Trouble in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

always spouting off about some bullshit or another.”
    “Yeah, I know. But…tonight was the worst I’ve ever heard,” Silver said, then lowered her voice. “I overheard him talking to someone about wanting to eliminate all shifters. As in, completely kill them off.”
    Joe raised his eyebrows further, then furrowed them. He looked genuinely confused. “Shifters? What are those? I’ve never heard that term before.”
    Silver bit her bottom lip. It always took her by surprise when someone had never heard of shifters. For her, shifting was such a fact of life that not knowing it even existed seemed unfathomable. She had to remind herself that the general population, like Joe, didn’t have the same background that she did. Most people had only heard of shifters through fantasy books or movies, and Joe wasn’t the type to read a fantasy story. If he did read, it was usually a business book, or the latest advice on how to win the stock market game.
    “You know, like shapeshifters. People that can turn into animals and back again at will,” Silver said, hoping to see some hint of recognition in Joe’s eyes. Joe looked back at her like she was crazy.
    “You mean like a werewolf?” he asked.
    “Sort of,” Silver said, wondering how deep into her explanation she should try to get right now. “Except werewolves aren’t real. Shifters are. Werewolves are made-up creatures that can turn you into a werewolf by biting you. Shifting is just a genetic mutation. It’s not a disease you can catch or anything like that.”
    Joe gave Silver a look that clearly said he thought she’d just lost her marbles. He reached out and put his palm to her forehead again, checking for a fever. But Silver wasn’t burning up. She wasn’t sick, and she wasn’t crazy. She looked into Joe’s eyes, begging him to listen to her and hear the truth.
    “Silver, I think you should get some rest,” he said in a soft but firm voice.
    Silver felt anger bubbling up inside of her. “No!” she said. “Not until you hear me. Really hear me. I’m not making this up, Joe. Shifters are real, and your dad wants to get rid of them.”
    Joe pulled his hand back, looking surprised. “You’re serious?” he said, his voice taken aback. “You really think that shifters exist, and, apparently, so does my dad?”
    “Yes,” Silver said. “I know they exist. And, somehow, your dad does, too. And he wants to get rid of them. As in kill them. All of them.”
    Joe gave Silver an incredulous look, and then burst out laughing. “Come on, Sil. Don’t be ridiculous. Even if such a thing as a shifter exists, so what if my dad wants to kill them off? He’s just a crazy old man spouting off stupid ideas.”
    Silver sat up, the anger within her quickly rising to a boiling level. “You think it’s funny that your dad wants to kill of an entire group of people? Because I fail to see what is so humorous about that. And, besides, your dad may be a crazy old man, but he’s a crazy old man with a lot of money, connections, and power. That’s a dangerous combination. If he really wanted to, he could put some serious pressure behind just about any stupid idea he wanted to. And from what I heard tonight, he’s pretty dead set on the idea of killing off shifters. I’m not okay with that, and I don’t want to be part of a family that is okay with it.”
    Joe stopped laughing, but he didn’t exactly look contrite. “Silver, try to calm down. I guess this is clearly important to you for some reason, so I’m sorry for making fun of it. It’s just that I’ve known my dad a long time, and I’ve heard him talking about getting rid of all kinds of people. It’s not okay, no. But nothing ever comes of it. He always says shit when he’s at one of these stupid dinner parties and has had too much whiskey. Don’t worry too much about it, okay?”
    Silver crossed her arms. “Whatever,” she said. “Speaking of stupid dinner parties, don’t you need to get back?