Blackblood Bear (A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Agency Book 2) by Amelia Jade Page B

“Half-breed makes me think of animals, not intelligent beings.”
    “Why thank you,” he said. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    “Don’t let it go to your head,” she replied quickly, sticking her tongue out at him.
    “Noted,” he laughed. “Anyway, as I was saying, my family were all human, despite having shifter blood in them. I’m not sure how well I would have been able to connect with them after my bear manifested.” He shrugged, his gaze focused on the sidewalk ahead of them. “I’m sure they would have loved me, and I them. But it’s such a life-altering event when your animal first manifests. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for my family out in Genesis Valley. Being among my own kind, and able to be comfortable with going out in public while young was probably lifesaving.”
    “What do you mean by that? Going out in public? Everyone knows shifters exist, even if we don’t know much about you.”
    A sad smile crossed his face at her words, and a new, harsher tone entered his voice as he responded.
    “The Outing, as it’s called, hasn’t exactly been beneficial for us. Most shifters consider it a mistake, you know.”
    She stopped in her tracks, stunned by this revelation. “What? Really? How come? I’ve never heard of such a sentiment before.”
    “We don’t exactly advertise it to humans,” he said coldly, though she could tell his ire wasn’t directed her, but her species as a whole.
    Shay wasn’t naïve. She knew that there were many humans out there that would do despicable things to one another. Although she shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that they would do the same to shifters. Perhaps it was the fact that they all seemed so big and strong, impervious to the stupidity of humanity. Judging from the tone of his voice, however, that was not the case.
    “How bad has it been?” she asked softly, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
    Justin looked away. “Worse than the witch trials during the medieval ages.”
    Shay gasped in horror. “No, you can’t be serious. How can it be worse?”
    He snorted. “Now that it’s been confirmed that we do exist, and our abilities revealed, governments and greedy men want to take what we have and give it to themselves. So they experiment on us, try to take our powers and make them transferable to humans.”
    Words failed her as she took in what Justin was telling her, trying to understand how people could conduct such experiments on other human beings.
    “That’s just in our country,” he said angrily. “In less civilized places in the world, we’re hunted because many consider us to be abnormalities in the face of their gods, as monsters and freaks to be feared, and thus eliminated.”
    “That’s barbaric,” Shay stated firmly, feeling her rage growing. “Anyone who would do such a thing isn’t worth the skin on their back. There should be laws against doing that, if there aren’t already.”
    He smiled sadly at her again. “There are, but when those in power agree with the general sentiment, then it’s unlikely that any will face punishment.”
    Shay thought he looked like he was about to say more, but his expression suddenly changed.
    “Why don’t we start looking for your father?” he suggested, pulling her after him into the closest store.
    “Uh, okay?” she said, caught completely by surprise. “In a dry cleaner?” she asked after a moment, surveying the small shopfront.
    Behind the counter, a short Asian woman was looking at them strangely while shaking her head. A rack of clothing covered in flimsy plastic bags made a loud clanking noise as it rotated behind her in an endless stream.
    “Ticket?” the woman said in accented English, holding out her hand.
    “No ticket,” Justin said, looking past her into the back of the shop.
    “What is going on?” Shay said, pulling on his shoulder.
    “No ticket? Need ticket!” the woman shouted, oblivious to the conversation going on between