Butch woke up on the gurney in the midst of taking a deep breath in through his nose. He was... smelling something. Something that pleased him greatly. Something that made him hum with power. Mine, a voice said in his head.

He tried to shake the word off, but it just got louder. With every breath he took, the single syllable repeated in his brain until it was like the beat of his heart: Involuntary. The source of his very life. The seat of his soul.

With a groan, he sat up on the table, only to lurch off balance and nearly fall onto the floor. As he caught himself, he looked down at his arms. What the¡ªno, this was wrong. These were not his arms¡ªor... shit, his legs either. His thighs were huge.

This is not me, he thought.

Mine, came the voice again.

He looked around. God, everything in the clinical room was crystal clear, like his eyes were windows that had been wiped clean. And his ears... he looked up at the fluorescent lights. He could actually hear the electricity going through the tubes.

Mine.

He inhaled again. Marissa. That scent was Marissa. She was close by¡ª

His mouth opened of its own accord, and he let out a deep, rhythmic purr that ended in a growled word: Mine.

His heart pounded as he realized the control tower in his head had been completely overtaken. No longer logical, he was being ruled by a possessive instinct that made what he'd felt toward Marissa before look like a passing fancy.

Mine!

He glanced down at his hips and got a load of what was doing in his now way-too-small boxers. His cock had grown along with the rest of him, and it was punching out at the stretched-thin cotton. The thing twitched as he looked at it as if to get his attention.

Oh... God. His body wanted to mate. With Marissa. Now.

As if he'd called her name, she appeared in the doorway. "Butch?"

With no warning, he became a torpedo, his body aiming itself at her and shooting across the room. He took her down to the floor and kissed her hard, mounting her while he grabbed the front of her slacks and wrenched the zipper down. Grunting, straining, he peeled her pants off her smooth legs, spread her thighs roughly, and buried his face in her core.

As if he were a split personality, he watched himself act from a distance, seeing his hands shove her shirt up and capture her breasts while he tongued her. Then he was surging forward, baring fangs he somehow knew how to use and biting through the front of her bra. He kept trying to get himself to stop, but he was caught in some kind of centrifugal force, and Marissa... she was the axis he whirled around.

From the maelstrom, he groaned, "I'm sorry... oh, God... I can't stop..."

She grabbed on to his face... and stilled him completely. It was unbelievable and he didn't know how she did it, it was just... his body came to a total halt. Which made him realize she had the oddest control over him. If she said no, he would stop. On a dime. Period.

Except she wasn't putting the brakes on. Her eyes glowed with an erotic light. "Take me. Make me your female."

She tilted her hips to him, and his body shot right back into the frenzy. Rearing up, he ripped apart the waistband of his boxers and slammed into her with the things hanging open. He penetrated her so deep, stretched her so wide, he felt like she gloved every inch of him.

As she cried out and sank her nails into his ass, he went for it hard and fast. And while the sex raged, he felt the two halves of himself knitting together. While he pumped wildly, the voice he'd always known to be him and this new one that was talking at him became one.

He was looking into her face as he started to orgasm, and the ejaculations were like nothing he'd ever known. Sharper, more powerful, and they went on forever, as if he had an infinite supply of what he was filling her up with. And she was loving it, kicking her head back on the tile in pleasure, her legs tight around his hips, her core eating up everything he gave her.

When it was over, Butch collapsed, panting, sweating, dizzy. It was only then that he noticed they fit together differently; his head was higher up on her, his hips demanded more room between her legs, his hands were bigger next to her face.

She kissed his shoulder. Licked at his skin. "Mmmm... and you smell good, too."

Yeah, he did. The dark spice that had come out of him before was now a vibrant scent in the room. And the marking was all over Marissa's skin and hair... and it was inside of her, too.

Which was right. She was his.

He rolled off her. "Baby... I'm not sure why I had to do that." Well, half of him wasn't sure. The other half just wanted to do it to her again.

"I'm glad you did." The smile she gave him was radiant. As brilliant as the noonday sun.

And the sight of it made him realize with satisfaction that he was also her man: It was a two-way street here. They belonged to each other.

"I love you, baby."

She repeated the words, but then her smile slipped. "I was so afraid you would die."

"But I didn't. It's over and done with and I'm on the other side. I'm with you on the other side."

"I can't go through that again."

"You won't have to."

She relaxed some and stroked his face. Then frowned. "It's a little cold in here, isn't it?"

"Let's get you dressed and back to the main house." He reached out to bring her shirt together... and his eyes latched on to her breasts with their perfect pink nipples.

He grew hard again. Full to bursting. Desperate for another release.

That smile of hers reappeared. "Come back up on me, nallum. Let my body ease yours."

She didn't have to ask twice.

Outside the Equipment Room, V, Phury, and Zsadist stopped talking and listened. Going by the muted sounds, Butch was up and awake and... busy. As the brothers laughed, V shut the door all the way, thinking that he was very happy for that pair in there. Very... happy.

He and the twins continued to shoot the shit, with V lighting up on occasion and ashing into an Aquafina bottle. An hour later, the door opened and Marissa and Butch appeared. Marissa was dressed in a martial-arts ji, Butch had a towel around his hips, and the bonding scent was all over them. They looked well used and very, very sated.

"Um... hey, guys," the cop said, blushing. He looked good, but he wasn't moving too well. In fact, he was using his female as a crutch.

V cracked a smile. "You look taller."

"Yeah, I... ah, I'm not getting around so good. Is that normal?"

Phury nodded. "Definitely. Took me a long time to get used to the new body. You'll have some control over it in a couple of days, but it's going to be weird for a while."

As the pair came forward, Marissa looked as if she was struggling under the weight of her male and Butch seemed wobbly, like he was trying not to lean on her as much as he really needed to.

V got up. "You want help on the way back to the Pit?"

Butch nodded. "That'd be great. I'm about to fall on her."

V got in at Butch's side and propped the cop up. "Home, Jarvis?"

"God, yes. I would love a shower."

Butch took Marissa's hand, and the three of them headed slowly to the Pit.

The trip through the tunnel was silent except for Butch's shuffling feet. And as they went along, V remembered coming out of his own transition, waking up tattooed with warnings all over his face and his hand and his private areas. At least Butch was safe, and he had people to protect him while his strength gathered.

V had been taken out and left for dead in the woods beyond a warrior camp.

Butch also had another thing going for him: a female of worth who loved him. Marissa was positively glowing at his side and V tried not to look at her too much... except he couldn't stop. So warm, the way she stared at Butch. So very warm.

V had to wonder what that was like.

When they stepped into the Pit, Butch let out a ragged sigh. Clearly his energy had flagged completely by now, sweat breaking out across his forehead as he struggled to remain upright.

"How about your bed?" V said.

"No... shower. I need a shower."

"Are you hungry?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah... oh, God, yeah. I want... bacon. Bacon and..."

"Chocolate," V said wryly as he muscled the cop down to the guy's suite.

"Oh... chocolate. Fuck, I would kill for that." Butch frowned. "Except I don't like chocolate."

"You do now." V kicked the bathroom door open and Marissa ducked into the shower and turned the water on.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Pancakes. And waffles with syrup and butter. And eggs..."

V shot the female a look. "Just bring anything edible. He'd eat his own shoes at this point."

"... and ice cream and turkey with stuffing..."

Marissa kissed Butch on the lips. "I'll be right b¡ª"

Butch grabbed her by the head and held her to his mouth with a moan. As a fresh flood of the bonding scent came out of him, he maneuvered her against the wall and pinned her with his body, hands traveling, hips pushing forward.

Ah, yes, V thought. The newly transitioned male. Butch was going to be throwing wood every fifteen minutes for a while.

Marissa laughed, utterly delighted with her mate. "Later. Food first."

Butch settled back immediately, like she'd called his lust to a heel and it behaved because it wanted to be a good boy. As she left, the cop's eyes followed her with rank hunger and adoration.

V shook his head. "You are a total sap."

"Man, if I thought I loved her before..."

"The bonded male biz is some powerful shit." V stripped Butch of his towel and shoved him under the water. "Or so I've heard."

"Ow." Butch glared up at the showerhead. "I don't like this."

"Skin's going to be extra sensitive for a week or so. Holler if you need me."

V was halfway down the hall when he heard a yelp. He hightailed it back, barging through the door. "What? What's¡ª"

"I'm going bald!"

V whipped back the shower curtain and frowned. "What are you talking about? You've still got your hair¡ª"

"Not my head! My body, you idiot! I'm going bald!" Vishous glanced down. Butch's torso and legs were shedding, a rush of dark brown fuzz pooling around the drain.

V started laughing. "Think of it this way. At least you won't have to worry about shaving your back as you get old, true? No manscaping for you."

He was not surprised when a bar of soap came firing at him.