This is a sample of the book. If you would like to read the whole story then please look this up on Amazon or click on the link at the end of the last sample chapter. Thank you!
This book won't be posted on here anymore but if you would like to read some of my on going and completed work then check out Until Dawn. http://www.wattpad.com/story/3709147-until-dawn
Jessica slowly moved her finger to the little black button and sighed as the window rolled down. She put on her best fake smile and greeted her Mom when she approached the car.
"We're so proud of you," said Lilly, wiping a rogue tear from her cheek.
Jonathan wrapped his arm around his wife and leaned into the window. "If you have any problems just let us know. I'll have people up there in a second."
"I'll be fine Dad."
"Okay well call us when you get there,” said Jonathan.
She gave them each a kiss on the cheek before backing out of the driveway and heading down the street. The rearview mirror was placed perfectly so she could smile at them the entire time before finally leaving the comforts of her community.
As soon as they were gone from sight she allowed her smile to drop and morph into a frown. It was hard leaving her friends and family but she needed to do this for the sake of her sanity.
She would miss her brother and sister since they were all close in age and grew up as best friends. Jessica was twenty, Robert was nineteen, and Sophia was eighteen. The two of them came out with their mom's black hair while she had caramel colored that came from her father's side.
Jessica was the first person from all the families to go to college out of perimeters of the four packs. The school was about a four hour drive from her house and she couldn't wait to get there.
Maybe after having sometime to herself she would finally figure out a way to tell her parents what kind of freak she was. Maybe, she would even come to terms with being an odd shifter and the word freak would no longer cross her mind. Only time could tell and at this point she was going to take as much of it as she needed.
Growing up was easy. Her family was well liked and she was the pride and joy of her large pack. Her father was an amazing pack leader and so was her Mom. They were fair but firm when it came to the protection of their people. Plus, nobody wanted to mess with a pack that was mixed with tiger shifters.
It couldn't be helped that they started to mate with the wolf shifters like her parents had. To everyone's surprise it was a gamble on what kind of shifter offspring you would get. Her brother Robert, the next in line to be Alpha, was a tiger. Her sister Sophia had dark hair but shifted into a pretty golden wolf.
This brought her back to the brooding thoughts of her being a freak.
"I hate this so much," she said, sighing loudly and gripping the steering wheel.
She had shifted on her eighteenth birthday like all normal shifters do but hers was a bit different. About six months later she started to notice changes. At first they were subtle but soon it was so noticeable that she could no longer go running with her pack unless she had her emotions under complete control.
She started to distance herself from her friends and family and they didn't have a clue as to why. Since she wasn't going to be pack leader she finally decided that going away to College was the best solution. It wasn't any easy one to make because, no matter how much she hated herself, she could never hate her family.
Her Aunt and Uncle, Kevin and Lizzy, promised that they would take good care of her brother and sister. She grew up with them in the same house and both of them moved out once they found their mate. The best part though was that they both moved just a few houses down so they were over constantly.
Kevin's mate, a wolf shifter, was pregnant but Lizzy decided to wait a few more years before she had any children.
Jessica shook her head violently to try and ride herself of the thoughts of her family. Thinking about them was only going to make this trip harder. The music started to blare which blocked out all intrusive memories for the rest of the drive.
For the first time in four hours a small smile crept its way onto Jessica's face. She had finally arrived in the beautiful college town that she would now call home. There were ice capped mountains surrounding the city and despite the cold weather, made her feel warm and cozy. It felt as if the mountains were hugging her from each side, keeping her safe from the inner demons that constantly tormented her.
"Maybe after a few years I'll be able to tell my parents what I really am," said Jessica to her reflection.
She grabbed what little bags she had and pulled out the white paper from her back pocket. Attached to it was the key to her dorm plus the room number and hall. She would have a roommate but it was completely random which could be a good or bad thing.
She nervously jingled the key in the door and started to become frustrated when it was suddenly flung open, making her stumble into a tiny mop of red hair. Both of them flew onto the floor and managed to tear open one of the bags that Jessica was holding.
The red thing under her burst into laughter as she roughly shoved her into the side of the bed. There was hair, clothes, and toiletries spread out on the floor like a convenient store had been robbed.
"I'm sorry, I just got over excited and heard that you were having trouble with the door. I didn't realize you were leaning that far into it."
"It's fine," said Jessica, pulling her hair out of her face and into a pony tail.
"My name is Natalie, what's yours?" she asked, thrusting her hand forward.
Both of them were still sitting on the floor and had a river of clothes in between them. She looked down at the scene and back up into her roommates green eyes. She already knew this girl was going to be trouble.
"I'm Jessica, it's nice to meet you."
"Wow you have amazing eyes. I'm totally straight by the way," said Natalie, giggling her head off like a five year old.
"Ha-ha thanks. It's a mixture of my mom's and dad's,” answered Jessica.
"Well gold and green is just awesome." she looked around the room and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Well it looks like I really messed up your stuff. I can replace all of it if you like."
Jessica waved her hands around wildly which made the girl look at her like she was crazy. Both of them sat in silence for a second before cracking a big smile.
"I didn't mean to be over dramatic but I didn't bring that many things. College was a last minute decision so my Dad gave me a credit card to buy whatever I needed."
Her eyes got big as she stared at the plastic card in Jessica's hand. "Oh this is just great. It's my second year here and I really need a shopping buddy."
"That'd be nice, and then maybe you could show me around a bit since we don't start school for two days,” replied Jessica.
Natalie jumped to her feet and did a small bow before thrusting out her hand. She pulled her up in one quick motion and brushed her arms off as if they had just gotten into a gentlemen's quarrel.
They had spent about ten minutes quickly picking up Jessica's things in silence. She was a little surprised because she wasn't quite sure if this girl was capable of shutting up.
"She must have a million friends," mumbled Jessica.
"I don't," said Natalie, shrugging. "People are usually afraid of me so I'm glad that you're not. I've had about thirteen roommates in the last year. Number thirteen was bad luck but I think you, number fourteen, will be just right."
Jessica looked over at the tiny, slender girl with red hair and was reminded of an uncontrollable flame. She was beautiful but radiated a power that would make some people shy away from her.
"This city is made of shifters and humans. My dad is the pack leader here,” said Natalie.
Jessica wasn't ready to tell the girl yet about her family or why she wasn't intimidated by her Alpha blood. She just politely smiled and threw on her pair of beat up black sneakers.
"You're tall," said Natalie, eyeing her up and down.
Jessica smiled. "No, you're just short."
"Wow you're so observant. They teach a class here called smart ass one-oh-one. I really hope you signed up for it."
Jessica felt herself relax as she smiled brightly at the feisty girl. She was just like her friends back at home and it was already making her start to feel comfortable. Her smile faltered a bit as she remembered saying good bye to all of her close girlfriends. They were sad to see her go but none of them knew the reason why she was leaving. She hadn't told anyone that problem that had been plaguing her for the past two years.
"Stop spacing out, you look crazy," said Natalie.
Jessica shook her head. "Sorry."
"It's fine, ready to go?"
She nodded and followed Natalie to the door. Both girls left in a hurry since they were eager to get out of the stuffy room. Jessica was willing to do anything to keep her mind off of her home until she could finally settle down into her new environment.
They walked through the long hallway and she made sure to memorize every detail of where they were walking. Her memory was photographic and it only took one time before she could find her way back on her own.
Natalie led them through a small quad area where many students were sitting or doing various other activities. It looked like this was the main hang out when the weather permitted. Suddenly her attention was averted to a group of guys who were watching them walk past.
"I think someone's checking you out," said Natalie, elbowing her in the ribs.
Jessica gritted her teeth together and rubbed the spot where her elbow had just been. "Damn you hit hard," she mumbled.
"Sorry, for being so tiny my brothers say I sure do pack a punch. Would you like to meet one of my brothers?"
"Sure, that's cool,” shrugged Jessica.
She looped her arm through Jessica's and dragged her over to the group of boys who had been staring at them. What a bad idea. She shifted uncomfortably under their gaze and forcefully tried to change the direction in which they were going.
"Actually it's getting kind of late. Maybe we can meet them another time,” said Jessica.
"Don't worry he's not the next in line to be alpha. I have four brothers but this is the only one that goes to college here."
Sighing in defeat, she followed her roommate until they stood a few feet from the boys. One of them stood up and ran his fingers through his flaming red hair.
"Who's this Nat?"
"My new friend Jess. I broke her bag open so she and I are going to do some girl bonding by going shopping."
"Wow good luck with that," said her brother, giving Jessica a wink.
Natalie cleared her voice and watched her brother with anticipation. It took him almost a full minute to realize the mistake he had made.
"Oh man sorry, My name is Nate. Yeah I know, my parents weren't very original naming us since she's Natalie and I'm Nate."
"Nathaniel," corrected one of the boys from the back.
He turned around to say something but all it took was one look from the stranger before he quickly backed down. He walked forward and flicked the cigarette aside that he had been smoking.
Jessica turned bright red when she realized she had been staring at the long scar starting at the corner of his eye and moving down to his neck. She quickly looked into his hazel eyes and gave him an apologetic smile.
"I'll save us both the awkwardness," he whispered, venom dripping with each word spoken. "This is what it took to become the strong shifter I am today. It's disgusting to everyone but a mark of honor to me."
She glanced over at Natalie who had a snarl creasing her usually bright features. Jessica took a step back as the boy smirked and closed the distance between them. He took her hand into his and gave her a firm shake.
"I'm Jake, nice to meet you."
"Uh, yeah hi. Jessica, nice to meet you too."
"Wonderful, now get the hell out of here."
"Jake!" squealed Natalie. "I know you're my brother's good friend but that is no way to talk to a lady. Do I have to tell my father how you're behaving?"
The group of boys shifted uncomfortably while Jake looked her up and down. He locked eyes with both girls for a brief second before shrugging and taking a seat on the concrete bench again.
"Well it was nice meeting you Jessica," said Nate sheepishly. He leaned over and pulled her into a hug. Jessica was about to pull back until he whispered in her ear, "Sorry about that."
She nodded once and was quickly tugged in the opposite direction. She gave the group one last look before regaining her composure and falling stride with her roommate.
**
Jake let out a laugh as he watched the two girls practically run towards the parking lot. All it took was one sentence and he usually had them running.
"What the hell was that for dude? You know my sister has hard time making friends!" said Nate, shoving Jake's shoulder.
If anyone else did that to him they would have their head torn off in a matter of seconds but Nate was different. They had been friends since their sophomore year of high school when he had transferred there. In a few days his family had practically take him in as one of their own. It was the first time he had felt welcome in a world where he had only known anger and hurt.
He shrugged and gave his friend a small smile. "It might be her, buddy."
"What? Her? No way! From what I heard the family is strong with over bearing personalities. There's no way that shy thing could be her,” exclaimed Nate.
The rest of the group began to nod their head in approval. Jake looked around and let out a loud sigh which successfully silenced all of them. He stood up and yanked Nate far away enough from the group so they wouldn't hear him. Well, only half of them could hear him because the other half were just humans.
"I heard she was coming and from what little description I have, she looks like her father. Get all the information from your sister you can,” said Jake.
Nate pulled his arm from Jake. "Dude, you can't be serious. She knows when I'm trying to pry."
"Then get close to the girl or something. I'm sure she wouldn't mind going out on a date since you seem to be a whore anyway."
Nate folded his arms. "Why don't you take her out?"
He gave him a flat look before shaking his head. "You know I don't have time to date, let alone get to know these females."
"I don't know about th-"
Nate closed his mouth and watched as Jake's face became contorted into a mask of hurt. He was the only one that knew of his friend's past so it was rare to see him like this. Pulling him into a man hug was the only confirmation that Jake needed. The boys nodded once and walked back over to their group of delinquent boys.
**
Jessica threw all her bags onto the ground and flopped onto her bed. They had been at various stores for four hours and all she wanted to do was sleep. Little did she know that Natalie had different plans.
"Well I just want to apologize again for Jake's behavior. He's really sweet once you get below the douche bag but that could take a while. I don't think I've even dug through all the douchi-ness yet."
"It's fine don't worry about it." She pulled herself up on her elbows and looked over at Natalie who was absentmindedly twirling her hair. "What's the scar from anyway?"
"All I know is that it was pretty rough where he grew up. His uncle sent him away to school so he could get a proper education instead of just being some stupid shifter."
"Hmm that sucks,” said Jessica.
"Yeah tell me about it."
She hopped onto Jessica's bed which sent them both bouncing in the air. "So what does your wolf look like? You are a shifter right? If not then I'm guessing you'd be freaking out right now."
She quickly looked up at the girl then back down to the bed again. Should she tell her? No, it was too soon to reveal who she really was. Maybe it will help her cope if someone else knew?
Natalie waved her hands in front of Jessica. "Hello? Earth to Jessica?"
"Sorry, My wolf is golden."
"Like a golden retriever? Here girl!" exclaimed Natalie as she patted her legs.
"Ha-ha very funny. No, like a caramel color," said Jessica, rolling her eyes.
"Will you go running with me? No one ever goes running with me. Were allowed to but we just can't freak too many humans out."
"No!" screeched Jessica.
Natalie blinked and stared at her for a brief second before bursting into laughter. She gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before walking over to her bed.
"Well I guess if you're not trained to keep up then I understand. Daddy's credit card must really let you live the good life."
"It's not that," growled Jessica, feeling her wolf howl at the insult. "I just want to get to know my surroundings a bit better before I go and run around."
"Okie dokie Jess, whatever you say.”
They flicked off their lights at the same time and drifted off to sleep immediately. It was a hectic day but the one thing she could be grateful for was the distraction it provided.
**
"So what are you going to school for?" asked Natalie as she wrapped her fingers around the warm coffee.
Both of them had woken up pretty early and decided that a large cup of coffee was much needed. Jessica had tried to pay for both of them but Natalie just laughed at her and brushed the card away like it was nothing.
They had made their way to the common outdoor area to take in the nice cool air. It was almost comical the way you could tell the shifters from the humans. The wind nipping at your skin would've made any normal human bundle up but not shifters. They were wearing t-shirts and shorts like it was a sunny day at the beach.
"English and Literature major, what about you?" she asked, staring around the outdoor area at the various groups of people.
"Business. My parents own a chain of fine dining restaurants in this city. They said I could run them but only if I got my business degree. My brother Nate is doing the same thing. We're going to split the responsibilities while my oldest brother, the next Alpha, will oversee the chefs and be a head cook at one of the restaurants."
"What's his name?" asked Jessica, averting her gaze to the red headed fireball.
It was odd to see her so calm in the morning since she wouldn't really shut up yesterday. Coffee must be the key that winds her up which promoted Jessica to try to finish hers before Natalie so she would be able to tolerate the barrage of questions.
"Randy and he's super sweet. Him and Nate are really nice but they seem to always pick the wrong friends, Jake included."
"Yeah I can tell, whatever, like I said it was no big deal. I'm quiet at first but pretty soon I'll be able to handle myself. It's just weird being twenty years old and away from home."
"You'll get used to it plus, you can come to my house when we go home for long weekends," said Natalie giving her a big grin.
"Thanks, maybe one time I'll take you up on the offer," said Jessica, returning the smile.
They drained their coffees and started to head to the book store. Classes started tomorrow and she needed to get her final Literature book. There was suddenly a loud yipping noise as two wolves playfully skipped past them.
"Idiots, that wasn't very subtle and they'll probably get us all in trouble now," mumble Natalie.
Jessica clenched and unclenched her fists when she caught sight of them. There was internal battle going on and she had to fight every urge to shift. It was a while since she had let her animal come out and just the sight of that made it cry in pleasure.
"Are you okay? Like I said, we can go for a run when you feel up to it lassie,” said Natalie.
Jessica let out a light laugh as she felt Natalie nudge her playfully. Thank god her roommate was right there or she wouldn't be able to control herself.
"I thought Lassie was a collie?" she said, in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh right, umm...Fido?"
"Sure ginger whatever you say," said Jessica, glancing down at the mop of red hair.
Natalie shrugged and mumbled some incoherent words while a frown slowly made its way onto her face. Her wolf swelled with pride at the retort Jessica had made to defend it. However, there was a small growl of joy that mixed in with the noises from her golden animal.
She let out a loud sigh and had to calm herself before she shifted into the thing that made her a freak. What she would eventually have to tell everyone was the thing she was dreading. Not only could Jessica shift into a wolf but she also had the ability to shift into a tiger whenever she pleased. Not just any tiger but the golden tiger that was the trademark of her father's family.