You're in my blood, you're in my veins, you're in my head (I blame)
You're in my blood, you're in my veins, you're in my head

I'm saying it's you, babe
And I'm a sucker for the way that you move, babe
And I could try to run, but it would be useless
You're to blame (you're to blame)
Just one hit of you, I knew I'll never be the same
It's you, babe

• • •

As the next couple of weeks passed, my heat started getting more manageable. I was able to stay conscious for longer periods of time and I ate my food without so much as a stomach ache. The window in my bedroom had been fixed so I was eager to be moved back into it and give Princeton his space back, despite his protests that he was fine sleeping in a guest room.

Princeton was . . . He was doing better I think. As my heat began to slowly ebb, so did his bad temper. I, thankfully, never saw the temper that his mother and sisters would tell me about. Whenever he was around me, his attitude seemed lighter though I still saw some tension he held in his shoulders. He carried it like he was carrying a curse.

I managed to drag myself out of bed and clean myself before exiting the room. Hermès eyed me and said, "Your heat — "

"Is manageable. It's almost over and I'm getting cabin fever so I'm going on a walk," I responded, glancing over my shoulder. Hermès and Costa shared an uneasy look, and then they looked back at me again nervously. "You can come with me if it'll ease your worries."

"We're not worried about you — rather we are worried about the ways your mate will be skinning our pelts from our bodies," Hermès muttered in response, lifting one of his heavily scarred hands and raking it through his thick tresses of hair.

"Oh, please, you're being dramatic. I won't let Princeton skin you alive." I smiled at him, turning on my heel to face them properly despite the beast wanting to turn and run — just run. Soon, I promised myself. Soon I would shed human skin and let Feline run if it means being in trouble later.

Costa snorted quietly at my response. "If anyone can control Princeton and put him in his place it's Rivera. We're her sworn guards, so if she goes then we shall as well."

"Good, then." I nodded. "I plan on shifting and letting Feline get a taste of freedom. It may be easy for you wolves to not shift for long periods, but shifters of felines are not trained to contain the desire for long periods of time."

Without waiting for their responses, I turned again and hopped down the stairs without stealth or quiet. My guards followed behind me at a respectful pace, never releasing me from their sight and careful inspection but not hovering.

When I found the closest door to the outside and forest behind the house, my Feline could no longer allow me to keep her in check.

Before I had the ability to remind her that we needed to be slow and let me undress so I don't destroy my clothing, she forced my shift right there only feet from the door and inches from my guards. Pain greeted me, enveloping me in a cocoon of agony as my bones broke and formed and shattered again to adjust to the new body. Prickling heat danced along my skin as fur sprouted and I felt teeth poke my lips. Soon, my human body was no longer.

I shook my thick coat out, my large paws sturdy as I stood back up. I had no human trait left to be seen — all that was in my place was the snow leopard who had broken free after weeks of isolation and being locked up.

My claws had managed to get hooked in the remains of the clothes that had been shredded to mere fabric slices.

"You're stuck," Costa snickered softly, edging forward to me.

I growled at her amusement and flattened my ears as she neared. She raised a brow and gestures to where I tried to shake the fabric from my claws. "Do you want to spend a good thirty minutes trying to free yourself, or can I help you?"

Eventually I allowed her to approach me and bend down to free my claws from the enclosing fabric before piling the shredded pieces into a pile away from me and putting her hands on her hips as she rejoined Hermès.

"Go, run," she shooed,  gesturing to the forest behind me. "We will be right behind you."

I didn't hesitate. As she finished her words, I spun right around and dived into the thick undergrowth of the forest and let it swallow me whole. Very slowly, Feline's presence took complete control and pushed me into the back of our shared conscious.

• • •

Everything was greener in this form, and my hearing — it was stronger. I could hear my own heartbeat again.

I could hear the heavy breaths that escaped my lungs over and over as I ran. My chest was starting to hurt from the heavy breathing, a fault caused by the amount of time I spent not shifting more and running. But it was a welcome ache, because it proved my freedom and how the run was more than a dream.

I could vaguely remember the wolves that were my guards assigned to me, and I could hear them behind me. They kept their distance, allowing me my space, but kept an eye on me as they were ordered to do. I could not fault them for doing that, so I made no move to make their job harder than it already was.

I simply soaked in the freedom. I took in the feeling of the undergrowth brushing against my thick body like a lover's caress, seducing me in deeper to its touch and whispers of sweet nothings.

The sunlight teased me through its skirts of treetops, hinting at the full warmth it could provide as it leaked down onto my coat of fur in waves of radiance. Birds were creating songs in branches of life, providing the music to my run.

My shoulders burned with the straining of my muscles as I continued my race through the forest, breath increasing.

"Stop!"

My focus was broken, shattering like shards of glass around me as my body was sent halting into the dirt and tangling my coat in brambles and undergrowth.

The voice that ordered my stop was one I knew well. I turned and saw my mate standing there with a clenched jaw as his eyes wandered my Feline form as if searching for any harm that had been done. How had he managed to find me this deep in? If he used scent tracking, how did he catch up to me? Did he use shortcuts?

"Goddess above," Princeton murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. His eyes flickered with relief at my recognition and understanding of him. "You scared me."

My chest heaved up and down, and I perked my ears upward when the foliage to my right rustled loudly. Two wolves, one a pitch black and a smaller a creamy blonde, eased out. They were panting slightly, nostrils flaring as they drank in the air.

It was Hermès and Costa, based on the scent that had been following me. I chuffed a greeting before sitting down and curling my long tail at my side.

"Did you let her run?" Princeton turned his frustration on the wolves. The wolves flicked their ears and twitched their tails as they met their alpha's gaze without terror, and for a few moments the three just stared at one another.

Ah, it was one of their weird pack connections. They must be having a conversation through that link that they shared. A strange flare of jealousy ripped from the ends of my whiskers, shivered down my spine, and pricked the ends of fur on my tail. It was a strange feeling, jealousy, and it was an emotion I rarely felt. With Andy, I didn't ever feel jealous. He never had a bond like ours or a mind link with anyone but me — it was a Chosen thing alone.

But these wolves . . . They bonded differently than Clans of felines did. They shared a connection more mysterious and deeper beyond understanding outside of their own species of shifter. It was one of the ways they kept their ties as a pack strong, and I hated to admit I felt jealous by this connection. It only reminded me of my status as an outsider. I was an outsider when it came to my own shifting species, and I was an outsider here.

I didn't blame any of them, really. I didn't belong anywhere truly — sort of like my parents.

Princeton finally turned his gaze back to me, alerting me of movement and pulling me from my deep thinking. I blinked my feline gaze and met the eyes of the wolf. "I wish you would have told me you wanted to run." His words were soft and carefully spoken, as if he were worried I'd lash out.

My ears flattened against my head at his tone and huffed quietly, not quite an apology but something similar to it. Princeton approaches me without a fear of my form, and plopped down next to me.

"I'm sorry too — for not realizing that you're not used to allowing freedom to the beast inside of you regularly." He reaches out and places a hand against my shoulder, and it was bold. I admired this.

I accepted his apology by sliding my paws into the soil and placing my weight against him, laying on my side and pressing against him. I rested my head against him in the way of affection we shifters could give to our un-shifted counterparts. Feline began her rumbling, causing soft laughter to erupt from Princeton.

"You know, whoever says Feline shifters aren't beautiful to look at has obviously never seen one before," Princeton says, and the words make my heart lift into the sky.

• • •

I stayed in my Feline form for hours, only convincing my inner beast to allow a shift when the sun began to dip below the sky. She could keep this form all night if she desired, but she understood my exhaustion and desire to go back to my human skins.

I didn't have any clothing, and Costa appeared to have explained this to Princeton earlier that day when we met in the woods. A pair of shorts and a tank top were left on a table outside the door I came from when I returned. I shifted and changed back, slowly, so not to allow the soreness to soak into my bones in every move I made. It took another few minutes just to get my hair in a ponytail so it wouldn't be in my face and stick to my sweaty back.

The lack of shifting these past weeks and the amount of time I spent in my alternate form had caused an onset soreness in every nick and cranny of my body. It was expected when I pushed my body like this when it was not prepared for it.

I entered the house to find the welcoming aroma of something sharp and tangy, encouraging me to follow the source of such a delightful smell.

It led me to the kitchen, where Princeton's entire family was going about making dinner in a harmonized unit. I stood at the doorway awkwardly and simply watched the family converse loudly as they made the meal.

It was Princeton, of course, who noticed me first. He looked up and raked his gaze through the kitchen before it landed on me. A smile stretched his lips and he lifted a spoon covered with some sort of sauce. "And the leopardess returns."

Everyone greeted me from where they were, welcoming me warmly as I was encouraged into the kitchen. Maddie bounced over to me and said, "They thought you'd be out there all night. Adonis owes me fifty bucks. Cough it up," she demands to her brother, who turned red to his ears when I looked at him with raised brows.

He mumbled something and pulled his wallet from his pocket and slamming the bills into his smirking sister's hand before being called to help his mother. Arms wrapped around my waist from behind and I leaned into the embrace, taking in Princeton's overwhelming scent. "They made a bet on me, huh?"

Princeton chuckled softly ants leaned down, placing soft kisses against my neck affectionately. "It was inevitable and you should start getting used to it," he murmured against my skin. His lips paused on the sweet spot of my neck, where Andy's mark had once rested and Princeton's would soon replace. "This family bets on everything."

I closed my eyes, his words only registering halfway and then being forgotten. "Mm, seems exciting . . ."

He nipped the skin at my neck — once, twice — before blowing hot air against it. It sent shockwaves through my entire body, and I was sure he could smell the desire for him radiating off of me. My suspicions were proven right when he let out a small growl and began to pull away.

I whined slightly at the loss of his touch and he breathed out again slightly behind me. His fingertips danced up the skin of my arms and gently tugged the straps of the tank top back so I pressed against his chest. He nuzzled my cheek affectionately as a rumble echoed through him. "You are simply beautiful."

"I could say the same for you," I murmured, wrapping my arms around his neck from where I stood with my back pressed against him. "You are a work of art."

He chuckled and buried his face in my hair, taking in my scent. I closed my eyes and let his touch and overall feeling of him being there take me over. His hands ran down my waist and gently met with my hips, staying there.

"Hey, you two." We both looked up to see a smiling Lana standing in front of us with a spoon in her hand. "Help please. Rivera taste this and tell me what you think."

I stepped forward and took the spoon, smiling at her before bringing it up to my mouth and tasting whatever it was. It was tangy and sharp, but not overbearing. I smacked my lips and handed the spoon back to her. "It's amazing. What is it?"

"The sauce for the chicken," she said with a wink before returning to the stove and turning the flame off. "It must be ready." She glanced at me. "Behind me is the setup, mind setting the table?"

"I don't mind." As I was gathering the plates, I noticed there was an extra one.

"Don't forget to pick out what you want to drink, Rivera," Lana says without looking away from where she was removing the pot of sauce from the burner.

I bit my lip to hide my smile as I gathered the plates and silverware, heading to the attached private dining room to set the table.

• • •

Not much has really been happening in these chapters, so I apologize for that. I hope the character development is pleasing to you guys.

Thoughts on the chapter?