Page 46 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

The sun was setting behind the trees., I would need to get home sooner rather than later. I turned back to return the way I came. I figured I could probably use my sense of smell to track my own steps back home, but as I turned to walk back down the path, a little growl interrupted my steps.

Three pairs of eyes stared at me through the bushes. The owners of the eyes walked toward me from three different directions. I’d been told that there were no other werewolves around here.

It definitely was a wolf pack, but they were not werewolves. They were just hungry, ready to tear me to pieces and separate me limb from limb. The scene from Jurassic Park flashed before my eyes where the small little dinosaurs destroyed the flippant tourist. I wasn’t a tourist here and I wasn’t about to make that mistake. Wolves were deadly. Even if I was one.

They slowly circled me, inching closer and closer, their steps making a muted crackling on the leaf covered earth. There was no way I could take all three of them, no way at all. I started growling, but even my growling seemed odd and strange. I didn't know how to be a wolf. I had all the right parts, but I didn’t know how to put them all together. All I wanted to do was kick and slap and punch and run. I crouched down low as if I might spring on one of them. The only thing I could think of was that if I could entice one of them to attack me, I could leap out of their way and attack another one at the same time. I growled at the smallest one. It was an obvious target.

I didn’t know if it was because I was a werewolf, but I felt so powerful and cocky. My brain was functioning at full awareness and I was able to preempt their intentions even though they hadn’t moved beyond circling me slowly.

The largest of the three wolves, a red coated female moved into position to pounce on my back. I twisted and turned and flung myself back at the lead wolf. Our bodies crashed in midair, knocking the wind out of both of us. I had expected it, so I was ready. I jumped back up, not ready to go toe to toe with the wolf again. I’d definitely made my mark, and she had the slices on her belly just to prove it.

The wolves turned and ran yelping through the woods.

“What happened to you?” Matheus asked as he gamboled into the clearing.

I shifted into my human form. The process was getting easier and easier the more times I did it. The hints Mae had given me earlier certainly helped.

“Yes!” I said. “Did you see that I single-handedly fought off three, count them one, two, three wild wolves They were huge wolves and I beat them. I beat the biggest of them. Did you see?” I was so excited I couldn’t stop bouncing up and down.

“Yes, my darling,” he grinned at me. “But you would’ve been killed had they been supernaturals or werewolves. We’ve got to get you in some real training if you’re going to survive and become one of the guardians of the cemetery.”

“The cemetery has a guardian,” I joked. “It’s Mae, that much I remember, so no thank you. I need a job, but I definitely don’t need that”

“The last thing in the world you need, my dear, is another job,” Matheus laughed.

“Do you have a last name?” I asked him.

“No, ma’am,” he said.

“You sure it’s not Beelzebub or something crazy like that, right?” I asked.

Matheus laughed at my words. “No, I’m not the devil,” he said. “I’m just a satyr. I’m just like you, only I don’t’ have to shift as much of my body. Just my head and legs.”

I leaned up to give him a kiss. I was losing myself in the way he held me so strongly and warm in his arms. He reached around my waist and then dropped lower and lifted me up.

“No,” I said. “No, not out here. No grass, no dirt, nothing.”

“This is where it’s the most natural,” he grinned pressing his hips against me.

“I thought you came out here to bring me some clothes,” I said. “I’m just going to shift back into a wolf and run off.”

“I don’t want you to have any clothes.” I pressed my face against his skin, and I could hear his heartbeat. So strong and so rapid and slightly different, like it was a double beat

“Does your heart beat differently?” I asked.

“No one’s ever been able to explain the satyr heartbeat, not even the human scientists who were told about it. I always say it’s because we’re so passionate about life, we’re trying to live it twice as much as everybody else.”

“If you slowed it down maybe you would live two hundred years?” I asked, snuggling into his chest as his arms held me tight.

He shrugged. “What's the average life expectancy for a human right now?”

“About eighty-five,” I said. “I am at forty-five, my middle years. There is nothing that can change that.”

“You’ll probably live longer, that's what usually happens to the weres, but you’ll still age.” Matheus stated it like an unemotional fact. I liked it.

“Good. I’ve earned my ability to age and I don’t want that frozen-in-time vampire thing.” I grinned and kissed him.

“You will age slower, and you’ll have more stamina.” He grinned, his fingers tightening on my hips.

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