Chapter 60

Chapter 60
"I'm ready."
I barely finished speaking the words when I feel everything change. I feel myself losing control of my own body.
"Relax, I'll do all the work," I heard Lyra say.
I suppressed a scream. "Easy for you to say," I managed to say to her.

Dex came into my field of vision. "The first time is the worst. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth." I tried to do what he said, but the pain shooting through my body is unbearable. I fall forward onto the ground. Dex was talking to me, but it sounded like I’m underwater. I can't hear anything he is saying, only the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears.
I gasp for breath. White-hot pain shoots through my arms, legs, and shoulders. I clench my jaws to keep from screaming.
"Breathe." Lyra commands. I am too consumed by the pain to respond. If something breaks in my arm, I scream. Goddammit, I don't know what is worse. This pain or the pain of my transformation.
"Relax, you're fighting it, that only makes it worse," Dex tries to help me, I glare at him. "Relax?" I snap, "All my bones are breaking, and you're telling me to relax?!" How in God's name am I supposed to relax? His face darkens, and I regret my angry remark. I am about to apologize as my back and legs transform. I squeeze my eyes shut and try with all my might to relax. In through my nose, out through my mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I try to focus on Dex's heartbeat. Miraculously, it helps. The pain is still present, but less than before. It is more... bearable.

And then suddenly, the pain is gone. The ringing in my ears is gone, and everything feels... lighter.
Something in the air has changed. My sense of smell had already improved, but now... I smell... everything. The scent of the water is stronger; I can easily distinguish the forest animals, and then Dex.
I open my eyes. Everything is sharper, but the colors are different too. My body starts moving on its own.
"Not on its own, I'm in control now," says Lyra. Oh yeah, right.
Lyra moves closer to the water. I want to look back to see if Dex is following us, but although I feel like I'm moving my head, I only see the water's edge getting closer.
It's a strange feeling, moving while I'm not in control myself. Hell, it's a strange feeling that I think I'm still in my own body, and at the same time feel that I'm not. It's confusing. Lyra has arrived at the water's edge.
I gasp. "You are beautiful." Two bright blue eyes look at me. The kind of blue that almost seems to glow. But that could also be because her fur looks dazzling white in the reflection of the water.
Lyra turns her head; behind us stands a large black wolf. Drake. I was so engrossed by the sight of Lyra that I didn't notice Dex shifting into his wolf. He seems so much bigger than I seem to remember. I swallow. Lyra keeps looking at Drake as he slowly walks closer. I chuckle. It feels like she is trying to make herself bigger than she is. And she is bigger than I had expected, but a lot smaller than Drake.
I am flooded with warmth. Not my own, but Lyra's. Joy, love. The feelings are just as strong as the ones I have for Dex. The feelings race through me, and after a few seconds, I don't know if these are my own emotions or Lyra's.
"Ours. They are the same," Lyra says.
Drake nudges his nose against Lyra. The touch sends a delicious tingle through my body, through Lyra's body.
Lyra closes her eyes, and that tingle quickly transforms into something else. Something I recognize all too well. Arousal. Oh no...
"Lyra... please tell me you aren't going to mate now. While I'm present..." I try not to sound too uncomfortable. She doesn't answer immediately; she only has eyes for Drake, who is looking at her with a gaze full of lust and desire.
Besides Lyra's arousal, I notice something else. I can't quite place it; naughty comes closest. She slowly takes a step back. There is a glint in Drake's eyes. What the hell is going on?

Lyra said our feelings align, but I don't get it at all. And I don't like to be kept in the dark. "Lyra..." I try again. It's as if I see Drake smirking, and instead of answering, Lyra sprints off. What the actual fuck? First it looks like they could pounce on each other at any moment, and now she's running away?
"Don't worry," Dex's voice sounds in my head. "Drake likes a challenge."
"A challenge?" I repeat, but Lyra offers no clarification. She sprints deeper into the forest. Her paws barely touch the ground as she races between the trees. The speed takes my breath away. One moment we were standing beside the waterfall, and now we are moving through the trees, the sound of the waterfall nowhere to be heard.
Laughter bubbles up inside me. This feeling, it’s amazing. Even though it isn't my own body, I can feel the wind rushing through Lyra's fur. She maneuvers through the forest with ease. Roots that I would certainly have tripped over as a human are nothing more than a slight bump beneath her paws. And fallen logs are simply things to leap over rather than climb across.
Heavy. Steady. Quick. I know it's Drake, and I hear him getting closer. 
I want to look back to see how close he is. I listen to the slowly approaching paws. 

"He could catch us already, couldn't he?" I ask. “He could,” Lyra answers, amusement dancing through her thoughts. "But where's the fun in that?"
Another laugh escapes me.
"So this is a game?"
"It always starts with a chase."
The warmth she'd felt moments ago settles into something lighter. Excitement. Anticipation. Drake lets out a deep bark somewhere behind us.
Lyra flicks an ear.
"He wants us to know he's there,
"He's showing off."
"He always shows off." I grin.
"That sounds like Dex." I say, still smiling.
"It is Dex, they are the same, just like we are."

We weave between towering pines, Moonlight filtering through the branches in shimmering streaks. Every scent is vivid.
Moss, Pine needles, Fresh earth.
A rabbit, A family of deer farther north.
The world feels alive in a way I'd never experienced before.
It isn't just sight or smell. It's as if the entire forest is breathing with us.

"Can you feel it?" Lyra whispers.
"The forest?" She hums happily. "The pack lands."
I slow my thoughts. Only then do I notice it.
A comforting pull beneath everything else. Like invisible threads stretching through the woods, connecting every tree, every trail, every heartbeat.
"I never noticed this before."
"You couldn't." Another bark echoes behind us, closer this time.
Lyra glances over her shoulder.
Drake is gaining. His black coat flashes between the trees like a shadow.
"Oh," I mutter.
Lyra slows her pace. "Are you giving up already?" I’m almost offended. She chuckles in response. A jolt runs through my body.
"Did he... bite your tail?" I ask, shocked. Lyra isn't as shocked as I am; she just chuckles. She flicks her tail a bit more vigorously, as if daring Drake to try it again. Man, wolves are weird. "Hey, humans have their own quirks when it comes to mating, too," Lyra retorts.
Instead of accepting Lyra's challenge, Drake appears beside us. He’s so close that I can feel his fur brushing against us. Lyra stops abruptly. Earth piles up between her paws.
Drake has come to a halt a short distance away. For a few seconds, they just stare at each other, and I can feel the anticipation building in Lyra. I can guess what’s about to happen, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I mean, I’m happy for her, but what will it be like for me? Will it feel as if I’m truly there, as if it’s happening to me? Or will I be more of a spectator? Neither option sounds particularly appealing.

"Relax. Just ask her to lock you out." Dex's voice sounds. He must have sensed my discomfort. "She can do that?" It is Lyra who answers. "Of course I can. You can lock me out too if you want. Although I strongly advise against it."
Lyra starts moving again.
"Okay, before it's getting too wild, please lock me out. I love you, but I don't need to be a spectator." I say quickly before it's too late. I hear her giggle before it goes black. It is a strange feeling. I can feel her, but it is muffled.

"So, now what?" I ask Dex. "Now, we wait."

I don't know what to expect. Is their mating process the same as ours? Do they take their time, or is it pure animal instinct and will it be over in no time?
"You did great," Dex says before I can ask. "Me? I didn't do anything; it was all Lyra."
"In a way it was. But you trusted her. Without that, she couldn't do it."
I let his words sink in.

"So, how long will they take?" I ask eventually.
"I don't know. Drake was pretty impatient after the chase." There’s a hint of laughter in his voice. "Really? Lyra enjoyed it." I actually think that if it had been up to her, she could have kept going even longer.

I have no idea how much time passes, but before I realize it, Lyra’s feelings slowly start coming through strongly again. She feels... satisfied? I wonder if she feels the same way after Dex and I have been intimate.
"Girl, you have no idea." I chuckle. Lyra slowly walks back toward the waterfall. I’m glad she and Drake know which way to go, because I have no clue. I don’t recognize a thing.

An ominous feeling washes over me. "What is it?" I ask when both wolves come to an abrupt halt.

"Lucy," Dex answers curtly.