Free Shopping Showdown by Buffi BeCraft-Woodall Page B

glass door.
Brandon rarely took human form or left his Alpha Matra’s residence.
Adam shook off his would-be mate’s commitment issues and his pack’s
nomadic tendencies and got to his feet. He had a plan to fix the
last issue at least and a lot of work yet to finish.
    “Hey buddy.”
    The wolf’s feet skittered in four
different directions. The ripe smell of fear spiked in the room as
Brandon nearly knocked over his water bowl. Head ducked, the wolf
glanced up at Adam. His tail was so low, that it might have been
tucked underneath. Serious and solemn, his eyes were more animal
than human in the brown and gray patterned face. Adam detested his
failure to stop the boy’s regression. He didn’t know how to get
through to the boy inside the animal, but kept trying. “I’m heading
out to a job site. You want to ride along? Your tools are in the
back of the truck.”
    The wolf cocked his head to the side.
He considered Adam’s offer. As the Pater Canis, Adam’s link to the
pack allowed him to feel some of the turmoil inside the wolf. The
boy, buried inside the wolf, was tempted. Brandon liked working on
the construction site, working with his hands and body, the feeling
of accomplishment in a job well done. The wolf was afraid. The wolf
won. He whined and slunk back out of the room.
    Adam sighed. It was shaping up to be
another perfect day.

    Diana felt horrible. She’d behaved like
a harpy, thrown a tantrum and retreated back to her room. The large
oval standing mirror in the corner drew her. Diana stared at her
reflection and wondered at the woman staring back at her. She
hardly recognized herself anymore. She didn’t know what was eating
at her, but she’d better figure it out soon and stop snapping at
everyone around her.
    She looked back down at the expensive
vellum invitation and opened it so that the gold lettering was
visible. It was Saturday and she had eight hours to find a gift for
a brand new baby werewolf, er wolven, and find the right attitude
to meet her boyfriend’s family. No problem.
    Diana jumped and jerked around at a
thump on her bedroom door. She winced at a crash in the hallway.
The door opened and two furry figures tumbled into her bedroom.
Ferocious growls and snarls came from the combatants. There was no
blood…yet.
    “Mark. Seth. Stop it.”
    Diana punctuated her words with a hot
flash of her psychic abilities. A neat little trick she had
recently figured out how to do, either because her own abilities
were growing or because of her new status as the female pack alpha,
she didn’t know. Whatever the reason, the heat and sting had he
desired result. The fur separated into two distinct boy sized
colors. Tan, covered in a bright red tee shirt bearing the words,
SKATE OR DIE and a dark brown form in a plain green tee. Their
jeans were ripped and stained though their high dollar tennis shoes
were in pristine condition. Their eyes were wide in fuzzy faces.
Both fang filled mouths, designed for ripping and tearing, were
dropped in surprise. Sharp claws tipped their hands and probably
their toes too. Diana couldn’t imagine ever being frightened of the
boys. To her they were more cuddly than fearsome. She dropped her
hands to her hips.
    “What do you two think you’re
doing?”
    Mark’s pronounced muzzle stretched into
a half-boy half wolf grin. He leaned heavily on his darker colored
pack brother. Seth didn’t seem to mind. His body went slack,
signaling his surrender and let the more dominant boy take the
lead. Mark absently scratched at Seth’s back with his sharp
claws.
    “Adam said we’re supposed to stay with
you today.”
    Diana turned a hard eye on the boys.
“Uh-huh. Why is that? What happened?” It was Saturday, supposedly
chore day at the Weis household.
    Mark shrugged. “Stupid lawnmower broke
and he’s got to go to work. He didn’t have time to look at it.”
Diana crossed her arms and stared down hard until Mark began to
fidget. That didn’t take much. The boy was