Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Channing’s gaze narrows on my hands. “Why do you smell like rabbit blood?”
I glance down at my silk blouse, checking for stains. Nothing. The scent from Geo’s kill must be on my hands. Shifters have a powerful sense of smell.
“It’s nothing,” I say.
“That’s a lie, Julia.” He takes a step forward, and now he’s close enough to touch. His eyes flash a brighter, inhuman green, and I shiver. His wolf has the same color eyes as Geo’s. As Geoffrey’s. “Did Geo bring home a kill?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It’s exactly my business. That’s why I'm here. To guide Geo through his shifter puberty.”
Oh.
I should be glad. This is exactly what I need. Except, seeing Channing in person after so many years brings back a truckload of hurt. I’m struck by the full force of how much I missed him. How disappointed I’ve been over the years that he never came back. He lived with us for a couple of years. I thought he’d stay a part of our family after Geoffrey’s death, but he totally and completely bailed.
“That won’t be necessary,” I say.
“I disagree. And I think I get to make this call since I’m the shifter and you’re not.”
“I beg your pardon,” I snap.
“Denied.” He winks and steps past me, heading towards my porch.
For a second, I stand, mouth open, in my driveway. Did he just walk away from me? If my head could explode, it would.
I whirl and chase him up the steps, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
Channing’s frowning at my front door.
“Did Geo do that?” He points to the crumpled doorknob.
I swallow my annoyance. Whatever’s going on with Geo takes precedence. “I think so. I don’t know.”
“What about these?” He squats and points to scratches on the door and door frame. They’re down by the sill. I wouldn’t have noticed them if Channing hadn’t pointed them out, but now that he has, they look like a cross between a big dog and a mountain lion swiped at the door, gouging the old wood.
“I guess. He wouldn't tell me what happened.” My shoulders slump. This whole morning is a bust. I want to go back to bed. Rewind time, go back to when Geo was a toddler. When Geoffrey was alive and life was simpler.
Channing walks into my house like he owns it and picks up Geo’s torn band shirt. He lowers his head and sniffs it. His eyes flash.
“Definitely a rabbit,” he announces. “How many times has he shifted?” He ponders the shredded fabric.
“I-I honestly don’t know. I found the front door ajar and the shirt in shreds this morning. He didn’t want to talk about it.”
“It probably scared him. Looks like it caught him unaware,” he says. “He felt the need to go outside, maybe kicked off his shoes and jeans. But the shift came faster than he expected. He was still wearing his shirt.” He holds the t-shirt up, showing me the way the fabric is stretched out, split at the collar. “Once he was in wolf form, he didn’t stop to shake it off. He scented a rabbit and went for it. Caught it too.” Channing looks pleased.
I struggle to assimilate this information. Even though I’d guessed it was something like that, Channing’s confirmation makes it all the more real. “My son is a shifter who doesn’t know what’s happening to him or how to control it.”
Channing nods.
All sorts of images fly through my head. Geo sneaking out of the house, into the forest. Turning into a wolf. Running through the trees, scenting wild animals, hunting them, killing them…
“He can’t go hunting alone in the middle of the night.” My voice pitches up with panic. “I’m not okay with this.”
“It’s all right,” Channing soothes, reaching for my arms and rubbing them. “That’s why I’m here. He needs me.”
His touch discombulates me. He’s my brother-in-law. My much younger brother-in-law. And this feels…a little too intimate.
Not his touch. My reaction to it.
Because I’m not seeing Channing as a boy anymore. Channing is all man.
Well, technically not all man because he’s a shifter, but all male.
I nod and take a step back, out of his grasp. “This is crazy. I wish he would’ve come to me.”
“He probably didn’t want to bother you. And he wasn’t thinking as a human. He was thinking as a shifter. A wolf. The animal is more straightforward about things. He needed to be in the woods, so he went. He wanted to hunt, so he did. This property is perfect for it.”
“That’s what Geoffrey said when we toured it with the realtor,” I say on autopilot. “And about five years ago, someone bought up the rest of the lots around our house. They were supposed to develop them, but they haven’t, so the cul de sac is pretty private.”