Free Savage Betrayal: Savage, Book 2 by Shelli Stevens Page B

limp was as much a part of who she was as the blue eyes they’d both inherited from their mother and the chestnut brown hair they attributed to their dad.
    The limp had never slowed Bree down in life, though. Really, how could it when it was nearly all she’d even known?
    The same tragic accident that had killed their parents had left Aubree with a horrifically broken leg that even with shifter genes had never healed right.
    Since toddlerhood, Aubree had always walked with the limp, and she’d never been able to shift without substantial, debilitating pain.
    Grace’s heart broke a little every time she thought of her sister trying to shift as a child. How her body would begin to morph, but because her bones had healed abnormally, her body was never quite able to make the transition to her wolf side without a trip to the shifter hospital afterward.
    Over the years Aubree had become better at restraining the shapeshifter side of her, so she rarely went into the shifting process. She had never known the freedom of being in wolf form, or probably couldn’t remember the few times she had during toddlerhood.
    Aubree would never know the earth intimately, or become one with it in the way a shapeshifter did. Often Grace wondered if her sister felt trapped, depressed by being held prisoner by her body. Only Aubree never seemed to be burdened by her disability, instead seemed to be eternally optimistic about life, though maybe a bit shy and withdrawn.
    Just as she was right now. After hanging her coat, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and moved to embrace Grace.
    “I’ve missed you. How was your first day back at work?”
    “It went all right.” Grace ignored the second flare of guilt.
    Aubree didn’t know why Grace had taken so much time off. In fact, as far as she was aware, her sister didn’t even know anything about the experiments or Grace having been a subject for them. If Grace had it her way, she’d never know.
    “And I’ve missed you too.” Grace pulled back to look her sister over. “I swear you’re getting skinnier, Bree. You’re a teenager, aren’t you supposed to be eating anything that’s not nailed down?”
    Her sister’s smile faltered and her gaze slipped away. “I’m not very hungry lately. And, besides, I’m pretty sure I’ve stopped growing and am about as tall as I’m going to get. Five four. That’s not bad, right? And in like five months I’ll legally be an adult.”
    Grace winced. “That soon, huh? Time is flying.”
    “Not fast enough.” Bree stepped away and moved to the kitchen. “I look forward to being independent and not having to answer to anyone.”
    Grace, who’d begun to follow her, nodded. Valid point. Actually, pretty damn valid.
    “Well, you know my offer stands. The minute you hit eighteen you’re welcome to move in here. It’d mean switching schools—”
    “I’d do it in a heartbeat.” Bree grabbed an orange off the counter and stabbed a fingernail into the thick rind to peel the fruit.
    Grace pulled out a chair and sat down. It would be so much easier with Aubree under her roof and not stuck in some private shifter boarding school their aunt had enrolled her in.
    There was no love lost between Grace and her aunt. They’d always had a toxic relationship, and Grace had left the moment she’d turned eighteen. And she’d felt the guilt of leaving Aubree behind every day since.
    “I wish I could move in now.”
    Grace’s heart ached at the way her sister’s voice cracked, but she forced a gentle smile. Was this what her sister had wanted to talk about when she’d come over Saturday morning?
    “We’ve tried that. Unfortunately, the courts won’t allow it, remember?”
    “Don’t remind me. They think she’s more suitable and prepared to take care of my disability.” Aubree popped a piece of orange into her mouth and chewed slowly. She swallowed a moment later. “ Disability. I’m not an invalid—I can take care of myself just fine. Maybe