Page 67 of Shifter Marked and Claimed

I ran, pulling Zoe along with me.

As soon as we were in the house with the door safely shut, I turned on my sister.

“What in the hell were you thinking? Not only did you leave the safety of our house, you looked right at him. Do you have a death wish?”

“Kells, I’m sorry. When I looked out the window—”

“Stop looking out the damn windows, Zoe.”

“But he was kicking a puppy. A cute, tan puppy barely bigger than his foot.”

“Was he kicking a puppy or was he controlling your thinking? Because there was no puppy out there, Zoe. Nothing. Just snow and that rock he keeps yelling at.

“You don’t fuck with crazy, Zoe. Everyone knows that. And based on his comment, he could hear everything you’ve been saying about him. All of what just happened was obviously a trap.”

Her eyes began to tear.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re going to be even sorrier. You’re banned to the bedroom for the rest of the day. I’ll make the meals.”

“But—”

“No. If I can’t trust you to follow the rules, you lose what little freedom you have. And not just today. I’m talking about going to school, too.”

She groaned, and tears fell.

“It’s for your own good and mine too.” I grabbed my now short length of hair and jigged it toward her. “I’m not sure if I should feel lucky that he only took hair or worried. Druids cast spells with ingredients, Zoe. What if I’m an ingredient? What if...” I took a calming breath and reminded her of the promise I’d made in the beginning. “What happens to you happens to me. I will always be here to run to your rescue. Until I’m not. Do you understand, Zoh?”

She nodded and flung her arms around me.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know you are,” I whispered as I held her for a minute.

When I let go, she immediately headed for the bedroom. No argument. No pouting. I followed her to make sure she settled in then returned to the living room to check the windows.

Since there were no soul-melting golden eyes staring in, I edged closer to see if our neighbor was still out there. However, he and his rock were both missing.

I really hoped he was as harmless as Zoe thought. If not, we had a neighbor who knew we thought he was good looking and had a thing for my hair.

Sitting down in my chair, I settled in to do my schoolwork. As soon as I finished, I hit Ashlyn’s journals. I couldn’t remember anything about a creature that collected hair and had golden eyes. Or any with nails sharp enough to cut through a chunk of hair in a single swipe.

I flipped through the pages until I found the attribute cheat sheet Ashlyn had created. It made identifying anything Zoe and I ran into a lot easier. However, there were numerous species that boasted razorlike nails, including mermaids. Curious about how mermaids rated, I turned back to read about them. According to Ashlyn’s notes in the margin, they were nothing but bad news. A purple star covered a red one, and I briefly wondered what had warranted the upgrade before setting the book aside.

With little else to do, I checked the yard again then started lunch. Zoe was sitting on the floor, peddling her legs in the air, when I brought her the sandwich I’d made.

“Looks interesting,” I said.

“I’m here to entertain.” Her tone was flat, an indication of how far she was beyond bored.

“Food,” I said. “Glass of milk to wash it down.”

I set both on the nightstand.

“Anything from Chloe?” she asked.

“Nothing yet. I imagine all the conversations that need to happen are going to take some time.”

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