Chapter 71
Kael
The beast weakened.
I felt it like a dam cracking. Like something that had been holding me under dark water for days suddenly loosening its grip. The gold receded from my vision in waves, leaving grey in its wake.
The burning in my chest that had consumed everything — every thought, every instinct, every shred of control — began to cool.
And then I was shifting.
The pain was immediate and catastrophic. My spine arched, bones grinding, reforming, shrinking back into human dimensions with sickening cracks that echoed through the cell.
Muscles tearing themselves apart and knitting back together. Fur receding into skin like it was being ripped out at the roots. Claws withdrawing into fingernails with a sensation that felt like pulling teeth.
I bit down on my tongue so hard I tasted copper flooding my mouth. Anything to keep from screaming. Anything to keep from giving that goddamn beast the satisfaction of hearing me break.
