Seeing Spots Read Free Page A

effects. Our communications have been cut off and we need them back immediately. Get to work on that.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Sable sat drinking her coffee and Warren sat near her.
    “I never imagined that I would get stuck here without even having a chance at a mate. I got here yesterday and I was hoping to meet someone this afternoon. Now that I have met them all in this panic, none of them are for me.”
    She smiled and watched the newcomers file in. Teebie led the group, and she brought a tray of sandwiches into the living room, flicking a fire into the fireplace with her fingers. It burned without fuel and the guests settled on the furnishings around the room.
    Introductions were made, but Sable was concentrating on her body. She felt a shift coming and she wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
    “Please excuse me.” She got up and bolted out of the building, using her senses to pinpoint a large, open area.
     
    * * * *
     
    Warren looked at Teebie and the djinn looked worried. “Warren, can you follow her and make sure she is okay?”
    He got to his feet. “I will. I will bring her back as soon as I can.”
    “Let her burn off some of the magical flare. She was caught in a mess and it had to have had an effect.” Teebie nodded and generated another round of sandwiches.
    Warren wondered what kind of an effect that could be, and he followed the scent of the newcomer out the door and down to the shifter’s field. A gold and spotted streak was sprinting away from a pile of clothing, and Warren huffed in surprise. He never would have guessed that she was a cat.
     

Chapter Three
     
     
    Sable ran for two hours before she finally got rid of the weird energy running through her. When she trotted back to her clothing, Warren was kneeling next to it.
    She sat in front of him and tried to shift. Nothing happened.
    Sable shook her head and stood up again, going up on her hind legs and trying to shift. She tried to call her human form, but it was difficult. She felt her skin stretch and pull in a way she hadn’t felt since her first shift thirteen years ago.
    Sable wanted to scream, and she fell to her side as her human body took shape. She panted and lay on the ground, trying to stop the shaking in her body.
    “I will take you back to the Open Heart. Your clothing will be fine here, or someone will bring it along.”
    He scooped her up and carried her back to the bed and breakfast. Teebie was next to them the moment that they came through the door, and she escorted them up to Sable’s room.
    Being naked in front of other shifters was par for the course but being helpless wasn’t. Sable was frustrated and nothing was coming out of her mouth except mewls and yowls.
    Teebie sat at her side and ran her hands over Sable’s throat. “Oh dear. Your vocal chords are stuck. I am sure that it will be fixable as soon as you can see a healer, but in the meantime, I will get you a note pad.”
    Sable made a face. Making cute kitty noises was not normally in her repertoire.
    “It might reset on its own. Just don’t stress it out.” Teebie smiled. “I will send Spike in to check you. She is far more versed in shifter ailments than I am.”
    Warren smiled at her, his handsome face a bit of a torture after her embarrassing moment of shifting and getting stuck. She mouthed a polite, Thank you, and inclined her head.
    To her surprise, he took a seat in her room.
    “Teebie, you can go for Spike; I will keep an eye on Sable for you.”
    Teebie smiled in appreciation. “Thank you. I will go and get the prickly one.”
    A moment later, Sable was alone with Warren and he was smiling at her.
    From the instant she had seen him, her inner beast had been yowling in desperation, but her body had been too tired to do anything. Now, he was sitting alone with her and her cat wanted to sing the song of her people. If she opened her mouth, she was going to be humiliated.
    Warren chuckled. “Well, since you are stuck, I will tell you my story. I