Read SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) Online
Authors: Karina Espinosa
SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1)
KARINA ESPINOSA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Interior design and typesetting by Sharon Kay
Cover design by © Laura Hidalgo
Edited by Daniella Brooks
Copyright 2014 by Karina Espinosa
ASIN: B00RW8X7MG
Contents:
To my sister.
Without you, I would have never learned about sarcasm.
Two Weeks Ago
I couldn’t stand that girl. Seriously. She had a head full of luscious, golden-blonde hair with nothing but air underneath. Ugh. Sometimes I would sit and think of all the different ways I could “accidentally” spit my gum into those locks. Yeah, I was sounding bitter, like I was hating on her but the bitch stole my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend. Whatever. The point was, she’s a home-wrecking man-stealer and I hoped she got the squirts tonight. Yeah, definitely the squirts. That would make me feel better. And with that off my chest, maybe I could get some actual work done tonight.
I’d been re-reading the same paragraph in my thesis, while shooting laser beams at Diana Stone for the past hour.
That bitch
. It wasn’t enough for her to steal James, but she had to follow me all around campus and rub it in. This was probably her first time at a library. That no-good, smut-looking, pretty-faced hooker!
“Are you okay, Kenz?” I tore my intense glare away from Diana and to my best friend for all intents and purposes. She took the seat in front of me, blocking my view of the tramp.
I could only manage a grunt as Amy rolled her eyes at me.
“Are you decapitating her or is this the gum-in-hair scenario?” She said as she loudly popped open a bag of jalapeño Cheetos.
“Laser beams. And are you seriously going to munch on that in here? You know, the place that’s supposed to be quiet?” I said as I stared at her incredulously.
“Oh please, I’m not that loud,” she purposely crinkled the bag, making the sound echo around the room. She had no shame. “Well, Cyclops, since you’ve probably made her bald by now, can we talk about happy things?” Amy said, perking up and I groaned at her giddiness.
I’m so not in the mood for this.
“I hope this is not about that frat party you got invited to tomorrow.”
“Aw, come on Kenzie! You rarely go out and you have no excuse this time.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “Tonight is the third full moon, so you should have no problem.”
I glared at her through stubborn eyes. “No.” Point blank and simple. No way.
“Kenz! Stop being a lone wolf—no pun intended—but you can’t be a recluse! I won’t let you!” She was slamming her little fists on the table and I couldn’t hold back a laugh. She’s a feisty little thing. Standing at a mere five foot four with her flaming red hair in perfect waves, she tucked a stray lock behind her ear, exposing her half inch gauges. Just one of the many crazy things she’s done to her body. With two full tatted sleeves, eyebrow, nose and tongue pierced—but she’s too scared to get her belly button done. Go figure.
Even with all her wackiness, she was the only one I’ve trusted with my secret: I’m a werewolf. Yeah, that was anti-climactic, but there’s nothing cool about it. I didn’t know how it happened and I definitely didn’t know why it happened. But I deal. I actually met Amy right before my first change. It was freshman year and Amy and I were assigned to share a dorm room. We hadn’t really spoken to each other besides basic pleasantries, which in Amy’s case was a groan from under the covers. She’s not a morning person.
That night our Resident Advisor was having our first floor meeting when the pain struck. It started at my fingertips and spread all over. Each bone breaking, piece by piece and rearranging to accept the wolf. Amy was entering our dorm room to get me when she saw me naked—clothes shredded—hunched over, dripping in a cold sweat, while my spine rippled along my back. Once my canines appeared, she locked me in our bathroom and put the dresser in front of the door.
What I’ll never forget were her accusatory green eyes as they drilled holes into my body the next morning, like this was some vital information I should have provided the Admissions Office before enrolling. How was I supposed to know this was going to happen to me? To this day, I didn’t know if she was scared or pissed that she got stuck with me. Either way, she covered for me and even went to the extent of getting my notes from my morning classes when she found me passed out on the bathroom tile floor. She stood in the middle of the doorframe, with a pierced eyebrow raised towards the ceiling and arms folded across her chest. “So you’re a werewolf?” she questioned as I tried to raise my weak body off the ground and failing miserably.
“I guess so,” was my response before I had passed out from exhaustion.
I was still recalling the night of my first change when Diana Stone walked up to our table.
Damn it, can’t she just disappear already!
She casually leaned against one of the empty chairs and twirled a strand of hair around her pointer finger.
Ugh, what a cliché.
Her double D’s were bursting out of her V-neck shirt and I wanted to take a needle to them suckers and pop ‘em to a size negative A.
“Oh, my gosh, Mackenzie. I didn’t know you were here.” Lies. “I would have invited you to study with me.” Even more lies. “James is at an away game so I have the apartment to myself if you want to study together?” Hold up…what? They’re living together?
I could feel my claws extending as they scraped against the wood of my chair. A low growl escaped from my throat and that was all the warning Amy needed to intervene. While it may never be a good time to hear this, tonight was definitely not the right time—it’s a goddamn full moon.
“Now why the hell would she want to spend time with you, Barbie?” Diana’s smile slipped for a moment and we caught a glimpse behind her façade.
She must be ugly without make-up. At least I hope…
“And I’ve told you plenty of times that my name is Diana…not Barbie,” she said through a tight smile.
“Well, Barbie, Diana, Airhead—they’re all the same in my book—beat it before she rips into you. You know, PMSing and all,” Amy said with a smirk. Diana ignored her and focused on me.
“I just want us to get along, Mackenzie. You’re someone very special to James and I truly think we can be best friends,” she said and her smile was so fake, it looked painful.
“Get the fuck out of my face, Diana,” I growled and she took a tentative step back. Damn right. She better be afraid. I shifted my gaze to the clock by the check-out desk and saw that it was past seven o’clock.
I can’t believe I’ve been here so long.
Pushing my chair back caused its legs to screech across the library floor—it’s echo drawing attention. I headed for the exit—not bothering to grab my things or even look at the people I had left behind.
The cool gust of wind smacked me across the face as I walked out of the library and into the parking lot. It was mid-December in New York City and the cold weather didn’t do a thing to the burning hot temperature of my flesh. But instead of taking the train and dealing with people staring at me for not wearing a jacket, I hailed a cab to take me to my flat in Alphabet City.
I shelled out twenty five bucks and told the cab driver to step on it. In the almost four years I’d been going through the Change, I’d never cut it this close. I could feel my bones start to crunch and I tried to even my breathing and calm down.
Not now, not now, not now.
I probably looked like a crack head itching for her next fix. I grounded my teeth and clasped my clammy hands together. The pain was excruciating.
We were stuck in traffic and my legs wouldn’t stop bouncing. I could feel my bones rearranging.
God, this is so damn painful!
Not able to take it any longer, I told the driver to stop, tossed the money onto the passenger seat and sprinted the rest of the way home.
As I turned the corner to my street, I ran into a hard body that threw me a few feet back and right on my ass, causing a scream to gurgle out of me as more bones crunched from the impact. My body was shaking in a cold sweat in the middle of winter, as a rough hand took hold of my forearm.
“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Through teary eyes, I looked up to the face of GQ’s sexiest man of the year. He had the softest brown eyes that melted into pools of milk chocolate. And that one dimple that dipped into his cheek as he bit his lower lip, was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I couldn’t look away. Well at least not until another ripple of pain shot up my spine. “I think I need to get you some help.” I quivered so much I couldn’t speak. Shaking my head erratically, I shuffled away from his reach.
What am I doing? I’ve killed too much time already.
With renewed strength, I got to my feet with a groan and I’m sure he heard a bone in my hip snap. Sure enough, his eyes widened a fraction as they zeroed in on my pelvis. Gulping as much air as possible, I pushed past him and ran the rest of the way to my building—ignoring his protests for me to wait.
With shaky fingers, I tried inserting the key into the lock of my apartment building. After a few unsuccessful tries, I was finally able and flung the door open. Taking three steps at a time, I got to the third floor and slammed my shoulder into my apartment door, leaving it hanging off the hinges. My canines and claws were out and the hair on my arms were thickening. Once I passed the threshold, I started to strip my clothes off as I walked towards the back bedroom.
I let out a shriek as my shoulder bones snapped and I involuntarily hunched over while holding on to the door knob.
I’m almost there, c’mon, hang on
, I told myself as I struggled to open the bedroom door and slam it shut behind me. I reached a distorted arm towards the cage and gripped one of the steel bars—flinging myself inside. Now on all fours, I crawled to the lock and clipped it shut.
As if the sound of the bolt was permission enough, a howl ripped through me and the wolf was set free.
Present Day
I awoke with a start and slightly disoriented. My body felt sore and I rubbed my forearms to get some sensation back in them. I’d uncomfortably slept in Detective Michaels backseat during a stake out I was supposed to be awake for last night. Luckily since I was only an intern at the NYPD, I could get away with these things. Except I had really been looking forward to including this outing in my paper—hopefully there would be another one in the future—how twisted was that? I crawled out of bed and turned my laptop on, the light of the screen glared back at me, making me squint. I’d already had a missed video call on Skype from my brother Oliver. I redialed and he answered while I was in mid yawn.
“Gross, Kenz. Have you brushed your teeth?”
“Oh, put a cork in it, Ollie. Why were you calling so early in the morning?”
He rolled the same gray eyes I had and snorted. “Kenz, it’s almost noon. Either you had a late night, or you need to get that alarm clock fixed.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, well I was working last night, sue me. Are you coming home for the holidays?” I crossed my fingers under my desk and I hoped he’d say yes. I missed my brother.
“Nah, I’m sorry, Sis but I can’t. I promise to make a trip out there soon. I swear!”
I nodded in disappointment but understood. My brother was a soldier in the US Army. He didn’t have the luxury of always coming home for Christmas.
“Well I have to get going, just wanted to check in on my favorite sibling,” he said and now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
“I’m your only sibling, Ollie.”
He laughed. “Okay, well I love and miss you. Be safe.”
“Always.”
I ended the video chat and immediately smelled the bacon Amy was cooking. It was all the motivation I needed to run out of my room. The crackle of the grease made me lick my lips and my stomach groaned. After my first Change, my appetite quadrupled, and now I could eat a whole cow on my own. I never used to be able to eat this much and maintain such an athletic figure. My body had changed from an average-shaped girl who still had some mild baby fat to a girl who looked like she lived in the gym. And let’s face it, the most I’ve lifted in my life was the damn remote control for the TV.
“Morning, sunshine,” Amy said as I walked to the kitchen counter. She threw my bathrobe at me but I didn’t need it. My body temperature was the same as Arizona weather in mid-July. Sleeping in pajamas was asking for a heat stroke. But since I’d just spoken to my brother, pajamas was a necessity. I tossed the robe on the sofa and sat on one of the counter stools.
I let out a deep sigh and smiled—I felt good. After the three nights of a full moon, shifting was like finally being able to go to the bathroom after holding it in for so long.
I know—horrible comparison but it’s the best I got
. A calm washed over me and I relished the mild high. My muscles were still sore, even weeks after the full moon, but it was nothing compared to the void feeling of the wolf that’s been pushed to the farthest corner of my subconscious after being let out to play.
“Eat up,” Amy placed a mountain-high stack of bacon, pancakes and a mug of steaming coffee in front of me and my mouth watered. Without hesitation, I dug in, not even bothering to use syrup—much less utensils.
All the window blinds were open and even though it looked like it might snow, the mild warmth of the sun etched itself on my golden tanned skin. I closed my eyes in contentment and soaked it all in.
Pure bliss.
“You’re like a Snickers commercial during the full moon. Hungry? Eat a Snickers! Or pancakes and bacon—otherwise you get really cranky.”
“Yeah well, you would be too if you had my luck,” I scoffed, chugging half my coffee in one gulp. “By the way, did Barbie say anything after I left during the last full moon?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not, jackass. You blew out of there so quick, I’m surprised you still had your shoes on. And with you gone, she had nothing left to bitch about.”
“Ha-ha, very funny,” I deadpanned. “I’m just glad I made it on time. I was really cutting it close.”
“And luckily we’re the only freaks that live in this damn building. Could you imagine if we actually had neighbors? They’d probably think there’s some crazy sex parties that go on here with all the howling you do,” she smirked and I flicked her off. “The wolf probably needs to get laid and she’s just screaming for a release. Poor wolfey,” she chuckled and stole a piece of my bacon. I swatted her hand away and glared.
“Please don’t talk about the beast and sex. It’s gross.”
“Get over it, babe. She lives through you and you’ve been out of commission for like three months,” she said matter-of-factly.
“It’s actually been four, but who’s counting.” I rolled my eyes at her over-exaggerated jaw drop. “It’s not that big a deal! I’ll do it when I’m ready and not with some stranger that will probably give me a disease that’ll make me itch!” How she didn’t see reason was beyond me.
“Oh my God, Kenz! You’re so freakin dramatic.”
“Whatever. Nothing you say can rain on my parade. I am free for at least another week and a half until the wolf comes out again and freedom never tasted so sweet,” I sighed, nibbling on a piece of bacon. Talking about sex made me uncomfortable and my change of subject wasn’t subtle either.
Amy smirked. “Nothing can rain on your parade?” She questioned and I shook my head. “What about James?” I stopped mid-bite and remembered what Diana said two weeks ago. That slut purposefully told me they were living together.
I’d known James almost all my life. We had grown up together in Cold Springs, New York. We had been best friends and were rarely ever seen apart. Our senior year of high school we decided to move to the city for college. But that wasn’t my mistake—my mistake was letting a platonic relationship turn romantic. The summer before college, we got pretty drunk during the fourth of July festival in town and ended up sleeping together. It wasn’t our first time, but it was the first time we actually did it because we wanted each other.
Our first time was before senior year of high school, when we made a pact that if we hadn’t lost our virginities by the beginning of the school year, we’d lose it to each other. To say it was awkward and only lasted two seconds was putting it mildly. Afterwards it was like we had checked off something on our bucket list. But that Fourth of July before college was different. There was no awkward talk or weird departure and definitely wasn’t only a few seconds. Most likely because he had gotten experienced during that school year and knew what he was doing. It was perfect, really; who wouldn’t want to date their best friend? It also didn’t hurt that James wasn’t bad looking either. Although he was scrawny and gangly through most of high school, he filled in nicely that first year of college. He started playing hockey and got in shape. Just over six feet tall, sandy blonde hair and with a six pack you could bounce a quarter on. He was no longer the nerdy looking teenager, but a man. What James didn’t know, was that I’d never done it with anyone else besides him, which made his betrayal burn that much more. The only other person who knew was Amy.
I didn’t know if I was
in
love with him, but I knew I loved and cared for him. Maybe I still did. I knew we wouldn’t be forever though, not once I went through my first Change a few months after we started dating. But I never thought he would leave me so abruptly and for someone else. That was just four months ago—at the beginning of this semester—so you could imagine my shock to find out he was cohabitating with the bimbo. He had never wanted to move in together, so I wondered what made him do so with her.
Ugh, okay, Amy officially rained on my parade.
“Did I burst your bubble there, sweetheart?” I glared at her mischievous smile. She knew damn well that just the mention of him was going to bring me down memory lane.
“I’m a freakin’ werewolf for god sakes! I’m supposed to be a lean, mean, fighting machine—so why is she bothering me so damn much?” I couldn’t help but feel distraught and sound whiny.
“There, there, my little she-wolf. She’ll catch chlamydia or something and all will be right with the world again,” Amy said as she gave me a hug and combed out the knots in the dark brown mess I called my hair.
Being depressed wasn’t really my thing but it still hurt. To this day, James swears up and down that he didn’t cheat on me but it’s hard to believe when less than twenty four hours after our break up—he was magically with someone else. What hurt the most wasn’t that we were together for three years but that I ended up losing my best friend of sixteen years. At times I wondered,
what did I do wrong?
I might have become more aggressive and plain bitchy since the wolf—but I did everything I could to make it work.
I couldn’t have been that bad.
I pulled away from Amy and hopped off the kitchen stool with renewed determination. Moping around was the last thing I wanted, or needed to be doing. It was over and done with. Four months was long enough to be over it…right?
“Alright, enough of the love fest. I’m off to The Brew,” I waved her off and walked towards my room.
“Not so fast missy.” I turned back around with a raised brow. “It’s been two weeks now and you need to replace the apartment door before we get robbed.”
I glanced at the hanging piece of wood that I barreled through during the last full moon and cringed at the sight of the yellow caution tape blocking the entrance. Not like it was going to stop any thief. Google better tell me how to fix that. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it today,” I grumbled.
After paying Mr. Gomez—the owner of the bodega across the street—to install a new door, I grabbed my school work and headed to The Brew. Amy hated when I spent money unnecessarily if we could easily fix it ourselves but I just didn’t have the time to figure it out. The first draft of my paper for my internship was due before winter break and since I’d been running into Diana Stone more frequently on campus, I’d better stay local if I want to get it done.
We moved to the East Village after freshman year once we realized the dorms weren’t a safe place to change in, which sounds like it would be common sense but hey, we were eighteen and ignorant. After many months of going through the Change in a storage unit, we got lucky and found an old building with few tenants in a secluded area of Alphabet City. It was quiet and private for such a lively and at times dangerous neighborhood. And it was only a couple blocks away from the best coffee shop in the city.
I walked in to The Brew with my laptop and books in my bag. The robust aroma of coffee took over my sensitive sense of smell and I closed my eyes, inhaling the creamy java. Heaven.
Most of the employees were familiar with me and didn’t bother to ask what I’d like. I found my little nook in the back and within minutes, Stacey brought me a caramel macchiato.
“Hey, I haven’t seen you here in like a week. How’s it going?” Stacey and I had attended some of the same classes during my sophomore year at Columbia University—we were both studying Criminal Justice.
“Yeah, I’ve been at the library mostly and down at the precinct. How’s school coming along?”
“I actually handed in the first draft of my research paper yesterday so fingers crossed!” I politely smiled but I couldn’t help but be envious. I was so close to being done with mine but something always seemed to get in the way. “Well I gotta get back, we’re doing inventory this week. I’ll talk to you later!” I waved as she left to go back behind the counter.
Three caramel macchiato’s under my belt and a couple hours later, I arrived at the closing statement of my fifty page paper and I wanted to cry tears of joy. I’d been busting my ass all semester and it was almost over—at least the first draft was.
I was cranking out the last bit left when someone cleared their throat behind me. Annoyed by the interruption, I looked back with a scowl.
With his hands stuffed in the pockets of his wool coat, James—my ex—stood there with his boy-next-door smile. I swore, something always got in the way of me finishing this damn paper.
“Hey Kenz, can I join you?”
“If you must,” I said as I turned my attention back to my laptop. It was no use. James slid in to the seat in front of me and adjusted his oversized beanie to cover his ears.
“So…what are you working on?”
“Stuff,” I responded, pretending to be immersed in my school work.
“Oh, that’s cool. Uh…I haven’t seen you around much, everything good?”
“Yup,” I click clacked away on my laptop—typing random letters in a blank Word document
. Please go away
!
“Damn it, Kenzie! Can we please talk?” I looked up from the screen to see his face flushed and not from the cold weather. His heart beat picked up but I wasn’t sure if it was because he was nervous or upset.
“I thought that’s what we were doing?” I said dripping with sarcasm but he’d lost all patience with me. Yeah, he was angry. He slammed my laptop shut and slid it to the side. My nostrils flared as I looked at the cheating bastard across from me. My temper was not something to take mildly.
“Don’t you ever touch my shit again,” I kept my hands in fists at my side before I aimed for his jaw. The nerve he had.
“Sorry,” he rolled his eyes, “but we need to talk about winter break.”