Free The Tempering (The Mackenzie Duncan Series) by Adrianne James Page A

is it?”
    “Where’s what?”
    “You know what. Where is it?”
    “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
    He was smirking. She was pissed. He thought it was a big joke and she wanted to wring his neck.
    “You know damn well what. The fucking screen. Give it back now! I need to put it back. Why do you even care?” She was so angry she was shaking. Her eyes narrowed and she could feel her fingernails slicing through her palm where her fists were balled up.
    “So they can see that it was broken instead of just thinking the last person who stayed in that room did something to it? You put a broken screen back, and they will know you broke it. There is no screen and they will just think you never opened your window to see it. It is really cold out after all. Who in their right mind opens their window when the weather is near freezing?”
    Irritation flowed through her blood like lava. Not only had he insulted her, but he was right and that just pissed her off more. He helped her and she never asked for it. She never asked for anyone’s help.
    “Whatever.” It was a lame response, but it was all she could come up with. She turned and walked away from him and into the house just to run straight into Margret.
    Margret opened her mouth to speak but even before she could get a word out, Mackenzie said, “Geoff’s outside,” then pushed passed her.
    It was a bad start to what she knew would be a bad day ending with a worse night. When she got to her room, she flung herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours. Maybe if she stayed in one place, she would keep her temper, her strength, and her emotions in check. Her skin itched with the need to be outdoors, but she willed it to shut the hell up, especially when there was a certain infuriating man wandering about.
    Except, the longer she laid there, the more her mind had the chance to wander to dark places. What did she look like as a wolf? Was she a full animal, or because she was bitten, was she half-human, half-animal? Not one of the articles or books or websites she found on Lycanthropy had the same information. Not one detail was corroborated in all documents. Would she wake up in the morning covered in blood again? Would she be able to clean up before coming back to her room or should she just check out and hide her bag away, hoping that the wolf wouldn’t tear into it?
    Her bag had remained in tact the last time, so she decided checking out would be best. No one would see her covered in blood and ask questions she couldn’t and wouldn’t answer.
    Packing her belongings back into her bag, what little of them she had, she left her room and headed for the front desk. The children who had been chasing the poor cat were standing quietly beside their parents in a short line, waiting to speak with the woman at the desk.
    “Hi.” The little girl waved at her, but her energy from the day before was gone.
    “Hi,” Mackenzie smiled brightly at her, hoping to cheer her up. She didn’t know what was wrong, but seeing small children sad always made her heart hurt. It reminded her of her own sad childhood.
    “We have to leave. I don’t want to.”
    “This place sure is nice, but don’t you miss your own bed and your toys?”
    “We’re moving. I don’t know where my stuff is. Mommy said it’s on the truck.” Mackenzie knew exactly what the little girl was feeling. They moved around many, many times in her childhood. Before her father got locked up, they moved constantly to keep him from being arrested. After the police caught him, they still moved constantly because her mother wasn’t able to hold down a job and they had to go wherever she could find work.
    “I moved when I was little, too. It can be scary. Anything that changes can be scary. But you know what? There can be a lot of good to come with change.”
    “Like what?”
    “Well, were there any mean kids at your old school?” Mackenzie waited for a minute and the little