I attacked without an extra second of hesitation. His reflexes needed to be sharp enough to keep up with a predator, so I attacked him like one. I lunged for his left knee with fangs bared.

Before I could chomp down, he threw himself back with all of his weight, but his jump had too much force. He tried to land on his feet after travelling almost ten feet back and started falling over. Hunger and instinct made my body move before my mind could even consider restraint, leaping over the distance before he could recover from such a mistake.

If he stumbled and fell badly, it would cost him dearly.

I snarled, but instead of falling, he dropped hard and rolled out of my path. I landed quick and chased after him. I didn't let up my attacks for even a second, but he managed to evade each one by the skin of my teeth. Power flowed into my muscles naturally as adrenaline pumped into my veins. My paws tore at the lawn as my assault grew more intense. Sweat flowed beneath my fur as I held back less and less.

As deadly as I became, Jake was holding on well. He fought defensively for the most part, but managed to try countering a few times. He grew bolder and faster to match me.

In a fit of bravery, he jumped onto my back and wrapped his arms and legs around my body. I felt him squeezing and could tell that he was trying to wrestle me to the ground. I had to resist a laugh.

"How cute," I growled in my best attempt at speech.

Every muscle on my body is probably harder than all of his combined, but it was a nice try. I tipped over onto my side and rolled right on top of him. He grunted as my heavy body pinned him, but didn't give up. To my surprise, he actually bit me on my furry shoulder. "Crap! Are you a wolf or a freaking bear?"

"Wonderful idea!" my words came out a pair of long barks, but he could read my mind so it didn't matter.

I rose onto my hind legs and let my body expand. My chest grew broad and my arms grew thick and heavy. I went past the point of optimal form and became a gray grizzly bear.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Jake shouted and jumped to his feet. His eyes were definitely reflecting the light in a strange way. It was hard to tell because of how dark they were, but I was sure of it now.

Even though he complained, Jake held his own against me as a bear. I changed multiple times throughout the rest of the morning and threw the power of plenty of beasts at him. Aside from a few new scrapes and scratches, he survived for hours before collapsing. His chest heaved and sweat soaked his clothing from head to toe. His eyes were shut tight and his lips were wide open and panting. They were warm pink just like his cheeks and I unconsciously froze watching them.

I wanted to reach out and touch them. To graze those lips with my fingertips. To kiss them until they were raw and sensitive. Before I knew it, my body was human again. It wasn't an intentional change and I knew that my face showed off my surprise.

"We can call it a day," I took a seat on the grass beside him. My pulse settled down much faster that his and my breathing was calm in just a few moments. Fighting came naturally for me as an Alpha. "How did you feel? While we were fighting."

The rising and falling of his chest was finally calming down and his head rolled to the side to face me. His very normal and raven-colored eyes opened to look at me. "I don't know, Hunter. I didn't get to think about my feelings very much. I was too busy being attacked by a wolf, a bear, a mountain lion, a tiger, a-"

"Okay, okay! I get it," I laughed. Looking down at him didn't feel right, so I laid back and shifted so that I was laying right beside him. "I worked you pretty hard. I know, but I knew you could handle it."

"How would you know if I'd survive being mauled by an angry bear?" he scoffed.

"Because I have already seen how much of me you can take in bed. It's pretty much the same thing," I grinned at him. His eyes widened and he lashed out, kicking me in the side of my leg. "Ah, that one hurt. I thought we were done fighting for today."

"Your jokes are so bad," he groaned, but I could see a smile working its way onto his lips. He was right.

My jokes are almost never appropriate and often never used, but I managed to get away with them once in a while.

"But really, why do you sound so confused inside?" he asked after reading my mind.

I didn't want to bring it up before I was sure of what was happening. But Jake is my guy, I won't hide anything from him again. "Your eyes turned a few shades darker green than normal. That's a trait that females have after being turned by their mate. It's a sign that they're changing. Yet, that isn't possible, or it shouldn't be."

"Because we're both males."

"Yeah," I confirmed and stared at the afternoon clouds milling around in the skies without a care in the world. So my question was...what could be happening to him?