Shift (The Neturu Chronicles)

by Sarah Kay Carter

  “Still, it would get the point across.” Jackson sighs. “I’m in a quandary with you.”

  “How so?” Kayla asks, almost completely awake now.

  With a mischievous smile on his face, Jackson replies, “I’m going to pretend this is a dream tomorrow, even if you tackle me, so I’ll tell you now. My parents and your parents are trying, desperately, to force an arranged marriage on us.”

  Kayla shoots up in bed. “What? What are you talking about!”

  “They want us to be together. It’s not that I don’t like you Kayla and it’s not that I’m not attracted to you, but they're trying to force us into a relationship. They are pissing me off, and I won’t let them decide my future.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Kayla whispers, covering her mouth. “You’re serious.”

  “Very. My parents and your parents, your dad more specifically, had this great idea that my family should move here. They want our bloodlines to mix.”

  She shakes her head in shock. “But…why? That doesn’t sound like my parents.”

  “You’re something really special to our people, and if anyone except our families find out you exist, you would easily have about a hundred guys after you.”

  With her jaw on the floor, Kayla retorts, “You aren’t kidding, are you?”

  “No, I wish I were.”

  “So that’s the reason? You’ve been pushing me away because our parents are practically forcing us on each other?”

  Jackson gives her a hesitant look. “Aren’t you the slightest bit mad about that?”

  “Furious actually,” Kayla spits out, looking away. “Well then, I guess that seals our fate.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  Kayla looks at him. “Are you telling me there’s a slight chance in hell that you would date me?”

  He looks away. “It would just be wrong. It would make what they’re doing okay.”

  “What about Damien? Why aren’t my parents elated that I’m dating the son of the…king or whatever?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, Jackson says, “I have no idea.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Kayla growls. “Our parents are stupid.”

  “Yes, yes they are,” Jackson agrees. “Now that you know, I’ll try to be more civil. I just felt like I needed to stop whatever was going to happen because the moment I saw you…well, my perspective on everything changed. I pushed but you pushed back, and I grew to like you.”

  She studies him carefully. “There is nothing wrong with liking me, but if we’re going to take this stand, then we need to do it together.”

  “I agree,” Jackson replies. He turns and looks into her eyes. “There is just one last thing I need to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  Jackson moves over on top of her. Kayla looks up and gulps. He bends down and kisses her, and their chemistry instantly explodes. They kiss each other feverishly. Kayla reaches down to pull his shirt up and Jackson lets her take it off. “Kayla,” he whispers.

  “Shut up,” she replies, pulling him down to kiss her again. They wrap their arms around each other.

  Jackson eventually pulls away. “We need to stop. That’s it. That’s what I needed. We can’t do it anymore.”

  “Trying to get it out of your system?” Kayla asks, breathlessly.

  “You could say that.”

  Kayla takes her thumb and runs it across his lips. Jackson closes his eyes. “Did it work?” she asks.

  “I hope so,” he exhales. “I wouldn’t tell Damien about this, though.”

  Shaking her head, Kayla says, “I can’t lie to him.”

  “Then pretend it’s a dream. We can both pretend we’re dreaming and that this never happened.”

  “I won’t pretend. This happened. I won’t tell Damien, but I refuse to tell myself that it didn’t happen.”

  He pushes off the bed and stands. “I need to leave.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. Kiss me and run, isn’t that what you do?”

  Jackson releases a heavy sigh. “That’s not what I’m doing. I have to go back to my room. I'm tired and the only other option is that I sleep in here, and that isn't happening.”

  “Since you’ve now sworn to keep your hands off of me, then I don’t think that would be a problem.”

  Jackson laughs. “True, but Damien would probably kill me. My parents would probably be happy about it, though.”

  “Seriously,” Kayla groans. “We should totally shock them by telling them I’m pregnant with your baby.”

  “They would probably throw us a party.”

  Giggling, Kayla says, “They would. If Damien wasn’t in the picture, I would totally do that.”

  “Yeah, I really don’t think he would go along with it.” Jackson chuckles. “Let me ask you something. Do you really like him?”

  She nods. “Yeah, actually, I do.”

  “Then I wish you luck. I’m still going to be really protective of you.”

  “I think that’s a good thing. I need someone to look out for my best interests.”

  “All right, babe, I’ll be your guy then…in that aspect.”

  Smiling, Kayla says, “Okay. You sure you don’t want to sleep in here? It’s a cozy bed.”

  “I may be able to say no right now, but I’m still a guy and it's probably best that I go. I have to reset the alarm. Try and get some sleep. Do you want to go out to breakfast in the morning?” Jackson asks. “I can pump you full of an entire Kiej plant.”

  “Damien is cooking for me in the morning, but I promise we’ll go this week, just you and me. Not a date, obviously, just as friends.”

  Jackson nods. “Sounds good. Sleep well, okay? And if I find you in the hallway again, I’ll just carry you back to bed.”

  “Okay.” Kayla yawns.

  He walks to the door, and just before he leaves, he turns back toward her. “Night, Kayla.”

  “Good night, Jackson,” she whispers as he shuts the door.

  Chapter 11

  Kayla wakes up the next morning and stretches. She puts her face back down on her pillow and grumbles, “I could kill my parents.”

  She drags herself out of bed, and when she opens the door into the hallway, she hears the beeping going off in Jackson’s room. As she walks to his door, she fixes her hair as much as she can. His door is open, but she still knocks. When there’s no answer, she walks in.

  The bedroom is empty. Kayla walks over to the little box that is beeping and presses the disable button. The beeping finally stops. She rubs her eyes and yawns again. “Where are you, Jackson?” She sighs, scanning the room for any indication of where he may be. A door across the room is ajar. She opens it and is surprised to find a bathroom.

  “Oh good,” she exclaims. “Must go to bathroom.” She shuts the door and locks it. Finally using the bathroom, she sighs. Being horribly nosey, she scans the room. There is a hamper full of dirty clothes. “Someone needs to do his laundry,” Kayla whispers. When her eyes fall on the opposite door, her curiosity is peaked. She opens it and discovers another room with a skylight in it, but it’s too dark to make anything else out.

  She listens to hear if anyone is in there. When she doesn’t hear anything, she turns on the light. “Oh,” she exhales. The room is full of paintings. Kayla covers her mouth in awe. Most of the paintings are portraits. “These are amazing,” she whispers. Kayla looks at each one carefully. “Why are you hiding this?” When she gets around to the easel, her eyes bulge a little.

  There, sitting in plain view, is a painting of Kayla. It isn’t finished, but it’s apparent that it is a painting of her. Kayla looks at it carefully. Jackson has captured her perfectly. It actually makes Kayla tear up a little.

  “Kayla? Are you in my bathroom?”

  Kayla darts into the bathroom at the sound of Jackson’s voice. She flushes the toilet and as it’s running, she closes the door to Jackson’s studio. “Yeah,” she yells. “Be right out.” She turns the water on, pretending to wash her hands.

>   Kayla takes a deep breath and then smiles as she opens the door. “Good morning. Sorry, I came looking for you and found your bathroom.”

  “That’s fine,” Jackson replies with a smirk. “You can take a shower in there if you want. I washed your clothes. They’re in the dryer as we speak.”

  “I’ll probably take you up on the shower. I really need some coffee.”

  Jackson nudges his head. “Come on, there’s some in the kitchen. Damien is looking for you anyway.”

  “Oh, great. I really need to brush my teeth.”

  Walking into the bathroom, Jackson says, “Here, I have an extra toothbrush.”

  “Was it used by an ex-girlfriend?”

  “Umm, no, I was going to switch out mine, but you can have it.”

  Kayla follows him into the bathroom, and he hands it to her. “Is there anything else you need?”

  “A brush. I look crazy.”

  “You look cute, but here’s one if you want it.”

  She takes the brush from him. “Thanks.”

  “Okay, watching people brush their teeth makes me gag,” he declares. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  Kayla giggles. “I’ll see you there.”

  “I’ll start a new pot of coffee just for you.”

  “That’s sweet of you.” Kayla smears toothpaste on the toothbrush. “You better leave because I’m going to brush my teeth now.”

  Putting his hands up, Jackson exclaims, “I’m leaving.” He turns and walks out of the bathroom as Kayla starts to brush her teeth.

  As she walks to the kitchen a few minutes later, she hears Jackson and Damien talking. “So what happened when you took her back to bed?” Damien asks.

  “Nothing,” Jackson replies. “I tucked her in, and she went back to sleep. Didn’t wake up again until just now.”

  She turns the corner into the kitchen and announces, “Good morning.”

  Damien is standing by the coffee maker. He smiles. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “Is the coffee ready?” Kayla inquires as she sits down on a stool.

  “Almost,” Jackson replies. “Are you hungry?”

  Kayla nods. “Very.”

  “What would you like for breakfast?” Damien asks. “Eggs, pancakes, French toast?”

  “Eggs, please.”

  Waving his hand from side to side, Damien asks, “What kind of eggs: poached, scrambled, fried, eggs benedict, an omelet, maybe?”

  “Scrambled. Is there bacon?”

  “Yes, I’ll get started,” Damien states as he turns to go the fridge.

  Jackson looks at Kayla. She smiles at him, and he smirks back. “So,” Kayla starts, “what’s the plan for today?”

  “More training,” Damien replies. “We’re going to take you into the woods so you can shift and run around a bit. Not that you haven’t done that already.”

  “At least I won't be running away terrified this time,” Kayla notes. “When will I change into something cooler than a dog?”

  He pulls out a frying pan. “When you can shift on the fly, like, while you're running full speed on your two human legs.”

  “You want me to shift while running, are you nuts?” Kayla asks. “Why would you want me to do that?”

  “Because you need to be able to shift if something were chasing you or if an animal attempts to attack you or you're confronted by humans.”

  Kayla gets a terrified look on her face. “Will I get hurt? Can I get hurt?”

  “Yeah, you can get hurt,” Jackson replies. “But you can shift back to yourself and everything will heal.”

  “Oh, that’s good to know,” Kayla exhales. “Is there a limit on how many times you can shift in one day?”

  Nodding, Damien answers, “You’ll drain yourself, kind of like a battery. You need to recharge after a while, by sleeping or meditating. Sleeping gives you the biggest recharge.”

  “Sweet, one more reason to take naps.”

  The guys laugh. Damien puts the bacon into the pan. “How did you sleep?”

  “Other than waking up in the hallway, I was fine,” Kayla replies. Her eyes drift to Jackson; he quickly looks away.

  “Good to hear. Would you like some coffee? I bet Jackson would be nice enough to get it for you, unless he plans on being the douche of the day.”

  Jackson shakes his head. “I think I’m going to try and not be a jerk anymore.”

  “Oh, come on,” Damien retorts sarcastically. “You were making it so much easier for me. Kayla may end up liking you now.”

  Shaking his head, Jackson says, “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

  “No, you don’t,” Kayla agrees. “I’m all yours.”

  “Really?” Damien remarks with a grin. Kayla gives him a look. Damien shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t plan on dating someone else.”

  “So…what…she's your girlfriend now?” Jackson spits out. “You had one date!”

  “Did I say that? No, but I plan to continue dating her, so you can make whatever judgment call you want.” Damien sighs as he flips the bacon.

  Turning his attention to Kayla, Jackson gives her a look. She awkwardly glances away. “So what have you boys been up to this morning?”

  “Worked out,” Damien replies. “Got to keep in shape.”

  “Yeah, well you both have killer bodies,” Kayla declares as she walks to the coffee maker.

  “Do we now?” Damien chuckles. “Why, thank you. You do look splendid without your clothes on also.”

  “When did you see her naked,” Jackson yells.

  “I didn’t,” Damien replies.

  “No, he did not!” Kayla exclaims. “Unless he saw me without my knowledge.”

  Jackson points his finger at Damien, his face twisted into a sneer. “I will shoot you.”

  “I’ll only see her naked if she wants me to. I give her a few weeks,” Damien sighs with a grin.

  “Damien,” she scolds. “Keep dreaming.”

  He looks up at her and laughs. “I love getting the biggest rise out of you two. You would think I was talking about Jackson’s girlfriend. I was only saying that because I saw you in your bathing suit. You’re gorgeous.”

  “I would say I agree, but I couldn’t see her. She was covered by your body,” Jackson grumbles.

  “You sound jealous,” Damien retorts.

  Kayla looks at Jackson out of the corner of her eye. “No,” Jackson softly exhales. “I’m just protective of her.”

  “You don’t need to protect her from me,” Damien snaps at him.

  “Okay, guys,” Kayla interjects. “Pull the testosterone in a little bit.”

  Jackson laughs. “I don’t know what I’m worried about. Kayla is one strong girl, and I think she would hurt you more than I ever could if you tried anything.”

  “Damn straight,” Kayla agrees with a nod.

  “I would actually let her,” Damien replies. “Free shot, right to the face.”

  “I think she should let me have that free shot.” Jackson snorts.

  Damien looks at him. “It’s not a tradeoff.”

  “He’s my liaison though,” Kayla says. “At least, he was with Jude.”

  “I would love to pop him in the face,” Jackson states. “I'm uber jealous you got the privilege of giving him a nose job.”

  “No,” Kayla exclaims. “Violence doesn’t solve anything, even if he does deserve it.”

  Jackson shakes his head. “If he mouths off again, I’m going to step in.”

  “Umm, no,” Damien says. “That punk is mine.”

  “You will both leave him alone,” Kayla snaps. She thinks for a minute and then says, “Actually…if you want to scare him to death, I’m okay with it. You know transform into something terrifying and corner him. Don’t hurt him of course, but you can strike fear into him.”

  Clapping and rubbing his hands together, Jackson replies, “That sounds like a mighty fun time.”

  “What would you like us to shift into?” Damien ask
s.

  Kayla taps her chin. “It would have to be something plausible. Like there wouldn’t be any wild tigers roaming around the city.”

  “Kind of a cliché, but we could go as wolves,” Jackson states. “Both of us…two big wolves…kind of scary.”

  Giggling, Kayla says, “I think that would be awesome.”

  “You should be there,” Damien exclaims. “We could be your pets. If he ever tries to tell anyone, they’ll think he’s nuts.”

  “That is the best idea ever,” Kayla yells. “I love you two! Your ideas are epic.”

  “Awww, already declaring your love for me.” Damien sighs. “How sweet.”

  Kayla rolls her eyes. “I think if I said, ‘I love you,’ for the first time, it wouldn’t be while simultaneously referring to Jude.”

  “It’s still nice to hear coming from your mouth, maybe one day.”

  Jackson groans from across the room. “Don’t make me puke. I really hope you’ll think long and hard before you express your undying love to him.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Kayla says, throwing up her hands before the conversation gets even more out of control. “No one said anything about undying love. I plan to take this whole relationship thing slow.” She looks between the two of them. “Have either of you been in love before?”

  “No,” Jackson answers. “I’ve never gotten close enough to my exes for that to happen. I knew the relationships couldn’t go anywhere, and I’ve never met anyone of our kind that sparked my interest…” Jackson seems like he is going to say something but hesitates.

  “As for me,” Damien says, “I thought I was in love when I was thirteen, but you know…I was thirteen.”

  Kayla gags. “I kissed Jude when I was thirteen. Thank God I never thought I was in love with him. Ew, gross.”

  “What made you want to kiss him in the first place?” Jackson asks. “Did he have some killer moves?”

  Kayla laughs. “No. I fell victim to the fact that I was an awkward thirteen-year-old girl, and I had, what I thought was a nice guy, giving me attention. You know, a girl always thinks her first kiss will be heart pounding and something to remember. Mine was weird and he was horrible at it. Then Jude tried to feel me up. I pushed him away and slapped him really hard across the face. I left a huge red mark.”