Shane gripped Bram’s wrist. “Don’t let me die in front of her,” he whispered.
“I’m sitting right here, and you aren’t going to die.” Charlotte kissed Shane’s forehead, and the other man cried out in pain. All of this contact on his skin had to be excruciating.
“Gideon is helping the pup, but I think someone needs to actually change you,” Bram put in.
Shane’s eyes widened. “Well hell.”
“My sentiments exactly,” Bram said dryly.
“Only an Alpha or a wolf very close to Alpha status can change a wolf,” Walker said softly. “If Gideon is busy…”
“I can do it,” Bram said matter-of-factly. “I…I can do it.” He’d never changed a wolf before. Never had to. But he knew he could bring out the wolf within Shane. He’d hidden his strength for so long, others had forgotten how strong his wolf truly was. It wasn’t that he’d been ashamed of it, but more that he hadn’t known how to fit in. How to make things work within a Pack where wolves would constantly need to fight for dominance against him and lose. He wasn’t as strong as Kade or Gideon, but he had a feeling, if needed, he could take out their Betas and Heirs.
He never would, though. That wasn’t who he was. But now, if he needed to save Shane’s life, he’d show the others who he truly was and do what he had to do.
Damn the consequences.
Walker let out a breath. “If you do this…”
“Let him,” Shane bit out, his lips covered in blood. “I trust him.”
Charlotte put Shane’s head on her lap and whispered soothing words. “Shift into your wolf quickly, Bram. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Walker blew out a breath. “I knew you were stronger than you let on but are you sure?”
Bram met the other man’s eyes. “I’m sure.”
And with that, Bram quickly stripped and pulled on the cord that connected him with his wolf. His body twisted and turned, his bones breaking, moving into new positions. Normally, it would take him a good five minutes to complete the shift, but he didn’t have that kind of time, and his wolf seemed to understand that.
Once wolf, he padded over to Shane and met the other man’s gaze.
Shane smiled, though it was weak. “Never saw you in your wolf form. Kind of like it.” Bram huffed and looked over at Charlotte. She pushed at Shane’s shoulders, pinning down his arms, even as she nodded.
Walker held onto Shane’s legs, and Bram leapt.
He didn’t know why he knew this, but he knew he didn’t need to bite him as hard or as much as he would have if Shane had been fully human. It was almost as if the moon goddess herself were speaking to him. He bit into Shane’s side and then his thigh. Only two bites, but they would be enough.
He honestly didn’t know why he understood that. It wasn’t as if Bram ever truly gave in to fate, especially after what had happened with Charlotte the first time, but he couldn’t help but give in now.
Shane thrashed but didn’t scream. In fact, after the two bites when Bram moved back, Shane seemed to calm. He looked over at Bram, met his gaze, and blinked.
Bram wanted to shift back to speak but froze when Shane arched his back and let out a rough shout. Charlotte immediately moved back, as did Walker. The three of them watched as Shane slowly shifted from man to wolf.
While Bram was a dark black wolf, and Charlotte was a slightly lighter one with touches of red in her fur, Shane proved to be a milk chocolate brown. His fur was sweat-slick, and his eyes huge with fear, but he was whole.
“Oh, thank the goddess,” Charlotte whispered. She crawled forward, her hands out to him. “Shane, it’s me. Are you okay?”
Shane stared at her for a moment before trying to nod. Only in wolf form, it wasn’t so easy so he looked a bit awkward. It didn’t matter though. Shane was alive. He was wolf. And from the look in Walker’s eyes, he was still Pack.
Things had changed once again, but Bram would never regret what he’d had to do.
Shane was wolf.
Finally.
****
Shane felt as if he were a baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time. His legs weren’t moving the way they should, and he kept falling flat on his face. He couldn’t quite put into words the amount of pain he’d been in before, but right then, he knew that whatever had been done had been for this.
He was a wolf. A freaking shifter. And now that he was in this form, he could sense the bonds the others had mentioned. Before it had been like there was a film over them, hiding them, stopping them from being what he thought they should be. But now he was slowly waking up from the murkiness.
Hell, he could even sense Charlotte and Bram more now than he had before. And if he was feeling what they were feeling, he had no idea how they could have held themselves back from him and each other for as long as they had.