Change Of Species

Chapter 7

**Mackenzea's POV**

He had disappeared so suddenly that I had not noticed he was gone until ten minutes later. Alex smiled at me, his eyes sending out a different message than his face. Could I really trust my family  members to not hurt me or drive Zach crazy? I sighed softly and looked around. This place had changed so much since the last time I was here. That was about five years ago. When I was only fourteen, I had treasured this place more than anything thing in the world. I guess it was like a fairytale. The grass was always green, flowers blooming when the wind was chilly enough for snow. Though it never ceased to amaze me how much I would miss it if I closed my eyes for only a second.

The only reason why I had left was that Marcus and I were supposed to get married. I was too young, and he wanted a family so bad that he was willing to do whatever it too. Even if it meant that I was unhappy. It all ended too soon for his liking. I left around my birthday, trying to escape the fiasco that had ruled my life for too long. I had moved to my home in the middle of the summer, when Malburry Rance was at it's best. I felt bad for leaving my entire family behind.

But, when I refused to marry Marcus, I had no choice but to leave. They wanted our little clan to grow and be populated with children. There were only three remaining females of the ranch. I was one, Sarah and Francisca were the other two. Sarah and I had been best friends since the day we had met. We were only two years old, and there were no other kids around my age to play with. We were inseperable up until we were fourteen. She told me not to fall for Marcus. That he was a bad person to be around but I didn't listen. I was just too stubborn fo rmy own good.

After I had started dating Marcus, Sarah didn't want anything to do with me. I had lost my bestfriend all because of some guy. Who turned out to that I thought he was. Once I had found out that was all he wanted me for, I dumped him and left the Ranch. I had already lost my bestfriend, so why not just throw in my family too. I had no idea that they were even going to talk to me when I dialed their number. But, sometimes you can be wrong about the littliest things.

Alex coughed loudly, jolting me back into reality. We had been sitting in silence for almost two hours. I sighed and stood up to walk out of the room. I wonder what he was thinking the entire time he just sat there and stared at me. I knew that he couldn't read what I was thinking. None of the NightStalkers could. I guess maybe he had a lot on his mind like I did. Being here in my childhood home brought back good and bad memories. I had tried to suppress a lot of the bad when I had left. It had taken several years and a lot of job changes before I could go through my day without thinking about them.

**Zach's POV**

The wind blew through my fur, sending chills down my spine. I shivered a little, wishing that I had thicker fur to endure that kind of weather. I finished my hunting and looked around. I was in the middle of nowehere. Zea crossed my mind several tmes since I had left the office. I missed her so bad that I wanted to go back to her. But, I knew that she probably was busy with something or someone else. Then I remembered Marcus, and the history between the two of them, and it started a roaring fire inside me that could not be extinguished.

I ran back towards the Ranch, taking long strides in the direction of the woman that I loved so dearly. When I reached the boundaries of the land, I changed back into my human form and dressed as quickly as possible. I couldn't wait any longer to see her beautiful face. To look into her gorgeous blue eyes adn hug her to my chest and never let her go. She and I would never be apart again.

I ran faster towards the door of the house, hoping that she was waiting fo rme. When I opened the door to our room, she was sitting on the window seat looking out the window dreamily. I smiled and sauntered over to her. "Hey, sweetie." She turned around and smiled brightly at me. "Hi. How was your hunting?" I hugged her against my chest and kissed her forehead. "It was okay. I missed you though. Please don't leave my side again." She giggled lightly and it sounded like bells ringing in the distance.

"I won't ever leave your side. I know that you had to hunt by yourself, but you won't have to anymore. Okay?" I nodded and grinned at her. She was too gorgeous to leave by herself. Who knows what kind of trouble she could attract. And by trouble, I mean Marcus. I carried her towards the bed and laid her down gently. She laughed as she bounced on top of the blankets. THe mattress was very springy.  I smiled and laid down next to her, kissing her softly. Living here wasn't going to be that bad. At least not as bad as I thought it could have been.