Shifter Magick by Stacy Kinlee Page A

carting you around like an invalid and dr iving you around in his busted M ustang. I don’t know what kind of game you are playing here but I’m going to find out.”
    Kera hesitated when she saw a glint of determination in Tori’s eyes. She made sure to remove all weight from her ankle, she hadn’t walked on it in front of Tori yet, she could still pretend to be injured. “ No game.” She said. “I just like Maddox better than Andrew.”
    Tori smirked. “Well then this will come as a surprise,” she leaned over to Kera and whispered, “Andrew said Maddox is lying to you. Andrew wants to make sure you have all of the facts. He’s ready to give them to you if you’ll meet up with him.”
    “I would rather be lied to.” Kera said but the words didn’t ring true. She lied to everyone but never dealt with someone lying to her. She found that it created a crater of pain in her chest that could only be filled with the truth.
    One thing she did know, she didn’t want it from Andrew. She wanted it from Maddox.
    Tori stood in the doorway smirking. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her red hair was like a beacon to her face. Kera stepped back and shut the door in Tori’s face. The force pushed her back into the hall .
    “Hey!” Tori yelled on the other side.
    Kera waited until she left before she grabbed her key, locked the door and took the stairs down two at a time. It was already dark outside. She pushed open the doors and took a deep breath of the fresh night air. Lies. That’s what she was facing now. Kera pocked her key and ran.
    She ran until she hit the forest on the outside skirt of campus. Her breath sawed in and out of her mouth. She looked around and noticed the stars were hidden. The moon was up there but the clouds were quickly hiding it from view too.
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. How had it come to this? Today, the day that Maddox had made her feel like she was special. They talked for hours. She felt normal when she told her dad about Maddox.
    What is he lying about?
    Kera made a sound of frustration and kicked at the brush at her feet. She pushed past a few small branches and heard them whip the air when she let them go. As she walked she tried to see what she was missing.
    She wanted to believe that she could have a relationship. She wanted to believe that these intense feelings she had for Maddox could be reciprocated. Was it because she wanted it so badly that she was blind to the truth?
    It was time to start thinking about what was going on. Andrew was part of Maddox’s family. Nick was part of their family. Maddox said that they had all seen things out of the ordinary.
    Was it possible they knew about her somehow? She didn’t see how. She wasn’t from here. She did shift once while she was here but the only thing that had been conscious at the time was a wolf.
    She would have known if someone else had been there.
    Kera needed to talk to Maddox. She needed to be brave and find out exactly what he could handle and what he couldn’t. She was going start protecting herself and she needed to start with her obsession with Maddox.
    With her heart pounding with anxiety, Kera shifted. Her beast stretched out, happy to be free. She didn’t know for sure where Maddox went after he dropped her off but she decided to try his shop first. Hopefully he would be there. If she showed up there without her car she would be forced to explain and that would keep her from changing her mind.
    She was going to tell him.
    The garage door was open. The night had fallen even darker that it should be at this hour. Heavy rain clouds blocked the moon and stars. Kera crouched low on the ground and watched. Her lithe muscles twitched when the rain started. Every drop tickled her fur.
    She could smell him inside. Her human mind was nervous but something about her instincts bothered her. She felt threatened. Kera moved back into the forest and searched the perimeter to make sure no large animals were looming