Read From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) for Free Online

the last of the pizza on a nother plate, grabbed a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge, and came back over to sit next to me. He warned me in a joking tone of voice that what was on his plate was his and that I wasn’t to touch. I so wanted to roll my eyes, but settled for a huff and simply ignored him.
     
    ***
     
    I must have been more tired than I thought, either from my virtually sleepless nights or from having to expend so much energy to stay a dog, because I fell asleep soon after he turned the TV to a football game. I wasn’t much into watching the game when I’d rather be playing it, so I’d closed my eyes thinking I’d get up and sneak out when I heard him go to the bathroom.
    Next time I opened them, however, the TV was off and I was alone in the room, the only light coming from the parking lot lights shining through the blinds on his windows. Thankful that my energy hadn’t run out while I slept and caused me to automatically revert to my human form (as I knew sometimes happened to an exhausted shifter), I raised my head and looked at the clock on his cable box, noting that it was just after midnight. Shit , I thought sourly. None of the busses would be running at this hour and I had no money for a cab—how the hell was I going to get back to my hotel room?
    Obviously I had no choice but to walk, but if I did so as a dog I chanced being picked up and taken to the pound , which was definitely not a situation I wanted to end up in. My only other option, as I saw it, was to go in human form…and to do that, I was going to have to steal some clothes. I felt bad about having to turn thief on someone who had only been nice to me, but there was nothing else for me to do. Stepping down off the couch and stretching, I then walked down the little hall and into the bedroom. On the wall directly in front of me was a closet, to my right the bathroom, and to my left was a large area with a bed and a desk. I didn’t see a dresser so it appeared that all his clothes were in the closet.
    Glancing in the direction of the bed, I listened for a brief moment to the sound of the stranger’s steady breathing. He was sound asleep. I phased back into my human form and stepped to the closet, sliding the left-hand door open as soundlessly as I could. I grabbed an OSU hoodie off its hanger and quickly pulled it over my head. Now I needed pants. A second’s glance told me that the side I had opened was all shirts, so I slid the door closed and stepped over to the right. Opening that door, I found the matching bottom and took them off the hanger. After sliding the door closed again, I stepped into the sweatpants as quickly as I could, tightened the drawstring and knotted it so they wouldn’t fall down, then turned and walked cautiously out of the bedroom.
    I paused when I reached the front door, wishing I could have thanked the man for being so nice to me. But it was impossible, I thought with a sigh, and reached up to turn the deadbolt.
    “Were you really going to leave without even saying goodbye?”
    I froze instantly at the sound of his voice —I hadn’t even heard him get out of bed. My heart was now tapping a staccato rhythm against my ribcage as I thought frantically, wondering if I should reply or just leave. My manners won out and I said softly, “I’m sorry. I really have to go. Thank you for everything.”
    “At least tell me what else you can turn into. Please —you’re the only shapeshifter I’ve ever known besides myself.”
    Though my head snapped up at his words, I still did not turn around. It’s just not possible , I thought immediately. How could he be…?
    But if he was, did that explain why he smelled so different than other shifters? Was it possible that I’d met a “true” shapeshifter?
    “I’m not technically a shapeshifter,” I said slowly. “I’m werekind, specifically a weredog. Werekind can only turn into one kind of animal.”
    “Oh ,” he said, and I could hear a slight note of