Ariella
I rest my hand on Davonyé’s back and feel the heat radiating off him.
He’s blazing.
He begins to shift now and groans again through the gasps, but I know he's holding it in.
‘Don't hold it in, Baby. Let it out. You ain't gotta act brave around us. We’ve all been here.’
‘Fuck!’ I hear him. He cries out and then I see him claw at the ground again.
I begin to feel his pain more intensely as his skin begins to tear, and the guilt consumes me as more tears fill my eyes.
I look up at my parents and they both give me a sympathetic smile in return. “He's doing good,” Dad says. “Not much longer now.”
I turn back to look at Davonyé and see his skin tearing the more he grows. He shouts something that sounds a lot like fuck, and then he begins gasping again.
“Don't gasp, Baby. That will make it worse. I know it's hard, but you really do need to breathe through it. It will help.”
“Can't,” he half cries, half shouts. ‘Can't breathe, Ari...’
Dad kneels beside him. “It feels like that, but you can. Trust me.”
I see his hair begin to pierce through his skin and feel relieved but excited, too. ‘You're really changing now... Oh, God... You've got hair like mine...’
‘Ari...’ He gasps.
I rest my hand on his and feel his claws begin to appear. ‘I'm here, Baby. I'm right here.’
His body jerks and then I feel him hurting more as his snout begins to appear. The searing pain overwhelming his body, renders him speechless, and I feel it, too. My magic almost feels like it’s panicking inside me, and my body suddenly feels like it's engulfed in flames.
I cry out and Mom kneels beside me, holding my shoulders. “Sweetheart?”
“I feel it, Mom. I can feel him hurting. Oh, God, he's hurting so bad... I wanna make it stop…”
“Don’t do it, Princess,” Dad says. “Don't take his pain away. He'll never forgive you.”
‘Don't... do... it,’ I hear Davonyé.
I turn my head away into Mom’s arms, trying to block it all out.
But I can't.
Davonyé’s cries and groans of pain are testing me more than I can even explain. My body shakes as I try to fight the urge to stop it. “It's too much, Mom! My magic… it’s too much…”
“I'm so sorry, Sweetheart, but he said no, so you need to resist as hard as you can.”
“This is his choice,” I hear dad. “Focus, Ariella. Control it…”
I close my eyes momentarily as I feel his pain, feel his torture. I’m sensing his feelings so much stronger than I have anyone else's up till now.
I turn back to face him and my heart flutters when I see his half-changed form. ‘Baby, tell me what to do,’ I beg him.
'Don't do it, Ari.'
Tears stream down my face as all air leaves my lungs. I feel my eyes swirling as the magic inside me begs to remedy our hurt. I clench my fists and they tremble as I fight it, fight the urge to take his pain away.
It would be so easy…
He begins to whine and my heart breaks; I know Aura's testing me.
This is her ultimate test.
If I can resist the overpowering urge to do this now, then I would've proved myself to her.
Because nothing is more important to me than him.
And she knows that.
I cling to my magic with everything I have in me. ‘I won’t.’
God knows how much I want to, though.
“Change, Ariella,” Mom encourages. “It won't hurt so much.”
My clothes rip from my body and then I'm the same height as Davonyé. His scent overwhelms me and I feel a rush of calm inside. The pain literally ebbs away to a dull ache and I can focus on him.
“You're almost there.” I can feel an internal clock inside my mind, counting down the seconds until this will be over for him. “You're so close...”
‘Shit, Ari, I never thought it was gonna hurt this bad.’
‘I know… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.’
I look at his beautiful full ware form in front of me and am overcome with an intense admiration. He looks so much like me, but he’s so masculine… My God… he is everything…
‘It’s over now, Baby…’
I hear the cracking of his neck just before he looks up at the sky and howls.
Fuck… look at him, though…
The white fur on his back looks like it’s illuminated under the moonlight, and he’s big as fuck, too. Definitely the same size as me. I admire his dark glassy eyes and his long snout that’s wide open, and I swear, the sound of his howl is the most amazing thing I have ever heard.
‘You did it,’ I tell him adoringly. ‘And you are everything.’ He's the most beautiful ware I've ever seen.
I feel his pain disappear and then exhaustion takes over. I reach forward to guide him into my arms as he falls and slowly begins to shift back to his human form. ‘Bae,’ I hear.
‘It's okay. I got you. Always.’
I shift myself and hold his upper body against my naked chest. The sight of his open wounds appearing as the hair disappears hurts me on a deeper level.
I bite my wrist and wedge it against his lips. He doesn't suck, he's unconscious now, but I know he's taken it down because the cuts begin to heal, right in front of my eyes.
I take my wrist away, after it heals, and then I kiss his forehead. He smells so good... He's definitely a dominant ware, and my heart and mind races at that.
I knew he would be.
I suddenly frown as I look at his chest. “His tattoo?”
“He’s changed, Princess. Any marks on his body that he wasn’t born with will be gone now. I know someone who tattoos wares if he wants it back.”
I nod and then dress him into sweats and then myself into a tracksuit.
“How do you feel?” Mom asks.
I look at Dad and then back at her. “Relieved it's over.”
“I know it ain't nice, but he did good,” Dad says. “So did you. He’s a dominant, Ariella. That shit should be interesting when training starts.”
“I know.” I take a quick look at him before looking back at Dad. “Just please don’t kill him.”
Mom laughs but Dad just rolls his eyes. “I won’t.”
I know things might be a little heated when they train, but I also know that dad is experienced when it comes to that shit, too. “Thank you, both of you…” And now I gotta wait. “…Only forty-seven hours, thirty-six minutes, and thirteen seconds to go.”