Miracle on Shifter Street

by Braylon Black

  I felt my bunny’s presence constantly, and it often begged to be let loose to hop around on the forest floor. But the literal act of shifting? I had no idea how to do it. My grandma had tried so hard throughout the years to coax it out of me, but to no avail. Other shifters ignorantly told me “just do it!”, as if that would help. That’s like demanding someone speak fluent Chinese at the snap of a finger.

  “Just do it!” Yeah, right.

  To me, there was nothing more embarrassing and pathetic than a shifter who couldn’t shift, and I worried that Logan would think less of me for it.

  “I don’t care for events like these,” I shrugged. “Besides, midnight’s way past my bedtime. I’m not interested.”

  “But we stayed up until one last night,” Logan pointed out with a grin.

  “Oh, I’ll stay up for that,” I winked. “But running around outside in the middle of the night when it’s freezing cold? Nah, I’ll pass.”

  Logan frowned. “Party pooper. Is this how our relationship’s gonna be, huh? You’re never gonna let me have any fun?”

  I poked him in the ribs and he giggled. “You better watch it or there won’t be a relationship at all!”

  “Is that a threat, omega?” Logan cocked a brow. He fought back and tickled my armpits, sending me into a giggling fit.

  “Stop! Stop!” I begged in between fits of laughter. “Seriously, stop. We don’t have the rabbit’s foot back yet. You might make me break a rib or something.”

  “All right,” he said, laying off.

  I walked ahead a few paces, until I noticed he was still standing in the same spot, staring at the poster. “Come on!”

  “Hey, Marlie,” Logan said, his brows furrowed in thought. “Did it ever occur to you that this owl might actually be a shifter?”

  “A shifter? Um, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of owl shifters before. I don’t think that’s a thing.”

  “Think about it,” he said. “Why would an owl—as in, the animal—be flying around a busy city street in the middle of the daytime? That seems like unusual behavior.”

  “I guess,” I shrugged. “But like I said. Owl shifter? Never heard the term in my life. I’ve certainly never met one, or heard of anyone who has.”

  “Well, we are at a university,” Logan grinned. “We could go to the library and do some research.”

  “What does it matter?” I asked. “We’ve already found the rabbit’s foot. Can we go now?”

  Logan rolled his eyes playfully. “All right, fair enough. Let’s go get lucky, shall we?”

  ***

  We were hit with a potent billow of weed smoke as soon as the door opened. A young, disheveled looking guy with a serious case of bedhead introduced himself as Ben and beckoned us inside.

  Two other guys lounged on the couch, one playing videogames and the other rolling a joint. All three of them looked rather “alternative”, for lack of a better word.

  “Oh, hey Marlie,” the guy playing videogames glanced up at me. I realized it was Horace, the son of my wolf-shifter ex-neighbors who used to live on Shifter Street until they packed up and moved to a more affluent part of town a few years ago. He’d since changed his look from Christian choir boy to backup drummer for a death metal band.

  Teenagers...

  “Hey Horace,” I nodded. “How’s it going?”

  “Oh, it’s going,” he said. “I just broke my killstreak record.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Cool.”

  I turned to Ben. “So, where is it?”

  “What? Oh! The rabbit’s foot. Right. Here it is.”

  He pulled it from his pocket and placed it in my palm. I closed my hand around it and felt its softness. It certainly felt right; it was so delightfully silky, soft and smooth. Then I held it up in the light, cocking my head to scrutinize it. It looked exactly the same, too: it was a light brown with shimmery strands of silver, white and black running through it.

  I turned to Logan with a grin. “This is it.”

  His face brightened. “You sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Soooo,” Ben whistled. He held out his open palm. “Where’s my five hundo?”

  “Right here,” Logan answered, digging in his wallet. He placed five crisp hundred dollar bills in Ben’s palm, as the latter’s eyes lit up like a kid’s on Christmas morning. I couldn’t blame him. Five hundred bucks just for finding a silly rabbit’s foot, of all things?

  It seemed absurd on its face, but I knew deep down that my rabbit’s foot was worth a million dollars. Maybe a billion.

  “Thank you for finding it,” Logan said. “You don’t know how much we appreciate this.”

  “No problem, dudes. Have a heckin’ good Christmas.”

  He gave us a two finger salute, and we started heading out.

  “Hey, Marlie,” Horace piped up. I turned around to face him.

  “You going to the shifter run tomorrow night?” he asked, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face.

  I cleared my throat. “Uh, no, wasn’t planning on it.”

  “Still can’t shift, huh?”

  Logan looked at me curiously.

  “Of course I can—” I barked out a fake laugh. “Oh, Horace. You’re so funny. Anyways, gotta go.”

  Logan took me by the arm and leaned in. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Oh, nothing! Come on, let’s go!”

  He gave me a funny look.

  Ugh... stupid Horace!

  We flung open the door to find ourselves face to face with Sheriff LaMarkus Vale and his deputy.

  “Well, look who it is,” Sheriff Vale said, looking straight at Logan. “We’ve had a hell of a time tracking you down.”

  Marlie

  The next few minutes were a chaotic blur. The whole time I held my rabbit’s foot tight in my fist like my own version of rosary beads, but this strange twist of fate seemed utterly immune to its powers.

  Logan was immediately searched and handcuffed by LaMarkus, despite our protests. Meanwhile, the deputy searched the dorm as well as the three inhabitants. Unsurprisingly, his search resulted in the discovery of copious amounts of marijuana. Ben’s five hundred dollars and the big wad of cash in Logan’s wallet were somehow treated like evidence of illegal activities, as well.

  “You guys have a lot of explaining to do,” LaMarkus said. He turned to Logan. “Especially you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Logan exclaimed. “I don’t live here! None of that stuff is mine!”

  “You don’t live here, but you obviously came to deal drugs,” the Sheriff said.

  “What? No I didn’t!”

  “We didn’t!” I protested. “LaMarkus, honestly, we came to—”

  “I know you’re not involved, Marlie,” LaMarkus said, giving me a pitying look of disappointment. “I’ve known you since you were a kid. Take my advice and go straight home. I don’t know what you planned on doing here, but please. You’re better than this. Don’t get involved with these guys. They’re bad news.”

  These guys?

  Logan?

  “No, listen to me,” I insisted. “Logan and I just came here to get my lucky rabbit’s foot back. Ben found it, and—”

  “Your name’s Logan?” the Sheriff asked my alpha.

  He nodded. “Yeah. Logan Middleton.”

  It struck me that I didn’t even know his last name. I didn’t know the last name of my alpha, my mate, the potential father of my children...

  I stared at Logan, my brows furrowed. “Wait, LaMarkus, why are you doing this? Why are you arresting him? I’m not up to snuff on my constitutional law or anything but I’m pretty sure you can’t just barge in here and start arresting people without any proof—”

  “Oh, we’ve got proof, all right,” the deputy said, pulling out a piece of paper from his back pocket.

  He handed it to me and I gasped.

  It was a WANTED poster, with a police sketch of a man who looked absolutely identical to Logan.

/>   My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t know what to say.

  “Someone just called in a tip,” LaMarkus explained. “Said they saw the wanted man enter the dorms. We’ve been looking for this guy for over a week now. He’s an out-of-towner and he’s been causing chaos ever since he arrived. He’s wanted for home invasion, drug dealing, and assault and battery. Did you hear about the poor omega who got the crap beaten out of him four days ago outside Grady’s?” LaMarkus nodded at Logan. “This is the jerk who did it.”

  My jaw dropped.

  Logan’s eyes bulged and he shook his head vehemently. “That’s not me! You’ve got the wrong guy! I’ve only been in town since yesterday!”

  “Sure,” LaMarkus shook his head in disgust. “You can tell that to the judge.”

  “Marlie can verify!” Logan said. “He knows I’ve only been here since yesterday!”

  LaMarkus looked at me. “Is that true?”

  I nodded. “Yeah! He’s only been here for one day!”

  It occurred to me that I didn’t have any actual proof. Yesterday around eleven was the first time I saw Logan with my own eyes. It didn’t necessarily mean that’s when he’d first arrived.

  “How do you know this man?” the Sheriff grilled me.

  “We’re, um, friends! Well, actually, we’re more than that. We’re—”

  “Look, come to the station and you can give a statement if you want,” LaMarkus said. “But as far as I’m concerned, this is an open and shut case. It’s pretty clear we’ve got our man.”

  My head was swimming. What the fuck was going on?

  I turned to Logan for answers, but he looked just as baffled. I stared at him for a long time, furrowing my brows. Logan couldn’t have done all these terrible things... right? Was he really the man I thought he was?

  “Marlie, please,” Logan begged. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do anything wrong. This is all a huge mistake! I’ll get it sorted out, all right?”

  I nodded quickly, and immediately felt guilty for doubting him. No, he was a good man. I knew that much. This was just a case of mistaken identity. It had to be.

  The deputy returned from searching the bedroom with a few more pieces of paraphernalia. “I’m disappointed in you kids. You know better.”

  “Look, because it’s Christmas, and because I’ve known you boys since you were all in diapers,” LaMarkus explained. “We’re not gonna charge you this time. But if this ever happens again, you won’t be so lucky.”

  “Oh thank you, thank you!” Horace exclaimed.

  “We promise we won’t!” Ben added.

  “Don’t get too excited,” the Sheriff continued as he dragged Logan out of the dorm. “I’m still calling your parents.”

  “No, please!”

  “Shit!”

  Marlie

  There was no possible way my sweet Logan could actually be the suspect they were looking for. Sure, he looked identical to the police sketch, but there had to be some kind of a mistake. My alpha could never do those terrible things... could he?

  I nervously fingered the rabbit’s foot, my heart pounding. The most puzzling thing was, why hadn’t the rabbit’s foot protected us? The moment I got it back in my possession, the cops burst in and arrested Logan. This stroke of bad luck was way worse than anything that had happened to us while it was missing.

  It just didn’t make any sense at all.

  LaMarkus Vale called my name and beckoned me to sit at his desk. I slumped down and faced him with crossed arms and a scowl.

  “I need you to tell me how you know Logan, and what you were doing with him over at the dorms,” LaMarkus Vale said, still wearing that same disappointed-parent look on his face.

  “Well, I was not there to buy or sell drugs, I can tell you that.”

  I explained to the Sheriff about my missing rabbit’s foot, and summarized the events of the previous day.

  “So Logan’s been with you since yesterday morning?” the Sheriff asked.

  I nodded. “Yes. That’s when he first arrived to Vale Valley.”

  “And you’re absolutely certain about that?”

  “Of course!” I exclaimed, though certain was an overstatement. “Uh, well. Yes. He just got to Vale Valley, and he was all baffled and overwhelmed and stuff, you know, like all newcomers are. He’d never been here before.”

  “How well do you know Logan?” he asked.

  I blinked. “Uh, very well.” I cleared my throat loudly. “Yes, we uh, we know each other, um... really, really well. We’re like, super close...”

  LaMarkus cocked his head and gave me a look. “Marlie, I know when you’re lying. How long have you known Logan?”

  “Well, it feels like we’ve known each other for years!”

  “Feels like?” LaMarkus smirked. “Marlie, come on. Be straight with me.”

  “Okay, fine!” I frowned. “I only met him for the first time yesterday morning.”

  The Sheriff nodded slowly. He didn’t look surprised in the least as he scribbled something down on his notepad. “So you don’t have any actual proof that he arrived yesterday morning? That’s just what he told you?”

  “I don’t have any reason to think otherwise,” I said, my pulse skyrocketing. I had a bad feeling about this.

  “Well, we do,” he answered. “Logan’s been seen many times around town over the past week. We have multiple eye-witness accounts of all the crimes he’s been committing. It’s actually rather shocking. We’ve never had to deal with such a blatant criminal on our streets before.”

  He gave me a pointed look. “You’re very lucky that he didn’t do anything bad to you, Marlie. You really need to be careful, and not put your trust into strangers so easily.”

  “But, Sheriff Vale, I assure you there’s been some sort of mistake,” I insisted. “Logan is not a criminal. He’s got a heart of gold. I’ve never met an alpha as sweet as him! He wouldn’t hurt a fly. I promise you.”

  “You’ve known him for twenty-four hours,” the Sheriff remarked.

  “Yes, but, but—”

  I closed my mouth. I knew there was nothing I could say to convince him otherwise. I mean, I couldn’t really blame him. From his point of view, nothing I said was evidence of Logan’s innocence. He was right. I’d only known Logan for a little over a day. We were strangers, at least in the Sheriff’s eyes.

  I refrained from telling him that Logan and I had already become mates, and that there was a very good chance I was pregnant with his babies. I knew he’d think I was being crazy and irresponsible.

  And hell, maybe I was.

  “All right, you can go now, Marlie,” the Sheriff said as he finished scribbling more notes.

  “Can I talk to Logan?” I asked, my heart aching at the thought of leaving the station without him.

  “I’m afraid not,” he said. He put his pen down on the paper and gave me a serious look. “Marlie, take my advice and just forget about him, okay? He’s bad news. Thank your lucky stars that nothing bad happened to you while you were with him, and move on. He’s gonna be locked up for a very long time, anyway.”

  “No, he isn’t!” I exclaimed, panic coursing through my body. “He’s innocent!”

  LaMarkus sighed. “Well, that’s for the judge to decide.”

  “Judge? There’s no need for a trial. You’ve got the wrong guy. It’s that simple.”

  “Marlie...”

  “Aren’t there simple ways to verify his identity and whereabouts? Like, oh, what about credit card records? If you check, I’m sure you’ll see that he wasn’t in Vale Valley before yesterday. You can also interview people in his life: friends, family, whoever. I’m sure they’ll provide a solid alibi. And what about—”

  LaMarkus held up his hand to stop me. “Marlie, thank you for the advice. Of course we’re gonna look deeper into this matter. Just let us do our jobs, okay?”

  I sank back into my seat with a sigh. “All right. You better not screw this up. An innocent man’s life is at
stake.”

  I looked over LaMarkus’s shoulder to the hallway that I knew led to the holding cell. My heart ached. I couldn’t bare the thought of my alpha being locked up in a cold, grimy cell when he hadn’t been convicted, or even charged with anything! It just seemed so inhumane and unfair!

  “It won’t take more than a few hours, right?” I asked the Sheriff.

  He raised a brow. “What?”

  “Figuring out whether you’ve got the right guy or not.”

  LaMarkus laughed. “I wouldn’t be so optimistic. These things take time.”

  “Take time?!” I barked. “How much time?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure. Could be days. Doesn’t help that it’s Christmas, either. Much of our staff is off for the holidays.”

  “The fact that it’s Christmas is exactly why you need to let him go,” I insisted. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Sheriff Vale. Don’t you have a heart?”

  He chuckled. “I admire your passion, Marlie. Maybe you should become a defense attorney. But I hope you understand I’m just doing my job. I can’t risk letting a dangerous criminal back out onto the streets.”

  “Dangerous criminal,” I scoffed, shaking my head. “This is ridiculous.”

  I pushed myself out of the chair and stomped off towards the exit.

  “Merry Christmas, Marlie,” LaMarkus called out just as I stepped outside.

  I didn’t answer him. Why should I? Nothing about this Christmas felt particularly merry anymore.

  Logan

  I never thought I’d be spending Christmas in a jail cell. My life was already on a sharp downward trajectory, what with losing my fiance and my business all in one fell swoop—but arrested and thrown in jail? This was a new low even for me.

  At first I wasn’t too worried. I was confident that they’d made a mistake, and I’d be freed within an hour or two. But that didn’t happen. I was taken to an interrogation room and grilled for a long time. I answered honestly and politely. The Sheriff and his deputy seemed like nice enough people... but it was clear that they didn’t believe a word I said.