Oddly enough, I couldn’t tell if that statement was somethingIwould say, or something this new beast might say. There were moments where we were oddly similar. It made me think that the beast was an extension of myself until the damn creature wrested control from me.
Addie’s head snapped up. Her eyes went wide. She stared at her empty hands before shrieking:
“Where is it?”
Instinctively, I knew what she meant. I plunged my muzzle into the water and nosed around until I found the beaded chain she’d dropped. When I rose with it in my mouth, she let out an audible sigh of relief and extended her hand. I placed it in her palm and watched her entire body relax.
The piece of jewelry meant a lot to her. It was more than a tool, it seemed. She clutched it tight and held it to her chest. I watched her lips move, forming a silent word:
Mom.
Her shoulders slumped. She was clearly exhausted. If we were going to get out of here, we were going to have to rely on me. I had an odd burst of energy still thrumming through me. I tried not to think about where it’d come from, but the click of my bony tail reminded me of what she’d done earlier.
I was a vessel for Addie’s power. Something about the undead creature that had bitten me had turned me into a beast unlike any other. I remembered the way the dragon had paused at my escape trick the other night. That wasn’t normal.
I wasn’t normal.
Addie had turned me into a monster, but I was her monster. Together, we would figure this out. Once we did, then we could go on our separate ways. We just had to survive until then.
Addie
Maddox loweredhimself before me and tossed his head to gesture that he wanted me on his back. I would have argued, but exhaustion hit me like a freight train. My chest tightened from all that I’d done. Breathing hurt, and my muscles responded stiffly. I was in no position to argue, so I climbed onto Maddox and gripped his fur tight.
He showed no sign that my weight was too much for him or that I was sitting oddly. His gait was even and assured. For a while, I wondered if the beast had taken over again. This was too nice for Maddox. It wasn’t like him.
But when we reached my campsite and I climbed off his back, I could see Maddox in his expression. Nothing had changed, making me think that he’d been in control all along. He wandered away from me only to return a few moments later has his human self—hisnakedhuman self.
I quickly turned away. My face burned with embarrassment. He’d been naked the other night, too. That’d been under the veil of night. Now, with the sun shining high above us, I could see absolutely everything.
Maddox was endowed…well endowed. Maybe he was a show-er, not a grower. Maybe I shouldn’t have been thinking about Maddox’s dick or how my body responded to the sight of it.
What was wrong with me? I’d dragged this man into a nightmarish fight for my life only to have him turn into a ghostly shifter. He wasn’t ever going to be interested in me the way I was interested in him right now.
I needed to get myself in order.
Palms pressed to my heated cheeks, I kept my back to Maddox until he touched my shoulder. I jumped and let out a yelp. He raised both brows before his gaze dropped to my red cheeks.
“Do you have some oversized clothing that I could borrow?” He gestured to his dick, which did not help me.
Not in the least.
“Oh. Ah—” I scrambled for my backpack with shaking hands.
All I had was a pair of women’s athletic leggings and a state park sweatshirt. Maddox didn’t hesitate to take them. He tugged the leggings over his defined thighs. Were they always that muscular? Or had the change from human to shifter toned them?
Stop staring, Addie!
I spun away from him. The leggings made his butt way too round. They looked better on him than they ever did on me. I could have bounced a quarter off his glutes.
What was I thinking? I’d been possessed by the spirit of the horniest man ever. Maddox gave no fucks over the fact that he was now wearing women’s clothing. His masculinity was perfectly assured. No piece of fabric could threaten that, and it was oddly hot.
“Let’s go,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling. “Give me your keys.”
I didn’t even argue. I was so tired and incapable of thinking straight. Clearly, if I was thinking about all the ways I wanted to touch Maddox, I wasn’t in my right mind.
He finally noticed where my eyes kept going. A small smile curled the corners of his mouth.
“How’s the view? I feel like everything is on display.”