Free Change For Me (Werewolf Romance) (The Alpha's Kiss) by Lynn Red

and the world went quiet again, something horrible started running through Damon’s mind. If Craig Willis saw he and Devin fighting, and if no one had seen Devin since, was his worst fear possible?
    “No,” he said, pounding his fist into the dirt.
    “No, no, no,” he grunted, scratching the ground.
    Blood pounded in Damon’s head, his temples throbbing and his forehead full of pain, of fury, of rage. It was too much. The stress, the worry over Lily and over Devin; it became too much right at that second.
    Damon’s legs twisted, his head bent back and hard, wiry fur sprouted from the pores covering every inch of his skin. He scratched the ground until his hands – his claws he realized when he looked down – ached.
    And then a moment later, Damon King began to shake, and collapsed.
    As his consciousness faded into oblivion, the last thing he thought as a human was of what Poko told him. Without his spirit bond, without the mate destined for him from before either of them was born, he would be lost to the rage, the fury, the darkness, forever.

Seven
    ––––––––
    “W here are you going so early?” I asked grandpa as he blew some steam off the top of his so-sweet-it’s-tan coffee. “Sun’s barely up.” That was a little bit of a stretch. Clock on the wall said half past nine.
    I still shook from the battle I had with Caitlyn Hodges the day before, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Then on top of that, the dreams I kept having – if that’s really what they were – never left me alone for long.
    There was another one last night, though a little different. I was in a cave, or a grotto or something, and there was the one wolf, I kept seeing, but also a very old one. The two seemed to be talking, or, I dunno, discussing me.
    They kept glancing over in the direction where I lay or, I guess hovered, a few inches off the ground. I wasn’t able to move, but it wasn’t a fearful sort of paralysis, mostly just a present one. In the dream it all made sense, like there was some kind of ritual that needed to be done.
    No fear, no uncertainty, none of the normal things that bothered me on an almost daily basis. That was something at least.
    The last frame, or scene, or whatever you want to call it of the dream was frenzied and wild, just like the first one, except it felt more natural to have this massive wolf push me to the floor. Only that time the monster didn’t go quite as far as he did the first time... or he didn’t before the kettle whistled and woke me up.
    Life’s full of little regrets, I guess . I giggled to myself.
    “Business in town,” grandpa said after a few moments’ pause. “Farmer’s market, then going to the YMCA for a few hours, you know, to loiter and be a general no-good.”
    No good... so good. Something stirred in my brain, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. I rubbed my eyes. “Sounds fun, are you –”
    “Nope,” he slid the keys across the table. “Evelda’s picking me up in three minutes. No, four minutes. Although probably she won’t show up for eight.” Grandpa cracked a wry grin.
    We sat in silence for a moment before he pushed his coffee toward me, into a semi-circle made by the keys spreading around its base. “You look like you need this more than I do. You were carrying on all night, sounded like nightmares. Runs in the family, I think. Sorry about that.”
    “Sorry?” I asked. “For what? I didn’t –”
    “It was a joke, Leroy. I used to get horrible nightmares, and last night you were moaning and groaning just like I always did, so I apologized.”
    “Oh,” my voice sunk into my chest as more memories surface. Memories of the werewolf, or whatever I was supposed to call him, with his teeth on my neck, his claws dragging my skin. A hot flush crept up my back right where he’d scratched, almost like it was real.
    A horn honking outside broke my trance. “Oh!” I sat up and opened my eyes as wide as they’d go.