Chapter 421 Chapter 421
Emersyn’s legs gave out. She dropped to her hands and knees and tried to suck air into her body. Where did Noah go? She couldn’t see him now. Kobie was on the ground in front of her, saying something, but she couldn’t focus to hear her. The air on her skin burned. They said it would feel better, but it wasn’t. She shouldn’t be doing this. Shifting wasn’t allowed.
Her whole body was shaking, making the panic more intense. Her skin felt like it was crawling with something. This was wrong. Something was wrong. Her breathing kept changing, it felt like it was out of control. She tried to slow it and breathe as they said, but her body wouldn’t listen. She was panting—like a cat.
Opening her eyes wide, she managed to lift her head. In front of her was a huge deep orange tiger. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make her eyes adjust and focus. They were blurry for a second, and then it was as if a veil was lifted. The tiger in front of her was clearer, his coat a radiant orange now was so clear she could see the individual hairs in it. She looked into his eyes and knew it was Noah. Noah hadn’t left her; he was right there in front of her. A soft coaxing sound came from deep in his chest and he moved closer, nudging her with his soft head.
Later she’d think about how she knew, but something inside her responded and told her that he wanted her to let go and let it happen. She trusted him. He was the only person on earth she had faith in.
Lowering her chin, she groaned through the startling feeling as bones popped. She felt removed from her body, not even sure if it was her body making those sounds. Her breathing felt steadier now, evenly flowing into her lungs. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see paws where her hands had rested on the cool grass. They were dark orange, almost close to brown. They were her paws.
She lifted her chin and then crouched low, so many scents were filling her, it startled her. She didn’t know what most of them were. Plants, the dirt itself, bark, she didn’t know how she knew it was tree bark, but it was.
With her legs shaking, she tried to stand taller. All four legs worked at once. She had four legs. Turning her head, she looked over her shoulder to see a tail swooshing back and forth slowly. She had a tail. A long-striped tail.
Her heartbeat felt like it had slowed and was less frantic as she looked to see how much clearer everything looked. Excitement filled her, she looked back to Noah to try to convey it when she noticed a young female standing beside him. Mine was the only thought she had. Curling her lip back, she snarled at her, a low growl coming from her throat.
“Nichelle.” It was Kobie’s voice, “move away from Noah.”
The young cat listened and bound in the other direction.
Noah stood there, watching her, his eyes were gorgeous she thought. He’s ours. Her cat’s thoughts filled her head. Straightening, she took an unsteady step and then realized her body knew how to sync up the extra two legs and she moved closer to Noah. He stood completely still and let her move her face closer, inhaling his cat’s scent.
When he made a sound that was similar to a low rumbling purr, her cat jumped back from him and stretched to her full length. Emersyn realized then she had shifted. There were no reprimands for doing it, no punishment. She was free. Swinging her head, she looked to the trees and before she knew what she was doing, she was running full speed into them. It scared her but exhilarated her—she had no idea if she was in charge or her cat.
She could hear paws hitting the ground behind her and didn’t care, she wasn’t slowing down. She heard others sounds too, birds, and something smaller moving through the bush. She inhaled and found the scent and took off after it. She didn’t want to catch it or kill it she realized, she just wanted to chase it. Run faster and chase it down. Running this speed was amazing. How were the others ever happy to on two after this?