HIDDEN (Hidden Trilogy Book 1) (25 page)

“Diplomacy will come first.”  Amber added. 

“But if they don’t listen, war will come.”  Clint stated firmly. 

“I don’t want to be involved with that.  I just want to go to college, graduate, and earn a living.  Nowhere in my repertoire does it say anything about battling it out with the High Council.  My goal is to stay as far away from them as possible.” 

“So you won’t help?”  Clint asked as frustration edged his voice.

“I don’t have anything to offer to help.”  I countered. 

“You’re going to school at Southern Oregon University, right?”  Amber asked, changing tactics. 

“How did you-“

“A simple search of records.”  Amber waved off my question.  “Ashland is neutral territory.  I’ll be attending myself this fall.  I’ll offer to room with you.  You can get to know other shifters, learn how to make your wolf surface, and you can decide at that point, how involved you want to be.”

“You want to be roomies?”  The other things she said circled in my head.  If other shifters knew how to shift, my best bet was to have them teach me.  My in was Amber. 

“I can do it if you can.  You don’t smell too bad yet for a wolf.”  She teased with a grin.  I quirked my lip in response. 

“Fine, I’ll room with you.  The other things I’ll have to think about.” 

“Deal.”  She looked at her brother in triumph before she glanced back at me.  “I’ll have our computer whiz make the arrangements.”

“Okay.”  I nodded.  Then I asked the one question that had been bothering me.  “Aren’t you breaking some shifter rules by being in the McCoy territory?”  That predatory gleam was back in Clint’s eyes.

“We know how to evade a few dogs.”  Clint grinned.  “We are cats after all.”

“Stealth is our middle name.”  Amber added with a smile. 

“By the way,” Clint added as they turned to leave, “there was a dog hanging around when we got here.  I assume you don’t like him if you threw away his gift?”  It took me a second to figure out he was talking about Dusty.

“No.  And he was trespassing.  He shouldn’t have been here in the first place.”

“Good to know.  I’ll keep my eye open for him when you two are in Ashland.”  He looked me up and down.  “My stint in the city just became a whole lot more enjoyable.”  He grinned.  My mouth fell open. 
Oh my God, he was flirting!
 

“Come on Romeo,” Amber said with a sigh and rolled her eyes.  “We need to go.”  She waved at me.  “See you in the fall.” 

I nodded.  “Bye.”

“Have a fun summer with your wolf friends.”  Clint said as he approached the shadows along the driveway.  “Come fall, you’ll experience a whole new world.”  With that parting thought, he disappeared into the darkness.  I listened to see if I could hear, or scent them with my newfound abilities, but there was nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Maybe my senses weren’t as good as I thought.  I turned and made my way into the house. 

I silently crept inside and locked the door behind me. Steve and Nicole must have turned in already because the house was silent. As I reached my room, I felt like something was off.  I quickly scanned the room and noted that I was alone, so something else triggered my senses.  The only thing out of place was an envelope on my bed. 
Great, another note.
  If that freak was in my room I was seriously going to hurt someone.  I marched over and ripped the envelope open and scanned the letter.  Then reread it to make sure I was reading it correctly. 

Welcome to the shifter world, latent.  Remember, we know things that your wolf friends don’t.  Things you need to hear.  Call me sometime if you have questions before this fall.  –Amber

There was a number written below the message and I programmed it into my phone for later, just in case.  I sat down on the bed and just stared at the letter.  How many weird things could happen in one night? 
Happy Birthday Kendra and welcome to your new life.
 

***

Graduation day finally arrived and I had to admit, it was probably the most mundane experience compared to the last month.  I walked across the stage, accepted my diploma, and that was it.  I was officially a graduate.  Steve and Nicole both gave me big hugs afterward and told me how proud they were of me.  I was pretty happy too.  I made it through high school and was off to college to follow my dreams of art.  Of course there was that other fact of me being a latent shifter. 
One step at a time, Kendra.
 

“Woohoo!  We made it!”  Brody whooped as he descended on me and wrapped his arms around my waist to twirl me in a circle.  I clutched his shoulders in fear he would drop me but I should have known a shifter would be able to handle it just fine.  As he let me go the others joined us and we all passed around hugs.  I ended with Cade, who held me closer and longer than anyone else. 

“I have to go.”  Cade whispered in my ear.

“Already?”  Man, he wasn’t kidding when he said right after graduation.

“Yes.  A car is waiting for me outside.”  He stepped back and dug in his pocket before handing me something.  “Here.  Your birthday present.”  I opened my palm under his and he dropped something metallic in my hand. 

“My necklace!”  I exclaimed.  I ran my finger over the wolf emblem in the middle of the oval and then the one Cade gave me next to it.  “I thought I lost this a few days ago.”

“I borrowed it for a bit.  Needed to write something on the back of the one I gave you.”  Cade said quietly.  I turned the pendant over and read the inscription. 

Forever Yours.   

There was a space that was followed by:

Cade

Tears formed in my eyes as I looked up at Cade.  He looked at me softly and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. 

“I want you to take care of yourself, Kendra.”  Cade spoke softly.  He reached up and cupped my face between his hands.  “I want a future with you.  No matter if your wolf surfaces or not.  We will be together, forever.”  He stated firmly. 

“Oh, Cade.”  I sniffled and smiled.  “I want that too.”  His smile bloomed across his face before he swooped down and captured my lips with his.  The kiss was long and all consuming.  Better than any other kiss to date.  It heated me from the inside out.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer as his hands slid down my sides and wrapped around my back, pulling me flush with him.  The kiss was never ending. 

Finally cat calls snared our attention and our heads broke apart.  We started into each other’s eyes before we turned toward the sound.  Brody was the one doing cat calls.  Cassie had her phone up as she either snapped pictures or recorded us.  Bree was turned slightly into Hunter’s chest as she tried to hide her laughter while Hunter looked on in mild amusement. 

“Well,” Liam cleared his throat from our other side.  Cade and I both turned our heads and parted slightly.  “That’s one way to end a graduation ceremony.”  Liam grinned at us.  I blushed and hid my face in Cade’s chest in embarrassment. 

“Liam,” Mica scolded, but still laughed.  Steve and Nicole were standing by with raised eyebrows and smiles on their faces. 

“I suppose we should head out for the graduation party.”  Steve said. 

“I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”  I said.  Steve nodded and both he and Nicole waded through the crowd hand in hand.  I looked back up to Cade.  “Walk you out?”

“Sure.”  He said bye to everyone.  Liam gave him a few words of advice in parting.  Cade clasped my hand as we made our way through the crowd and out the front door.  A black sedan waited for Cade at the curb.  He turned to me and gave me a weak smile.  “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.”  I replied, trying to hold back my tears. 

“I’ll call you as much as I can.”  He assured me.

“I’ll look forward to it.” 

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”  He teased.  I knew he was referring to visiting other shifters.  I hadn’t mentioned the visit or note from Amber and Clint, or the message from Dusty.  I figured he had enough to worry about with Enforcer Training.  Besides, if I did tell him there was no telling what kind of response I would get.  My luck he’d go hunt down Dusty…and post guards on me to monitor my movement if I told him about Amber’s note.

“You know me, I never do anything stupid.”  I quipped.  He narrowed his eyes at me.  “Promise.  No plans to do anything stupid.”  I hadn’t decided if I was going to call Amber or not…so… And “randomly” being assigned to room with Amber could hardly be considered my fault, right? 

“Good.”  He looked at the car then back at me and sighed.  “Take care of yourself,” he repeated quietly.  I smiled in response. 

“I will.  And you too.”  He bent down and gave me one last, lingering kiss before he pulled back and stared into my eyes.  After a few seconds, he turned and opened the door to the sedan and slid inside.  Moments later, he was gone.  I stood there for a few minutes, looking after him.  I had so many thoughts swirling through my head.  Would Enforcer Training change him?  Would he still be the same Cade when he returned?  I shifted my gaze to Steve and Nicole who waited for me with big smiles beside their car.  I smiled in return and made my way toward them. 

Graduation was over, I was officially eighteen, but I had a whole new set of worries.  Starting college in the fall was one of them, but that almost paled in comparison to everything else.  I finally knew what I was.  Now, I needed to understand what that meant.  Maybe living with Amber wouldn’t be such a bad idea?  She did approach me first after all.  Brody’s comment of other shifters ripping me to shreds surely wouldn’t apply if I was invited…right?  I knew Cade wouldn’t approve, but he was off to Enforcer Training and wouldn’t be around. 
What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
  Then there was the annoying…thing…with Dusty.  Was he really singling me out just because Cade and I were involved?  Well, I’d figure it out.  It couldn’t be that hard, right? 

I was a wolf.  An honest to God, wolf shifter.  How cool was that!?!  The problem?  I was a latent, which meant that I had to learn how to make my wolf surface.  Oh, and apparently latent wolves were rare.  Especially white ones.  And the Shifter High Council was none too happy to learn about my existence. 

I was starting college.  A new beginning.  Cade, my kind of wolf shifter boyfriend, was off to High Council Enforcer Training.  For five years.  If that wasn’t a test on your relationship, I don’t know what was.

Add to that I have a stalker wolf from another pack, meet other shifters with their own agendas, and try to stay under the High Council’s radar. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

Join Kendra as she continues her journey to discover her past, learn about her present, and transform the future…for all shifters.  

Planned to be Released Late 2015

Thank you for reading my book!  I hope you enjoyed it.  As I am new to this whole book writing thing, I would appreciate your feedback.  I’m still learning every day and have to remember that when it is all done, I FINALLY get to share the story with you.  I’d like to hear what things you would suggest to change to make your read more enjoyable.  And if there is nothing you would change?  Hey, I’d like to hear about that too.
 
 

I’m from a small town, went to a small college, and majored in science and math.  While I enjoy those subjects, my passion has always been reading.  I finally convinced myself to sit down, finish the stories I have playing out in my head, and see where it goes.  Hopefully, fingers crossed, you’ll be able to hear some of them as they slowly take form in my books.  Until next time!