Page 269 of Shifting Hearts 1
I stared at Em, shocked.
“They died? I’m sorry. How?” Morgan asked.
“Long story. Didn’t want to get into it anyway,” Em said, waving it off. How many times had she told people that?
I sighed, feeling like I might as well be dead, I’d treated her like crap. In a way, she’d lost her parents long ago, the night Morgan hadn’t made it.
“What I’m more interested in is your story,” Em said, pulling me back into the conversation.
“Oh, it’s a sad one. Not really worth it. I’m sure you’ve heard it.”
“Oh, was there a lot of blood tears?”
“Ugly affairs, but yes.”
“Oh, and was there—” Paul chirped, and she flicked him on the ass with her cloth. He pretended it burned, and Emily laughed. I groaned internally at myself.
“What?” Morgan asked.
“She laughs like you do.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Morgan said.
“Sorry, my laugh is horrible,” Em added.
“No, it’s not. It’s contagious,” Paul said, winking at her.
I raised an eyebrow at him as he moved to clean the other side of the bar—and noticed Morgan doing the same.
“Not fair, I can’t even talk about him from over here,” Em muttered.
He laughed, making them both laugh. And yes, their laughs did match.
“You can always pretend he doesn’t hear,” Morgan said.
“Nah, men should never know how you truly feel about them,” Em replied.
“I agree. Smart words,” Morgan smiled.
They left together and went to a barista. Em was the only one eating, and when no one was looking, Paul kept swapping her empty coffee cup with his first, then Morgan’s.
She wanted to know everything about their lives, and it pissed me off more when Em talked about hers, calling Annie “Alice” and Bo, all the men in our pack.
“It wasn’t that bad, seriously,” I chirped at Em, chuckling at her reply.
For the first time in Morgan’s existence, it felt light.
Their paths finally split, and regret for my absence all those years weighed on me.
“Okay… what is she?” Paul asked.
“She’s a hybrid,” Morgan said.
“A hybrid?”
“Yes. Half and half, Paul.”
“She’s a coffee and creamer,” we both laughed, and I glanced at Morgan. She’d asked the same thing when she discovered what I was. Our laughs faded simultaneously.
