Was he going insane like he had mentioned?

"Drake," she moaned, feeling something in her mouth. She used her parched tongue to roll across her teeth, sucking in a gasp of air when sharp fangs pricked the tip of her tongue. She was changing into a bear.

"He will be here shortly," the healer reassured her, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You are beginning your shift. Don't fight it, Tessa."

Her fingers tingled as the bones broke and reformed. She screamed out in pain when her back arched at a weird angle. The beast inside her mind wanted out. It needed to hunt, to scavenge the land.

Her beast was hungry.

Tessa remembered Drake telling her not to fight the first shift. The healer had advised her giving in to the beast would make the shift less painful. Please shift quickly, lady bear.

The beast controlled her mind and her body as it pushed to be released. Hair sprouted through her human skin, her ears reshaping along with her face. Claws grew from her fingertips and her legs and arms thickened.

The bed cracked and creaked as she blinked. The room around her was covered in a golden haze. The healer stood in the corner, his eyes narrowing on her. "Tessa? You are a beautiful grizzly."

The beast wanted her mate. Where was he?

Tessa roared at the male, wanting answers, but her human mind knew he didn't understand her. They couldn't talk in this form, and who knew if the panther understood bear mannerisms enough to sense what she was wanting.

Tessa slowly crawled off the bed, walking over to the door. Her legs wobbled with each step, but it didn't take but a few to get her balance. The bear lifted its paw and tapped it against the door. She looked over her shoulder and leaned her head toward the exit. The healer sighed heavily and shook his head. "Drake wants you in here."

Another roar.

"Tessa, you have to stay in here," Harold repeated. "The men are taking care of a problem on the land."

Problem? Her human mind and her beast knew something was wrong. The only person who'd come onto this land was Bradley. Oh no!

Tessa's beast stood on her hind legs and bashed her large paws against the door, demanding to be set free. Harold cursed loudly behind her but didn't make a move from his spot in the corner. It didn't matter, because with each hit to the door, the wood split little by little.

"Tessa, no!" Harold yelled as the door splintered from the weight of her body slamming against it.

She let the beast run toward the front room. When she came into the large living room, the bear lifted its snout to the sky and scented the air. Drake's scent was strong, along with others she hoped were his brothers.

"Tessa, damn it!" Harold barked as he slid to a stop behind her. "Your ex-husband is out there. You cannot let him see you or the bear."

Drake is out there!