The Spirit Walker

Chapter Forty-Five: The Claiming (18+)

Calum smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Congratulations," he murmurs, running his fingers through my fur. His touch pulls me out of my shock and thrusts me back into reality.

I whip my head to the side and snap at his hand.

He should have told me the full truth about his relationship with Euna. When she came on to him, he should have shoved her so hard her skull cracked against the wall. He never should have given her the opportunity to put her hands on him. He is mine.

My hackles are raised and I am snarling again. Euna is still there, staring me down, the challenge in her gaze unmistakeable.

"Ness!" Calum bellows. As though from thin air,  Ness materializes from around the corner I was hiding behind.

I wonder how much she saw. How much she allowed me to see.

"Get rid of her," he snaps, jerking his chin at Euna. Ness grins, grabbing Euna with more force than is strictly necessary and dragging her- snarling- down the hall.

Once she is out of sight, Calum finally releases me. He drops to his knees so that we are on eye level, and I marvel that he somehow feels confident that I won't cleave his flesh from his skull with my teeth.

"You are angry." He says. I snort at the understatement. "You have every right to be. I should have..." he trails off.

"I am going to shift. Once I do, we are going to go outside. You can attack me. Get it all out of your system. And then we can talk."

I narrow my eyes, a low growl rumbling in my throat. I don't want to talk. I want him to hurt.

He pushes himself to his feet, and toes off his shoes. He removes his belt, his shirt, his vest, his kilt, until he is completely bare before me.  Normally, it would be enough to make me be trembling with want. I have absolutely no reaction to it now.

A shudder runs through Calum's frame, and he drops to his hands and knees as bones pop and shift and fur sprouts from smooth flesh. He gives a great shake of his body, and just like that, he is no longer a man. A great, black wolf with hazel eyes meets my gaze. He bumps his nose against mine, and I snarl and snap at him again.

He turns, and with a flick of his tail, he runs down the hall. I launch myself after him, growling, nipping at his heels. The few humans we see quickly move out of our way. If they recognize us as Righ and future Bhanrigh, they do not comment.

I chase Calum's wolf-skin through the castle grounds, out the fortified gate, and into the dark woods that separate The Cameron's ancestral home from the town beyond. Finally, after what seems like ages, Calum stops and turns to face me, his tail pointing straight back, his muscles tense.

Instinct moves me. I snarl and snap my jaws and pounce at him, going for his jugular. Calum's wolf skin easily evades my attack, and lightly nips the flesh at the back of my neck. I instinctually recognize the correction for what it is, but turn to attack him again anyways.

I launch myself at him, jaws snapping, ready to end his pathetic life for allowing someone else to touch what is mine... but he easily flips me over and wraps his great maw around my own throat instead. I whimper, straining against him, but he holds firm. His teeth do not pierce my flesh, but they are there, ready to be used against me if I do not concede.

He growls, low and deep, and my wolf-skin responds to the weight of the command. My entire body shudders, pops, and cracks, and then I am lying naked beneath a great black wolf. Calum's wolf skin retreats into his flesh, and then it is him above me, a forearm against my neck, his naked thighs bracketing my hips.