raoul had Jez pinned beneath him and growled down into her face. He gripped both of her slender wrists in one hand, while the other stroked a claw along the soft skin under her chin. I didn’t waste another second. I kicked him in the temple with as much force as I could muster.
He must have been seeing stars from the way that he slumped over with both hands on his head. Jez got to her feet. I watched as she picked a chunk of long black hair from a perfectly shaped claw. Her previously sleek up do was now a mess of long, tangled curls in disarray about her shoulders.
“This isn’t good,” she murmured, watching the spectacle in the middle of the floor.
I didn’t want to watch, but what choice did I have? I whispered a prayer beneath my breath that Zoey wouldn’t get stuck in mid-shift, a horror too cruel for anyone to endure.
“Lex?” Shaz’s evident worry mirrored my own.
On the floor, Zoey writhed and flailed as if having a seizure. Her hands reached and flexed over and over as clawed fingers became fully formed paws. I wanted to look away from her face, but I just couldn’t. Her face lengthened and narrowed into a muzzle. The worst high-pitched wailing filled the house. Her shift was so slow and agonizing.
It dawned on me that shifting might be a good idea right about now. I slipped out of my top and jeans, thankful for the steady rush of power and adrenaline that prevented me from feeling any embarrassment. Once I was furry, the awkwardness would be left to Shaz and Arys.
“Watch my back.”
I directed those famous last words at Jez and my two lovers before I freed the side of me that was scratching to get out. Much like springing the latch on the cage at the zoo, I went down on my hands and knees and was wolf before they touched the floor.