SHIFT (Mackenzie Grey #1) (3 page)

I stirred in bed with warm blankets wrapped around my body and I sighed in content.
This feels so refreshing
. I smiled and had to remind myself to thank Amy for buying me a new comforter. These sheets felt as if they were ripped from cloud nine and I didn’t want to get up for class.

“They’re soft, aren’t they?” A masculine voice said beside me. I tightened my closed eyes, not wanting to look at who that was. I didn’t remember having a one night stand. Wait. I didn’t even do one nighters—I’m a self-certified prude. And that’s when last night’s events hit me like a bucket of ice water. I shot up from where I laid and saw who was in the room with me. His chocolaty eyes were soft and a cautious smile played on his lips. Jonah.

“Where am I?” My voice was scratchy and dry.

“Here, drink this,” he handed me a glass of water but I didn’t receive it. “It’s just water. You’re probably dehydrated.” I shook my head and seeing as I wasn’t going to take it, he set it back on the nightstand.

“Do you need anything? I’m sorry about last night but—”

“I need to go home,” I said as I flung the thick comforter off my body and moved to get up. His eyes went straight to my waistline and I saw I was just in my almost-see-through camisole and panties. I felt the warmth in my face as I pulled the blanket back over me. And this time covered myself up to my neck.

“Where the hell are my clothes?” I yelled and I could feel my blood pressure rising. These bastards!

He put his hands out defensively, “It’s not what you think! One of the Luna’s undressed you, don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry? Who is Luna? Give me my shit, asshole!” I grabbed one of the pillows and aimed at his head. He ducked away and to the door.

“Okay, okay! I’ll go find out where your things are. Just calm down, we’re not going to hurt you,” he said as if reassuring me. I went for another pillow and he hustled out the room before I could throw the next one.

I waited a couple of minutes to make sure he wasn’t coming back in and jumped out of bed like it was laced with acid. Tip toeing around the room, I scanned it for anything to give me a clue as to where I was—or at least a phone to call the police. I was in a modest sized room with just a queen four poster bed and a matching night stand. I couldn’t smell anything in particular and the off white walls gave the windowless room a gloomy vibe. Besides the door that led out, there was another one. I walked to it—holding my breath—and peaked inside but there was nothing in there. Just an empty walk-in closet. With no other alternative, I crawled back into bed and curled up under the comforter. Amy must have called the cops by now…at least I hope she did. Unless they took her as well. Damn it. I hated not knowing shit. This was not as glamorous as Teen Wolf made it out to be.

The door to the room swung open and it slammed against the wall. A small yelp escaped me. I hadn’t heard footsteps approach. What the hell?

“Get up and follow me,” the same blue-eyed jerk from last night came in with Jonah right on his tail. In this light—I could see him clearly. His black hair under the lights had a tint of blue and he looked even sexier than I thought.
Stop Mackenzie
.
He’s the enemy.

“Sebastian, it’s obvious she’s not used to our customs. She won’t listen if you’re ordering her around,” Jonah said and bless his soul because I was going to lose my shit if they kept bossing me around.

“
Obviously
,” I said with a drip of sarcasm and that got me narrowed eyes—from both of them. Whatever.

Sebastian cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his t-shirt like he was hot. Which he so was. Okay, I swore, that was the last time I would ogle him.

“Fine,” he gritted out. “Follow me…please.” I scrunched my mouth to the side and gave him an are-you-shitting-me look.

“I’m not going anywhere without my clothes,” I said as I tightened my hold on the sheets, concealing my discomfort.

“Clothes?” He asked, honestly perplexed.

“Yeah? Have you ever heard of them before? I mean you must have since you’re wearing them.” That got me an evil glare. One point for Team Kenzie.

“Sarcasm isn’t cute on you, Mackenzie. I’m losing patience so let’s not play games. Let’s go.” Was it weird that the only part that I focused on was the fact that he didn’t think I was cute? Which I was taking out of context because it’s not exactly what he said, but still.

“Well my patience ran out yesterday when I was abducted by a bunch of thugs,” sexy thugs, but I wasn’t going to stroke anyone’s ego, “so unless you desire to go to prison for kidnapping, extortion, and attempted murder, someone better give me my damn clothes so I can go home,” I said as I flexed my Law & Order Ph.D.

Jonah snickered in the background, diverting my attention from Sebastian to him. He leaned against the door and folded his arms, showing off his fitted jeans and a flannel button up.

I glared at him. “Give me your shirt,” I said, pointing to his very broad chest. Good Lord, I needed to get out of here; too much testosterone around.

He cocked an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes. “There’s no way in hell I’m going out there with my goodies on display since you didn’t bring me my clothes when I asked. So do you want me to cooperate or not?” I answered his unasked question.

“Give her your shirt, Jonah.” Sebastian ordered, irritation laced in his tone.

Jonah walked toward me, biting his lower lip, with his eyes trained on me as he slowly undid each button. “Don’t you think we’re moving a little fast? We haven’t even gone on our first date,” he smirked and that one dimple on his cheek could have melted my panties off. I could feel the warmth on my face as he flashed that dimple but I didn’t waver under his intensity.

“In your dreams lover boy,” I snatched his flannel from him and quickly put it on—trying not to look at his bare, sculpted chest. “Haven’t you ever heard of an under shirt?”

“We wolves wear the bare minimum in case we need to shift. Would you like my pants as well?” His smirk turned into a full blown grin. I scoffed at his suggestion.

“No thanks. I don’t have a magnifier with me.” I got off the bed and his shirt reached just above my knees.

“Enough. I’m not here to oversee children. You received clothing, now let’s go,” Sebastian barked and Jonah fell in line, all joking forgotten.

They walked out the room and my bare feet pitter-pattered as I tried to keep up with their long strides. My mouth hung open as I scanned my surroundings. I was locked up. We were in a goddamn warehouse. As soon as we exited the room, we were on a second floor landing that wrapped around the building. I peaked over the balcony to the main floor and it was scattered with cafeteria-styled tables. A few people lounged around until they heard the heavy thuds of Sebastian’s boots and looked up in our direction. I could see why I found him intimidating, he walked with an air of authority that would make anyone bow down to him. The silence echoed in the open space and I felt all eyes on me. Awkward…

I followed Sebastian and Jonah down the steel stairs and ignored the stares as we crossed the main floor. The whispers that floated around the room made my hands sweaty. This could go two ways—either this was a welcome-to-the-club get together or I was about to be tortured. I know, I over exaggerate at times but this wasn’t one of my novels and there may be no happy ending in my reality.

Sebastian stopped at an empty table. “Sit,” he ordered. Whether I was being polite or just scared to defy him in front of his people, I complied and my bare thighs made contact with the cold bench as Jonah’s flannel shirt hitched up. I hissed as goosebumps made me wrap my arms around myself.

Sebastian pulled out a small notepad and pen from his back pocket and leaned forward on the table. “What family do you belong to?” The tip of his pen hovered over the blank sheet of paper.

“Huh?” I couldn’t come up with a better response but I needed them to break this down for me.

“Your family, Mackenzie, who are they?” He clipped out and I surveyed the looks of everyone around me. They ranged from curiosity to boredom and even some mild hatred if I read those glares correctly.

“Uh…well my parents are Thomas and Joyce. My mom’s an accountant and my dad is—”

“It’s Grey,” Jonah said as Sebastian was about to snap his pen in half. His nostrils flared as he tried to control his temper. He could have just asked for my surname instead, geez.

“Grey? I don’t recognize that family. What pack do you belong to?” Sebastian asked as he scribbled on his notepad. I couldn’t imagine what he wrote, I hadn’t really said much.

“Okay, I think this is where things got lost in translation. I don’t belong to a pack. I’m the only one in my family that’s a…a wolf,” I said and the soft whispers around me erupted into a mild roar. I looked up at the second and third floor and people were scattered all over, looking down on us.

“Silence!” Sebastian barked and I jumped in my seat. The warehouse went quiet. “Who bit you?” He growled and it made me more nervous. He was getting angrier by the minute and nothing I said was making it better.

“I wasn’t bitten. The change happened over three years ago…out of the blue,” I murmured and braced myself for Sebastian’s rage.

“You never came in contact with a wolf?” Jonah asked in a softer tone that helped me relax a little.

“You guys are the first I’ve ever met.” He gave me a small smile as Sebastian stood up and began to bark orders.

“Jackson, get Charles on the line. Caleb, get me a Luna in here stat and everyone else is dismissed for the day. Speak of this to no one!” Sebastian listed off and even though there wasn’t more than a couple dozen people around, I felt claustrophobic. Everyone dispersed in different directions so quickly, I couldn’t keep track of where they all went once the room was empty.

“Is something wrong?” I looked to Jonah who seemed like the more sensible of the two. All the witty banter between us was gone.

“Nothing’s wrong, Mackenzie. We just don’t know how you’re a wolf.” He paused. “There’s only two ways to become a werewolf: You either have to be born into the family or you get bitten. They’re no other known options.” Damn, I was hoping there was another reason for this.

Four years ago when the first change happened, I had asked my parents if “hypothetically” I turned into a werewolf, what would they do. They brushed it off like I had a wild imagination. Which only made me more frustrated. It got to the point where I was begging Amy to lock me up at a psych ward. I thought I was losing my mind. But after much calming and a crap ton of Chunky Monkey ice cream later, I accepted my fate. To have all my insecurities rehashed by these people was not something I wanted to go through again. I didn’t want to wonder why or try to figure it all out. If I dwelled on it, I knew I’d fall into a depression that I may not be able to pick myself up from again. I was lucky I had Amy. But this was senior year, I had one semester to go before graduation. I couldn’t deal with this now.

A curvy woman around her late twenties, walked over to us. She wore tight jeans and a sweater that showed off her assets. But she wasn’t like Diana Stone. She looked classy.

“Is this her?” She questioned, raising a perfectly plucked brow. The boys nodded and she rolled up her sleeves as she sat next to me. “And you guys didn’t bother to give her some clothes?” She yelled at them as she took in my attire.

“I asked but they wouldn’t give them to me,” I tattled on the two wolves who were now glaring at me.

“What are you two baffoons still doing here? Go into the laundry room and get me her clothes!” She yelled at Sebastian and Jonah, who scurried off before she finished her sentence. She giggled. “I’m sorry about that. They don’t know how to act around pretty girls.” Her smile seemed sincere but if there was one thing I am, it was untrusting. I’m a glass-half-empty kind of girl. “My name’s Blu.” She extended her hand to me and being the semi-polite person that I was, I shook it.

“I thought you were Luna. They said she had my things.” She chuckled at my comment and I didn’t understand what was funny.

“Luna is the name for a female wolf, so technically, they weren’t lying,” her warm eyes sparkled as she gave me a radiant smile that left me wanting to smile back. “There aren’t many of us but the few that are, take care of the pups and house duties,” she said it like it was supposed to be the greatest title in the world.
What are these people smokin’?

“So you sit here all day and clean and change diapers?” I didn’t hold back on the sarcasm but they might as well know that I wasn’t going to be drinking the Kool-Aid.

“Well, yes and no,” she paused. “I’m guessing that isn’t your thing, huh?” she scrunched her mouth to the side.

“Hell no. If you think I’m just going to throw on an apron and start breeding, you’re out of your mind. You might as well just give me my shit now and show me the door.” I stood up from the bench and started to leave—only God knew where because I didn’t know which door lead to the exit—when she grabbed my wrist.

“I’m sorry, Mackenzie. I didn’t mean to dump that on you now. Of course you’re not expected to do that yet.”
Oh, hell no.

“Yet? Try never. I’m not part of this…this thing you guys got going on here. I’ve been fine on my own for over three years now and to be quite honest, I’m not sticking around.”