Free Shifter's Revenge (Alpha Lineage) by Stacy Kinlee

the gap between them and cupped his neck in her hand. A sob tore from her throat when all she felt was his warm skin beneath her palm.
    They didn’t speak after that. No words could fix the damage that had been done. Maddox turned back into his wolf with a painful howl and followed closely beside her before hopping into the back of the truck.
    She could feel his stare as she drove. The distance unnerved her. The change in him scared her. She understood now why Jason had taken the time to plead with her to return. He was injured deeply. She focused on the road and remembered the torment she and her mother had caused to Rayland. Was it possible this whole thing with the result of her actions? Could the book somehow be the key to heal Maddox? If so then she needed full control of it. She couldn’t decide if curing Maddox would force her to cure Rayland at the same time. If she did this it could also undo the protection her mother placed over her father.
    An hour had passed before Maddox clawed at the window to the truck and growled. Kera took that as a sign to pull over. The night had descended fully and her emotions were tearing her apart inside. He jumped out of the truck bed and Kera followed. She took the keys with her and shut the door behind her. She tentatively followed Maddox into the woods and weaved in and out of the thick brush and large trees. He finally stopped and shifted again this time clinching his jaw through the pain.
    He rested his back against the base of a large tree and closed his eyes. His chest pumped up and down with exertion.
    She moved closer and his eyes opened to pin her with a harsh stare. Kera sucked in a breath and sat down on the cool ground. Her limbs shook in fear. He was going to leave her and there was nothing she could do about it.
    She thought about the promise they made to each other and felt like a naïve idiot. They had been each other’s first. Maddox had made love to her and she had turned into a sullen and damaged girl that shut him off from her feelings and experiences. Then she just left him.
    “You deserve someone better than me,” she told him now.
    His jaw clinched but he didn’t speak.
    “Look what I’ve done to you Maddox,” she whispered this in harsh bravado, fueled by the anger she had at herself. “I brought turmoil into your family in a way that ripped you apart. Sure there were things going on already but by me being involved everything was blown out of proportion. People died because of me. If I hadn’t been involved with you then maybe when Luke and Rayland found a way to bring me here with the book I would have been able to help him and this would all be over.”
    Maddox pushed out a breath and leaned his head against the hard wood behind him. His eyes closed but he was still listening so she continued.
    “My father told the government that I was being held by supernatural beings. Instead of involving you I went on my own.” A growl permeated from his chest and Fang whimpered in submission. The sound came out of her mouth and drew another growl from Maddox. His shoulders bunched and his eyes pierced her. She waited for a moment expecting him to speak but he didn’t. “They know about us but they haven’t been able to get anyone on their side. People are dying because they are going after criminals with abilities they don’t know about. I helped them Maddox but you already know that. There was a hostage situation at a stadium and people died. The unit will be able to pull the videos from the internet if anyone recorded what I did.”
    The silence from his was making her nervous. She made eye contact with him and refused to look away as they sat on the cold forest floor together but so far apart. When she couldn’t handle being this close to him and not touching him she crawled forward and reached out for his extended leg. The muscles in his calf contracted as she touched him with the tips of her fingers. When he didn’t pull away or ask her to stop