Page 4 of A Cock and Bull Story
Jezebel frowns severely at me, drawing my attention to her pouty red lips.
“Ok, I’m going to be honest. I think it’s great that we’re here to get the help we need, and the roasting is a little funny, but you are allwaytoo hard on yourselves! Just because I’m a coward with a problem doesn’t mean I’m not a good person. The same goes for everyone in this room—you are all perfect the way that you are!”
She nods her rainbow-colored head twice to punctuate her words; then, winces.
“Well, I mean,you allare perfect the way that you are. . . me, on the other hand, not so much,” Jezebel confesses sadly.
“Bollocks!” Sian spits. “If we’re good enough, then so are you, love.”
The lovely newcomer perks up.
“Thank you. That makes me feel so much better. It’s so nice to be in the company of others who are struggling with the same problem.”
“If I can be so indelicate to ask, but what kind—”
“Am I? I don’t take offense. I’m sort of a. . . mutt, you could say,” Jezebel answers with a chuckle. “Into everything, I guess.”
I gape at her in horror as her words sink in—a mutt?!No wonder she’s an outcast! Half-breeds are considered an abomination—and, clearly, she is half-human—but her shifter side is mixed, too! Another taboo in our society. Shifters don’t mix species. It’s barely acceptable to procreate within the same genus. Shifters are proud creatures who are similar to ancient monarchs—they want to keep their bloodlines as pure as possible.
The others all stare at her with similar looks of pity and understanding. We started this group because we are the lowest of the low. Our animals are considered jokes within the shifter community—and that’s excluding our names, which add to our outsider status.
“Wow. . .a mutt,” Arthur mumbles. “And I thought being a horny toad was bad.”
“No—it’s just as bad,” Jack brays. “We should have made this the SSA for the Shitty Shif—”
“We’renotshitty,” Jezebel cuts in. “We’re. . . super! The first ‘S’ now stands for super!”
Sian and Elise clap while Theo chuckles.
“I like it—no one’s ever called me ‘super’ before,” he admits.
Jezebel’s eyes twinkle as she slides him a wink.
“You look pretty super to me,” she all but purrs and, for the first time, I see something feline in her.
Theo makes a choking sound and blushes. Water shifters are not particularly popular since most are rarely in their element to shift. Lager marine predators get more respect—but, again, they are of no use unless near water.But slippery dicks?They just get laughed at—because of their sizeandtheir name. I’m sure Theo isn’t used to women hitting on him, especially other shifters. But, Jezebel did mention that she is a ‘slippery dick lover’. . .
Maybe that’s another reason she’s an outcast?
“Th-th-thanks,” Theo stammers.
Jezebel sends him a brilliant smile before frowning again.
“I think we need a buddy system,” she announces.
“A buddy system?” Arthur wonders.
“Yes, especially me since I’m down in Oxford. We need to pair up together to support one another. Have a ‘call whenever for whatever’ policy to ensure that we are doing ok and aren’t going torelapse.”
Relapse?
What the hell is this woman into?
But Sian and Elise seem completely on board. In fact, everyone is on board and exchanges numbers with Jezebel, who appears over the moon. My heart softens to see her glowing with happiness. I can’t imagine that she has a lot of friends and I’m glad that she’s finally found others who will accept her unequivocally.
“This was aninterestingmeeting, but I’m so glad that you joined us, Jezebel. Next meeting, barring we have no new members, I would like to start addressing how we can positively contribute to society and start earning the respect that we deserve,” I proclaim.
“Oh!” Jezebel gasps in delight. “That’s just perfect—exactly why I joined. I definitely need pointers on how to gain respect. Let’s make it a potluck and meet an hour early. What does everyone say?”
