Chapter 67

Anila’s POV

My mates were standing in a circle staring at me with their mouths hanging open. The pain had finally settled, and I was feeling stronger than ever. I had never felt so energized in all of my life. I wasn’t expecting everything to be so heightened, but I could smell literally everything all at once; I could hear for miles, and I could see 10 times stronger than I ever saw before.

I looked down at my body and saw nothing but black fur, which was strange because a moment ago, I saw nothing but white fur. I looked up at the moon and I went to howl again, but it came out a roar instead.

What the hell? I thought to myself.

When I looked up to see their confused faces, I knew something was very wrong. I wanted to ask them what had happened, but my voice came out as a huff. I obviously couldn’t speak in this form. I wanted to find a creek so I could see my reflection. For a second, I thought maybe my bones reformed wrong.

I shuddered at the thought.

Did I look like a freak or something?

I stumbled backward, trying to get a footing.

I thought I would be battling my spirit animal a lot more than I had. Although, I had to admit, it took a few minutes for me to take charge of it. I could tell it wanted to take complete control over my body and I wouldn’t let it. It submitted pretty quickly, and it even eased some of the pain while my body finished the shift.

I’m not sure how long it took, but I was feeling way better than I had only minutes ago.

“Anila?” I heard my name from one of my mates and I knew right away that it was Xaden.

I looked up at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

“Are you in there?” He asked, kneeling on the ground to get a better look at me.

I nodded my head, surprised that it actually worked.

His eyes grew large.

“Holy shit,” he whispered.

“How is that possible?” Harley then asked, his eyes glued on me.

How is that possible? I wanted to ask, but there was no way for me to communicate with him in this form.

“I don’t know,” Xaden whispered. “This explains how she could be mated to a bear though.”

I was so confused, and I had so many questions. I started to whale in my animal form, and it came out as a whimper and another growl. They all looked startled at first, but then Harley quickly snapped out of it and started to strip off his clothes.

Before I knew what was happening, he was shifting.

His bear was a gorgeous orange color just like the hair on his head and it was massive. It was much larger than my form; I felt small in comparison. Once he was in his bear form, he stepped toward me and sniffed me. I wanted to laugh because his nose tickled; I never interacted with his bear like this before.

I saw it when I first arrived at this school and he got into that fight with Xaden and Zach, but this was the first time I actually got to interact with the animal. I wanted to reach out and pet him, but my fingers were replaced with huge claws. If I were to attempt to pet him, it would only scratch him and I didn’t want to hurt him.

“Anila, can you hear me?” I heard Harley’s voice coming through my mind.

I was startled by that and looked at him pointedly.

“Yes,” I said through my mind. I didn’t have to actually use my lips; I could hear my own voice when I thought of the words to say. It was the strangest feeling. “How is this possible?”

“We can communicate in our animal forms,” he told me. “But only when we are shifted.”

“Can I communicate with all shifters in this form?” I asked out of pure curiosity.

“Yes,” he answered. “How are you feeling?”

“Stronger and better than I was,” I admitted. “That was so painful.”

“I know. The first shift was the worst, but you did it and you did it amazingly. You didn’t even lose control of your animal. You are still fully in charge.”

“It was weird. My animal submitted pretty quickly and allowed me to take control,” I explained. “I’m not sure why or what I did to make that happen. But as soon as she submitted, the pain eased a little.”

“Part of the pain comes from the human body’s resistance and the spirit animal’s forced control. Once you stop resisting and the animal submits, the pain tends to lessen,” he explained, confirming my thoughts.

“Why is everyone looking at me so weird?” I asked, looking up at my other mates.

Before I knew what was happening, both Xaden and Zach were also shifting. Damien just stood there with his arms folded across his chest and he looked annoyed. Probably because he couldn’t talk to me like the others could.

“Anila, babe, are you okay?” Xaden asked, nudging me with his nose.

I nodded my giant animal head.

“I’m a lot better now,” I explained. “Is everything okay? You guys looked really shocked.”

“It’s not often we see someone shift into two different animals,” Zach muttered.

I snapped a look at him and then at the others.

“Two different animals?” I repeated, even in my head, my voice sounded strained.

“Yeah, babe,” Xaden said, brushing his wolf’s body against mine. “You shifted into a gorgeous white wolf.”

“And then you shifted into the most beautiful black bear I had ever seen,” Harley breathed.

“I have two spirit animals?” I asked, staring down at my very bear-like body. “How is that possible?”

“I’m not sure, but it was pretty cool and terrifying,” Xaden admitted. “I was worried it would have taken too much out of your body. But you look great and stronger than ever.”

“And your eyes are purple,” Zach added. “It’s weird.”

“My eyes?” I asked, confused. “They are purple?”

They all nodded their animal heads.

“Well, this is fun and all. But I have other shit to do,” Damien said turning away.

I knew he was frustrated because he wasn’t a part of this conversation. I let out a low growl and his eyes grew large. It was almost like he was afraid of me or something; then I pounced in his direction, nipping at his backside.

He let out a yelp and jumped away from me. I wanted to laugh, but it came out like a huff as I chased him playfully around the forest. His face had paled when I got closer to him and I snapped my teeth at him, not wanting to hurt him, but wanting to scare him just a little.

The others roared with laughter in my head as he jumped out of the way.

“Knock it off, Anila,” he said, but there was a lightness in his voice that made my heart swell.

I realized he wasn’t afraid at all, he was smiling. He finally stopped running to catch his breath and rubbed my massive bear body against him. For some reason, it made me happy to rub my scent on him.

He smiled and then ran his fingers through my fur in wonder.

“You’re so soft,” he whispered.

I was proud of that, and I even lifted my head higher.

“How do I shift forms?” I asked the others.

“Just think about the animal you want to shift into and command its obedience,” Xaden answered.

I thought about the pure white wolf that now resided inside of me and I tried to clear my head of all thoughts other than that wolf. Soon, my entire body was transforming, and white fur covered me. It was a painless transition and my senses seemed to be even stronger if that made any sense.

Instead of feeling a sense of strength, I felt powerful. I felt fast and victorious. I howled at the moon and my howl echoed through the night sky. Zach and Xaden mimicked my howl and Harley let out a growl.

“I want to go for a run,” I told them and I’m not even sure where it was coming from, but I had this strong urge to just run.

Xaden took off first and I went after him. I ran fast, well aware that the others were on my tail. I could feel the ground quaking from Harley’s large bear form. I picked up speed, dodging through trees and leaping over logs as if I had done this many times in the past.

I ran so fast that everything around me started to blur and I knew I was way ahead of the others, including Xaden.

We ran around for hours, and I didn’t get tired once. I was feeling as if I was on top of the world. I reached a giant log and I leaped into the air, shifting my form airborne and landing on the ground in my bear form. The ground rumbled under the weight of my strong bear body. I wasn’t as fast in my bear form, but I was strong, and I felt like I could take on the entire world.

The others caught up to me and they were laughing in my head, amazed by how cool that was. Damien was no longer with us, and I knew he most likely went back to campus.

I thought about my human form and soon I was shifting back into plain old Anila Montgomery. I was amazed that I felt no pain anywhere in my body. My bones were completely healed, and I no longer felt like I was going to die.

The others shifted as well, and they were also laughing as they caught their breath.

“That was amazing,” Harley laughed. “I can’t believe you are both a wolf and a bear.”

“Believe it,” I chuckled. “Because this is happening.”

It wasn’t until I looked at the heated gaze of Zach that I looked down and gasped. I hadn’t even thought about this when I shifted back. I looked back up at him and saw him corking an eyebrow as he took me in.

Then I looked at the others and my mouth hung open.

We were all completely naked.