Abducting the Princess by Mel Teshco

choice but to kidnap her. His feelings had flourished when he’d gotten to know the real princess, the woman who was beautiful inside and out. The woman who’d do anything for her people, even with her apparent fear of the dark and being a nightmix .
    Without warning her body suddenly went limp and she fell silent.
    His nostrils flared, his pulse thudding in his ears. At last. The rest of Mira’s shift into panther would come to her naturally and without too much pain.
    Jax threw his head up and blew out a nervous breath before trotting a dozen or so paces away, obviously aware of the danger. It was only the stallion’s strict training and trust that kept him within range.
    Mahaya couldn’t dwell on anything but what was happening between him and the princess. He released her with a growl, pheromones and her escalating panther scent pushing him beyond the edge of self-control.
    It was time to release his nightmix .
     
    At last the pain was no more. She’d pushed past an agony unlike anything she’d ever endured before, realizing she could no longer fight it, had nothing to prepare herself against it. She’d had to ride with the torture, become as one with the breaking and lengthening of bones and tendons, the ripping and reforming of skin and nails.
    And in the blink of an eye, the world had changed. Everything around her was monochrome, fresher, sharper and more alive.
    She pushed to her feet—her paws—and looked down at her silver-white furred legs. A shuddering growl pushed past her throat. She wasn’t nightmix !She was a silver panther! A true larakyte now in every way.
    Warmth radiated through her body right along with joy. She’d half expected a rush of inner darkness to precede her change into a nightmix . And now that she knew she’d had nothing to fear all along, it was all she could do not to do a crazy jig on her paws. She turned her head, intensely aware of Mahaya in his panther form. Her heartbeat accelerated faster still, passion all but wiping out every other emotion.He was huge and black as coal. But he was so much more than that too. She lifted her snout and breathed deep, tasting him on her tongue, scenting his lust with her every inhalation.
    Another rumbling growl built in her chest and spilled free from her mouth in a roar. As Mahaya’s big cat voice echoed hers, challenged her, she swung away from him and broke into a sprint that was as natural to her with four legs as two.
    Adrenaline surged through her blood as Mahaya chased her, though she knew she had no hope at outrunning his great strides. He easily caught up. Despite his huge size, his coat was almost invisible in the night, his paws seemingly barely touching the ground.
    She’d always felt a connection to him, but right then in her big cat form it was as if it was just the two of them in their own private world. Breathing the same pine and decay scents, seeing the same monochrome visuals of shadowy, towering trees with glimpses of moonlight in the heavens and pungent pine needles underfoot.
    It was thrilling, a freedom she’d never experienced before. She’d fought Mahaya when he’d taken her from her people and everything she’d ever known. But he’d opened her eyes to another way of life. She’d been a woman scared of her own birthright, scared of the dark. Not only had he saved her from the larakyte dissenters, he’d exposed her to what she’d been missing out on in her controlled existence. He’d allowed her to discover her true self. Her identity.
    Panting for breath, she slowed into a trot and then a walk. He slowed with her. When she stood still, he turned back to face her. She stepped forward, pushing against him with a purr, brushing her head against his before swiping her body, her tail along his length.
    It had ceased to matter what she’d mistakenly believed about him, or that he could never truly be hers. All she knew right then was that no matter what form she was in, she wouldn’t ever get enough of