Page 1 of Shiny Things

Kim

Chapter 1

I groaned and grabbed for my phone to turn off my alarm before my eyes even opened. I didn’t want to go to work today. I didn’t want to do anything today.

Last night I’d been forced to work a party where I had to stand by and watch Felicity Dean drape herself all over Elias. It still boiled my blood to think about it. She was his cousin, for crying out loud.

Felicity hadn’t let him out of her sight for even a second. The only positive part about the evening had been how completely miserable he’d looked the whole time.

I shouldn’t think like that. I wanted him to be happy, I really did.

Elias Davenport was the greatest man I knew next to my own father and brother. I’d had a crush on him for years, and I knew that in his own way it was reciprocated. The problem was that he was a Davenport from the most influential family in the entire raven Congress and I was nothing but a Grimes. My Flock was at the bottom of the hierarchy for raven shifters.

To take me as a mate would mean a complete disruption to the class system that his family so carefully protected. It would be absurd, the biggest scandal of our lifetime. Even if he were my true mate, it still wouldn’t sit well with a lot of people around here.

I’d been careful to protect myself as best as I could. While there was an obvious mutual attraction between us, I’d never actually let it go anywhere.

That had taken a lot of stubborn determination on my part since he was a very tough man to say no too. My rejections just seemed to make him even more brooding, and there was something so sexy, dark, and mysterious about him already.

The other major problem was that he was my best friend’s oldest brother. All around it was a disaster in the making.

I had to stop thinking about Elias. I couldn’t let myself care who he spent time with or if Felicity draped herself all over him again.

My second alarm went off, and I frowned as I grabbed a pillow and held it over my face.

I hated the breakfast shift. It always seemed like the busiest part of the day, but I needed the money, and the tips were good.

Begrudgingly, I forced myself to get out of bed and into the shower.

Twenty minutes later, my long black hair was up in a messy bun, and I was dressed in all black, grabbing my apron, and running out the door.

The Diner was within walking distance of my small house which saved a ton on gas. Sure, I could have shifted and flown there faster, but that was mostly frowned upon in Ravenden. There was too much risk of being seen by humans driving through town.

I wasn’t going to start my day sweaty, so I refused to run. Being a minute or two late wasn’t going to hurt anything, though I had no doubt Darin would have plenty to say about it anyway.

Reaching the back door of the kitchen, I stopped and took a deep breath before opening it with a forced smile on my face.

“You’re late,” an odd deep voice said, making me jump.

I looked around and saw Gia standing there giggling.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“That sounded nothing like Darin.”

“Still made you jump.”

“Yeah, because some weirdo was in the kitchen calling me out.”

She hugged me, still grinning proudly at herself.

“I’m your kind of weirdo though.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned. She was right.

For a Davenport, Gia was amazing and accepting of nearly everyone across all the Flocks, well, except Novaleigh Caldwell. But there was a history there that just couldn’t be forgiven. That was her story to tell though.

For several years Gia and I had worked side by side as equals. She’d always said she was just the black sheep of the Davenport Flock, but I should have known better.

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