The Shifter's Choice Read Online Free Page A

did Mac have over her that made her willing to stay?
    Johnny could only wonder because he’d be damned if he’d lift one of those stinky dry-erase markers.
    Mac gave Touma a hard look and headed for the trail on the opposite side of the yard. It led down past the waterfall and grotto to the captain’s house, half a mile away.
    A new scent came to him and he turned toward the woman. Now Johnny smelled fear. He glanced at Touma noting the strain on her face as she watched the captain depart. Was she dismayed at being alone with the big bad wolf?
    She should be.
    Mac disappeared down the trail and Touma blew out a breath. The smell of fear ebbed. Then Johnny realized something odd. She wasn’t afraid of him. She was afraid of Mac. But that made no sense at all.
    Had she thought that Mac’s glare had something to do with her? He wanted to ask her and then was instantly annoyed at himself. He didn’t need to ask anything. What he needed was to get rid of her before this got any worse.
    The woman cleared her throat. Johnny emitted a low growl. Her eyes flicked to the hated easel and then back to him.
    He wondered if she was stupid enough to pick up that red marker. She turned to the board and dropped the cell phone into the tray. She wasn’t calling for rescue. Strange. But he found himself impressed with her bravery.
    She met him with a direct look. “You want to show me around?”
    Johnny stared at her for a long moment. She stared back with dark soulful eyes that seemed a little sad to him. He wanted to ask her what she’d done to get this shit job, but he didn’t know sign language. If he learned he could speak to her. But that would be giving up. Sometimes he thought that all he had left was the daily fight to hold on to his hope. Learning sign would kill it.
    “Listen,” she tried again and this time, when she spoke she accompanied each word with a sign. “I’m stuck here for an hour and I’d like it very much if you didn’t eat me while I wait.”
    Johnny exhaled in a short blast that was his laugh.
    “So, do you want to show me your home or do you want me to go sit over there for the hour?” She finished signing and pointed at a bench facing the treetops and beyond that, the blue waters of the Pacific. Johnny spent a lot of time looking at those waters...imagining.
    “Sit or tour?” she asked, making the signs for both.
    He continued to stare, refusing to imitate her signs.
    She smiled. “Great. My choice, then.”
    She walked to the bench and folded stiffly into the far corner. He remained where he was. She sat gazing out at the vista, a slight smile on her face. When fifteen minutes passed it became obvious that she was quite happy to sit there and wait him out. He worried about her. Why had she stayed?
    It was one thing for him to give her the heave-ho but another for her to ignore him. He wasn’t used to being ignored and didn’t like it.
    Johnny grabbed the dry-erase board and broke it into a manageable size, then retrieved the black marker and then returned to her.
    He wrote one word.
Quit
.
    She glanced at the board and crossed her arms, glancing back at the water. “Fat chance, furball.”
    He blinked at her. Had she just called him furball? He could snap her in two like a twig. He could throw her fifty yards like a football. He could...
    He pointed at the word. She uncrossed her arms, lifted the broken piece of board from his hand and then threw it like a Frisbee over the edge of the embankment. Was she demented?
    She started signing as she spoke. “Listen, I can’t leave. You got it? I’m stuck here for—” she glanced at her watch “—thirty-one more minutes. So run along if you want to but quit bothering me.”
    Johnny growled and leaned in so that his nose nearly touched hers. She turned her back on him. Johnny stomped around in front of her and gave her the finger before jumping over the embankment.
    Her voice followed him, a shout and a challenge filled with fury and dripping