* * *
It seemed strange for Carly to return to something as mundane as high school after everything she’d gone through with the ruskah. Not only had she finally shifted, she’d also gotten vengeance on the creature that had taken her mother’s life. It didn’t make it any easier to live without Mom, but the victory brought Carly a certain amount of solace all the same.
Carly Morneau was a full blood shapeshifter, and as she was learning, that afforded her the power to protect those closest to her. It afforded her the power to make her own rules about what was right for this new life. It gave her something she’d been craving for sixteen years, but had just now found—control.
“Carly, are you coming?” Gabe asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She blinked back to life as she followed Gabe to his Jetta. It had been a long first day back at school, and she was impatient for a break. “Yeah, sorry, I’m just a little distracted.”
Gabe snatched her hand up in his. “How’s this for another distraction? Pizza at Crystal’s house. Her parents are having everyone over to celebrate, and from what I hear, you’re the guest of honor.”
“Me?” Carly asked.
“Yes, you. Don’t worry, they’ll have plenty of food for all of us.”
Food wasn’t her concern. Carly was still trying to reconcile everything that had happened over the past few days. She was still trying to accept the murky boundaries of being a shapeshifter.
“They know that,” Gabe spoke gently, squeezing onto her hand. “And I know it, too. It’s just pizza, Carly.”
She nodded, biting at her lip. “When do you think I’ll shift again? It hasn’t happened yet, and… I’m just wondering why it hasn’t happened.”
“You’re always in such a hurry. Maybe a night off from all the introspection will be good for you.”
She heaved out a sigh as he parked the car. “Just pizza, huh?”
“And then maybe we can sneak off afterward,” Gabe proposed. “Just the two of us?”
Carly rested her head back against the seat and drank in his gorgeous face. This whole shapeshifting thing might take some getting used to, but Gabe Hutchinson as her boyfriend would never get old. “It’s like you read my mind.”
MICHELLE ROXANNE BREDESON
is a Writer + Graphic Designer.
She resides in The Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota.
For more information, please visit
www.michellebredeson.com
Legacy: Bloodline Book 1 Page 26