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Daniel…
Kay had not been willing to set aside her paranoid fears and join him at the coffee shop for the meeting. He’d had to borrow a suit, and the pants were too long. There hadn’t been enough time to search the second-hand shops for a better option. The shirt was from his high school graduation and the tie was new. The coffee he’d wasted money on was growing cold in front of him.
Fidgeting, he adjusted his cuffs. Even though the room was unpleasantly warm, Dan planned to keep his jacket on, to hide the fact that he’d pulled his pants up past his waist. He was dressed like an old man about to go to a funeral. All he needed was the short tie. If things went well, he’d have the cash to buy a proper suit. Hopefully, this would just be the first of many such talks about what he and Kay’s future might be. His phone chimed, and he rolled it over on the small round table. Kay, of course.
“Is he there yet?”
“No. It looks like he is going to be fashionably late.” The surface of Dan’s coffee had dulled as it cooled. When the guy showed up, he planned to sip it as if it were still hot.
“Did you really go to meet him alone? Why didn’t you bring Shelly with you?” He heard her shuffling papers in the background as she continued, “My office hours are almost over. I could come and join you in half an hour. My last student appointment canceled on me.”
“You don’t need to, Kay. Stop worrying. I am in a public coffee shop that is full of people. There is no danger. You’ve been listening to too many murder podcasts.”
“And you, my dear, have too much male privilege. We’ve gotten some pretty sketchy responses to the project online. You can’t ignore that one guy who keeps ranting about how we stole his work. What if he is the one who shows up?”
“Unlikely, unless he is coming out of hiding.” Dan tapped his pen against the surface of the table. “His friends online keep demanding to know where he is. Whatever he is up to, he isn’t at home. The dude has lost his job. I doubt he has elaborate, in person, harassment plan money.” Dan scanned the order line that was filled with other college students. Daniel had gotten more than one sympathetic look.
“Doesn’t it give you pause that the first person to post the footage is now hiding?”
“He is hiding from us, Kay. I am not afraid.” A tall man who looked ready to hit the golf course stepped into line and stared at him from the coffee queue. When had he walked in? Dan tilted his head as he held the man’s gaze. Was he flirting? Was this the guy he was supposed to meet? The man smiled at him and lifted his fingers in a gesture of greeting. “Kay, I gotta go. I think he might be here.” He nodded to the man. “That or I’m about to be asked out on a date by some finance bro.”
*
Rig…
The family’s working dog trailed him as he walked along the fence line, where the sheep she protected were grazing. The animal hadn’t yet decided if he was an active threat or not. Rig was half tempted to transform and confuse the dog further. He doubted she had seen someone with a Wolf’s heart shape.
He and the animal had more in common than the dog knew. His purpose in life was also to protect his flock from danger. In his case, more than hers, sometimes those threats were internal. Human beings were highly prone to madness and were often a danger to their own flocks.
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He crouched down and extended his hand toward her. “I won’t harm your girls. I promise you.” Instead of coming forward to sniff, she lifted one front paw and settled it down again. Cautious. Smart.
The Lost girl walked toward him across the field. Kennedy said, “I don’t think she likes you much.” She whistled, and the dog trotted toward her to receive a pet or two with reserve. Her eyes never left Rig.
“She must know something about me, that I don’t know about myself.”
“Wolves are new to her. There are some coyotes local to here, but they aren’t shifters, just regular coyotes. She can smell it on you. Like I can.”
“And you don’t think you smell like a bear?”
The young woman lifted her arm and sniffed it. “I hadn’t thought much about it.” Kennedy shrugged indifferently. It was a kindness that human beings didn’t have sensitive enough noses to discern Shepherds among them. “Have you tried to change yet?”
Rig shook his head and pushed his hands into his pockets. When he tried to take a deeper breath, he felt the pull from multiple directions deep inside his structure. “No, and I’m not sure I should.”
“I thought your kind believed that change was the best way to heal quickly and continue your freedom between shapes.”
“And if I can’t successfully change?” He rested his hand on his chest. “My life isn’t worth much, but I’m not ready to throw it away yet.”
“It’s better to find out now than when you are without choices. Unless you don’t want to be a tracker and guardian anymore.” She shrugged. “I mean, you could settle down and work on a farm like this one. Quit culling and you can grow fat and make babies.”
He grimaced. Was she trying to insult him? “You don’t think much of me.”
“I think you won’t live very long if you look at Bear women the way you looked at Snow. She isn’t of age.”
“And she isn’t a Wolf.” He stubbornly set his shoulders.
The stubborn creature put her hands on her hips. “I’m safe here. You don’t need to stay with us.”
“I’m here to watch and protect.” Rig lifted his chin.
“And spy? I’ve had enough of spies for a while.”
“They don’t need me to play that role.” She was wary of him, and he didn’t blame her. “What they need me to do is finish healing and return to them strong and useful.”
“And that doesn’t involve changing?”
He narrowed his gaze. This one wasn’t subtle. “Do you think it would be safe to try? Aren’t you only like… a month into being a healer with no experience or training?”
The Lost girl flushed and crossed her arms. “I will not lie and say I know what the right thing to do is, but I’ve been listening, and I know that the longer the body stays in a restricted form, the more solid that form becomes.”
“So you are hoping to kill me, or get me out of your hair and away from your family?”
“Yes.” Her flat directness surprised him. Shifters were rarely so direct. He found himself speechless while she stood there, waiting. An owl called in the distance and the breeze picked up from the south. When he didn’t respond, she turned as if to go.
“Wait.”
Kennedy paused.
“If I die, I don’t want to be buried here. Would your people take me home?”
“I don’t think they would bury you on our land. Would it have to be your corpse, or would your ashes do?”
Rig repressed a shudder and a cold pit opened in his belly. “Ashes would be fine.”
“I could box you up and send you in the mail.”
His lips quirked. The idea was surreal. He imagined his body in ash form rattling its way through the postal system machines, traveling nestled amongst bulk laundry detergent and brand name shoes. “That will do.”
“Then I promise. If you die, I will make sure your remains make it back to your family.” She tilted her head, dark tendrils of her hair lifted into the breeze that was rising. “Are we doing this or what? I can go back into the house and continue folding laundry.”
“Here?”
She looked up at the sky. The wind was bringing in cloud cover. “I don’t think it is going to rain yet.” She shrugged. “Is there somewhere else you would rather be?”
He looked toward the barn and the house. Where would he rather die? “Here is fine. Out in the open air.”
She pulled off her shirt, and he took a step backward. “What are you doing?”
“I just bought these jeans and I have no desire to acquire more stretchy clothes than necessary.” Kennedy expected she’d need to change.
“What if I manage a change and don’t need your help?”
“Then I’ve shown you my naked ass for no reason.” She toed off a shoe. “I didn’t know wolves were modest. Would you like me to go borrow a house dress?”
“Don’t be an idiot. I’ve seen a ton of naked asses.” He’d seen two. Two naked asses. He turned away from her and began removing his own clothing.