by Alexis Davie
“Technically no, but God, Madeline. What will people say?”
Madeline just shook her head. She looked at Ethan imploringly and he took over.
“We know it’s not exactly a conventional relationship, Vic, but we’ve thought this through. And with all due respect, we don’t care what anyone else says. This is our life and we make each other happy. You know what it feels like when your wolf catches the scent of your mate. And that’s what happened to us. It didn’t happen when we first met as it usually does, because Madeline wasn’t close enough to her nineteenth birthday for her wolf to be stirring. But as soon as it did… well, we just knew we were destined to be mates.”
“I don’t believe this. You two are disgusting. And I want nothing to do with this sordid relationship of yours. Madeline, I demand that you end this right now,” Vic snapped.
“No,” Madeline said.
It was only one word, but Ethan had never heard her sound so strong or so sure of herself before.
“Excuse me?” Vic demanded, raising an eyebrow.
“Vic,” Ruth said, touching his arm.
Vic shrugged her off, ignoring her.
“I said no,” Madeline said. “Dad, I love him and he loves me. This is right. And if you can’t see that, well, then I’m sorry, but we’re not going to throw away everything we have just to appease you.”
Vic got to his feet and stormed from the room. Anger radiated from him as he passed by Ethan and Madeline. As soon as he left the room, Madeline’s shoulders slumped and her eyes filled with tears.
“I guess I’ll have to face all of this on my own now,” she whispered.
Ruth stood up and shook her head.
“No, you won’t. You have Ethan, and you have me. And your dad will come around. Let me go and find him and calm him down. Once he’s had some time to get his head around this, he’ll learn to accept it.”
“Thank you,” Madeline said.
Ruth rushed from the room and Madeline fell into Ethan’s arms, letting the sobs come now. Ethan held her, rubbing her back.
“You won’t be facing this alone, Mads. I’ll be right there by your side when you turn. In fact, you won’t have to face anything alone ever again. Because you’re mine now. Forever.”
“Promise?” Madeline said, her voice sounding muffled against his shoulder.
“I swear it,” Ethan said.
19
“Well, it’s almost time. I guess my dad isn’t coming,” Madeline said.
She was sitting in Ethan’s car. He was beside her, holding her hand in his. They were in the same spot where she had first seen him turn.
“There’s time for him to come yet,” Ethan said. “My mom knows this is where I will have brought you.”
Madeline nodded. She looked at Ethan and he could see the turmoil in her eyes.
“I know I wanted to turn, but now that I know I have to, I’m scared. What’s it like?”
“The first time is pretty tough. It hurts like hell because your whole body has to change fundamentally. Bones break, sinew stretches. But it only lasts for a few minutes, and once you’re in your wolf form, the pain stops. And it only hurts the first time. In your wolf form, you will feel powerful, graceful, and free. You’ll feel a sense of freedom like nothing you’ve ever felt before. I know it sounds corny, but it’s magical.”
“It doesn’t sound corny at all. It sounds nice,” Madeline said. “Except for the bones breaking part. That sounds horrible.”
She looked at her watch.
“I have five minutes. We’d better get out of the car and I guess I have to strip off my clothes, right?”
“Right,” Ethan said. “Unless you want to rip your clothes to shreds and go home naked.”
Madeline laughed and shook her head. Ethan reached over to the back seat and pulled out two large blankets. He gave one to Madeline and kept one for himself.
“Just to protect our modesty,” he grinned. “I’ll turn first, because you won’t be in control of yourself as you turn for the first time, and if you attack me, I’d rather be in wolf form.”
“I won’t attack you,” Madeline said. “I might not be in control of myself, but I know that much. My wolf recognizes your wolf, right?”
“Right,” Ethan replied. He grinned at her. “See? You already know more about this than I do.”
She nudged him with her elbow, laughing.
“Three minutes,” she said.
She got out of the car, followed by Ethan. They both stripped off their clothes and wrapped themselves in the blankets. Ethan came over to Madeline and kissed her.
“Don’t worry about your dad, okay? My mom will make him see sense.”
Madeline nodded and forced herself to smile. She had thought she was hiding her sadness at her dad’s anger pretty well, but Ethan had seen straight through it. She opened her mouth to tell Ethan that if Ruth couldn’t get through to her dad, she would get over it. That she didn’t regret being with him.
Before she could speak, pain flooded her body and she dropped to her knees. Ethan turned into a wolf before her and he sat down and watched her as she started to turn. She felt every bone in her body snap at once and white-hot agony filled her. Her knees and elbows popped and stretched and she screamed.
Her skin felt like it was being ripped from her body as fur erupted all over her. She screamed again as her shoulders and hips broke. Her scream changed to a howl halfway through it, and then, as quickly as it had started, the pain was gone.
Madeline looked down at herself. Where she had stood moments ago now stood a small, sandy-colored wolf. She looked up at the sky and howled again, this time a sound of pure joy. Ethan had been right. She felt strong and free and like she wanted to run and run and never stop.
She moved to stand beside Ethan, marveling at how graceful she was. Ethan licked her fur and a shiver went through her. She looked into his eyes and then she turned and began to run. Ethan kept pace beside her.
She sensed movement on the other side of her and she glanced over. For a second, she felt afraid when she saw two other wolves running beside them, but the fear turned to joy as she worked out who they were. She instinctively knew they were her father and Ruth. She sniffed the air and realized she could smell them.
Madeline felt as though she would burst with joy as the four of them ran into the woods.
Epilogue
Three Years Later
Ethan felt like his heart would burst with pride as he watched Madeline step up onto the stage when her name was called out and receive her diploma. He clapped and cheered, his excitement matched only by that of Vic and Ruth, who sat beside him. Madeline had graduated with honors and Ethan knew how excited she was about the teaching job she had lined up for after the summer holidays.
The rest of the graduation ceremony dragged for Ethan. He just wanted to hold Madeline in his arms and kiss her now that she had her degree. Finally, it was over and Madeline was pushing her way through the crowd toward him, her face beaming with pride.
Ethan wrapped his arms around her and swung her around in a circle. She giggled with delight. He set her back on her feet and kissed her.
“I’m so proud of you, Mads,” he said when he stopped kissing her. “You so deserve this.”
She grinned at him and then Vic and Ruth hugged her too. They chatted excitedly for a bit, Madeline full of joy at the thought of her new job. Not long later, Charlie and Scott joined them. Charlie had graduated, too, and Vic and Ruth congratulated her.
“Oh, Ruth, you don’t know Scott, do you?” Madeline said.
She began to introduce them and Ethan saw his chance. He nudged Vic and nodded to a spot a couple of feet away from the group. They walked away and Vic looked at him.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I just wanted to ask you something,” Ethan said, nervous suddenly. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “I wanted to ask you for your blessing to ask Madeline to marry me.”
Vic l
aughed and pulled Ethan into a hug. Ethan relaxed instantly.
“Of course you have my blessing,” he said. “I was starting to think you were never going to ask.”
Ethan laughed as Vic released him from the hug.
“I wanted to wait until after Madeline graduated,” he said. “I didn’t want any wedding talk distracting her from her studies. Not after she worked so hard.”
“Good thinking,” Vic said. “Because you know you’re creating a monster here, right? She’s going to be a real Bridezilla.”
Ethan laughed. He didn’t care about that. Madeline could have anything she wanted on their wedding day and every day for the rest of their lives. As long as she said yes to marrying him, he didn’t care about anything else.
It had been the best day and night of Madeline’s life. First the graduation party and then the dinner they’d gone out for—she and Ethan, Charlie and Scott, Vic and Ruth, and Charlie’s parents. Madeline was sad it was ending, but she was also a little glad as the excitement of the day was starting to catch up with her and she was feeling tired as the cab pulled up outside of the apartment building where she and Charlie shared a place at college.
“I can’t believe this will be our last night here, Mads,” Charlie said as the four of them got out of the cab and began to make their way up to their apartment.
“I know,” Madeline agreed. “We had some great times here, didn’t we?”
“The best,” Charlie smiled.
Madeline pulled her keys out and unlocked the apartment door. They stepped in and Madeline looked around. The apartment was a mess, filled with boxes of their stuff ready to be collected tomorrow.
“Well, I’m beat. I reckon we’re going to hit the sack,” Charlie said.
They said their goodnights and Scott and Charlie went to Charlie’s bedroom. Madeline yawned and then she laughed softly.
“I think they’ve got the right idea,” she said.
“Actually, do you mind waiting a moment?” Ethan asked.
Madeline realized Ethan had been quiet all night.
“Sure. Is everything alright?” she asked, concerned.
“It will be,” Ethan said.
He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it as he got down on one knee, showing Madeline a beautiful diamond ring. She felt her eyes filling with tears.
“If you agree to be my wife,” Ethan added.
“Of course I’ll be your wife,” Madeline exclaimed.
Ethan got to his feet and grinned at her. She heard cheers from behind her and she laughed as Ethan picked her up. Charlie and Scott hadn’t gone to bed. They’d been hanging back on the other side of the door, waiting for her answer, Madeline realized.
Ethan kissed Madeline and she kissed him back with everything she had. Now there was no doubt in her mind that this was the best day of her life. She had never felt happier.
“Now we can go to bed,” Ethan winked at her, setting her down.
She was still laughing when he took her hand and they ran into her bedroom.
Way Out West Shifter
Way Out West Shifter
Text Copyright © 2019 by Alexis Davie
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2019
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
1
Rainstorm
Sophie pulled up to the road at the edge of her small town, tapping on the brake hard enough that the trailer full of equipment came to complete stop behind the big old black ranch truck.
A quick glance to the right and left proved what she could have already guessed: nobody was there. The lonely old road wasn’t one that many people knew about, and the people that used it were few and far between. If a truck had been driving by, she’d probably recognize them. Other than the deserted road stop across the road from her and the once roaring creek that was now just a trickle, this was an uneventful, quiet place that summed up everything she liked about the country: serenity, peace, awe.
But serenity, peace, and awe would have to wait. Right now, she had much bigger things to worry about. The storm that was brewing.
Sophie loved rain eighty percent of the time. The gentle droplets of water rolling down the clear windshield, the soft splashes that they made when they landed, the smell of wet soil, and the overwhelming power of nature always got her. She’d love nothing more than to curl up in a cozy chair somewhere and enjoy the quiet pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows.
She should probably just quit for the day, but Gramps didn’t raise no quitter.
She eased on the accelerator, hating the feeling of the tires slipping, trying to find purchase in the mud before the highway. Eventually, the sheer weight of the rig gave her enough traction for the spinning tires to haul herself onto the asphalt. The engine roared softly as she pushed it, bringing the trailer to a comfortable acceleration. The droplets of rain started slapping harder and louder against the windshield, a problem that was quickly solved by turning up the speed of the wipers. Specs of mud, flung off the oversized tires, rocketed their way past the window like they had somewhere important to be and they couldn’t stop and talk. There were certainly prettier trucks out there, trucks that didn’t endlessly belch noise to the point where you’d have to almost shout to hear in the cabin during acceleration, but they weren’t hers, and therefore, they didn’t matter. It did the job. Maybe it was a little redneck. Maybe it was twenty years old. Maybe it made a lot of questionable noises, and maybe the cup holder and radio were busted beyond repair. To Sophie, it was perfect. She’d been in a few of the newer trucks. They were nice, of course, but they didn’t have anywhere near the character that the black ranch truck did. That, and most of the people that she’d seen with those expensive trucks were idiots. A few could afford them, and it made sense to buy a good vehicle, but the other ones were ridiculously in debt just to look cool for strangers who really didn’t care.
Sophie fished her phone out of her jeans’ pocket and mentally prepared herself. Even though it was never easy talking to Gramps, there was no way that she was going to just give up contact with him just because he was starting to go in his mind. She knew where to tap without looking. This wasn’t her first time. She set the phone in her lap, set it to speaker, and focused on the road as it rang. It was... strange, to both hope he picked up and hope that he didn’t, all at once. Every time she talked to him, she remembered how sharp he’d been once, and for the longest time, he had been her idol. Seeing him mentally foggy sucked—a lot, actually. But if she ever had kids of her own, and if dementia got ahold of her when she was in her nineties, she’d hope that people wouldn’t just write her off and forget about her. Besides, technically, it was still his ranch. He always liked to know about how everything was doing, making sure that she did all the things that she’d done since she was a teenager.
Someone on the other end of the phone picked up.
“Hello?” came the elderly, timid response from the man’s voice, which had once been so strong. “Who is it?” A pained smile formed on her lips. It was easier over the phone.
“Gramps, it’s me, Sophie!” She spoke loudly to be heard over the background noise of the engine and the raindrops beating the windshield.
“Who?”
“Sophie!” she tried again, this time louder.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Sophie!” she yelled at her crotch like a complete lunatic, hoping that nobody could see her.
“Sophie, my girl!” His voice turned decidedly excited and happy. “My sweet girl, are you being safe?” She started to answer, but he ended up interrupting her. “I saw there’s a big storm heading out your way on the news! You closed the garage doors, right? Did you forget the back one? And don’t forget about Harold. If you don’t let him in, he’ll meow at the door and scratch up the screen.”
Sophie looked down with a wince. Ugh. There was no easy way to respond to that. What, was she supposed to declare that Harold was dead and buried? Was it better to break that to him, or just leave it alone?
When Gramps had first started losing it a little bit, she’d been blunter. Telling him that his cat was dead hurt like a motherfucker every single time, and every single time, he’d forget and ask about him. Morally, she didn’t know which way to go with it, so she took the best option and felt like an ass every time. Tell the truth and say he was dead? Ass. Spare his feelings and not bring up the fact that he was dead? Ass. Try to (unsuccessfully) change the subject? Ass.
“He’s, um, safe and sound, and the doors are all shut and locked,” she assured him. By now, she pretty well knew what things he’d bring up, so she preemptively answered them. “Yes, I locked the front door, and the spare’s still in a safe place. I got your subscriptions. I’ll bring them over to you on Friday. How are, um, how are you doing?”
The conversation drew on, each question more painful than the last. She loved Gramps, she really did, but that was what made it so painful. If she didn’t know him, if she didn’t care, it would be easy. Just be proper and kind and nice. But as it was, hearing his voice conjured up this confusing, painful, happy series of emotions. She tried to keep positive and hide it from her voice.
And then she saw the smoke sneaking out of her engine.