Page 36 of My UnTrue Love
“There you are!” Clem shouted, seeing she had his attention. “Gosh, you can’t believe how hard it was to get up here. Especially in these shoes.” She shook her head, and her blonde curls swayed like they’d been styled by silk sheets and fantasies. “Gravel pathways do not mix well with Herring Box sandals.”
The other men stopped their jawing and looked Bill’s way, disgust filling their faces. None of them had a va-va-voom vixen. None of them ever would. And Bill wasn’t supposed to have her either.
Most single men in Red River Valley were paranoid that their True Love had already been coyote-snatched. Never occurred to the bastards that making chauvinistic remarks, and drinking with the boys every night, and not cleaning their damn clothes kept most women away, with no help from coyotes. Nope. They blamed Bill and his entire species for their miserable sex lives.
“Your thieving kind can’t get away with taking our females.” Stew bit off, right on cue. The tune of bigotry got repetitive as hell, so the words were always predictable. “It ain’t right.”
There was a general murmur of bitter agreement. The situation was deteriorating. The assembled railroad workers grew enraged at the possibility that they’d been destined for a True Love like Clementine, except Bill had poached her. Theiramorphous resentment could so easily spill over onto his Clem. They might forget they were cowardly clowns and decide to do something violent.
Bill very nearly shifted into coyote-form, just that fast.
It was actually hardnotto transform and attack any threats to his stolen-mate. That was unusual. Not the desire to kill all his idiot coworkers. Wanting them dead was normal and natural. It happened all the time, for all sorts of reasons. But the desire toshiftwas strange.
For the majority of shifters-species, there was some kind of struggle between their human and animal halves. The animal’s instincts could easily feel trapped in the human body. The human’s mind could get overwhelmed by the animal’s primal desires. But coyotes lived much more balanced existences. At least Bill did. Mostly, the animal-half of Bill was content to be watchful and unobtrusive.
Or maybe it was his human-side that hung back.
The two halves of his self were so similar sometimes he wasn’t sure which was in control. There was no internal conflict, because they were the same creature. The animal and human Bill thought in identical ways. He rarely shifted, because the coyote never felt trapped inside of him. The predatory parts of Bill were always engaged.
Only violence called his animal to transform into a beast of claws and teeth. Violence he was eager to inflict on anyone who came near Clem.
He resisted full transformation, but his eyes flashed an inhuman, glowing blue, as he pinned Stew with a feral look. “Are you willing to fight me to take her? Because I’m willing tofight you to keep her.” His smile was a homicidal taunt. “All or nothin’.”
Stew’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t move forward.
Neither did anyone else.
The artsy types who frequented the music scene had mostly just heard the rumors about coyotes’ strength. Men like Johnny felt safe in their prejudice, because they lived in a sheltered world. The rough-and-ready elements of Red River Valley were the ones who’d seen what coyotes could do in a fight, firsthand.
No matter how deep their hatred, the street-smart men of the railroad didn’t cross that final line with Bill. They knew better.
Wolly spat out his carpet tack. “If you leave with that girl, don’t bother coming back. You hear? I’m not going to stand here and let some dirty coyote upset the natural balance of…”
Bill started walking, snagging his shirt from the back of the pump.
“Whoever you stole her from, I hope he skins you alive.” Wolly called after him, still sitting on the railroad track. Lazy ass. “And you’re fired!”
Bill didn’t bother to respond to the well wishes. He was already headed towards Clementine. She was oblivious to the drama, grinning and shading her eyes from the bright sun. He intercepted her, not letting her get too close to the posse of morons.
Clem came to a stop directly in front of him, beaming like they’d been separated for weeks. Helovedher smile. He had noclue how she could look like pure innocence and dirty, sinful sex at the same time, but she somehow managed.
Inside of him, the desire to shift quieted, the coyote soothed by her presence.
“Hi!” She said cheerily. “I’m sorry to bother you at work, but…”
Bill cut her off, keeping his body between her and the angry men. “You shouldn’t be here, Clem.”
Her warm smile disappeared. Its loss was like someone destroying every perfect thing in the universe. “I’m sorry. I…” She faltered. “I just wanted to see you, not get you in trouble.”
He shrugged on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. They had to get outta there fast. Beating the ever-living-fuck out of a half-dozen men wouldn’t convince her that he was a gentle artist.
“I can handle it.” He assured her, keeping a side-eye on his irate ex-coworkers. They still weren’t moving, but he never underestimated the stupidity of imbeciles in packs.
“Oh.” Clementine’s attention flickered down to his damp chest, her gaze lingering on the strip of bare skin revealed by the unfastened edges of his shirt. Then, she quickly looked away again, towards the side of the mountain. Her cheeks flushed pink. “You know… I can just go, if you’re too busy to talk.” She took a step backwards. Away from him.
Any step away from Bill was her going in the wrong direction.
“I’m never too busy to talk to you.” He promised. “That’s not what I’m…”
