Weremones Read Free Page A

only knew.
    The knot in Adam’s stomach turned into a smoking lava rock as Mack continued.
    “Animal Control is hauling it out now. I’m going to stall him as long as I can. But you’d better hurry if you want to take a look at it.”
    Damn, damn, damn.
    Adam made a quick call to the house, checking heads as much as telling the boys to keep the woman there. His stomach eased while Mark rattled in his ear. There was nothing to eat in the house and the kid wanted this awesome cool skateboard with red and acid green flames for his birthday. Neither pronouncement was news to Adam. The boys ate everything they could pour ketchup on and the description of the skateboard was burned into Adam’s memory from repetition.
    Gee. Sarcasm laced Adam’s thoughts. I wonder what I’ll get Mark for his birthday.
    ———
    The world shifted. The gentle bounce of the mattress, the soft cocoon of blankets reassured Diana. Dreams and fantasies held no sway over the waking of day. With her eyes still closed, she drifted in a half asleep stage. The presence of another person near to her comforted her.
    The dream had been awful. A lot of running and monsters trying to eat her.
    No. Wolves. There’d been wolves and coyotes, but the monster had saved her. A monster that turned into a sexy hunk.
    Yes, it had been a very bad dream. If she didn’t do something about it now, she would be feeling everyone else’s moods all day long. She’d wind up holed up in her bedroom with a migraine with a hot compress on her forehead, wrestling the child-proof cap off of a bottle of useless pain reliever.
    As a natural empath, her first twenty-two years had been sheer hell, living a life bombarded by what others felt. Richard Ridley, her ex-husband had called Diana crazy.
    The truth was, her powers scared him. The divorce, emotionally devastating as it was, turned out to be Diana’s salvation. When Karen’s gifts manifested, Diana made sure her daughter had all the understanding and security she needed to develop.
    This morning Diana’s control over her own gifts was shaky. There was no one like her that she knew, no one to help her understand her abilities. She practiced a little yoga for control, to understand the energies that powered her psychic empathy. She had learned to build walls around herself, emotional and metaphysical.
    The nightmare still felt so real. Her mental image of a fence and locked gate crumbled, leaving her mind open.
    Diana felt drained, as if her energy was spread too thin, pulled outside her body over a distance. She sought her center, a nice seascape of peace and tranquility, but found a forest instead. A forest inhabited by wolves.
    Her son, she assumed, settled on the bed and broke her scattered, sleep deprived, concentration with his insecurity. He should feel sorry.
    If Matthew had needed a ride so badly last night, then he should have been at the Park entrance like he’d said he would. Sometimes he could be as thoughtless as his father. Diana pushed away the uncharitable thought. Matthew wasn’t his father.
    It was the dream. Was it a dream? Diana swallowed.
    No, it was a dream. Otherwise …
    Keep a low profile. You don’t want the monsters to find you. Diana brushed off the stray admonition, obviously the result of too many internet chats with her favorite oddball computer whiz, Jax. She was going to have to get taller, less paranoid friends.
    So close, his emotions resonated within her exhausted psyche, keeping her from sleep. She huffed and gave in to the inevitable. Digging under the comforter, Diana gave the lump behind her a pat and a light shove. He shifted, arm going over her legs. She wanted an apology, not this drawn out prelude to a drama.
    “Matthew.”
    Not Matthew. The teen sitting next to her was not her son. And she definitely was not in her bedroom.
    What exactly had happened last night?
    Diana’s heart thumped hard. She glanced around the room, checked her state of dress. Sudden fear dumped a jolt