Human Shifter (Book Three: A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance) Read Free Page A

me around to the ends of the earth." Damien raised his glass. "At least not anymore."
    "Let's drink to that, then," Jordan said.
    "To finding a home at last for our ugly, crippled pack," Damien said, raising his glass.
    "May we grow in number and loyalty," Jordan said, clinking his beer mug against Damien's. Damien drank deep, the cold liquid giving way to foam as he finished his drink. He licked his lips.
    "Isn't it strength?" he asked.
    "Hmm?" Jordan was still finishing his beer.
    "May we grow in number and strength? That's a scripture verse, isn't it?"
    "Yes, you're right," Jordan said. He took the last sip of his beer and set the glass down slowly, so that Damien could barely hear the faint clink. "But I happen to think that loyalty is better."
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
    Julia
    Julia gritted her teeth, her eyes closed, trying as hard as she possibly could to shift into wolf form.
    "Feel the power run through you," Granny Dee said, her hands on Julia's shoulders. "Your body is not just a body. It is a part of the universe, and you have the power to change that part of the universe. Don't think of anything but that power."
    Julia let her mind run blank. There was no power within her that she could sense, nothing at all. She thought of Damien, of how he had looked at her after they last made love.
    No. No thoughts. Back to the blankness.
    Julia chided herself for being so mentally weak. She'd thought that shifting would be easy, once she knew how it was done. But Dee's instructions had run from the most basic—just imagine you're already a wolf—to the complex—take two deep breaths and loosen the tension between the ribs in your chest to let your skeleton slide into its other form. Finally Dee, exasperated, had thrown up her hands. "It's not something that can be taught!" she said. "You have to feel it."
    Julia didn't feel it. If she felt anything, it was a bitter disappointment that her grandmother, whom she had looked up to all of these years, would turn out to be helpless in the face of this problem. Dee had always been able to fix anything, whether it was a scraped knee when Julia fell over a log or a homework problem she was struggling with. Now, though, there was nothing she could do to help Julia, and it frustrated Julia more than anything.
    "I don't think this is going to work," Julia said, letting her shoulders relax. "I don't feel anything at all."
    "No worries," Dee said, her go-to phrase for when anything wrong happened. "We'll figure it out. Keep working at it."
    "Sure," Julia said, although she wasn't sure what she was supposed to keep working at. Nothing they had tried had shown even the glimmer of helping her shift.
    "Child, come here," Dee said. She sat down on the couch and Julia sat down next to her. Dee hugged her close, and Julia let her cheek press against Dee's wrinkled face. Her skin was thin as birchbark, and just as spotted, but cool to the touch.
    "Julia, dear," Dee said. "This isn't just about shifting, is it?"
    Tears leaped into Julia's eyes, and she was helpless to stop them from running down her cheeks. Her face turned hot as she hastily wiped the tears from her face.
    "It's just ... it's Damien," Julia said.
    "Do you want to start a family with him soon?" Dee asked.
    Julia nodded, her voice too uncertain to rely on.
    "Child." Dee's voice was strict, now, and Julia looked up into eyes that pierced her to the soul. Ever since Dee had shifted back into wolf form to fight Trax's pack of scouts, she'd started to glow from her eyes when she turned emotional, just as Damien did. It scared Julia, to think that someone she thought she knew had an entirely different side to her.
    "Yes?" Julia said.
    "You have your schooling. That's something you've always wanted."
    "Yes," Julia whispered.
    "And do you want a family now?"
    "I never did!" Julia cried. "I never did, but now I do. I'm looking forward to college; I'm sure it'll be wonderful, but ... " She waved her hand in the air helplessly.
    "But this