Read Deer Heart [Shifter Crossroads 3] for Free Online

fingers.
    She fought the tingles and answered him. “I love it. I love flying across the tundra. The only thing better would be to run across the snow and turf.”
    He smiled, his grey eyes crinkling at the corners. “Running is the only way to see the wild.”
    “Where do you live?”
    He chuckled. “Alaska. Juneau. I also have another home in Seattle for when I do shows and exhibitions.”
    She blinked. “Your photography is that popular?”
    He shrugged. “Apparently. It has enabled me to live outside a pack, which is convenient as I had no interest in killing my brother for the Alpha spot.”
    She widened her eyes. “That…you are not kidding.”
    “I either had to take the Beta spot or kill the Alpha, and since Apollo and I were so close, there was no chance of that happening. We broke my ties with the pack, and I went into the wild.”
    “Was it hard?”
    “It was the hardest thing I have ever done.” His face clouded over.
    She could imagine it. “I have seen the faces of the herd when they get together. I understand what you lost.”
    His fingers tightened on hers. “I am beginning to understand that you do. You never were accepted, were you?”
    Venny sighed. “Before my shift there was the chance for me to be normal. I had brown hair and brown eyes. After my shift, there was no chance that I would be able to mingle with the others while shifted. It was difficult to explain my lack of pigmentation to my school, but the excuse was that I had suffered a chemical reaction to something on vacation. It was thin, but we got away with it.”
    “It must have been hard for you.”
    “Going through high school without a hope of being normal? Even for my family, it was awkward.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she remembered the feeling of always being the odd man out.
    “Your parents?”
    “They didn’t deal well with my transformation. I became a visitor in my own home, and the moment that I could leave, I did. Pierce took me in when I left high school, and he paid for my pilot’s training.”
    Athon was on the alert. “Who is Pierce?”
    “My Herd Master. Pierce Anders. He took me in and gave me a place to stay.” She smiled sadly, “He even volunteered to be my mate when my time came, but it turned out that wasn’t necessary.”
    Athon bristled. “He offered to what?”
    “Mate me. He has other females, of course, but if a female goes into heat and she can’t find a mate, she can turn to him. He offered me the opportunity.”
    “The opportunity to bear his child?” Outrage was in every line of his body.
    “Of course. If I don’t take a mate at least once, I will go nuts. Isn’t it the same for wolves?”
    “Yes, but they don’t all go to the Alpha for it. His wife would kill him.” There was anger in his features.
    “I turned him down. I would rather take chances on finding a male to be mine alone rather than being one in a line. If Pierce had his own female, the extra females would go to his Beta or the highest-ranking free male.” His grip on her hand was making her fingers creak. “Ease up, Athon. Whatever you are thinking, it never happened.”
    “You were not a virgin, so how…”
    “Oh. Humans aren’t nearly as fussy as shifters are when it comes to having sex with a woman with dark hair and eyes. I learned dyeing my hair before I left school, but one shift and I had to start over. Whatever it is that lets us shift, it takes all my pigment with it.”
    Their meals came, and he surrendered her hand to allow her to carve up her steak with a grin of delight.
    He sighed and attacked his own meal. “You have no idea how happy I am that you are not vegetarian.”
    She shrugged. “It shocked my family, but I embraced the circle of life that provides omnivores with meat and dorks with designer salads.” He chuckled. “You have been to Seattle then?” She laughed, and they settled into light conversation as they ate. It was just like a first date provided that you