Changeling Dawn Read Online Free Page A

early this far north, and she was up and on the road by five with a steaming mocha in the cup holder. The first leg took her northeast along the Glenn Highway. It was July and summer ruled—the breeze was warm, the sky was hazy blue, the forests boasted a hundred different greens. And the mountains ... Kenzie found herself driving slower and slower, all but mesmerized by the stunning scenery. The gently rolling land of northern Alberta, especially the Peace River country where the town of Dunvegan had grown up, was beautiful, all the more so because it was dear to her heart. Yet it didn’t compare to Alaska’s raw wilderness and pointed peaks. Everything here was bigger, taller, grander somehow. Two of the massive snow-topped mountains on the horizon were actually active volcanoes but there was nothing except her guidebook to identify them as such—they were as high and jagged as the rest of the Wrangell range that marched along the horizon. She drank in the beauty but thought it was almost too much for one person. This caliber of scenery should be shared....
    Wildlife crossed the road frequently, moose and deer and even grizzly, all unconcerned by the few vehicles and in no particular hurry. One giant silver-tipped bear sat down on the yellow line as if to rest, or maybe he just liked the heat of the pavement. Kenzie slowed to a stop long before she reached him and waited until he decided to amble off. He must have weighed a thousand pounds, but she wasn’t worried in the least, knowing that even grizzlies wouldn’t attack a Changeling.
    Only humans did that.
    The highway was punctuated by a series of small communities and she found herself unexpectedly missing the little town of Dunvegan. It was the only place she felt a sense of sanctuary. Maybe because her family had lived there on and off since they’d left Scotland. Maybe because the Pack was there, a kind of extended family, and there was relative safety in numbers. Birkie was there, her dearest friend. And as Birkie had often said, home was wherever the people you cared about were. I should have stayed longer, I really should have. Kenzie rubbed at her eye with the heel of her hand—
    —and had to swerve as a man leapt out from behind a truck at the side of the road, waving his arms. Holy Jeez! Quickly, she pulled over just ahead and jumped out, determined to give the stranger a piece of her mind. Her businesslike gait slowed a little as she got a better look at the white truck. There was a small flasher mounted on the roof—had she almost run over a state trooper? Her initial fury fizzled out like a wet firecracker. Crap, crap, crap. As she got closer, tweiot closhe insignia on the door gave her a little relief: Alaska Department of Fish and Game . It was somewhat better on the scale of offenses to nearly hit an AD FG officer than a trooper, wasn’t it?
    She fervently hoped so.
    The man in question rolled a tire from behind the truck, straightened up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “Thanks for stopping. Didn’t think you were going to.”
    For a long moment, Kenzie couldn’t say a word. He was easily as tall as any of her brothers, lean like Culley and Devlin, yet his build was deceptive. He had power. It radiated from him effortlessly, naturally, as if he drew it from deep in the earth beneath his feet. Sure of himself, yet she detected no arrogance in the obsidian eyes that were studying her intently. Long strands of rich brown hair had worked themselves loose from where they’d been tied at the base of his neck. Kenzie had a sudden crazy urge to brush them back—and to let her hand linger.
    “I—you scared the hell out of me!” she blurted.
    The intensity of his gaze gave way as he laughed. “Sorry about that. I was trying to get this tire off and nearly missed you. Hasn’t been a vehicle by here in a while and the cell phone doesn’t work in this particular spot. Dead zone.”
    “Don’t you have a radio?”
    “Sure. I can radio my