Shift by Emily Zimmerman. (ebook reader for laptop txt) 📕

/> “Close your eyes, and imagine yourself in control, it will take a few tries, but you will be able to do it” he said. My breathing was hard as I ran around the room on the walls. I closed my eyes and imagined myself in control, I imagined myself coming to a stop. It worked! I skidded to a stop and fell to the floor, I rolled once and got back up, that’s when I lost control again. I closed my eyes, imagining the same thing again, it worked again, I stopped running into the door, or trying to at least. I looked Drake in the eyes, and that’s when all control was brought back to me, I fell on the ground as a human, my clothes were torn and ragged. I was bloody and bruised and my breathing was ragged. But I was human again. That’s when I blacked out.

Chapter six. Shifted.
I awoke in a hospital bed, no beeping sound, no annoying dripping sound either, but I did hear another person’s breathing. I looked at the bed beside mine, it held Drake in it, he had a few cuts and bruises, and his blanket was pulled down enough that I could see a cast around his ribcage. I had broken his ribs? As I stared at his face, something happened, something started pouring within me, I didn’t know what it was, and I had never felt something like this before. It wasn’t pain; it was an emotion that I was unfamiliar with. And I realized just how hansom Drake was, his honey blonde hair was disheveled, and his lightly bruised face was actually beautiful. I heard two more peoples breathing in the room, deep breathing as if they were sleeping, I don’t know why I didn’t hear it before, I looked beside me to find Maria and Laurence sitting in what looked like very uncomfortable chairs. Maria had my hand in hers, and her head was cushioned on my bed, from what I could see, her cheeks were stained with tears. Laurence’s chair was right next to Maria’s, and he was sleeping the same way as her. I sighed as I watched them sleep “they really do care about you” Drake murmured to me. I looked over at him, he was looking at me with unfathomable eyes, I looked away and nodded “I know, they wouldn’t have sent me away if they didn’t” I agreed. he didn’t say anything else. “is it going to be like that every time I shift? Painful, I mean?” I asked. He shook his head “no, it won’t even be the slightest painful” he said. I relaxed “why did I do that?” I asked him. He looked away as he said this “the instinct to kill is the strongest when you change, you want to kill anything that is in your path, it’s sort of like the instinct to live in the prospect that it is overpowering” he told me. I nodded “but why is it?” I asked him. He shrugged “allot of people wonder that, I think it is because it’s the first time you have shifted, the animal in you takes over, and the only thing the animal knows to do is kill” he said. I nodded “it makes sense” I said. He chuckled and took my hand; he seemed not to think about it. I looked down at our hands, blushed, and looked away. He looked down at our hands and smiled sheepishly, taking his hand out of mine. We sat in an awkward silence for a little bit, before mom woke up. “Oh hey sweetie! How are you feeling?” she asked me, sounding just like my old mother when I had the flu, I would wake up and go weakly down the stairs, and she would ask that same question. “Fine, I think Drake is worse off than I am” I said guiltily. Drake shrugged “my ribs are almost completely healed now” he said. I looked at him in confusion “fast healing, it comes as a bonus to being an animal” he said with a smile. I nodded, making a silent O. I looked back at mom ‘Maria, you mean Maria’ I corrected myself mentally. She was looking at Drake knowingly, but she quickly looked away when I looked at her, not quickly enough though. William poked his head into the room and smiled brightly “hey Jenna! I’m glad you’re awake!” he said. I threw my arms up in the air “how long have I been asleep anyway?” I asked quietly, as not to wake da- I mean Laurence.
“You have been asleep for two days” mom said. Once again, I was shocked. “Two days?” I asked. Maria nodded sadly “you have been just…sleeping for days, we were worried that you wouldn’t wake up” she said. I nodded slowly, taking it all in, I changed prematurely, and I slept for an abnormally long time. “Man, I am messed up” I muttered to myself. Mom pats my hand “no you’re not, your just special” she chuckled. I smiled wryly “thanks, that makes me feel so much better” I muttered sarcastically. She laughed and squeezed my hand. I Laurence awoke to Maria’s laugh. “Jenna, you are awake!” he said. I nodded, “yep, and still tired, if you can believe that” I muttered the last part. He chuckled “well, you need sleep to heal, and it might help to shift, you heal faster that way” He told me. Fear rose up my spine and I froze. I knew it wouldn’t hurt anymore, but I was afraid –despite the assurances of Drake- of going into that uncontrollable rage. Drake seemed to sense my fear in my sudden silence. “Don’t worry, you won’t hurt anyone, the shifting point is over. You are able to control every emotion and instinct you have” he assured me. I swallowed quietly and nodded, Laurence nodded “yes, it only happens once, and then your free to shift without the danger of losing control” he told me. I nodded “yeah sis, and it’s fun being an animal, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a cat? Well now you know, only, you’re a really smart cat” he said. I smiled, it’s funny how he just accepted me right off the bat as his sister, as if we had known each other all our lives. Maria got up from the chair, and so did Laurence “come on, let’s go get some food, we’ll come back in a few minutes” she said, and I could have sworn she gave Drake a meaningful glance. I looked at Drake and he smiled, it looked like a shy smile. I smiled slightly back. “Jenna, I need to tell you something, and it involves…mates” he muttered. My heart fluttered and I tried hard to hide the anticipation off my face. “Okay, what about it?” I asked. He swallowed “I wanted to wait until we got to know each other better, but your mother convinced me otherwise” he said, taking my hand in both of his. I looked down at our hands, and then back up at Drake; I met his bright and beautiful green eyes and got lost in them, that strange feeling stirring in me. “Jenna, when I saw you, I thought you were…beautiful! The most beautiful human being I have ever seen, I had no idea why I was so drawn to you, it was like a magnet was pulling me to you, and when your beautiful eyes met mine, I knew that you were my….” He trailed off, seeming afraid to say it.
“I was your what?” I knew what it was, but I wanted him to say it. He hesitated and released his hand from mine, reaching up and touching my cheek. He stroked it softly, and I resisted the urge to close my eyes. He moved his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me close to his face, my lips were only inches from his “my mate” he murmured, his eyes drifting to my lips. He leaned in and touched his lips to mine, and it was like an explosion, I ran my hands through his hair and deepened the kiss, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his bed. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I opened my mouth and he slipped his tongue in, his tongue wrestled with mine. I distinctly heard the sound of footsteps down the hall. Drake groaned and reluctantly let me go. I smiled and stroked his cheek as I crawled back into my bed. I grabbed his hand with my left hand and ran my right through my hair, trying to smooth it down. Maria and he rest came in, and she scrutinized the scene before her, Drake’s hair was more crazy then it was before, he was grinning like an idiot and his eyes were excited. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬I was trying to control my breathing; my heart was still fluttering and my hand was in Drake’s. She smiled a knowing smile at us. I blushed and Drake’s grin got wider. Laurence handed both of us a tray, they had a biscuits, bacon and eggs on them. Mm, bacon is my weakness. I dug into the bacon, sighing in pleasure as I ate the bacon. Maria laughed “Are you enjoying it?” she asked me.
“Bacon is my weakness” I told her. She laughed again and pat my leg. “She is just like you Laurence” she said. Laurence was stuffing his face with bacon. He chuckled and nodded “I told you! But she looks like you” he said, pointing to Maria. Maria studied my face for a second; I agreed with Laurence, I didn’t have her hair. Her hair was a light brown, and so was Laurence’s. I wondered what kind of animal they were. Anyway, I had her face and her light skin tone. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black. “She does not! She looks like her grandmother” she denied. Okay, I am going to take that as a compliment. “You look like your grandmother” Laurence reminded her. She looked up from her food in realization “oh yeah” she said. I laughed and pat her head.
We all finished our food, and Drake informed me that he was healed. I looked at him in worry as he un-wrapped both the bandages from around his waist. He seemed fine though, he sighed in relief as he relaxed against the bed. “I have not been able to relax my back for two days!” he muttered. I looked at him apologetically and he squeezed my hand. Maria got up and smiled “okay, well you need to test out being on four legs, and I would like to see your inner animal in person” she chuckled. The fear I felt earlier threatened to take over, but I rained it in. I smiled and hopped out of the hospital bed, realizing I was in different clothes then when I got here. I wasn’t in a hospital gown or anything, but I was in my favorite pair of jeans, with a light blue shirt on. I blushed, wondering who changed me. I didn’t dwell on that thought for long, actually not wanting to know. Drake got up and stood by me. Grabbing my hand “let’s go, you will do better if your outside” Maria suggested. We all followed her to a flight of stairs. They wound down to the first floor. I noticed, for the first time, how well my eyesight and hearing was. I could see and hear every single thing when we got outside, from a small bug scuttling across the ground, to small bird wings flapping a mile away. I could see microscopic specks of dust flying through the air. And about twenty feet away from us, the Lemur I saw two nights ago