Page 37 of Shifting Years
My intelligence didn't leave me, but it was like my mind, well, shifted. My human hair is dark but my paw was now blond. Henry was bigger, with a pitch-black pelt shining in the dark as if mixed with motor oil.
With no thought or primal instinct, I leapt through the open window and landed perfectly on four feet. Was it for him to chase me or something else?
It was night, but my new power showed not quite daylight but less dark and more details. Muscles and energy I never had before coursed through my blond canine body. It was like taking acid, but my body wasn't in two places. I was a wolf, man, and both.
I ran deep into the woods, knowing somehow of a tradition. My mate would catch me, proving his Alphaness. It was play hunting and harmless.
My heart pounded as I plowed through the brush and around trees, darting in random directions. Heavy muscles punched my side.
A racial memory came of other wolves playing after a mock chasing game. Alphas and Omegas would roll around on the ground, sometimes rough, but never serious.
Yellow flashed over Henry's slitted eyes, and he growled, revealing long white teeth. With inhuman speed, he bit down, as if he were a vampire. This was to mark me with a bite so deep nobody would question who was his Omega.
He howled on his own, but the wolf-music wasn't beautiful like the sheriff, and I understood his words now. One sentence pounded into my brain with every long howl.
Mine, not yours.
***
Summer came with sweltering heat and fewer books. The screen door opened and squeaked more after Henry slammed itshut a few weeks back. Thin metal didn't stand a chance against shifter strength.
His eyes ignored mine as he looked inside the stove, then cabinets, and under my book. He read the book's title slowly. "How to Open Your Own Restaurant." He nodded once. "Does it talk about cooking?"
I took a second, debating the best response. "Yes."
"Good. Does it say where my dinner is at?"
"I got distracted with this chapter. I'm sorry."
Instinct sent a wave of calming 'mental ice' over him. If it worked, it wasn't obvious or another way he could overpower me.
"I expect food on the table like everyotherOmega knows to do." He chuckled. "You think you can open a restaurant if you can't cook for one person? What happens if there's two or hell, three people, Mike?"
For all our fights, he never hit me. Wolves were better in some areas than humans. They didn't care about race or sexuality. No wolf ever physically abused a mate. Still, whatever this energy was between us, I didn't like it.
I had dreams of finding a guy, but also more. Todd wasn't around, but planning my life made sense. I had a dream of opening a restaurant, like that empty white cobblestone in town. Loving couples could have a quiet meal and go on dates. They existed in the open here, but I wanted them tolive.
"Omegas serve their Alphas. Every other one here, man or woman, gets it. If you weren't reading all the time, you'd know."
It wasn't about food exactly. He wanted to dominate and be the top guy. He wasn't helpless and could cook something. Hell, I did it for my mother when I was a teenager.
He mumbled, "Guess I'll get a burnt burger in town. Again."
My nose wrinkled at the garbage scent. He wouldn't get dinner, but whiskey.
***
"This town's a blessing and curse," said Mary. She leaned back into a metal seat and blew a long cigarette puff away from my face. "This magic draws people together, but not at the same time. Other people…people,they have to get to know each other, but a wolf knows." She stared off into the distance. "At least that's what we tell ourselves."
She studied my face. "Wolves mate for life, but there's no spell keeping you here."
True, and this wasn't marriage, but it felt like it. Even thinking about leaving made me sick. I could go and find another gay man, but I couldn't tell them about my wolf side. Hints from Mary suggested stories of killed humans once they knew about the paranormal. I'd still have to keep a secret from someone, and I wasn't in the mood for that anymore.
Mary finished her cigarette and lit another one.
"I heard those things are bad. That's why Nixon's banning their ads on television and radio." Todd would have laughed at me giving a compliment to his hero.
"Don't matter. My power takes care of it. Immunity to poison I suppose, if you need a name for it." She shrugged. "I can drink bleach and it doesn't do anything."
