Page 60 of Fated to the Alpha

“Yep. It was like in those cartoons where the character pulls themselves back on a long slingshot and it seems to go on and on forever until it snaps back into place and they go flying.”

Shane let out a high whistle and imitated the sound of a crash, making Kimberly laugh. If only she knew how much he adored that smile and the way her eyes twinkled with her laughter.

“If we’re telling the truth here,” she began after she composed herself. “I was kind of feeling that too. But it was like this … hole in my chest, and I couldn’t take a full breath. It sucked to be alone like that. I haven’t felt that way in a really long time … Not since we left Warrington.”

“In that case, let’s go check out the woods together.” He decided to test her, to push her just a little to see if the truth would find its way to the surface. “We can shift, just like old times. Maybe find a creek and take a swim. We can get breakfast in the lobby first and … What’s with that face?”

Kimberly looked on the verge of tears, and her voice cracked. “Shane, I … I can’t shift. I haven’t been able to ever since the attack. There’s something wrong with my wolf and—”

“I know.”

Kimberly’s eyes widened. “You knew?”

“I knew about your wolf, but not the shifting thing.”

That made sense. If her wolf was demoralized, then of course, she wouldn’t be able to shift. Some shifters, when they and their wolves were simply too old and too frail, stopped shifting too. But just because it made sense, and another piece of her puzzle fell into place, didn’t make the news any less startling.

“I was going to tell you eventually,” Kimberly said. “Especially since you asked me to go with you last night. I wanted to find the right time, believe me.” Kimberly grew insistent, as if she were on trial and defending herself against a potential death sentence.

After how he behaved when the last truth bomb detonated, he understood.

Shane nodded. “I believe you.”

A half-truth might as well have been like a full lie, and Shane just outright lied to her. At least it was out in the open now and they could deal with it. There was still a way to fix it, if he could get her to the woods.

“Does Gage know?”

Kimberly shook her head. “No one does, except you. I’ve been trying to shift since the attack, but no luck. Actually, the night you found me in Tolstone, I was ready to give up trying for that night.”

And that was why she didn’t smell like her wolf or look like she had gone for a true run. At the time, he didn’t think much about it, but now he beat himself up for not noticing.

“Anything else I should know about?” he asked, working hard to keep the bitterness at bay.

An exaggerated, thoughtful look passed over her face, her lips pursed, and her gaze drifted to the ceiling. “Did I tell you about my collection of rabbit tails that I keep hidden under my bed?”

Shane cocked a brow. “I doubt I would have forgotten something like that, so no, you didn’t tell me.”

Kimberly shoved him, nearly making him roll onto his back. “I was kidding! You know I love bunnies too much to do that. I even hate hunting them.”

The much-needed laugh burst from Shane’s chest. “I remember that one time we were on a run, maybe our second or third together, and you absolutely refused to go after this one rabbit down by old man Nelson’s farm.”

Kimberly gasped and lit up at the memory. “Yes! Oh, my God. You went for it and chased it for, like, half a mile through a field and eventually lost it.”

“Those little fuckers are fast! And I was, what, sixteen? I hadn’t even gone on an official hunt by then.”

“And I assume you’re much better at chasing down Thumper now?”

“You’ll have to come watch me this morning to find out.”

Kimberly’s expression twisted like a vegan who had just been presented with a full Angus beef burger. “Thanks, but no thanks. I can’t handle the little squeak they make! It’s terrible!”

“Fine, fine. Rabbit is off the menu. Anything to get you to tag along. I want to try something that might help you.”

All joking aside, Kimberly’s mouth pulled into a genuine, easy smile. “I don’t mind tagging along, but I don’t know how I feel about trying to shift.”

Shane waited a second and then narrowed his gaze. “We’ll see. How do you feel about hunting Bambi? Still like venison?”

Kimberly smacked his chest and he responded by playfully nipping at her neck, forcing her onto her back in a fit of giggling.