Kalen Read Online Free Page A

a day to decide to stop wearing the big, baggy oversized shirts she loved. This was the last time she listened to advice from anyone concerning her wardrobe—that was for sure.
    The cramps worsened. Ally curled up into a tight ball and whimpered. The pain of the last change was almost too much for her to bear. What if she fainted this time and lay here on the ground naked? She groaned again as the pain grew more intense. Even her hair follicles hurt.
    It didn’t take much longer for Ally to begin to shift shape again. Like before, her jaws popped and cracked as they changed size. Fur that covered her body seemed to disappear back into her skin. Paws became hands as claws changed to fingernails once again.
    The animal side of her whined and cried with the agony. When Ally finally regained her human vocal chords, she was unable to keep the scream of pain from bubbling from her lips.
    Afraid to move for fear of causing herself more distress, Ally lay on the ground cold and panting for what seemed like hours. As soon as it was possible to breathe without pain, she donned her underwear and the t-shirt that barely covered her midriff and sat down on a nearby log. She tried not to think of how many bugs lived in the rotted wood. She only knew she needed to rest after her ordeal.
    Taking a quick look around, Ally realized she had no idea where she was, or where to go. There was no way she could ever walk the several miles back home, even if she knew which direction to go. Dogs had thick pads on their paws. She had nothing more than her bare feet.
    Ally looked over her shoulder in the direction the animal that somehow seemed a part of her now had headed. Perhaps that was the way home. Still, she wasn’t certain. What if she got even more lost once she abandoned this stream? Should she follow the water?
    She bit her lip as she sat thinking. Ally had a feeling that home was just over her right shoulder, but what if she was wrong? Walking through the woods as a dog and striding through them half-naked as a human were two very different things.
    “What now?” she asked herself as she rubbed her upper arms. The sun had begun to set and she had no way to keep warm. Ally shivered as the real possibility of freezing to death crossed her mind. If only she would have remained a dog for the night. At least then she had had a fur coat.
    “Dang it all, Ally.” How many times had her neighbor, Milly told her to look before she leaped? If she’d thought of that, she might have just stayed where she was in the van, instead of running like a scared rabbit.
    “You look like a girl who could use some help.”
    The sound of the deep voice startled her and Ally turned with her hand to her throat. Two men stood side by side, fishing poles draped over their shoulders. Blond and bucktoothed, they both wore jeans and thick plaid jackets over their t-shirts. They looked like twins, but one was taller and thin. The shorter one was a bit on the stocky side. Along with his fishing pole, the tall man carried what looked like a bait bucket and a cooler. The short one held a string of fish that looked almost good enough to eat raw. Ally shuddered at the thought.
    She leaned forward on the log, trying to cover up the fact that she was nearly half-naked and eyed their warm-looking coats.
    “Along with some clothes,” the shorter one said with a leer.
    For a minute, Ally wanted to bean him on the head for that look. At least she did until he propped his fishing rod against a tree and hung the fish precariously from a broken branch before removing his jacket.
    “Here ya go, ma’am.” He handed her his coat, which fell nearly to Ally’s knees when she stood and slipped it on.
    “Thank you.” Ally tried not to notice the strong smell of body odor that clung to the jacket. At least she was warmer. Her feet were still bare, but she didn’t expect the men to give up their footwear. Even if they had, it would have been way too big for her anyway.
    She inhaled