Becoming

by Dakota Brown

  I hurried through getting ready and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. I ran a hand through my hair, and it settled into its customary style. That part of being able to do magic was pretty handy. Even if I didn't know exactly how I managed it.

  I hesitated with my hand on the doorknob, though knob wasn't really the right word since it was a lever. Finally, I left the bathroom and headed out of the bedroom. They must like lever knobs because I noticed they all were levers. It probably wasn't all that unusual, I just hadn't seen many in the houses I had lived in growing up.

  Doc's cabin was an actual log cabin. The outer walls were dark brown logs with lighter chinking. The floors were a polished wood, and they had a lot of rugs thrown down. Maybe to protect the floor from werewolf paws. Doc's bedroom was at the end of a narrow hallway. By the dog, well, wolf hair, on the comforter, I suspected Ed and Allan slept there at least occasionally. The hallway opened into a living area with a couch, loveseat, and a fireplace. They had a TV, but the couch and the loveseat were situated to look out a large window instead. The view drew my attention, and I walked over to the window.

  The cabin was situated partway up the mountain slope and though the trees had been cleared around it, part of the view was of the pine forest. I could also see the valley below with cow pastures, the river that meandered through the middle, and part of town. The sky was the most vibrant blue I could remember seeing, with not even a wisp of clouds.

  "It's going to be hot today." Ed came up next to me.

  I jumped a little. I hadn't heard him.

  He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. For a moment, I leaned into him, breathing in the wild forest scent he carried.

  "Thank you for coming for me last night." I hadn't had a chance to talk to either him or Allan.

  He squeezed me tighter, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling. "I'll always come for you. I'm glad we got there in time."

  "Me, too." My heart skipped a beat, and my breath caught at his words.

  He turned and pulled me into a hug, and I rested my cheek against his shoulder. He wasn't a lot taller than I was, but he was solid muscle when I leaned on him.

  "Are you okay? I smell blood." His voice kind of rumbled through me when he spoke.

  "I've got a pretty good cut on my back. It's not real deep. Hurts a little, but it's okay." Actually, a lot of me hurt. I didn't really want to acknowledge how I felt at the moment, so I ignored it. I loosened my arms, and he let go of me.

  "We'll look at it after breakfast then. Let's eat." He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward what was more than likely the kitchen. I was used to him holding my hand by now and didn't think much of it, just enjoyed the feel of his hand in mine. It was comforting, and I felt safe as long as he held me.

  Allan, Doc, and Victoria glanced over at me when Ed led me in. He brought me to a chair and held it for me while I sat. I glanced up at him, raising my eyebrows, but he wasn't actually looking at me, though he was smiling.

  "What do you want to drink? We have juice, water, milk, tea? Doc has some gross protein drinks," Ed asked.

  The others were bringing over plates stacked with bacon and pancakes.

  "Do you like eggs?" Allan asked before I could answer.

  "Juice, please, and yes."

  "Good. Almost done."

  Doc came over and sat next to me, a mug in his hand that smelled like it had tea in it. He still wore the jeans and T-shirt he had worn the night before. The wide beaded bracelets were still around his wrists. Ed and Allan wore sweatpants and T-shirts, and Victoria wore a long T-shirt over black leggings.

  Victoria took the seat on the other side of him. Ed brought me a tall glass of orange juice and sat on the other side of me. Allan brought over a bowl full of scrambled eggs.

  Though I wasn't sure how we would manage to eat all of the food, especially when Doc didn't look like he wanted any, I guessed that werewolf metabolism was high enough that the guys would polish off anything Victoria and I didn't eat.

  Breakfast was quiet while we all stuffed our faces. I was hungrier than I had expected to be, and the food was delicious.

  In shorter time than I really thought possible, the giant stack of pancakes and pile of bacon and eggs was gone.

  We all leaned back in our chairs, and Victoria groaned. "I need to get going, but I'm not sure I can move after that meal."

  I laughed. "Yeah, I might need a nap to recover."

  "Nap on the way to the lake," Allan suggested, grinning. He and Ed stood and cleared the table, both waving me and Victoria back to our seats when we tried to help.

  "Lake?"

  "It's going to be hot. Perfect day to go swimming."

  I did remember Ed telling me to bring a swimsuit and sunblock. I glanced at Victoria since she had packed my bag. "You didn't happen to throw in my swimsuit, did you?"

  "Shoot. I got you covered with some sunscreen, but I wasn't thinking swimming last night. I'll get the sunblock out of my car."

  "We've got some old swim trunks you can wear," Allan offered. "Do you have a sports bra?"

  "With me?" Again, I glanced at Victoria.

  "I may have grabbed one. You'll have to look. Sorry."

  "Hey, least of my worries. If it comes down to it, I can wear a T-shirt. Are you sure going swimming is safe?"

  "If you mean from the assholes from last night, they'll leave you alone when you're with us," Allan said.

  "That's what I meant."

  "We need to come up with a plan. We can do that after we swim." Ed grinned, sky-blue eyes shining with excitement.

  "If you're up to it," Doc said.

  "I should be all right."

  "You'll probably want to do something with that cut on your back before you get in the water," Victoria suggested.

  "We'll take care of it," Doc answered for me.

  "Great, well, I'm going to get on the road. Sofia, come with me and get that sunscreen."

  I followed her out of the cabin to her car.

  "You good?"

  "In general, or staying with them?" I smiled at her concern.

  "Well, both I guess."

  "No, I'm terrified, but yeah, I'm good staying with the guys."

  She grinned. "I want details."

  Laughing, I gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Victoria. I'm sorry I dragged you into all this."

  "Girl, this just tells me all the battles I'm fighting are worth it and totally necessary. We'll be okay. Remember, see if you can get them to teach you how to fight. At least enough to get out of a tight spot. I'm not expecting to come home to an MMA champ or anything. Maybe Doc can give you some magic pointers too, even though he's apparently not a mage."

  "I'll ask."

  "Cheer up. You get to spend the weekend with a bunch of hot guys."

  "Speaking of hot guys, I need to check on Alex." I felt guilty about leaving him. Doc had assured me a couple of times that he thought Alex was okay.

  "Text me a few times this weekend," she requested as she got into the driver's seat of her car. "I'll worry about you otherwise."

  "Hey, you, too. I know I don't know your family, but tell them I said hi anyway."

  She grinned, handed me the sunscreen, and shut her door.

  I stepped back from her car and waved as she drove off. For a minute after her car was gone from sight into the trees, I listened to the silence and inhaled the sharp pine scent that filled the air.

  After another few moments, I went back inside and sprawled on the couch. I really didn't understand how life could get so complicated so fast.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "Where's my purse?" I straightened when Doc and Ed came into the living room from the kitchen.

  "Left it in my truck," Doc answered.

  "Got it." Ed raced outside.

  Doc sat on the other end of the couch and Allan came into the living room from the other hallway and tossed a pair of swim trunks at me.

  "These should fit. There's a drawstring so you can tighten them."
r />   "Thanks, Allan."

  "Sure." He smiled.

  Ed returned and handed me my purse. I dug out my phone and charger and Doc pointed at an outlet when I looked around.

  "Thanks."

  Ed took my spot on the couch when I got up and plugged my phone in. Amazingly, the screen wasn't cracked. It was going to take a few minutes of charging before I would be able to turn it on.

  "Shoot, I need to warn Victoria about Ash." With everything else, I had forgotten.

  "Ash?" Allan asked.

  "He's in some of our classes. Apparently, he's some sort of mage. Anyway, he was the one who took Alex out. I didn't see him after that, but he's obviously with the mafia."

  "Think he'll come back to classes?" Ed shifted on the couch.

  "I doubt it," Doc answered.

  "It's weird. Alex said he was a friend when we all went out last weekend."

  "Some friend," Ed muttered.

  I shrugged and hit the power button on my phone. It chimed and went into its startup sequences. "I didn't really think of this, but I guess I'm lucky I had cell reception last night. I didn't have much."

  "The coverage in the valley is pretty good," Doc explained. "Guys, why don't you go hook up the boat while Sofia checks her phone."

  Ed and Allan sprang up and went outside.

  As soon as my phone was powered on, I texted Victoria to stay away from Ash and then checked my other messages. It looked like I had a couple of voicemails and some texts. I looked the texts first. They were all from Alex trying to get in touch with me. So were the voicemails.

  I didn't listen to them after checking the phone number they had come from, I just called him after a hesitant glance at Doc.

  He watched me, expression neutral.

  "Sofia!" Alex said when he picked up. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. You?"

  "Yeah, whatever they did to me, I woke up crammed in the back seat of my car parked on the side of the road. I tried to call when I woke up, but your phone was off. I was worried."

  "Did you call the cops or anything?"

  He hesitated. "No."

  "Right. Clearly, you're in on the whole magical community thing then, or you would have."

  Doc raised an eyebrow, but he nodded, smiling. He had known.

  "Well, yeah. Since you never brought it up, I didn't think you wanted to talk about it. Some people don't."

  That seemed reasonable enough. I knew Doc could hear Alex's side of the conversation and shot him a questioning look.

  He shrugged. I took it to mean he thought it could be reasonable, too.

  "Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?"

  "I'm safe. Thanks. Did you know Ash was with the magic mafia?"

  "The what? Uh, oh, no. I didn't. I didn't even realize the black market was active in this area, or I might have warned you."

  I kept my eyes on Doc. He frowned, but again, shrugged.

  "Can we talk in person?" Alex asked.

  Doc clenched his jaw at that question, but again, shrugged as if it were my choice.

  "Yeah, I'll see you Monday, right?"

  "I had hoped we could talk sooner."

  "If you're okay, I'm safe, and I would really rather stay away from town right now."

  "You with the werewolves?" Alex didn't exactly sound happy, however, he also didn't sound annoyed.

  I raised my eyebrows. Doc smiled slightly and nodded.

  "Yeah."

  "Well, I guess as long as you're not allergic to dogs, you'll be safe enough with them."

  I actually laughed, though Alex's tone wasn't exactly humorous.

  Doc was smiling too and shook his head in amusement.

  "No, I don't have any animal allergies."

  "Too bad," Alex replied voice flat. "Yeah, I'll see you Monday then. Enjoy yourself, I guess."

  "They risked a lot to save me," I said tightly.

  "Yeah, I know. And they'll treat you decently. I'm glad you're safe, Sofia."

  "You too, Alex."

  He hung up, and I put my phone on the table near the outlet so it could continue to charge.

  I looked back at Doc. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

  "It's a lot easier to tell in person," Doc answered. "I don't think he was blatantly lying about anything."

  "Does he think you're a werewolf, too?"

  Doc frowned and glanced out the window for a moment before looking back at me. "I'm not sure what he thinks I am. It really depends on if he knows more than he's saying about the black market."

  The unasked question of what Doc actually was hung between us. Neither of us addressed it. He clearly wasn't comfortable talking about it.

  I wasn't surprised when he changed the subject. "Why don't you go see if you have a shirt or something you can swim in and try those on. We're almost ready to head out."

  I grabbed Allan's swim trunks and headed for Doc's bedroom. I lucked out; Victoria had grabbed a dark colored sports bra. I changed into that and pulled on Allan's swim trunks. I had to pull the drawstring tight, but they fit well enough to go swimming in. I took the oldest T-shirt from my backpack and put that on, then I grabbed socks since all I had for shoes was my hiking boots I had changed into last night.

  Doc knocked on the doorframe before I could leave the bedroom. "Can I take a look at that cut on your back? We probably should see if we can seal it up a little and keep the lake water out."

  "Sure, thanks." I hesitated for a moment then pulled my shirt off. I was going to be swimming in my sports bra later anyway.

  Doc's eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. I must have surprised him.

  "Why don't you lay down on your stomach," he prompted, his voice a little husky.

  I blushed but did as he asked.

  Doc whistled softly through his teeth. "Your back is pretty bruised up. You sure you want to swim?"

  "I took some more pain killers, and I don't want to ruin all the plans."

  "Okay, let me look at this. I'm going to pull the bandages off."

  I shivered as he touched my back lightly, my heart suddenly racing.

  "Are you all right?"

  "Yep," I replied shortly, face buried in the comforter. Could he tell he had set my heart racing? He was my teacher, damn it. My body clearly didn't care, and I was pretty sure I was in agreement.

  I tried not to gasp when he gently pulled the medical tape Victoria had applied off. I didn't want him to think he was hurting me.

  "I'm going to clean this again, and then I have some bandages that should keep this relatively safe from the water for the afternoon."

  "Thanks." The comforter muffled my words.

  Doc went into the bathroom and came back a minute later. The bed shifted as he sat next to me.

  This time I did gasp when he brushed something across my back, but it was from pain.

  "Sorry," he said.

  "Just stings a little."

  "I imagine it does. You probably shouldn't get in the water, but as long as we clean it again tonight, you'll probably be okay. I'll leave it up to you. I'm going to try and close this a bit more with some butterfly bandages."

  The combination of pain while he worked on my back, and the things his soft touch was doing to my insides, had me all sorts of confused, and I clenched the comforter in my fists.

  "Am I hurting you?"

  "Not exactly," I muttered then cursed my word choice.

  Before I could say anything else, the guys burst into the bedroom. "What are you two...oh, ouch," Ed exclaimed when he came over.

  "Be careful with her today," Doc told them firmly.

  "Damn, her entire back is a giant bruise. Can't you heal that or something?"

  "Which one of us are you asking?" I grumbled into the bed.

  "Uh, well, I guess you. Doc's version of healing things is awkward. You gotta be bleeding out before he'll do it."

  Doc grunted, and I really wanted to know more, but I didn't ask.

  "You're still swimming to
day, right?" I could imagine Ed's sky-blue eyes wide and imploring, just like a puppy. I couldn't resist that image.

  "Yeah, I'll get in."

  "Great."

  The distraction Ed and Allan brought let me get my racing heart under control, and I felt relatively calm by the time Doc put a large bandage over the cut. "It's somewhat waterproof," he told me.

  "All right, let's go."

  The bed shifted again. I twisted my head and saw Doc shoo the guys out of the room.

  I groaned as I got up. My body really didn't want to cooperate. Since it was just bruising and soreness, moving around really would help. I pulled my shirt back on and followed everyone out.

  Chapter 13

  Sofia

  I did doze a little on the way to the lake. I woke when the diesel engine shut off. No one said anything about me napping first thing in the morning, and I blinked sleepily. The lake shimmered in the sunlight, and a few fishing boats trawled near the rocky shore.

  Nearest us was a boat ramp and a sandy beach. The lake itself was large, and the details of the distant shore weren't super clear. A couple of small islands dotted the middle.

  The guys' boat was an old flat bottomed jon boat with a small outboard on the back.

  After a quick glance around, the three of them undid the ties that held it on the trailer and easily lifted it from the trailer and hurried down the beach. Once it floated in the water, Ed held the bow line while Allan got a bag out of the back of the truck and put it in the boat.

  I had seen men lift jon boats before, but it wasn't usually quite that effortless.

  "Easier than using the ramp," Doc explained. He kicked off his shoes and put them in the truck. I did the same and stood on the warm concrete. It would be tough to walk on later, but right now, it was still cool enough that it didn't hurt my bare feet.

  I looked at Doc in time to see him pulling off his jeans. I blushed and turned away. He was wearing swim shorts underneath, and now I had an idea of how he had felt when I had pulled my shirt off earlier.

  Allan tossed his and Ed's sweats into the truck, and I tried really hard not to stare at their muscular legs. Doc was muscular, but a lot leaner than the two werewolves.

  I caught myself staring again as Doc climbed into the cab of the truck. Damn he had a nice ass.