Free B008IJW70G EBOK by Soraya Lane

more than just changing . 
          “You’re ready to test yourself. To test me.”
          Heat traced a burning slap across her face again. Riley shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe.”
          “Come on then, let’s go.”
          She was curious to know if they were being watched by any other shifters. By any other leopards. But she didn’t ask him. Didn’t want to ruin the feeling between them. 
          He wouldn’t take her anywhere he thought was unsafe, not by choice. Sophia had probably put an end to the other cats loitering. For now, one snarl, one snap of Sophia’s teeth in cat form, wasn’t that what Hunter had said? When they’d gone inside, she’d known something was being dealt to outside. Her grandmother wasn’t just walking the garden at twilight for nothing. 
          “Hunter, about my sister…”
          He shook his head. “You can’t ask me about her, remember? You need to trust me.” He looked away then blew out a breath as he turned back around. “I can’t talk to you about it now, but I will. Soon.”
          Riley sighed. She’d had to ask. “Okay, let’s go.”
          Hunter turned, his body away from the tree now, angled toward her.
           She didn’t hesitate this time. 
          Hunter’s eyes made her stomach turn to liquid. His piercing gaze made the breath pump hard through her lungs. His body sent an energy through her that she’d never known possible.       
          She wanted to change partly to experiment, to play with her new other self. But also because she was braver around him when she was a leopard. Stronger, more determined, more attractive. Riley could show him that she was interested when she shifted, without worrying about blushes or awkwardness. Plus she wanted him to teach her. 
          “Just one rule, okay?” he said.
          She turned her head toward him. 
          “Go easy on me.”
          That made her giggle. Her go easy on him ? “I thought I was just a little itty bitty cat to you?”
          He reached out one hand, catching her arm. His fingers were warm, strong on her skin. 
          “You’re a leopard, Riley. The strongest of the strong.” His eyes, widening, held her in place. “I like to tease you, but soon you’ll be as good at hunting, running, searching, than any cat out here. Me included.”
          A lump in her throat stopped her from answering. Did he really believe that?
          “You have a guider, Riley. Someone to show you the way. That makes you stronger than any of us.”
          It seemed surreal, this entire conversation. Just the thought of what they were about to do. And what was a guider anyway?
          “Are you sure?” It was like she’d been mistaken for someone else. What had happened to school books, cafeterias and movies? Now it was forests, changing, predators and the future. 
          And loss . Claudia was still in her heart and her mind. But for some reason, being leopard made her feel closer to her sister than ever.
          Riley jolted back to the present. Hunter’s hand hadn’t left her arm. 
          He tugged her along, gently, his fingers curling so softly around her skin.
          “We need to go.”
          She turned her face to him. 
          “Why the hurry.”
          “We’ve got a lot to get through today.” He let his fingers glide slowly from her arm. “Before the predators come snapping at your heels again.”
           Oh . 
     
    Riley had decided that the time they spent together after they’d been leopards was almost as enjoyable as the changing itself. There was a chilled out sense of relaxation, a calmness that stopped any awkwardness. 
          They lay, spread out on the floor of the forest, the sun teasing them as it glinted through the branches high above. Riley felt almost feline still as she basked