Shift Happens (A Carus Novel Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

go.”
    Ryan nodded and followed him out of the room. To avoid checking out Wick’s backside, I turned to face the two Werewolves in the room who openly despised me—the gruesome twosome—and no visible escape routes.

Chapter Five
    The stare Jessica cast me before sitting down on the chair irritated me, like an ill-fitting sweater from a used clothing store. Instead of offering me her exposed back, she opted for a backwards stride to make it to her seat. It looked ridiculous.
    John chose to stand off to my right and pace, back and forth, like a model with OCD and a limited runway, casting wary glances in my direction every third or fourth step. Burnt cinnamon wafted off him in waves. He was pissed.
    “I understand why you don’t like me, Jessica,” I said, emphasizing her full name. “I kicked your ass.”
    She bared her teeth in response.
    “I hurt your pride, but if I’m to be a guest here, let’s get one thing straight. I did nothing you wouldn’t have done in my place.” I gave her a pointed look before continuing, “Except maybe spare your life.”
    Jessica looked away. It told me all I needed to know. If I’d collapsed, bleeding out and vulnerable, she would’ve killed me.
    “But you…” My attention shifted to John. “I have no idea what’s up your ass.”
    He stopped pacing. “Jess is my mate.”
    Understanding came faster than I could say, “fuck my life.” If I’d been male, John would’ve mauled me to death. Or tried. Female Werewolves were rare and cherished by their packs. For some reason, few survived the initial change. Some claimed the pain was too much, but that never sat right with me. Women had to have a higher pain tolerance. Hello childbirth!
    I’d always figured the second X chromosome in women wouldn’t tolerate the lycanthropic viral DNA and imagined some epic genetic battle between the two where they both ended up self-destructing.
    Regardless, few female Weres existed and I’d yet to meet one not mated or in a forced union. My eyes narrowed at John, my anger rising at the thought. “By choice?”
    “Our wolves chose each other.” He didn’t sound bitter; his tone came across more confused, like he couldn’t fathom any other possibility. I could.
    “True, but there are true mates and there are…” I trailed off, trying to stem the surfacing memories.
    “Forced unions,” Jess spoke softly. Something in the way she spoke made me look up. Our eyes met and mutual understanding passed between us. “John is my true mate, Andy,” Jessica said. Her words came out soft and slow. I didn’t correct her on my name—not after that look. “All the couples here are. It’s not that kind of pack,” she explained.
    I turned away from her knowing gaze. Though I’d only known him for less than an hour, Wick didn’t seem like the kind of alpha to support forced unions—too considerate. He’d given me privacy and space. But, Dylan hadn’t seemed like the forced-union-type at first, either. Nausea gnawed at my guts and I slammed a door on that memory before it could surface. Nothing boiled my piss faster than thoughts of Dylan.
    A photograph on the wall caught my attention. Looking for a distraction, I walked up to it—a picture of Wick skydiving in a bright blue and yellow suit. He wore a look of sheer joy as he beamed into the camera. I smiled.
    “So what in The Purge are you?” John crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not a Were or Wick’s pack magic would have healed you faster.”
    “I’m a Shifter.”
    John apparently didn’t get the hint from my flat tone. I’d finished answering his questions. “Don’t smell like one,” he said.
    Shifters normally smelled human with a faint hint of the animal form they took. Not me, though. A Shifter once told me I smelled of the forest. He demanded to know what I was. When he lay beneath my claws with his life bleeding out of him, I told him I had three forms and no physical feras. He’d called me Carus before