Taken (M/F/M red-hot menage shifter romance) Standalone (Shadow Creek Shifters Book 2) by Madison Johns Read Free Book Online

shifter, since she didn’t want to imply that Brendan or Chase weren’t being loyal to her.
    “That’s good to hear, but do you have something specific on your mind that you want to share?”
    “No. Well, actually, I was hoping that you could take me over to where my student, Melody, lives. She wasn’t in school today, and just yesterday she told me that her mother had been gone for a few days. I’d feel better if I could check on her to make sure she’s okay.”
    “I’ll run over there,” Brendan said.
    Katlyn stepped forward, placing a hand on Brendan’s chest. “Please, it’s important to me that I go over there with you.”
    “Fine, but we’ll have to take the truck over. It’s quite a walk there.”
    “But Melody walks to school everyday.”
    “I know, but she’s not pregnant with our child, now is she?” Brendan said, his eyes warm and inviting.
    Katlyn followed Brendan and Chase to their pick-up truck and off they went, like a shot into the night.
    Ten minutes later, Brendan skidded to a halt in front of a cabin about the same size as the one Tessa lived in. It was an all-log cabin and Ariel greeted them before they had the chance to knock. “Wow, what a surprise.”
    “I was wondering why Melody didn’t make it to school,” Katlyn said.
    “Oh, I bet you were. Do you know what that little shit tried to do last night?”
    “Fly?” Katlyn guessed.
    “You have that one right. She busted up her leg but good, too.”
    Ariel led the way through the knotty pine interior of the cabin to a bedroom directly in the back where Melody was lying in bed, reading a Nancy Drew mystery, her swollen leg on a pillow.
    “Oh, my. You need to see a doctor,” Katlyn blurted out.
    “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, teacher.”
    Katlyn’s hands went to her hips. “And why not?”
    Melody took off her sweater and there were brown feathers all along her arms. “This is why not.”
    “But I thought you’d learned how to shift now.”
    “I did, but turning all the way back isn’t so easy to do. Mama used to give me her special drink that helped, but since she’s not here now, I’m afraid that I’m stuck.”
    “Special drink?” Brendan asked with a smile. “And I bet it tasted just like chocolate milk, too.”
    “How did you know?”
    “Because my mother did the same thing when I was a kid—well, after we began to live amongst the humans.”
    “You mean that you used to live in the wild at one time?” Melody asked. “What was that like?”
    “Well, there weren’t any luxuries, like refrigeration or chocolate milk,” he winked. “But you certainly had the freedom to frolic like shifter children could in the wild, under the watchful eye of the adults.”
    “I miss mama. I hope she comes home soon.”
    “I’ll try to track her down,” Brendan said. “Does she usually do that, be gone so long?”
    “It’s been longer than a few days and I’m beginning to worry.”
    “She usually goes to the local saloon,” Ariel said.
    “Thanks,” Brendan said. “But we’d better get this little one to the doctor in town for some x-rays first.”
    Katlyn followed Ariel into the kitchen. She found a gallon of chocolate milk in the refrigerator and poured a glass that Ariel handed to her. Instead of taking it to Melody, Brendan took the glass. “Let me give it a go. Stay out here.”
    She nodded, but tiptoed behind him as Brendan handed Melody the glass and said, “Now remember, this is the secret potion to shift all the way back, but the secret is that you have to wiggle your toes when you drink it.”
    It sure seemed silly to Katlyn, but she watched in anticipation as Melody drank the chocolate milk and wiggled her toes profusely. Not only did she drink all of the milk, but all of her feathers disappeared. Katlyn was so impressed with Brendan that her heart swelled in pride. He’d be a great father, for sure.
    Chase stood nearby and smiled. “I used to be so skeptical when Brendan’s