Don’t stop, don’t stop—I chanted this in my head like a mantra, using it to chase away the overwhelming terror I felt. As I tore through the forest, I could hear the snarls and snaps of nearby wolves. There was also a thick copper scent in the air, and I didn’t need to ask to know what it was.

I was petrified, terrified enough to bolt far from this town and never return. It was Alec and Kade who kept me here, who kept me running towards the danger instead of away.

Pain radiated through my torso, so strong I would’ve thought I had been wounded. The pain coupled with the thought of one of the twins hurt kept me running. It kept me charging forward, unable to feel the aching, gnawing pain in my limbs and muscles.

That brief feeling of total freedom when shifting had passed, suppressed by the terror and desperation I felt.

It was in this moment that I realized a mate-bond was as much of a weakness as it was a strength.

The