She had to breathe or she'd hyperventilate. Blue gulped air, trying to calm down, to soothe the irrational beast which had leapt up in defense. She realized she was pulling her own hair and paused, then shook the strands from her fingers and stared at her own talons as if she'd never seen them before.

Dimly, she heard commotion outside the closed door, familiar voices calling, but nothing made sense. She scented blood and suddenly realized she was starving. The raptor in her purred, it anything but an affectionate sound. Food was close, all she had to do was reach for it.

Coherency flipped a switch just then, and Blue whimpered in remembered pain, hugging herself again and waiting for the cramps to subside. Her empty stomach churned; she was so hungry but even the thought of food was nauseating. She dared look through her hair and spied a black shadow: Omega. Her mate was on his knees beside her, focused on keeping the door closed.

Before Blue could even begin to think about it, she moved--slowly, painfully, but unerringly--and putting her mouth to his flesh, began to steadily lap at the scratches she'd just inflicted, cleaning away the blood dripping down his skin.