Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

retching seemed to go on forever. Her stomach muscles clenched and tightened in pain as she puked until finally she was just dry heaving.
    A knock on the door made her wince. “You okay in there?” Parker asked.
    After shutting the lid, she grabbed some toilet paper and wiped her mouth. “Fine,” she gasped out even though she felt dizzy and unnaturally weak.
    Reaching up, she tried to grasp on to the back of the toilet for support. Instead she knocked over the small vase on the back of it. It tumbled to the tile and shattered.
    The door flew open. Parker stood in the doorway with Kat right behind him.
    “I just got sick,” she mumbled, trying to regain her focus.
    Her brother reached down and tried to help her up. When he did, she pressed down with one hand to push herself up and was met with sharp shards of broken glass.
    “Ah,” she cried out, and immediately withdrew her hand. Her brother lifted her up until she was sitting on the closed lid.
    “Hold out your hand,” he ordered softly.
    Still feeling woozy, she didn’t fight him.
    “I’ll grab a broom and dustpan,” Kat said before disappearing.
    With each tiny shard he pulled out, she winced. Trickles of blood rolled across her open palm, but none of the cuts were particularly deep.
    After he’d gotten them all out, he stretched her hand out toward the sink. “I’m just going to rinse this to get the blood and any tiny slivers off.”
    “Okay.” As the water rushed over her, she stared in confusion as the blood washed away. Shaking her head, she blinked and looked at her hand. “Do you see that?” There was nothing there. No puncture marks or cuts. It was as if her hand had healed in seconds. And it didn’t hurt anymore.
    Parker looked at her curiously. “Did Liam bite you or mark you in any way during…ah…”
    Feeling her cheeks heat up, she shook her head. “
No
…and let’s not even go there.” She stared at her open palm. “This is really weird.” As she tried to think of what other options there might be, bile rose in her throat again. Sliding off the toilet, she flipped it open again and just dry heaved into it. Her throat and stomach ached, but she couldn’t stop.
    “Either you have food poisoning or you’re pregnant.”Kat’s voice from the doorway startled her into looking up.
    Broom in hand, her friend stared at her knowingly. Pregnant? December couldn’t even think about that right now. Unable to respond, she just shook her head and shooed them away. If she was going to do this, it was going to be in privacy.
    A couple hours later, December munched on a plain unsalted cracker and stared at the small boxes on her coffee table.
    “You’ve got to take it sometime. And I’m sorry but it’s the one thing I can’t do for you. Considering I put on clothes and went out in public for you, you’re doing this tonight.” Kat’s voice was wry and slightly amused.
    After her brother had left, Kat had gone to the local pharmacy and picked up a couple pregnancy tests. Well, more than a couple. She’d gotten every brand.
    The thought that she was somehow pregnant was crazy. Liam had always used condoms and it should be too soon to tell anyway. Sighing, she set the packet of crackers down and grabbed the box on top. “Fine.”
    She wasn’t pregnant. She just couldn’t be.

Chapter 21
    L iam scrubbed a hand over his face and collapsed onto the couch. Only ten minutes until the next pack meeting and he wished it were already over. After almost four entire days without talking to December, Liam was ready to hurt someone. Namely himself. This self-induced torture was killing him. It was as if liquid silver were slowly eating away at his flesh and his insides, but he just wouldn’t die from the pain. Even though he’d been working with the pack chasing down leads on the APL in surrounding areas, all he’d been able to think about was her. What was she doing? Was she thinking about him? And if she was, just how pissed was she? This foreign, twisting ache in his chest was something he could do without. He’d assumed that after a couple of days the distance between them would be easier. But it had only gotten worse. He couldn’t sleep and even shifting and running in his animal form brought him no pleasure.
    He hated how they’d left things. Well, how he’d left things. She’d called him a coward and now he wondered if she was right. Not contacting her was the hardest thinghe’d ever done. And it was obvious she