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Sabine’s magic had gone amok.

Twice she attempted to transform Lachlan into a frog as he chased her out of the keep’s front entrance. Each time her spells fizzled and rebounded to change her voice into hoarse croaks. She had to get away from him, had to feel the forest beneath her feet.

Only by a stroke of luck did she escape the beast trailing her when he stopped to speak with a man who looked at her appraisingly.

“This canna be happenin’.” She trudged through the dimly lit forest using Beserka sight to lead her way. The night wind whispered through the trees, tugging at her kirtle. She glanced at the cloudy sky looking for the answer.

Sabine felt like a forsaken child, instead of the woman she was. And where was her aplomb? The man confused her on so many levels. Her body screamed to be near him. Yet she feared leaving the safety of her family.

Frantically, she tore her chemise and kirtle over her head and tossed them aside. The beast within her rose to the surface, sending a tingling sensation across her skin as her body began to shimmer. Heat waves rose as every muscle clenched and shifted, rolling across her body until a leopard, black as the night, stood in her once human footsteps.

She raised her head to the heavens, releasing a sorrowful mewl. Then she began to run, fast and furious, away from the castle—away from her destiny.

Light raindrops fell as she bounded over fallen logs and large boulders in her way. She ran fast and far, until her lungs burned, felt as if they would explode. Then she slowed. Panting, she gulped breaths of air to quell the ache in her chest. When the beat of her heart was almost normal, she stretched, and laid her lithe form upon the ground. Soft, non-aggressive puffing sounds came from her nostrils as she called her friends to her side.

From a copse of trees emerged a reddish-brown fox. He sniffed the air. Reynard had been one of the first animals she befriended as a child. Beneath a bramble a rabbit appeared. Kasha’s long ears twitched as she hopped closer.

From high in the treetops, a gray squirrel jumped from one branch to another, until he perched on the limb above where Sabine lay. She mewed, urging the skittish animal from its sanctuary. Rubus’s encounters with humans and animals alike had left him untrusting, but not so with Sabine. As he crawled closer, Sabine began to purr. Among her friends, she was content.

For a moment in time, all was well. At the rustling of a bush, her friends each startled and began fleeing in opposite directions. Sabine jumped to her feet, crouching low to discover the largest wolf she had ever seen staring at her. He held her chemise, kirtle and a pair of breeches in his jaws.

Devil take the man.

Slowly the change rippled across his body. What was once golden fur was now tanned flesh stretched taut over firm muscle. He was magnificent from his clear-blue eyes, broad shoulders, taut abdomen, to—

Saints perserve! The man was endowed.

“’Tis time, Sabine.” He held his hand to her.

She crouched lower. Her tail jerked with agitation, then it beat the ground as her top lip rose in a snarl.

He answered her defiance with a low, ominous sound that rumbled up from his chest. As he began to slip his leggings on, he said, “Change now or I will haul that bonnie arse of yers over my shoulder.”

How dare he speak to her in such a way? She barely held her temper as she released her beast’s hold, allowing the change to whisper across her body.

She refused to allow Lachlan to dominate her. With a proud stance, she raised her chin. That was until his cock jerked alive, lengthening. She gasped, hastily making tracks to gather her chemise and kirtle and quickly dressed.

“I dinna wish tae wed.” Her voice trembled.

A shadow raced across his face as he fastened his breeches. Had her words hurt him? She thought differently when his features hardened. “’Tis done. Come.” He pushed by her, and then headed for the castle.

Anger surfaced hot and fast. Impulsively, she shoved her hands in front of her. “Rat!”

Nothing happened as she watched his muscled back draw further away from her. Once again, her magic failed. Instead, her nose began to twitch. When whiskers began to appear on her face, she released a high-pitched cry.