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frightened to do it again. Also, if she shifted back now, she’d end up naked around a whole heap of strange males. She knew Peter would protect her modesty,  and they’d put changes of clothes into Lakota’s truck before they’d left, but she didn’t want to attract that kind of attention to herself. Finally, she didn’t want to leave Peter in big cat form. This was the first time she and Peter had run together, and she loved the sensation of having his strong, agile form running at her side. It was an exhilaration she’d never experienced before, a sense of them being one unit. She’d never felt so at one with another being, as if they were created from the same cloth, and that said a lot considering she had a twin brother. More than anything, she wanted to keep Peter at her side, so she wouldn’t shift back until this was all done and he was ready to.
    The newly swelled group got on the move again. The humans divided between the two trucks, with Autumn, Chogan, Daisy, and the soldier in one, and Marcus and Angie in the other. The shifters gave each other space as they ran or flew, never moving too far away from the vehicles and the road, making sure they could still catch sight of them between the trees.
    Sahale and Tocho, both tigers, one a golden yellow, the other white, ran together just ahead of her and Peter. Nadie and Tala flew in advance of everyone else, using their aerial view as an advantage.
    One of the wolves of Tooth and Claw ran alongside Mia. He bumped his shoulder against hers—he stood taller, but she was longer and bound with muscle. She snapped and snarled at him, and almost lost her footing.
    Peter must have noticed something was up, he fell back and then approached the wolf from behind. With a snarl, he lashed his front paw out, claws catching the wolf’s hind leg. The animal faltered and fell over his own feet.
    The creature rolled and jumped back up again, bounding away, a doggy-style grin on its muzzle. It jumped away, its tongue lolling. If it wasn’t for the sheer size of the wolf, she’d have believed she was looking at a pup trying to encourage its pack mates to play.
    Peter let out a low growl, a deep rumble in his chest that made it clear he wasn’t going to put up with any messing around.
    Mia continued to run, but from out of nowhere, her vision grayed over at the edges. She slowed, and Peter slowed with her. The world spun around her, the ground not quite stable beneath her feet. Alarm fired through her veins and she came to a stop, wishing she was able to voice how she felt. Peter nudged her and nuzzled her with his nose, his coal ringed, amber eyes filled with worry, but she couldn’t have him close to her right now. Sudden nausea swept over her and she turned away from him. Her mouth filled with a rush of saliva and her shoulders hunched as her stomach and diaphragm contracted, forcing the contents of her stomach from her body. She retched and vomited onto the dirt ground, her eyes stinging, and the stench assaulting her nostrils.
    Fear worked its way through her bones. What was wrong with her? Was it something to do with the shift? Had her body reacted badly to it, or perhaps it was because she wasn’t used to all the running. As a woman, she never ran anywhere. Autumn had often tried to get her to go along on her hour long runs around the lake back in Chicago, but Mia had always told her that she wasn’t built for running.
    She reached into the back of her mind, trying to connect with the spirit animal whose shape she was currently residing inside, but the animal seemed to retreat, not wanting to connect any further. They were newly bonded, and hadn’t yet created the years of trust that had been formed between the older shifters and their animal guides.
    Once again, she wished she had the use of language to communicate with Peter and ask him all these questions, but even as she was thinking it, the nausea and dizziness began to subside.
    She turned back to him and