He chuckled softly “You never were on for subtlety, James. I believe Kira is more than she appears to be and she is more than deserving of the secretary job. I was, in fact, ready to turn her down but then I saw her interacting with the animals in my office. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. They responded to her as if they knew her, and she to them. I had to change my mind.
Most humans just want another line for their resumes but she genuinely wanted to learn and help the animals. A werewolf, she is not but a special person like that deserves a chance and I feel lucky to have her on board.”
“Maybe but it seems odd to go lax on the rules for some stranger.”
“James, I have known you all your life and there are things about you that I’m sure I will never know. It seems trust is a bigger part of your life than you want to let on and you should take the time to figure out why.”
Trust issues? Me? Never. I thought of the girl who’d been popping in and out of my mind all day and made a decision. If Doc wasn’t taking any precautions then it was up to me. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll come by tomorrow and show her around town. Let’s call it a sign of good faith…and trust.”
“Splendid, bring your friends too but make sure you understand your motivations and if you can’t then you can always fall back on my instincts.”
“What about my instincts?”
“I’m sure they are fine you don’t trust them yet. Plus mine are sure to be much better, regardless.”
I laughed “You’re such a cliché nutty uncle.”
“I’ve never claimed to be otherwise.” He said, smiling.
I noticed the moon’s ascent in the sky and turned to see the others lining up at the tree line. They were preparing to shift for our run and hours of playing, hunting, and fighting. I went to follow when my uncle grabbed my shoulder and held me back “You’re a good male, James. Learn to trust that.” Great, more advice.
“Uncle Eric, I hate to be the one to tell you this but you’ve been reading too many fortune cookies.”
“That’s all right. Let’s go.” We raced to the tree line and I stripped and shifted from a human to a brown furred wolf. The cracking of bones and joints was blanketed by a rightness and necessity of transformation. As soon as my inherent power finished the shift, I was off, leaving behind distant howls to the moon.
Chapter 4
Kira
It was Monday morning and I was starting my new job. I had woken up at 6:00 am, sang through the shower, ate a big breakfast and spent all morning getting ready and building my excitement. At exactly 8:50am, I walked through the big door under the sign “Bark n’ Bite” and into the Veterinarian office.
Doc greeted me and put me to work at the front desk. It was basically checking people and their pets in and out, answering calls, and doing paperwork. The best part was interacting with all of the animals. The worst part was that everybody was a little too friendly. I got a lot of questions about myself but Doc had told me to expect that by saying “Small town, people are nosy and people will talk, good luck m’dear” and he left me with that. The barking and general animal noises got old though and by noon I had learned to put music on at my desk.
Around 4:30 p.m. Jay walked in with the red haired Trent and another boy I didn’t recognize. The other boy was average height, had noticeable muscles, brown eyes and blond hair, and like the others wore a t-shirt and jeans. He looked familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. They all came to my desk and I smiled up at them “Hey.”
The boy I didn’t know raised his hand out to me and I shook it. “Hey I’m Brandon, you must be Kira.”
“Word travels fast” I laughed.
“In this town it does but my brother, Logan, met you the other day so word didn’t have to travel too far on that one. Also Doc told us all about you yesterday at Jay’s house.”
Jay shrugged with that ever-present smirk on his face. “The crew came to gawk at you” he said.
“And kidnap you” Trent added. I didn’t know what to say to that
I managed an “Oh” as the entrance door opened again and in walked two more guys followed by Logan. They were laughing as they came in and the two people in the waiting room stared as now all six guys were standing at my desk. They sure took up a room. Each one of them was at least 6ft tall with strong builds, not an ounce of fat on any of them.
Logan waved and said “Hey beautiful. How’s it going?”
“Good thanks, first day.”
“Cool, I see you’ve met my brother, these two shmoes are Max” he indicated the tall, lanky one with spiky black hair, brown eyes under a pair of glasses, and a blue polo shirt with khakis on “and Will” he slapped the one furthest away from me. He was the biggest muscle-wise out of all of them. He wore a gray shirt, black basketball shorts, had an almost shaved head of dark hair and cold blue eyes.
Will nodded. I nodded back.
“Hi, erhm, everyone, do you want to see Doc because I’ll let him know you’re here but he has a few patients to see to.” I was overwhelmed and rambling. To distract myself and calm down, I looked over their heads and in the spaces between their bodies to see one woman with her young daughter, the Crenshaws, I think it was, with their Siamese cat. They were Doc’s last patient for the day
Jay shrugged. “Not necessary. We saw him yesterday. What time do you get off of work?”
I felt calmer and looked up at him. “In another half hour, why?”
“Well someone has to welcome you to town properly.” He said and leaned in close to my desk. Eye contact was a huge mistake and I was on alert once more.
I hoped my voice didn’t squeak as I replied “So you brought the city basketball team?”
“Clever but no. It’s just me and some friendly neighbors. Have you been to the local pub yet?”
I began to fiddle with the already filed paperwork. “No, what time are you going?”
“Now, we’ll get Doc to let you out early.”
“Oh no, thanks but no, it’s my first day. I can’t be skipping out early.”
Jay leaned in even closer, purple eyes shining, just to taunt me, I was sure. “Don’t worry about it. My uncle won’t care.”
Logan added “We are meeting up with other friends too so you won’t be the only girl.”
I coughed awkwardly. That was something I considered but I didn’t want them to think it bothered me. “Um, thanks but really, I can’t leave early. I can meet you guys there in 45 minutes or so.” I factored in time to go home and change.
“But happy hour ends at 6:30” Brandon whined. I suspected then that he was the youngest out of the guys and he must be just old enough to drink, if that. This was followed by a chorus of “Come on’s” and “live a little’s” and “you know you want to’s.”
At that moment Doc walked out of his office and into the waiting room, holding the Shih-Tzu out to Mrs. Tavish beside him. She had paid when she arrived, knowing it was a simple check-up. I watched as Doc told her “He’s as healthy as a pup.” She smiled, thanked him and left the office.
The guys were talking all around me but I heard Doc say “Mrs. Crenshaw I will be right with you and Mittens” then he headed over to my desk.
The guys made room for him and he turned to Jay. “James, I thought you would wait until after office hours to collect Kira.”
Before I could stop myself I spoke up “Collect me? What?”
Doc turned his gray eyes to me “Oh I’m sorry Kira, I’m still in Vet mode, I’m afraid. James told me he would come by today to see if he and his friends could show you around town. I thought it was a nice gesture.”
“It is. Thank you but as I was telling them I’m still here for another” I looked at the clock “26 minutes.”
He shook his head “Oh, don’t you worry about that. You did very well today. I haven’t seen the desk this organized since the day I bought it.” He gestured broadly at the desk that admittedly did look much better now that I’d organized it. “Why do
n’t you head out, it will be good for you. Young people should have friends.”
Trent slapped Doc on the shoulder, saying “You rock, Doc.” Jay laughed at me with his eyes, the “I told you so” hanging between us.
Brandon decided to say it though anyway “See Kira, you can come now. Didn’t we say so?”
I ignored that “Great. Thank you, Mr. Dellarson. I’ll be here tomorrow 9 am sharp and the files on the toad are on your door.”
“Thank you, Kira. I will see you then and please call me Doc.” He turned to the boys before heading back to Mrs. Crenshaw “Any of you boys try to mess with my employee and you will not live to tell the tale. Have fun.”
Jay leaned back against the wall looking relaxed and smug, knowing he’d already won. He spoke lazily, “Do you have your stuff? You can drive with us and we can bring you back to your car afterwards.”
I nodded, grabbing my purse from underneath the desk. “Yes and sounds good but I get shotgun.” Jay gave the barest hint of a nod in acknowledgment and what seemed like respect crossed his features.
Brandon yelled, “Damn it, she’s good” and the guys headed towards the door to the parking lot. Jay waited for me and held the door open. As I passed him he said into my ear “You look nice, today.”
I almost stumbled on the threshold but managed to keep it together. “Thanks.” I shrugged and played it off cool as I walked to the Hummer that had the others piling into it. At least I hoped I did.
***********
Jay
We met up with a few girls from the pack, Mena, Demi, and Annabella. We introduced Kira and the girls clicked instantly. I knew I shouldn’t be suspicious but I was. Every time I tried to throw her, she kept it together. I don’t even know what I thought would happen though. There was just something about her.
I thought about what Doc said about why he hired her. He said she was unlike anything he’d ever seen but being unusual could also get you in trouble. And although no one else seemed to care, I intended to figure how much trouble this girl really was.
We got our drinks then we found our usual booth in the bar and I made sure Kira sat next to me. Annabella took her other side. Will and Demi, attached at the hip as usual, sat in their own booth and Max, Mena, and Trent stayed at the bar and the stools there.
“Why do you fight?”
I looked up surprised “What?”
Kira looked up at me expectantly “I said, why do you fight?”
“What makes you think I fight?”
“Because I noticed on Friday that you, Trent, and Logan had some bruises and today you all have new ones. So what’s the deal? You guys in some secret fight club?”
Had this girl noticed our accelerated healing? I didn’t think so but still we had to be more careful with that. We’d been getting sloppy lately. I was down with causing trouble but I wasn’t stupid. I played it off. “If you know the first rule about fight club you’d know I can’t answer that…but you didn’t ask that, you asked why, first.”
“Right, why do you do it, put yourself in harm’s way deliberately? Money?”
I don’t know why I answered, maybe because she caught me off guard. “No, it’s more for fun. Fighting is good exercise and training. Plus you get bragging rights.” At least most of the time when I fought with the pack it was for fun. My fights outside of the pack? Not so much.
“Training for what? Christina told me you were going into politics…”
Aha. “Checking up on me?”
She looked right at me “You’re checking up on me. It seemed fair.”
I leaned back and searched her face. Either she was really good at reading people or someone had tipped her off. She spoke up, “Let’s just get this out of the way. There’s nothing nefarious to it, I like animals and I need money and experience. Can we be friends now, James?”
I burst out laughing and my pack shot me strange looks, apparently I was louder than I thought. I reined myself in. “Straight to the point, then. So you’re telling me I don’t have any reason to be suspicious of you.”
She paused at that.
“Everyone has secrets, Jay but as far as being a good employee consider yourself reassured. Unnecessarily of course, but lucky for you, I can be accommodating.”
“Got it, I’ve been a jerk. Let me buy you a drink and make it up to you.”
“Sounds good.” she paused to take another breath then dove back in “So about this fighting thing, what are you training for?”
“Like you said, Kira, everyone has secrets.” I smirked and finished off my beer. Let her deal with that.
Brandon and Logan traded looks before Brandon faced her, “You’re my new hero.”
Annabella spoke up from next to him. “Seriously, Kira, can I be more like you? I’ve been trying to put Jay in his place for years now.” Obviously they’d been listening. Kira leaned in and whispered something to her and they laughed. I could’ve listened but I didn’t.
I rolled my eyes went to the bar where Trent was chatting with Max and Mena. Trent turned to me, “So how did the questioning go? Did you break her and her evil secrets?”
Actually, she had been the one questioning me and I wasn’t really sure how that had happened. “We have an understanding.” I brought my elbow onto the bar top “Joe, 2 beers.”
“Coming right up” was his quick reply.
I whispered in a tone that only my pack could hear. “Max has you father heard anything more since the meeting yesterday?”
He looked around “Yeah but only stuff your father already knows. I’m sure he told you too.”
I gave him a look.
“Right, ok never mind. We heard the witch’s war is getting closer to home than we anticipated. Apparently, they are set on us choosing sides.”
Mena spoke up “It’s nothing we can’t handle but it’s a dangerous place to be in.”
I nodded, “We figured this would happen. How are the parasites handling this?”
Mena shrugged “The vamps say they are staying neutral but we all suspect they are already working with the dark coven.”
“No surprise there. How about the Fae?”
Trent joined in “Nah, there’s no frickin’ way they would ever get involved in something like this.
Max nodded “He’s correct. They’ve lived too long and have their own petty wars to deal with to care about something as trivial as this.” I hoped he was right because they would be the worst enemies and terrible allies at best.
“They better keep to themselves. If you hear anything more, let me know.”
Mira and Max nodded.
Trent turned his back to the others so only I could hear him. “Man, you have access to these meetings why don’t you ask your dad, if you really care about this stuff?”
I shook my head. That was not an option. “If dear old dad knew I cared at all, he’d stepped down now and hand over the reins.”
“Would it be the worse thing in the world? You would make a good leader, man.” I gave him a cold stare and he turned away. “Whatever man, your call” he said into his drink.
Will appeared with his arm around Demi’s shoulders, “We’re going to head out.”
I was surprised it took them this long to get away. They had been getting more serious lately and were spending more time alone. It was annoying. “Whatever, man. Go play house.”
Everyone went silent.
Demi put a hand on Will’s chest and gave me a venomous look. “Green’s not your color, Jay. Later all.”
Max, Mena, and Trent replied their good-byes and I noticed how stiffly Will walked out, anger filling his every motion. I knew it was stupid but I thought I’d get an actual reaction out of him. Maybe if he just jumped at me or something it would be better. I kept thinking it couldn’t get any worse but I was wrong. I was just pissing him off more and more. Well he was pissing me off too so I guessed we were even.
Chapter 5
Kira
“So” Logan said “where are
you from, Kiki? Can I call you Kiki?”
“Boston, Massachusetts and um, no. Kira as a name is short enough, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but you need a pet name, a nickname.” I shrugged “If you say so, think of something else and let me know.”
“Will do, so why’d you come all the way to Brisdale, Florida?”
“Witness Protection Program.” I responded, deadpan.
Brandon, Logan, and Annabella stared at me blankly for what felt like forever. Finally I cracked a smile “I’m kidding, guys”
We all started laughing “Oh, man. The looks on your faces.”
Annabella pretended to shove me over.
“I didn’t think you guys would buy that.” I said hardly catching my breath. Brandon almost had beer come out of his nose. “No, I came here because Brisdale University has a great program for Vets, my friend Christina lives here, and it was far, far away from home.”
At that, Annabella gave me a sympathetic smile, and I could see in her eyes that she understood wanting to be away from family, for whatever reason.
“So what about you guys? What do you do? Have you lived here your whole lives?”
Annabella spoke “I’m the only new girl here, the rest of them were born and raised here.”
“Oh, cool. Do you go to Brisdale U, too?”
“Yes, I’m a nursing student there.” She said excitedly. I noticed she said almost everything excitedly. “You’re going there for Vet school right?”
I nodded. “That’s perfect. We’ll definitely being seeing each other in the science building.” I was thrilled. I never imagined I would meet this many friendly people when I moved here.
I’m ashamed to say that when I first saw Annabella, I thought she was some sort of beauty queen and she’d probably be a snob but she wasn’t in the least. Her thick, highlighted brown hair reached her hips, she was model tall and thin but had curves. Her clothes were designer labeled and her hands were perfectly manicured and painted, yet in her eyes you saw that her life must be anything but perfect. Her manner was filled with nothing but kindness.
Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide Trilogy) Page 3
