Deer Heart [Shifter Crossroads 3] Read Online Free Page A

Athon bristled with irritation.
    “She was rejected today . She had a mate who had agreed to wait until she finished her work, and he decided that her cousin was a better bet. He didn’t tell her, and she found out today that she has no mate for her next heat. She has been putting them off so long that the next one is going to be violent if she doesn’t have the right partner.” Athon winced. “So her hair?”
    “Was to blend in with the humans. They hate albinos just as much as the supernatural races do. She is strong, she is proud and you just called her a reject. Are you trying to stay single for the rest of your life?”
    “Why are you so adamant about this?” He tried to frown, but the stitches holding his rapidly healing skin pulled.
    Dira shrugged. “I like her. She deserves far better than she has gotten, and in ancient times, she would have been worshiped as a god. She has a power signature that I have not seen in centuries.”
    Dira wandered away from him, tidying up and muttering to herself about lost gods and lost opportunities. She watched the thoughtful expression on Athon’s face as he left the dining room, and she sighed in relief. She hated getting in the middle of things, but now and then, fate needed a push.
    Athon had the same power signature. They were evenly matched, prey and predator, female and male, light and dark. In the old days, they would have been gods of fertility and wilderness.
    Now, they were flailing about searching for the one that would complete them. She was going to have to keep a close eye on how things were shaping up. That much power was volatile and easily changed direction when not tended properly.

Chapter Five
    J ust before dawn, Venny was out the door and running through the streets of the Crossroads.
    There were still people around from last night, but aside from curious glances, they did not interfere.
    Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she let her legs stretch as she sprinted past the meditation centre, the clinic and, gradually, the rest of the town that made up the Crossroads. When she had run one lap, she ran another and was on her third when a strange phenomenon occurred. Three males were following her, trying to keep up with her long-legged stride.
    The reindeer in her did not like being followed.
    It grew more restless when their scent came to her.
    Wolves. She stopped in her tracks. “What are you doing?”
    She glared at them with eyes that—she had been assured by family and friends—were unnerving.
    The most forward of the pack came toward her and stroked a finger along her sweaty bicep. “We were just out and scented a deer. What could be more natural than a pack of wolves following a deer?”
    She smacked his hand away. “You can follow if you like, but don’t touch. Natural or not, this deer is not up for being hunted.”
    He gave her an astonished look, “Then, why have you come to the Crossroads?” Venny put into words what she was just starting to understand. “I want a mate who runs beside me, not after me.”
    The men were confused, so she turned and ran off, gritting her teeth as the sound of pursuing footsteps followed.
    She put up with it for half a block and then stopped again. They weren’t as fast as she was, and they collided with her, setting a slight problem in motion. The impact sent her stumbling backward, and one of them reached out to grab her arm. It was no doubt intended to steady her, but he wrenched her arm, and she screamed in pain and heard the tearing of fabric.
    Instinct took over, and her deer defended her.
    She got to her feet and instinct sent her chasing those who had so recently chased her. She caught one of the wolves on her antlers, and she flicked him off to one side, sending him into a building wall.
    The other two ran, and she thundered after them. One by one, she hooked them and flicked them into the dirt. With her pursuers dealt with, she rose up on her rear legs and pawed the air.
    A black and silver wolf