“Keep going,” Kade encouraged.
Jessie pushed through a thick bit of brush into a small clearing and stopped. She stared around her, eyes wide with wonder.
There were candles. Everywhere. On stumps. In the hollows of tree trunks. On the ground. There had to be a hundred of them. They glittered like fireflies around the tiny space, sending their flickering light dancing off the vegetation.
Overhead, the branches linked together to form a canopy of green that blocked the view of the sky. Around the edges, the undergrowth formed a living wall.
The candles, the soft moss underfoot, the tangle of rich green foliage—magical. Like something out of a fairy tale. So beautiful, she could barely breathe.
“Do you like it?” Kade asked.
Jessie stepped into the center and spun around. “It’s—it’s amazing.”
“Had help,” he admitted. “But she didn’t think I’d use them all.” He glanced around. “I kept finding another spot for one.”
He seemed a bit awkward while showing it to her. Unsure. Not a quality she’d seen from him so far. It was curiously heartening. And this space. That he’d do this, for her—it meant something.
He stepped close.
“I just thought I should tell you.” Jessie’s face flushed. “I’ve had the hormone shot, but I’m due for another one. Closer than I like.”
His lips twitched. “No biggie. Female Weres are only fertile twice a year. Once you transform, you’ll start cycling like a Were, not a human.”
“Oh.” There was a hell of a lot she had yet to learn. “So...”
“It is also rare for Weres to impregnate a non-Were.”
“Okay.” Jessie relaxed a fraction. “I’ve had so little control over this crap since it started. Somehow, birth control hasn’t been much on my mind.”
“You’ve had a rough go of it.” He reached a big finger out to brush a strand of hair off her face.
Jessie swallowed. He’d barely touched her, yet her heart was pounding. “It’s been interesting. I’m not used to feeling so helpless.”
“You’re not helpless. Not anymore.” His brows furrowed, and he reclaimed her hand. “I want to show you something. In case you need it.”
“Am I going to need it?” She raised a brow.
“Hopefully not.” His eyes flared, and her breath hitched. He rotated her hand in his grasp and spread his own up against it. Hers was ridiculously small, hardly half of his.
She inhaled as his strength flooded her. Heady. Powerful.
“You’d think there would be nothing you could do against me,” he told her. “But you’d be wrong. You are Were, already. You just need to connect to your beast.”
His hand shifted beneath hers. The fingers thickened, forming pads. Wicked claws appeared at the fingertips.
“You’ve seen us change,” he said. “And with the full moon, you will do so. Completely. For now, you can do partial changes. Like you did during the dream.”
“Neil said I’d be able to, but I haven’t managed it.”
“The virus is active in you, so you should be able to now. Close your eyes. Think about something that made you angry. And then think about claws.”
No shortage of things that pissed her off so bad she wanted to scream. All of them centered around Braden. The emotions simmered and roiled within her. Raw and not buried very deep.
Her fingers flexed against his hand. She opened them.
They were tipped in claws. Not long, but pointed. And sharp.
“Excellent frigging hell,” she said.
