Casts 19_Crowned by Fate

Chapter 19: Naked in the Lake <fn1122> Original content can be found at Find?Novel</fn1122>

 Skye’s POV

 My body convulsed uncontrobly, muscles contracting in violent spasms.

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 If Adrian hadn’t wrapped his arm around my shoulders, I would have copsed onto the hard ground. He called my name, concern evident in his voice, but all I could offer in response was a pained groan that wed its way up my throat..

 “What’s happening to me?” I gasped between waves of agony. “The gunshot wound–it healed, didn’t it?” My thoughts immediately turned to the Asian doctor who had treated me. “Did Dr. Chen give me something? Some kind of herb or medication with side effects?” 

 Adrian shook his head, his amber eyes studying me intently. “I promise you, Dr. Chen is an excellent physician. Tell me exactly what you’re feeling right

 now.” 

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 Like my body is being torn apart, I managed through gritted teeth. “As if dozens of hands are pulling me in different directions at once.” Another violent spasm wracked my frame, and I clutched at his shirt. “And I’m burning up–my skin feels like it’s on fire.”

 To my surprise, Adrian’s concerned expression melted into a smile. “You’ve never experienced this before, have you?” He scooped me up effortlessly, cradling me against his chest as he carried me toward the SUV. “I believe you’re about to shift.”

 “Shift?” The word came out as a shocked whisper as he gentlyid me across the back seat. “That’s impossible. I thought- My body arched in pain, cutting off my words. 

 Could it really be happening?

 After twenty–one years of nothing, after being rejected by Leon for my inability to transform, was I finally going to manifest my wolf? 

 Had the Moon Goddess heard my desperate curses that night in the parking lot and decided, after three long years, to finally grant me what I’d always longed for?

 “Try to hold on,” Adrian said, climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “I’m taking you somewhere that will help.”

 The twenty–minute drive felt like an eternity as waves of heat and pain washed over me.

 When the vehicle finally stopped, Adrian lifted me from the back seat, and I blinked against the bright sunlight to see a smallke. 

 “The water will help cool your body and ease the pain, Adrian exined as he carried me toward the shore. He hesitated, his voice softening. “You should probably remove your dress: Your first shift will likely destroy any clothing you’re wearing.”

 With that, he respectfully turned his back, giving me privacy despite my vulnerable state.

 I was grateful for this small courtesy as I fumbled with the simple green dress, peeling it away from my sweat–soaked skin. I kept my underwear on, a <bst attempt at modesty, before sliding into the coolke water.

 The relief was immediate but short–lived. Another violent spasm hit, and my legs buckled beneath me. I sank below the surface, inadvertently swallowing a mouthful of water as panic seized me.

 Strong arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me up so my face cleared the water.

 Adrian had jumped in, fully clothed, to keep me from drowning. In any other circumstance, I would have been mortified–my nearly naked body pressed against his, my breasts ttened against his chest, suddenly sensitive in a way I’d never experienced before.

 My head rested on his shoulder as his warm breath tickled the nape of my neck. His hands syed across my lower back, steadying me as another wave of pain hit. His touch sent waves of heat through my already burning skin, as if my body might burst into mes at any moment.

 A peculiar sensation washed over me, a sweet agony that confused my senses.

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 I couldn’t name this feeling, couldn’t understand how such intense pain could simultaneously feel so… right.

 clutched at his shoulders, fingers digging into the wet fabric of his shirt as 1 fought against the conflicting sensations tearing through me,

 Let it happen, he murmured, his voice a soothing rumble against my ear. “Don’t fight it, Skye. Your wolf is finallying.”

 The transformation, when it came, was both agonizing and exhrating. My bones cracked and reformed, muscles stretched and realigned, and my skin prickled as silver fur erupted across my body.

 The world around me shifted–colors intensified, scents multiplied a thousandfold, and sounds I’d never noticed before filled my sensitive ears.

 With an instinct I didn’t know I possessed, I leaped from Adrian’s arms onto the shore, my new four legs wobbling uncertainly beneath me. I stumbled, unused to this new form, paws sying awkwardly on the sandy bank as I tried to find my bnce.

 When I finally steadied myself enough to look back at Adrian, still standing waist–deep in the water, his expression was one of undisguised wonder.

 “Silver, he breathed. “Your wolf is pure silver.”

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Casts 19