Free Tempted by the Jaguar #1: Transformation (Riverford Shifters) by Cristina Rayne

door early the next morning. “The jaguars may
claim the eastern half, but that’s never stopped the alligators from pushing
their boundaries.”
    “Don’t worry,” Kylie replied with a grimace. “Hunter’s territory is in
the easternmost portion, so there’s no reason I’d go anywhere near the
contested borders unless it was deliberate. Believe me, between all the horror stories
my parents and Karen have told me about the alligator clan, you couldn’t pay me
to go even to the jaguar territories on the fringes of alligator territory.”
    “I’ll talk to Karen at work and ask her to keep her ears open for
anything gator related. They aren’t part of the Alliance, but no doubt they’ve
at least heard a few rumors about what happened the other night. I hate to say
this, but I’m glad Hunter will be looking after you for the time being.”
    “Honestly, I’m surprised the elders didn’t make him into my bodyguard
or something the way they went on and on about the significance of a Returner.
The more Hunter tells me about the clan, the more I’m not so sure joining them
was such a good idea. One of the elders is a history professor at my
university, and he looked positively gleeful at the prospect of searching for
the identity of my parents.”
    Paul turned to unlock his car, but not before Kylie saw the troubled
look in his eyes. “What’s done is done. All we can do now is be extra cautious
and try not to do anything that would draw the wrong kind of attention. Once
all the excitement dies down a bit, then you can decide whether or not you want
to stay here or if we should try to go to the British Isles to look for your
mother’s clan.”
    “Let’s not think about that right now,” she said. “I’ll call you
tonight after Hunter finishes introducing me to some of the local jaguars.”
    As Kylie drove to the university, she spent the whole way dreading the
onslaught of scents she knew awaited her. She only hoped that Hunter would be
right, that her newly enhanced sense of smell had leveled out somewhat overnight.
Otherwise, she would have to miss another day of classes—which she could not afford—because there was no way she would be able to concentrate with her head
spinning. She hadn’t really noticed a difference with Paul’s scent this
morning, but…
    As she waited at a red light, Kylie resisted the urge to start banging
her head on the steering wheel. Sometimes life just really pissed her
off, and she didn’t need to add a headache to the whole horrible mix.
    Besides, the ugly knot on her temple had all but disappeared when she
had examined herself this morning. The last thing she needed to do was
reintroduce that nasty little reminder of just how much life could screw
you.
    The moment Kylie stepped out of her car, the scents of thousands of
people assaulted her senses just as she had feared. Determined not to give up,
she stood by her car and just breathed slowly and shallowly as she had back at
the architectural firm, letting herself get used to the maelstrom of acrid and
earthy scents.
    After a few minutes, her head stopped spinning and the smells not quite
so potent.
    Maybe I can do this after all.
    Relieved, Kylie headed towards her first class, hoping to catch her
friend Molly before class started to borrow yesterday’s notes.
     
    ***
     
    “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Kylie’s friend Tara persisted as
Kylie walked with her, Molly, and Molly’s boyfriend, Ty, towards the parking
lot after their last class.
    “It’s not that I don’t want to,” Kylie said, pinching the bridge of her
nose as if in pain. “It’s just my head’s been killing me since Genetics. I
think yesterday’s fever is back. I don’t want to get any of you sick.”
    “Yeah, you are looking kinda pale,” Molly said, peering back at her
critically. “You probably should’ve stayed home today, too.”
    Kylie shook her head. “You know I hate making up labs. The prof probably
would’ve made