The Raven Series 2 by J.L. Weil

stiff-armed the wolf in the muzzle as he snapped his jaw at my face.
    An agonizing screech ripped from my throat.
    “Use your inner strength, Piper, to stop him,” Zane instructed.
    No matter how much I bucked, the beast wasn’t going anywhere. He was too big, too muscular. He had a paw on either side of my head, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth onto my neck, and the heat of his pants lapped over my face. I couldn’t see a way out of this predicament. But that was my first problem. I was thinking like a human, not like a banshee.
    And that was the moment I ceased my struggles. My poor body was spent anyway and welcomed the release. I used what energy I had left to lift my hand. Fear coated the back of my throat, but my wits slowly returned. My hand outstretched, locking onto the center of the wolf’s underbelly. I was sweating and whimpering, but I held steady.
    My whole body tensed with shock as prickling white tendrils of power radiated down my arm and past my fingertips. The wolf threw its head back, a mangled howl unleashing from its mouth. I watched enthralled as the white ribbons wove from my skin onto the wolf’s, swarming his heart. Crash’s animal form went stiff.
    “Piper,” Zane warned in the background.
    I heard him, but his voice was as distant as if he was on the other end of an alley, but I understood what he was cautioning. If I weren’t careful, I could take Crash’s soul. That was a sobering thought.
    With more effort than it had taken to paralyze the wolf, I disengaged my fingers from the wolf’s silky fur, but even as I let go, something was building inside me. It scared me. His head lobbed to one side, and the weight of his lifeless body crushed mine. Unable to take the pressure building inside me, I screamed. Long and loud. Whoosh . Air expelled from my lungs in a force I didn’t know was possible and hit the wolf in the chest.
    His body went flying backward and landed several feet away. I scooted up, inhaling a shaky breath and staring at the unmoving animal form of Crash. My hands were trembling, not because I was afraid the wolf might wake, but of myself, of what I’d been able to conjure. I wasn’t even sure what I’d done, but the magic of being a banshee sang in my blood.
    I watched as the wolf’s lean yet robust body wavered and slowly turned back into a man. “Holy crap,” I whispered, stumbling to my feet. Several other curses were let loose.
    Zane’s smile was infectious, the little specks of blue in his eyes vibrant and alive. “Like a dull knife sitting in a drawer, you just needed to be sharpened up.”
    I didn’t know whether to hate him or thank him.
    Crash sat on the floor, appearing to have been knocked into a stupor.
    Clap. Clap. Clap.
    The sound came from behind me. I lifted my head, turning it over my shoulder to see a grinning Zander saunter down the metal staircase. He looked as if he’d just come from a business meeting, dressed in khakis and a button-down blue shirt, the sleeves rolled below the elbows.
    “Wow. That’s one heck of a sonic boom you got there,” he complimented. “I think that’s a first. I’ve never seen anyone actually force a shifter to change back to their human form.”
    Is that what I did? Compelled Crash out of his wolf form? Huh.
    “She’s a quick learner once she gets her bearings,” Zane said. There was an allusion of pride on his lips.
    Zander’s sky-colored eyes landed on mine. “Death will be pleased to hear you’re progressing.”
    “Are you in charge of giving him my daily report?” I asked, slightly snippier than I’d intended. In my defense, I was kind of shaken up. My hands trembled faintly.
    “Weekly. Not daily.”
    With Zane I could always tell when he was being a smartass. I wasn’t there with Zander. Or maybe I took Zander more seriously. Either way, a puzzling look furrowed my forehead as I sorted out how to respond.
    “I’m kidding,” Zander said before I gave myself a brain aneurism.