Thank You For Not Shifting (Peculiar Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

corpse.
    Blood soaked the ground, offering a terrifying backdrop for a horrific display of what had once been a person.
    They found me. The hunters. A warning about—no. No. They were dead. Each and every one of them. Dead, dead.
    Your enemies are no more, little sister.
    I took immediate comfort from the imaginary voice, and my panic subsided.
    I scrambled into the kitchen, shutting and locking the door behind me. I tried to slow down my heaving breaths and calm my pounding pulse.
    You are safe.
    What a messed up lie , I thought. I wasn’t safe. I’m not sure I’d ever been. But the voice once again helped me to clear my jumbled thoughts. I dug my cell phone out of the back pocket of my jeans, tapped it open, and dialed the Sheriff’s office.
    “Deputy Farraday,” a man said. “How can I help you?”
    “Eldin,” I said, my voice shaking. “This is Chavvah. You need to wake up the sheriff.”

Chapter 2
    “ A nd you turned off the light and walked out here and tripped over the body?” Sheriff Taylor asked for the millionth time. The dark circles under his eyes made him look as tired as I felt. His appearance had more to do with the fact that his second nature was a raccoon. Mine was actual exhaustion. The sheriff stood over the body, and I leaned against the doorjamb. Deputy Farraday had been taking pictures and making notes. The town coroner and local funeral director, Mark Smart, prepared a body bag.
    Why would someone leave a freshly skinned corpse outside a vegetarian restaurant? Was it a statement from some crazy meat eaters?
    I didn’t want to think about the question hovering just outside my potential hysteria. Was this poor soul someone I knew?
    “Chavvah?”
    “Yes,” I finally responded. “That’s what happened.” I felt sick to my stomach, and now that the adrenaline had completely worn off, I could smell every sickly, rancid bit of the man’s exposed muscle and fat. I averted my gaze from the ghastly sight, but my other shifter senses were on high alert. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get that particular stench out of my nose.
    “You didn’t hear anything?”
    “Like I said, I had my ear buds in, listening to a book.” I put my hand on my belly to stop a wave of queasiness. “I can’t believe…” My breath quickened, and I swallowed the rising bile. “…this happened.”
    Sheriff Taylor joined me near the back door and squeezed my shoulder. “I’m real sorry, Chav.”
    I saw movement around the corner, and my heart jumped into my throat. I grabbed the sheriff’s shoulder, but then I recognized the silver glint of Billy Bob’s hair. Shit. The doc was the last person I wanted seeing me covered in blood and looking, once again, like a victim.
    The werewolf strode directly to us, barely glancing at the body. His stare was intense as his gaze pinned mine. “Are you okay?” The low, throaty growl that followed the question sent shivers down my skin.
    I nodded, worried that if I opened my mouth, I’d start crying.
    Billy Bob turned to the sheriff. “Do you know who it is?”
    “No. Mark’s pretty certain it’s a man, even with his skin and genitals removed.” He winced as he spoke. “We can’t figure out if it’s one of ours or one of the people who came in for the Jubilee.” I could hear a sad weariness in his tone. Our town had already been through so much, and this murder compounded the misery with interest. “Doc, you’ll have to help us ID the victim.”
    As the only medical doctor for miles around, and really, the only one qualified to examine a therian body, Billy Bob would do the autopsy. Call me a chicken, but I couldn’t stay there within three feet of a skinned corpse and talk about it—him. “I … I think I’ll go shower now.”
    “I know you want to clean up, Chav,” the sheriff said. “But you did the right thing in waiting until we arrived.” He snapped his fingers at Farraday, who trotted over with a paper bag. “I need you to put all your