Shifter Magick (14 page)

Kera looked at Maddox and Jason to gauge the truth of what he said. They both looked pretty grim. “Yeah. I will.”

Luke looked relieved. So did Maddox. Jason, not so much. He seemed closed up. She couldn’t read him.

When they reached the front door, Kera felt like she could finally breathe.

“Son.” Jason called from behind them.

Maddox turned around but kept her hand.

Jason looked down to see their hands linked together. He reached out his hand to her. “It was nice meeting you Kera.”

Kera let go of Maddox’s hand and reached for his father’s. When their hands touched, a low shock registered.

Jason’s eyes narrowed on her.
“How is Laura doing?” he asked.

“Dead.” Kera said dryly as she pulled away her hand.

Jason closed his hand into a fist and closed his eyes. When he opened them the pain was sincere. “I’m sorry to hear that. She was a friend.”

Kera felt her throat close up. “Thanks.” She whispered.

Jason inclined his head to her.

Maddox ran ahead of her in the rain to open
the passenger side door for her.
Kera was almost soaked in just the short distance.
She waited until he started driving before she let the tears fall. He reached out his hand to comfort her but Kera swatted him away.

“Leave me alone.” She fussed at him. “You made me feel like a terrorist.”

“Kera.” He whispered, his voice strained. “All of this came about so suddenly I had to be careful. I make sure I was doing the right thing.”

“You didn’t ask them why Andrew attacked me.”

“No.” Maddox gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I couldn’t talk about that with Luke there.
I know you’re angry and I wouldn’t expect anything different. You have to believe that I would never have let anything happen to you.
”

“That’s now why I’m upset.” Kera scolded him. “I came to you today to tell you my secret. I didn’t want anything between us that could be used against the other. Andrew has been hounding me to hang out with him and who knows why. He tried to lure me in with a secret about you and instead of going behind your back into what was probably a trap – because I’m not stupid Maddox – I came to you for answers. I was scared and when I saw a wolf around your shop I wanted to protect you from harm.” Her breath hiccupped when she tried to hold back the tears.

Maddox put his hand on her leg and ignored her sound protest. “I have been deceived before Kera.” He said quietly. “
I was afraid my feelings for you were swaying my actions. I am growing very attached to you.”

“So you took me to the judge.” Kera
accused
pointedly.

Maddox took his hand from her leg so he could turn the opposite direction from the college. The roads were dark and secluded as they drove toward his shop.

“Drop me off at my dorm.”

“No, you’re staying with me until I know what is going on with Andrew.” Maddox locked the doors and smiled at her. “No jumping out of the car.”

Kera reached for the push lock and pulled it up. “Don’t tempt me.”

Maddox frowned. “Please.” He urged her gently. “I didn’t know what else to do.
”

Kera nodded grudgingly. “Using my lines against me huh?”
S
he peeked
over at him and saw his sour expression. It made her laugh.
It was short and harsh
.

With her arms crossed, Kera closed her eyes and let her mind idle in the place between awareness and sleep. She was good at this form of checking out of reality.
She’d done it a lot in the last few years.
Maddox didn’t try any more conversation. She could feel the car pull onto the rocky roads that lead up to his shop. The rain tapped against the roof.
Kera found herself remembering the moment she saw Maddox in the wolf’s place. He was beautiful. She would never look at him the same. He was a very kind but very powerful wolf. Her instincts had warred with her to run. The beast knew he was stronger than she was.

The car slowed down and Kera heard a small click from the garage door button being pressed. Outside the car motors pulled the door up and
the car pulled inside.

Kera opened her eyes.

Maddox was watching her. His eyes were practically black in color.

Kera frowned. “I have every right to be angry with you.”

He shifted in his chair and tilted his head to the side. “You said that you never told your dad about your healing ability. Does that mean he doesn’t know about your shifting ability?”

“
So what if it does?
”
Kera reached for the door and Maddox clamped his hand on her thigh. “Are you afraid I’m going to run?”

He narrowed his eyes on her and Kera squirmed under
his
scrutiny.

She removed her hand from the door and challenged his stare with her own. “Tell me the worst case
scenario
. What is it that you were worried I was going to do? I would never have told anyone about you because that would put myself at risk. I would have to be a pretty sick person to plan something devious in between kissing you and
accepting your gifts. Tell me Maddox what
did you think I was capable of?”

His sigh was audible. He squeezed her leg before he removed his hand to run it through this hair. The rain outside continued and thunder rolled. The air inside the mustang was starting to get oppressive. The humidity was seeping into the cab slowly. Sitting became uncomfortable and Kera
felt her chest tighten. She felt foolish. A small voice inside of her said I told you so because she knew this was going to be a disaster from the beginning. This was far beyond what she had thought could happen but it hurt all the same.

“Don’t cry.” His voice was soothing.

Kera wiped her eyes.

Maddox got out of the car and made it to the passenger side before she could blink. His long legs carried him gracefully, Kera was jealous of just about everything about him.
The
door opened and Maddox surprised her by
squatting down beside the car. “
If you come out of there and sit with me I’ll tell you about it.”

Kera snorted rudely. “This better be
good.” She mumbled.

Reaching in, Maddox grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the car. The hard plane of his chest was pressed against the soft swells of her breasts. He wrapped a strong arm around her back and rested his chin on her head. “Please don’t cry
okay
?”

She snorted again, but did it while she buried her face in his shirt. Kera wrapped her arms around his waist and threaded her fingers together. The sudden shift in energy, from fear to anger and back to fear then sadness, drained her.
She yawned and felt his hand smooth out her hair.
She sagged against him, whimpering at the pain in her chest.

“
Okay
.” He said gently. “Come here.” Maddox pulled out of their embrace, waiting patiently for her to unthread her fingers before he lead her to the couch.

Kera sat, sunk into the softness of the cushion, and sighed. Then she watched him go a
bout the shop and grab things
in the dark
. He placed t
wo bottles of water from th
e fridge and
a bag of plain potato chips
on the table in front of her then opened a door that turned out to be a full bathroom with a shower and everything. He grabbed a towel and tossed it beside her on the couch. He caught her watching him and smiled tentatively before he disappeared into the bathroom. She
saw the light turn on and
heard another door open and shut and Maddox returned with a pillow and blanket.

To occupy herself, in fear of having to comment on his actions, Kera grabbed a bottle of water and drank over half.

Maddox noticed and grabbed another before he returned. “My family has always been everything to me.” He said while he uncapped the bottle. His eyes met hers as he took a drink. He capped the bottle and placed it on the table, and then grabbed the towel and started drying the ends of her hair.

Kera closed her eyes and relaxed her head. The gentle pulls on her hair eased a headache she didn’t know she had.

“My mom found out what we were when I was seven.” He said darkly. “She
left even though he begged her to stay. Even though I begged.”

Oh no. This was not the conversation she wanted to have. “Maddox…”

He tugged at a lock of her hair and Kera took the hint and opened her eyes. “You asked why and I’m going to tell you. I can tell you’re hurt I didn’t trust you so here I am trusting you Kera. These are things I haven’t told anyone. The people who know are only the ones who’ve lived it.”

She watched his eyes shift colors as he spoke. They were a mood ring just like his touch caused her to change moods. She wondered if it would help them both right now just to try a quick sample of the poison. She eyed his lips and the corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Kera shook her head and pulled her thoughts together. “Continue.”

Maddox draped the towel over the back of the couch and arranged the pillow on the other side of her near the arm rest. Then he lay down behind her and wound an arm around her waist. “Relax.” He
tugged her down beside him and brushed the hair out of her face. She could feel the heat from his body all across her back as he fitted the blanket over them. Kera closed her eyes and relaxed into him. “So my mother left and I blamed my dad. His secrets cost me my mother and I refused to live like that. I didn’t know what I was until that day either. See, my father had to shift to protect me from a wild animal that had gotten into our back yard, I remember thinking it was cool. Like my dad was a super hero. My mother started screaming, she ran for me but stopped
just before she got to
me. I
realized
later it was because
I could probably do the same thing.”

“I wish it had been different for you.” Kera murmured.

His breath fanned out across her neck. “Thanks.” Maddox rubbed her arm through the blanket.
She felt his
is lips pressed against the back of her head before he continued. “When Andrew’s mother
died, my father was too far removed to help so Rayland, my uncle
,
took him in. We formed a pack together and I
had one rule. Truth.”

“You already told me about this part. How does it have anything to do with you and me?” She squirmed out of the comfort of their embrace and rolled over to face him. She folded her hand prayer style and laid her cheek on them.

His eyes were wider, shocked slightly by her change in position. She felt his arm relax against her again, this time his hand rested on the small of her back. “
I never said taking you to meet my father had anything to do with you. It does have a lot to do with me.”

“
Oh.
”
Kera couldn’t take her eyes off his as he spoke, or now, after he finished. She felt the
warmth
of his arm against her back and the heat radiating from his body brushing against the front of hers.

“The day before my accident I found out that Nick had been lying to me for some time.” He closed his eyes and sighed. His breath fanned across her cheek and sent chills down her neck. “We can be very dangerous to human’s Kera. Nick had a human girlfriend. I thought they were being careful but obviously something happened.
He tried to hide it by staging an accident.”

“You think he killed her?” She couldn’t hide the horror in her voice. “Why isn’t he in jail?”

Maddox frowned like he thought the answer was obvious.

She blushed, “It would risk exposure.”

“Yeah.” With his expression weary, Maddox sighed and continued. “Andrew came to me with what Nick had done. He told me how Nick needed help disposing of the body and that they staged the accident together. He figured I should know. I was the oldest of the group by a few months and I had
been the first to shift. I
knew we had been reckless. I was so angry when I went to talk to him that I couldn’t control my car.
”

“On the mountain.” Kera whispered.
She shifted uncomfortably
and her breath caught
.

Maddox tightened his grip around her waist. His eyes closed. “Kera,” he whispered
, his voice strained
. “I’m trying to keep this about what happened.”

Her cheeks flushed and her breathing turned shallow. “Then finish.” She whispered.

Chuckling, Maddox sat up on his elbow and looked down at her. “I needed to know I could trust myself around you. You distract me from what I have been for the past five years. I vowed I wouldn’t get in a relationship with someone until after I graduated and had time to make sure I would never hurt her. Then here you come along with your bright green eyes and laugh that sounds like your surprised you can make the sound. You’re so sad sometimes Kera and I just want to hold you until you smile.”