Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series) Read Online Free Page A

years.”
    "Oh." Treading carefully, I said, “You still haven’t answered my question. Why me?”
    “You’re a shapeshifter, Jackie. I’m sure you’ve noticed that you’re very different from the people you’ve lived and gone to school with. Usually shifters make their first change a couple of years after puberty, but some are late bloomers. You and I are here on the island to force your first change away f rom anyone who could get hurt. It’ll happen eventually anyway. I’m just going to bring it on a little faster and that’s what the drug is for. I’m here to help you get through your first shift as safely as possible.” He watched me carefully, waiting for me to bolt or cry or react in some way.
    I decided not to freak out, just yet, and to pretend to play along with his strange little fantasy. “Why bring it on now? Why not just wait until I change naturally?” I played with my fries, my appetite having suddenly disappeared . Shit , I need to find a way out of here fast. He’s sounding crazier and crazier.
    Rob continued, "Two reasons: If your first change occurred in school or your home, you’d have been terrified and could've hurt someone. Also, shifter populations are thinning out. We’re always on the lookout for shifters, like you, who’ve slipped through our radar. We have dangerous enemies and most of us feel that bringing strong young recruits into the mix will only help strengthen the community.”
    Rob stood up and moved slightly away from the table. “I’m a shifter. A black leopard.”
    I felt a strange electric charge in the air, my body tingling pleasantly as energy filled the small room. I watched in complete astonishment as Rob’s hands turned into enormous black paws with lethal looking claws. He flexed them slightly, retracting the claws when he noticed my wide-eyed expression. Just as quickly the paws transitioned back to his large human-looking hands. The change seemed effortless. He wasn't even breathing hard.
    Stunned, the reality of the situation hit me like a two-by-four in the face. “But I don’t want to change,” I pleaded with him.”I’m human, not an animal. You can’t forc e me to change!” I'd stood without thought and begun backing away, rage and fear smoldering in the bonfire of my jumbled emotions. There was no way that I was going to let this pseudo-nice creep inject me with some weird drug to make me turn into a bird or a bear or whatever. Maybe this was some kind of governmental test site, although Rob didn’t really look like a scientific geek. More like a Land's End model.
    “ Please sit down.” His soothing voice and comforting wintergreen scent made most of my tension float away. Suddenly my knees were bending and I was sitting again.
    He rubbed his hands, maybe massaging away the effects of the transition. "The drug I'm giving you doesn't turn you into a shifter. Shapeshifters are born, so you must have had at least o ne shifter parent. The drug simply encourages your body to do what it would probably do in a few weeks anyway. But I don't see the point in waiting around for it to happen. I don't want to have to keep you here on the island any longer than necessary." He smiled kindly. "I know this is rough for you to take in."
    I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down, trying to bury my fear where he couldn’t see it. His hands had definitely changed to a leopard's paws. That wasn't some hallucination. I should be screaming or crying, but instead I decided I wanted some answers. I lifted my chin. "Where did all the blood come from? I don't have one cut. And why can’t I remember anything?”
    “Amnesia is a side effect of the tranquilizer I gave you outside your house. You probably won’t ever remember your trip to the island. You struggled quite a bit after I administered your first dose of the experimental meds four hours ago. Your hands began to shift and you did some damage with your claws. Some of the blood was yours from