Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Chapter 0638

A mating bond...?

Yes. Even though Nicholas and I had never talked about the love between us, I had still felt it grow over these months together. Nicholas had never made a bonding bite on my neck, yet inside of me, that bond had cultivated. Our hearts were bound together, mating bite or now.

There was no denying it.

I felt a distant heartbeat echoing beside my own.

Nicholas.

The presence of that heartbeat, as far away as it seemed, gave me as much comfort as if Nicholas had been standing right beside me.

From that comfort, I drew strength.

In the past, Nicholas or Julian or both had come to my rescue when I needed them. But now, they were thousands of miles away. Unless I wanted to die - which I didn't - I needed to find my own way out of this, and fast.

Reaching out, I placed my hands on the bars and gave them a little shake. Despite everything else down in this cellar that was old and decrepit, the bars seemed new and were fairly well installed. They didn't have any give. "What are you doing?" Joyce asked.

*Can you shift?" I asked him. "A human can't do a thing about these bars but an alpha wolf might be able too." Joyce hung his head. "I haven't shifted since... before..."

He didn't need to finish. The underground's manipulation of him seemed to have left him weakened. I wouldn't push the issue.

But that certainly didn't help the issue. Even if I could shift into my wolf, I wasn't sure Miracle and I would have the power to bust through these bars.

An alpha wolf could.

And maybe... a bear.

Still holding the bars, I closed my eyes and began to meditate. It was difficult, with the fear pounding in my chest and the occasional sniffle from Joyce.

"Miracle..." I whispered in my mind. "Please... whatever is happening. I need you... and I need our bear..."

I listened intently to the voice within myself, trying to hear what I couldn't before. Pushing out all other thoughts and sounds, I focused as hard as I could.

And that was when I heard it, a whisper from a far away place.

"Call for me..." It wasn't quite Miracle, but it wasn't not Miracle either. It was like a different part of us both, somewhere near and far.

"Miracle..." I said in my mind. Then, aloud, "Miracle!"

At once, my body shifted, adding mass and fur. In a flash, I had shifted from my regular human self into a large bear.

"Whoa!" Joyce cried, immediately stepping back from the bars between us.

The energy needed to maintain such a fierce presence was nearly overwhelming. I wouldn't be able to hold this form for very long. Knowing that, I lifted my massive paws and slammed them into the door, smashing through the lock.

The door swung open at once. Outside, I turned to Joyce's cell and did the same.

As soon as his door also hung free, I let Miracle slip away and shifted back into human form. I stumbled. Joyce hurried and caught me. Catching my head in my hands, I leaned against Joyce a moment, catching my breath. "Are the enemies coming?" I asked. I'd just made a hell of a noise.

*The room is soundproof," Joyce said. "Most likely, they didn't even notice."

He kept his hand on my shoulder, even as I steadied myself.

"That was a hell of a trick," he said.

"I couldn't maintain it. It was so draining... I'm lucky I did what I did."

"We're both lucky then," Joyce said. "When you're ready, we should try to get out of here."

"Let's go," I replied, not wanting to spend one more minute in this hellhole.

Joyce seemed suspicious of me, holding his arm out as if I might fall over. When I didn't, he followed me together the door. This one, thankfully, was unlocked. They likely never expected that we'd make it this far.