Shifted Love Volume 1 - Fiona Davenport Page 0,35
she shrieked. “Ugh, I really wish I didn’t have my drawing and digital imaging class right now. It’s my favorite, and I hate to miss it except for an emergency. Coming to rescue you and Allegra counts. Running off to Timber Ridge in the hopes that I’ll meet a hot guy too, not so much. But I want all the deets when I see you tonight. Or tomorrow morning if things go really well, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t get the chance to respond before she hung up, probably in a rush to get across campus. Kace’s shoulders shook with his laughter as he took the phone out of my hand and set it on the coffee table. “She can meet every unmated male in my pack if it’ll make you happy.”
“I’m sure she’ll take you up on that offer.” I laughed and shook my head. “And you’ll probably come to regret it at some point.”
He wrapped his arms around my back and settled me more comfortably on his lap. “Now that your friend isn’t worried about you, how about I answer the rest of your questions?”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I agreed, though I still hadn’t fully wrapped my head around the fact he could change into a wolf.
“As the alpha, I’m the highest-ranking member of our pack and its leader. I have a telepathic link with all of the shifters in my pack,” he explained. “Zeke is my second in command, or my beta. He’s also a wolf, but we have other kinds of shifters in Timber Ridge. Tane, my third, is a tiger.”
I hadn’t been scared when Kace shifted into a wolf, but I couldn’t imagine how I would’ve reacted if I’d found a freaking tiger standing in front of me when I’d opened my eyes. “There are tigers?”
“Bears, lions, and dragons, too.” He flashed me a sexy grin, his dark eyes twinkling with humor. “But no bunnies or honey badgers.”
“Forget bunnies and honey badgers! There are people who can shift into dragons?” I cried, jumping off his lap. “Are they teeny-tiny ones about the size of your wolf? Or actually dragon-sized?”
A low growl rumbled up Kace’s chest as he stood. “There isn’t anything remotely small about my wolf. He’s a fucking beast of an animal.”
“I worded that badly. I’m sorry.” I patted his chest. “Your wolf is freaking awesome.”
“Damn straight he is,” Kace grumbled. “Even if the only dragon I know is about twice his size.”
My eyes widened as I tried to picture someone turning into something two times bigger than Kace’s wolf. “Are they rare?”
He nodded and explained, “There aren’t many dragon shifters, and he can’t just bite someone to make more. We’re born this way, and everyone in Timber Ridge is a shifter except for you, Allegra, and one other fated mate. It helps that we don’t need to hide who we are in town since shifters age more slowly than humans, heal more quickly, and are physically stronger.”
“Wait.” I held up my palm. “You’re talking as though I live here, too.”
He gently wrapped his fingers around my wrist and tugged my hand to his lips. Then he pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Of course, I am. Your place is with me.”
He acted like my staying was a foregone conclusion. Considering how quickly Zeke was talking about Allegra moving in with him, it was probably the way relationships went for shifters. But I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole fated mate thing yet. I needed a little bit of time to think about it all. “That’s all fine and dandy except I need to go back to my dorm. Like right now.”
5
Kace
I’d found Larissa less than an hour ago, and she already wanted to leave. This wasn’t how I expected my mating to go, and my wolf was demanding to be let out to mark her as ours before she got away. I ground my teeth together and clenched my jaw. Fur rippled against my skin, and I took a few deep breaths to get myself under control. I got where he was coming from, but I wasn’t about to let him do something she wasn’t ready for. He only backed down when I promised I wouldn't let her out of our sight. “Do you have a class or something?”
“No, I had my last one for the day before I tracked Allegra down. I just”—she paused and twisted her hands together—“need to be in my own space.”
My compulsion to