Page 29 of Shifting Years
"I'm sorry."
She repeated my words as a scream. "That's all you got? I imagined our special day because I wanted a life with you and you never wanted one with me. I'm a fool in love with someone I never knew. Even now, I don't know you!"
The wind howled with her screams. "Idon'tknow you, and I never did." She shook more as if having a fit or jolted with electricity. "I don't know you, Todd."
Those five words repeated like a skipping record as the wind rose and whipped around like a tornado, knocking branches from the dual trees. I huddled over her, shielding her from the worst as they slammed and poked into my back and neck. To the right, their front window shattered but the sound muffled in the train-engine level noise.
As suddenly as the storm came, it left.
Donna slipped out of my arms and her parents rushed out. Her mom had short blonde hair and wore a plaid dress. Her dad had thick glasses like my father and still had his brown work suit. They were a short couple and generally good-natured, but not today. I was on the sidewalk, grabbing their screaming daughter.
"Who are you?" she yelled while glancing at freshly snapped branches and broken glass. Her blue eyes grew wide with terror. "Mom, Dad! There's a strange boy here."
Her parents glanced at each other and a familiar police car siren blared once. Donna's mother brushed her daughter's blonde hair back. "Sweetie, that's Todd! Your fiancé."
We never made it official, but wedding plans were obvious to everyone, except the groom and now the bride.
"Inevermet this boy before in my life. I don't know him."
My dad must have followed. He squeezed my shoulder and yanked me back. The lawman with political ambitions hissed in my ear, "Did you give her anything?" I shook my head no, and he turned to her, checking for injuries and examining her eyes.
After confirming I hadn't hurt Donna and checking the scratches on my back, he yanked me aside. A white, blaring ambulance arrived and soon took her away. Donna's parents glared with a cold stare, accusing me of something they couldn't understand.
We drove home in silence, and my father led me to the bedroom. "Get your stuff. You're an adult and the law says I'm done." Mom would have said something, but she was away 'visiting relatives' again.
He pulled several crisp twenties from his wallet. It wasn't generosity but to ensure I'd leave. "Go to the station and find a recruiter in another town. They'll make a man out of you, and not the other kind."
I didn't think I could see more disappointment in his light-blue eyes, but I did. "There's one reason you didn't report anything in those bars."
"At least someone wants to be around me. Say goodbye to Mom. You know, yourwife."
I expected a punch, but he insisted I leave in twenty minutes. To my relief, he'd check on Donna. Another man might have fought more, but what was the point? It might lead to a fistfight and hitting the sheriff was beyond stupid.
As promised, I was at a station, alone, and with no Mike. I thought he might be here, but I missed him. Something inside said I had the chance for something long-lasting, and I wouldn't find it for years.
After verifying nobody saw him and that he hadn't been jailed, I stared at a map of the United States. He wasn't here, but his spirit could go with me. All my plans led to nothing. It was time to go and do something Todd would want, but what?
I had the answer: to be away from my father and have Donna forget about me.
I got my wish.
***
"Did you do that?" Kim made a popping motion near his head.
I swallowed, thinking of the debates over the years. "Every wolf gets an extra power, right?"
Mike handed him a sugar cube for his tea before he asked for it. "I know what people need."
"What do I need?"
"To listen," I answered. Mike shrugged as if to say I wasn't wrong. "I don't know if I caused Donna's memory loss. There have been coincidences through the years and sometimes I got my wish but in a twisted way. There's no other obvious power."
"Wolves tend to get their other gift when they're older and it's got a specific, narrow use," argued Mike. "No shifter has Tina and Dawn's ability."
"I don't make wishes anymore," I said and turned to Mike. "I wished you would find someone who never wanted to let you go. Even Vietnam—" Sweltering jungle heat came with a blinding headache. A dank swamp smell from thousands of miles away returned.
"Rodriquez, Cooper, Bobby—"
