Page 3 of Until Forever Comes
“You”—he bowed up and narrowed his eyes dangerously—“you what, now?”
Not intimidated in the least, despite her husband’s significant height and weight advantage, my sister giggled. “I done brought my brother home.” She cocked her head and moved her gaze toward me.
“Are you sayin’ you went into town?” Richie raised his voice, something he rarely did when speaking to his wife. He tore his ever-present straw cowboy hat off his head and slammed it against his thigh. “Damn it all to hell, Crissy, that’s right dangerous. What in tarnation was you thinkin’ wanderin’ off pack lands?”
“Well….” She drew the word out slowly and moved her gaze from her husband to me again. “I figured I’d collect Ethan and bring him on home.”
He finally followed her gaze and saw me sitting on the ground in wolf form. I yipped and raised my paw, then scratched at his knee.
“Well, boy howdy, how about that!” His anger disappeared at the sight of my wolf, and he bent down and patted my head. “Way to go, Ethan! We knew you could do it.”
No, they hadn’t. Hoped, sure enough. But knew? Nope. At twenty, I was a good decade older than even the slowest male shifter was when he first took wolf form. Nobody, not even me, had expected me to be able to shift by that point. And because I got weaker year after year, I was pretty sure they all expected me to pass young. Well, all of them except Crissy.
Thinking of my sister’s unwavering loyalty and support had me changing back into my human form. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, resting my forehead against hers. We were the same height, not because Crissy was particularly tall, but because I was knee-high to a grasshopper. She’d always told me that made me the perfect height to hug. I blinked tears out of my eyes as I thought of that and held her tight.
“Thank you,” I whispered roughly.
She patted my back.
“All right, y’all. I think that there’s enough of that. Ethan, I’m proud of you, now shoo.” Richie waved his hat toward my folks’ house. “Go on and get some clothes on.”
I chuckled as I pulled back from my sister’s arms and punched him in the shoulder. “You jealous, Richie?”
He shrugged and tugged on my sister’s arm until she was pressed against his side, then he draped his arm over her shoulders possessively. “Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t enjoy seein’ a man touchin’ my wife, and a naked one, at that. Now get! Your folks are inside wearin’ a hole in the floor.”
“She’s my sister!” I shouted with a laugh. “That’s just nasty.” But I walked away with a strut in my step. No one had ever called me a man; no one had ever seen me as a threat to anything.
“That was nice of you,” I heard my sister whisper to her husband just as I moseyed into the house.
“Richie?” my mama called out as soon as I opened the squeaky door.
“No, it’s me, Mama,” I answered.
“Ethan!” She rushed out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel before throwing her arms around me and rocking from side to side. “Oh, my baby, my baby.”
“I’m okay, Mama,” I said. “Honest.”
She sniffled and nodded as she moved back and cupped my face between her moist palms. “Sure enough. Such a strong boy.” She took in a deep breath and then looked back over her shoulder and raised her voice. “Gerald, our boy’s home.”
My father hustled over, his brow furrowed, concern etched all over his face.
“Sorry I worried you, Pop,” I said quietly as I lowered my eyes.
“Well”—he cleared his throat—“I reckon there’s no real harm done seein’ as how you’re hale and healthy. You’re gettin’ older, and it’s natural for you to push, Ethan. And I know you spend a lot of time on your lonesome, so I was right happy to hear that you was running about with some other boys.” He paused and waited for me to look up and meet his gaze before continuing. “But you worried your mama something fierce layin’ out all night with no word. We can’t have that again.”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I said, and she hugged me again, still sniffling.
“Uh, son,” my father said hesitantly. “Why’re you in the altogether? Where’re your clothes?”
I gave my mama a final squeeze and stepped back.
“I’ve got news,” I said quietly. Then with a deep breath, I crouched down and called my wolf, feeling my body change until I was standing on all fours, and then looked up at my astonished parents.
My father was first to break the silence. “Well, I’ll be,” he said, his voice cracking.
“Oh, my,” my mama added, tears streaming freely down her face. “Would you look at that.”
Chapter 3
