Taming Kiera (Therian Agents Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

shrugging off the heat that crawled along her neck and down her skin the closer he got.
    “A lot happened when you were a…” Riley stopped and chewed on her bottom lip.
    “A lion,” Kiera bit out a little too roughly.
    “Yes.” Riley nodded, then glanced up at her new boyfriend.
    Turner Payne. The man was a little too cocky for Kiera’s liking, but for what it was worth, he seemed to be head over heels in love with her sister. She’d give him credit for that, despite his playboy looks and arrogant demeanor.
    “She deserves to know.” Turner placed a hand on Riley’s cheek. “Maybe it will help her understand.”
    “Understand what?” Kiera demanded.
    Riley exhaled slowly and pinned Kiera with a grim look. “Our father was the one who created the serum that turned you.”
    “No.”
    “It’s true.”
    Patchy memories started to form in her mind. Her father, a white room, immeasurable pain. Kiera shivered. Her father was supposed to be dead, killed in a fire that destroyed his life’s work. But as the jigsaw puzzle of images danced in her mind’s eyes, she knew he had been in the labs with her.
    She swallowed back the bile that burned her throat.
    “He didn’t die when we thought he did.” Pain etched across her sister’s delicate features.
    “He’s alive?”
    “No.” Her sister’s lips trembled on the word. “I…I had to…”
    Riley’s eyes misted over, her face lost all color, and she swayed. Turner gripped her elbow to steady her.
    There was something in her sister’s expression that sucked the breath out of her. She shook her head, not wanting to hear any more.
    “Riley did what she had to do to save both of us,” Turner said, his voice tight. “Your father won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
    “You killed him?” Kiera stared at her sister in horror.
    “Yes, but–”
    “But what? Did you or didn’t you?”
    Riley squeezed her eyes shut and a tear slid down her cheek. “He was going to kill Turner.”
    Kiera blinked hard. Pain ripped through her chest. Her father had been dead to her for years, but still, the knowledge that Riley had taken his life sent a cold shock through her system.
    “You murdered our father,” Kiera whispered, venom in her voice.
    Riley sucked in a harsh breath.
    Turner snarled and pointed his finger at her. “You wouldn’t be alive if she hadn’t done what she did.”
    “It’s okay,” Riley said softly, putting her hand on his chest. Her gaze lingered on Turner’s for a moment, until some of the anger dimmed from his eyes. She looked back at Kiera. “I know it’s all a shock.”
    Kiera huffed. That was the understatement of the year.
    “Sit down. We’ll explain everything.” Jacob placed a hand on her shoulder. His warmth seeped through her in calming waves, but she shrugged him off. She wanted–no, needed–to be angry. If not, she thought her grief might overwhelm her.
    “What else don’t I know?” Kiera felt Jacob’s heavy gaze on her, but she kept her eyes narrowed on her sister.
    Riley looked down at the floor. “I told you, that it was Marcus DuPoint who injected you with the serum.”
    “I don’t believe it.” She shook her head. Marcus was one of her closest friends. There were things he knew about her that even Riley didn’t. He would never have intentionally hurt her.
    “It’s true. He would have done the same to me if Turner hadn’t stopped him. He was working with our father. Trying to figure out a way to access the recessive Metamorph gene in non-shifters. Marcus’s sister volunteered to be one of the first injected. Like all the others, she became trapped in animal form. He thought that if he turned you, our father would work harder to find a cure.”
    “No. I want to talk to him.” She needed to hear it from Marcus himself. There had to be an explanation.
    “You can’t,” Riley answered softly, her eyes filling with new tears.  “Marcus is dead.”
    Revulsion washed over her.
    “Did you kill him too?” Kiera