Slow Shift by Nazarea Andrews (best summer reads of all time txt) 📕

she can’t look away from Chase. “You don’t get to do that. Sort whatever shit out that you need to with your brothers, but you do not get to walk into our den and start throwing your Alpha weight around.”

“What’s going to stop me?” Chelsea asks. “You, little boy? You aren’t even a wolf.”

“Do you know what happened to the last werewolf that underestimated me?” Chase asks softly. “She was an Alpha, too. Now she’s dead. There wasn’t even enough left to bury.” His heartbeat and eyes are steady, his voice unwavering.

She forces herself to stay still, to not shiver and flinch away.

“I am the Reid Shaman, and I’m telling you—stop.”

“You are my Shaman,” she snaps, fear making her lash out.

Chase snorts and leans back, the length of his body sprawled out and indolent. “I’ve never been your Shaman. I belong to the Reid Pack, and you? You are the Cahil’s trophy piece. By your choice.”

~*~

Chelsea has never liked Lucas.

She’s always been afraid, just enough that she lashed out. She could never control him, not the way she could their younger siblings or even her father, but she never could control him, and she never trusted him because of it.

It’s infuriating to see her sitting in his den, while Tyler sits rigid with a blank face and Chase radiates quiet fury.

She left.

“Why are you here, sister?” Lucas asks suddenly, and Chelsea’s gaze flicks to him disdainfully. “You’ve never come here. You’ve never wanted to—and even now, you don’t want to be here. Do you?”

Her heartbeat ticks higher for a moment before it settles. Tyler’s hands tighten into fists.

“So tell me, what do you want? What is it going to take for you to get the fuck out of our lives?”

Chelsea stares at him, pale-faced and lovely in her fury. He wonders how Tyler would take it, if he killed her.

“My fiance is concerned about the rumors about the Reid Pack,” she says finally. “I want them to stop. I don’t care what you do, but I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want the Cahils to hear about it or fucking witches.”

“Silent and unseen, hmmm?” Lucas murmurs.

“Fine,” Tyler says abruptly. “You’ve made your demands. Now go.”

For the first time, regret fills her eyes. “Tyler—”

“Don’t,” he snaps, “Just—don’t. You want them, you want your nice uncomplicated life. I’ve accepted that. So go back to New York and your life and your new Pack. We’re doing just fine without you.”

He shoves off the couch and stalks out of the room.

Chelsea makes a move, takes a step to follow him, and Chase says softly, “If you go down that hall and into that room, you don’t get to leave. You will stay and be the fucking Alpha he deserves. If you don’t want that, don’t fucking give him hope. Just get out and let us clean up your mess. We’re pretty good at it.”

He doesn’t wait for a response, just rises and quietly follows Tyler. Chelsea stares after him.

Lucas stands. “Go away, Chelsea. You’re happy there. I would gladly break your neck and rid us of you, but it would break Tyler’s heart, so go home. Leave us alone. We’re better without you.”

“I am your Alpha,” she snaps.

Lucas snarls. He moves fast, pinning her to the wall, his claws pressed to her throat as she makes a gasping noise. Soft—she’s gotten so fucking soft.

“You really aren't,” he purrs, “Can you even feel our Pack bond? Because I can’t. All I feel is a twisted, dying thing.”

“Then break it,” she spits, struggling. He presses his claws deeper and she goes still, her eyes wide and scared.

“Darling sister. You—you are a necessary evil. Chase has bound himself to the Reid Pack, and for now? That includes you. I will not abandon my Pack just because I loathe the Alpha.” He sighs and releases her. “You’re alive because Tyler wants you alive. And you have a Pack because Chase is a selfless idiot. But you aren’t needed. Go home. Go back to the wolves who want you to play bitch for them.”

She’s trembling, her eyes red and furious, and he smiles at her, sharp and mean. Then he turns away and follows his Pack.

~*~

She stands there for a long silent moment.

The Chief clears his throat. “Ma’am? I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”

She gives him a disbelieving look that’s met with stern detachment, and she realizes—this isn't Chase’s father. It’s the Chief.

“The owners of the home have made it clear that you aren’t wanted,” he says, and it’s not unkind. “Time to go.”

She does. She holds her head high and stalks out, and watching the Chief in her rearview mirror, she tries very hard to believe she isn’t being chased away.

Chapter 21

Tyler can hear Chase talking to Chelsea, and there’s a part of him—a small part that clings to the sister he grew up with—that wants to snarl and snap, wants to drag Chase away and protect Chelsea from him.

He isn’t surprised when he hears Chase’s footsteps, rapid and sure, and he isn’t surprised when Chase slips into his room. The boy walks in like it’s his right, like he knows Tyler would never turn him away, and that—it makes something in his chest ache.

“I’m sorry,” Chase says.

Tyler shrugs. He’s sitting on his bed, hands dangling between his knees, and he knows he should care more, but he’s too tired.

“Can—can I touch you?”

Tyler looks at him and frowns. “Chase. You never have to ask that.”

Chase doesn’t say anything, just kneels at his feet and carefully tugs his boots off. He pulls Tyler to his feet and removes his shirt while Tyler stands there, shoulders slumped and passive. “Pants on?” Chase murmurs and Tyler shakes his head. Chase’s fingers tremble a little, but he unbuttons the jeans and pushes them down. Tyler gives a tiny wiggle of his hips and they pool at his feet, before Chase presses him down with light pressure on his shoulders.

“What do you want?” Chase asks, staring up