Stranger Than Fiction

by Jeanine Hoffman

  “So I’ve heard. When one of us dreams, will the other see and feel it?”

  “Depends on your link and if you are both asleep at the same time. I wish I had a better answer but it has variables.” Kerstin smiled and made certain she had the medicine for me.

  “I’m not giving you an injectable tonight. It's a bit early and I want you to have a bit more control. Take this dose about half an hour before you plan to go to sleep. If anything happens that you want to discuss, just call my cell. I’ll be home but I live close by and I’ll keep my phone with me.”

  “I’ll be fine, Mom. Go home and get some sleep.”

  Once they left, I played what felt like twenty questions with Winona for a while before I asked her if we could try reading. She promised to settle down so I gave it a shot. Problem was that I was still jumpy and had a hard time focusing. I decided to call my parents and then decided against it. How would I talk about my day? In lies? Finally, I gave up and took the medicine that Kerstin had left for me.

  Chapter Eighteen

  THE NEXT TWO days were more of the same. Get up, eat breakfast as a group, go to the park room, meditate, though not as extensively, shift, eat, shift back, eat more, shift, eat, shift back, and eat more. I was learning to control the rate at which we shifted. Things worked best when Winona and I were working together.

  Winona and I learned more about each other and learned to tamp down the impulsive reactions we each had while in the other one’s form. It helped that with Sara and Dena working with me I learned to understand more about deer communication and behavior. I’d already learned social structure in my classes prior to shifting but I was seeing it in action now. Sara was teaching me to be a member of the herd and what different signals meant. Dena taught me how to run with another next to me and split the work of foraging and looking for danger. Kerstin observed us in our interactions, taking notes and talking with us about them during my pig-outs when I was back in human form.

  Things seemed to be going well but I was bothered by one thing. Janice was still attending our sessions but she wasn’t shifting with us. In fact, unless one of us went to her, she hardly interacted with me at all. On the third day of this I decided something had to be said. There was no reason for her to be here every day, all day, if she wasn’t going to do anything with us. I wanted her there but I didn’t want to pull her from her work or be subjected to boredom.

  “Kerstin, why is Janice here everyday?” I asked as she walked me to the pool for a mandated hot tub break. Sara had Council business to attend to and Dena had a late afternoon shift at her library. Janice had excused herself to go back to the office for a while.

  “I thought you wanted her here. Did that change?”

  “No, I want her here but I want to see her in her coyote form. I knew the first day why she didn’t change but I thought we’ve been doing well.” I hadn’t noticed it until then but I was starting to slip into using plural pronouns when talking about things that involved Winona.

  “She’s been worried about spooking your Other.” Kerstin knew Winona’s name but anytime we weren’t in my loaner apartment or her office she refused to use it.

  “Well, how do we unspook her? I don’t want to send her the message that I don’t want her there so telling her to go to work instead of joining us is counterproductive. Besides, I do want her with us. I just want her to be fully her.”

  “I’ll talk to her, if you wish.”

  “Please, Kerstin. Get through to her. Winona told me that she is comfortable with the idea because we’ll recognize her as a shifter and that we’ll know her by scent.”

  We reached the pool area and changed, meeting back up at the hot tub. I had been asked not to swim laps or do other forms of exercise during this phase of my training. The tons of shifting we were doing was already using up more calories than I was used to consuming in two days, never mind a morning.

  “I needed this more than I realized.” I groaned as I felt muscles loosen and relax.

  “Your body will get used to the shifting but for now, let’s try to get you in here more often. I didn’t realize the toll it would take on you. Most of my patients are in their early teens and a lot more flexible than most adults. They don’t get as sore and their shifting doesn’t hurt as much.”

  “Not fair.” I pouted but it was hard to do while the deliciously hot salt water swirled around me, soothing my aches and pains.

  “If it helps, they have more bone structure issues as they haven’t finished growing. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments are stretchier for them but your bone adjustments are easier. It’s just a give and take.”

  “I didn’t think about it. So, their pain lasts longer until they finish growing?”

  “Not usually. Well, a little longer than your pain might but once they are through the shift they don’t hurt. You’ll get over the hurting in general a bit faster.”

  “Whatever. Right now, I just want to lie down after this. Is there time for a nap?”

  “If you think you can sleep unaided, then sure. I’m going to head up to my office. Give me a call if you need anything.”

  Kerstin got up and was in the locker room by the time I dragged myself from the hot water.

  AS IT HAPPENED I didn’t get a nap. Instead, once I got back to my room and had a snack I decided to try giving writing with Winona in my head a shot. We had started to work out quiet times and various signals that helped us to understand each other and relay our needs without hurt feelings or miscommunications.

  I knew that writing was something totally different but I had ideas and I wanted to try. I had to try. I needed to reconnect to my creative side more than I could express. So, I warned Winona that I was going to need some quiet time and she agreed to comply.

  I wrote for two hours. I couldn’t believe it but it was true. My distraction and edginess had gone by the wayside since our joining. If anything, the work I was doing was a bit more descriptive when it came to smells and sounds. I wasn’t certain if that was from my time in animal form or if that was Winona in some quiet portion of my head. Honestly I didn't care because it was a sticking point between me and one of the editors I worked with that I didn’t describe enough. I always replied that my readers would fill in the detail and it made it more personal to them. He argued that men wouldn’t fill in as much detail and they would appreciate some guidance.

  “Well, he wins this round. Either way, I’m done. Winona, I’m done.”

  “Wonderful. This is how we will spend our days?”

  “Some of them though I write more in the evenings. I do outdoors stuff more during the day or I paint.”

  “Ah, well, it was not unpleasant. What are we doing next? More training?”

  “Yes but Dena won’t be there. She has to work. So, a snack now, then go practice, then dinner.”

  “Can we have another steak? I never would have thought that cooked cow would taste good. Humans are strange creatures but I do like that part.”

  “I don’t know what’s on the menu but I’m certain it can be arranged.”

  I headed us toward the nature room, nodding to some people as I passed them. When I reached the nature room, I realized that I was a bit early but went in anyway since the door didn’t show that it was reserved.

  I saw Janice sitting on the picnic table at the glen area where we’d been practicing my shifts. She had her feet up on the bench and sat with her hands stretched behind her on the table. It looked as if she was trying to catch some sun but of course, all she could catch here was some created vitamin D.

  “Hey Janice, you’re early too.”

  “Um, yeah. I wanted to talk to you before Kerstin and Sara get here and I decided I would try to catch you. Kerstin is planning on stalling her mother for a bit.”

  I hopped up beside her and gave her my full attention. Winona was a slight bit harder to get focused but I convinced her and we settled down.

  “What’s up?” I tried for a light-hearted tone but suspected it di
dn’t work out.

  “Kerstin talked to me about shifting with you today. I wanted to talk to you about the pros and cons of that before I agreed.”

  “Janice, I want you to shift with us. She and I have talked about it and we believe that we will recognize you easily as a shifter and that I’ll probably recognize your scent as well. We won’t feel like you’re a threat.”

  “What if I play too roughly? I don’t want to hurt you and coyote play can be a lot different.”

  “I appreciate your concern but even if you do injure me, I’ll shift and heal. I get the worry, I do. I’m not trying to diminish your feelings, but trust me and trust that she and I have talked it over.”

  “I’m willing to give it a try if you’ll do me a favor.”

  I studied her face for a minute, trying to read her expression and figure out her thoughts. I finally agreed without hearing the favor.

  “I just want to take you on a date. I know you can’t leave the grounds here yet. I thought maybe we could do a picnic here and maybe watch a movie in one of the entertainment rooms.”

  “When?”

  “If today goes well, then tomorrow? I’ll even bring the popcorn for the movie.”

  “What will we be viewing?”

  “Well, I can tell you that it won’t be Twilight.” Janice gave a sardonic grin as I struggled not to wisecrack about the sparkly vampires and ginormous shifting wolves.

  “Right and what might it be?”

  “I’ll bring a selection and we can figure it out together. Deal?”

  “Deal, but I would have said yes to the date either way.”

  “Yeah but it gives me something to look forward to and I hope it keeps me careful.”

  “Janice, you were so sweet the day I watched you shift in here. You brought me berries and gave me kisses. I sincerely doubt that you’re going to go all feral on me now.”

  Kerstin strode over to us, her mother trailing slightly behind.

  “Everything good?”

  “Yup, thanks. Janice is going to shift this session too.”

  “Works for me. Mom brought snacks for her just in case. Any dinner requests before you shift? I want to give the kitchen a heads-up and I know that different Others have different ideas of how far off of their natural diet that will go.”

  “Ha. I got lucky then because mine wants a nice steak tonight. I’d like a baked potato with extra butter and sour cream too please.”

  Kerstin chuckled and placed a call to let Mike know what we wanted and about when we expected to be in the conference room.

  “Great, all set. Now, any questions or issues?”

  “None.” I smiled as started to disrobe. “Let’s do this.”

  I HAD BEEN getting faster at shifting but the experienced Janice had outstripped me both literally and figuratively. She was out of clothing and shifted before I had gotten my pants off.

  “Well now, someone’s in a hurry.” I stroked her as the gorgeous coyote came close after shaking out her fur. “You are a show off. I’ll be done in a minute.”

  Kerstin stepped over, gave Janice a quick rub and sent her to Sara. “You may not be aware of it but she did that so she would be certain her coyote side watched you shift and immediately saw you as a friend. She’s truly been worried.”

  “I’m not. I am getting chilly so I think I’ll put my fur on.”

  I had learned to focus my attention and call to Winona over the past days of training. Winona came to the forefront of my mind and we joined together in our desire to assume our animal form. I stayed focused but followed my body as the need to stretch out my lengthened spine and plant my front hooves on the ground swept over us.

  “Good job. Less than a minute thirty this time.” Sara, who had been timing me, came over and scratched under our chin. Apparently, Winona had a fondness for it.

  During the time I spent in Winona’s form, we reversed dominant positions. She was more in charge of our physical shape. We still communicated and she listened to my input but if she wanted to get some berries or wade through the stream, there was a better than even chance at it happening. The only thing I could truly force was a shift back. For some reason, unknown to anyone, the human side held the key to shifting.

  Animal instincts could trigger a shift at times, especially in certain species, but humans could learn to control it. Pain was the toughest to control and with a severe enough injury, the urge to shift could be involuntary. Stacy had explained it to me at the pool one day as the Animus virus’s way of ensuring survival. Since shifting could heal us and pain needed healing, pain from an injury could trigger a shift.

  I felt a breeze pass by our left flank. It was a certain coyote running past. We gave chase and darted in and out of the trees, looping through the stream and back to the glen. We never did catch her. When we got back, it seemed that the tables were to be turned. Janice came close and offered a play bow. Winona did something similar for us.

  Janice then motioned with her head in the direction of the trees and gave a huff.

  “Does she want to chase us, Winona?”

  “She does. Do you mind? She will not hurt us. I’m certain.”

  “How fast can we run?”

  We were off like a shot. We went through a more complicated pattern in the woods and through the stream to hide our scent. Winona taught me about laying false trails and ways to trick a predator but admitted that we primarily relied on speed.

  In games like this we were given a head start so that the chaser could practice scent tracking on the run. Still, we were found and chased back to the glen posthaste. We were worn out after the second round of chase and we walked in circles for a bit to cool down. Janice nudged us toward the stream to get a drink and we followed her willingly.

  On our way back to the glen after our watering, Janice moved so that she was walking side by side with us. She leaned over and gave us a lick on our flank then took off again, leading us into a last game of chase. Finally, worn out, we went to the glade, ate the food that had been left for us, and shifted back.

  I dressed slowly, still tired but feeling like I would have after the best workout of my life. I was buzzing on endorphins and I couldn’t wait to debrief today’s training lesson.

  Janice came up behind me and sat down to put on and tie her shoes. “So, did you have fun?” she asked.

  “So much. I can’t believe how tired I am but it was more fun than I’ve had so far. Thanks for playing with us.”

  “You are so getting into shifter speak. Don’t forget that you aren’t a plural when dealing with humans.”

  “I know. I can’t always catch myself but I’m getting there. I’m only using plural some of the time at least.”

  I offered a hand up to Janice and she took it. I tried to tell myself that the tingles I felt were because of the run we’d had but Winona snorted at me. Great, I not only had a voice in my head, it was arguing with me too.

  “Time to eat. I don’t know about you but I’m starving.” Janice sprang to her feet and released my hand. She headed for the door without waiting for any of us to catch up. Kerstin said something to her mother and Sara called me over while Kerstin went after Janice.

  “What’s going on? I know she can’t be in that big a hurry to get to lunch.”

  Sara smiled and led me back to the bench and table. We sat and she asked me a question I didn’t expect.

  “Tori, are you a lesbian?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I mean no harm but I suspect Janice has developed an attraction to you and she’s flustered.”

  “I already know. We talked about it and decided to hold off until I got more settled and back to my regular life. Whatever that means now.”

  “I see. Well, I think that her Other may be riding her pretty hard about it right about now. Kerstin will help her. You two can get a handle on things. We’ve had plenty of shifters find their mate in a different species. It means less chance of any child coming from that relationship to be a s
hifter but there are ways around it. In your case, if one of you were to carry we could use donor sperm of a shifter of the same type as whomever carries.”

  “Whoa. We haven’t gone on a date yet and you’re talking reproduction? I know you all move fast and lesbians have the reputation of U-Haul relationships, but that isn’t who I am or how I handle things.”

  “Well, keep in mind that once her Other chooses a mate, they get serious fast. Canine shifters mimic their natural cousins and mate for life. Deer are generally less into that but thanks to our human sides, most of us have the same intentions when we marry.”

  “I’m sure this is all wonderful but like I said, not even a first date yet.”

  “I know. I just wanted to let you know that she may spook. If you aren’t serious about wanting to give a relationship a chance, don’t chase her. If you give chase, she’ll take that as intent.”

  “So much learning to do. Thanks for the advice Sara but can we go eat? I’m starving after all that running.”

  Sara smiled and got to her feet. “Let’s go get that lunch then. They’ll have to be done talking.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  IT WAS DATE night and after my morning session with Kerstin, Janice, and Dena, and our debrief, I was excited to get back to my room. I had things to do before Janice would pick me up. After lunch, we had agreed for her to pick me up at six that evening and gone our separate ways.

  I got a shower and took care to primp as much as I ever did, which wasn’t much. Basically, I was clean and reasonably well-groomed, but we were talking my first date in years so it was still momentous in its own way. I hoped a little writing might help me settle down so I dressed in my writing clothes. That meant the most comfortable sweat pants and the most loose-fitting, softest T-shirt I could find.

  I had been working for a while when Winona interrupted me. “I have a question, if I may.”

  I sat back in my chair and stretched. “Go ahead, I could use a break. What’s up?”