A Serenade To A Jerk

Chapter 11

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Jason

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Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

- Winston Churchill

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August 15'th

Chicago Illinois

To my Beta and Confidant,

I write to you tonight out of pure frustration. I am weary and all that has transpired seems to be overwhelming me. Particularly today, you know how you just feel off and then something happens that you don't want to have to deal with? That happened today, well, more specifically a few hours ago.

As I was wrapping up my third visit to the Shifters in animal form, Cat came in singing some strange song about a squirrel in a church. She only stopped long enough to ask whether I was ready to head out for lunch and go to Shedds’ Aquarium. Since I still had a few moments work left, I said I’d be out in a few minutes. She shrugged, still singing that ridiculous song, and walked out with a wave. I assumed that she went out to wait for me, so I finished up my time with bated breath, so to speak. I was hoping for some time alone with Cat- she strikes me as an intelligent person underneath the somewhat crazy exterior, though it is a bit too forthright for me to say at this point.

Obviously, that was not her plan, as I found out when I walked out of the pen into the office, where I met an unwelcome sight; Cat, leaning back in the arms of that useless, chicken-eating wolf of a man. Her face was flushed and she had a radiant smile on her face as though he had just told a rather humorous one-liner. As soon as they realized that I was there, she flushed even harder and pulled away from Corey like she had touched hot coals. She was much too intelligent to start stuttering and trying to explain what had happened- she just ducked her head and said something along the lines of not seeing me there, and so sorry to keep me waiting, to which I made a monosyllabic answer and walked off in the general direction of my room within the Shelter. What can I say? I have never been good at dealing with awkward situations, or setbacks either. It will be alright in the long run, because when I beat the Prince of Wolves I’ll acquire all of his possessions and his title leaving him devoid of everything but his star marked mate*, if he even has one.

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(Droll teacher’s voice)

For those of you who were unaware of this hidden world full of smoke and mirrors, a star marked mate is your fated mate. In simpler terms, fated mates share an outward evidence of their bonding. This outward evidence is a star mark in the center of the brow on the shifter’s animal. This mark is always the same color, pattern, and texture of their mate’s fur. And in royalty the patch will appear in the humans’ hair after they have completed the mating ritual. This phenomenon is cause for some interesting hair styles that have emerged in recent years.

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Just as I thought that I might be able to pass down judgment upon the Bloodstone clan, I find that I am increasingly fearful that I may not be able to achieve that for which I have come. As you well know, I was charged by my father to continue his attacks against his sworn enemy, but I am increasingly tired of putting off my natural need to mate and attempting to rule two separate clans. (one full of women and children hoping for the end of war and the other full of men hoping to see their mates and children)

To be honest, I feel for them. My soul and animal howl for the end of this petty, pointless, and incomprehensible war. As a favor to me, your alpha, I request that this war becomes null and void, no matter the outcome of this upcoming duel. I feel that it will be a watershed event, forever impacting the future of the two clans involved. Should events conspire as I fear they will, I leave my title of Alpha to you and I give you my possessions. Mind you, this is only as a precaution against leaving my clan without a leader. 

Your Alpha,

Jason O’Brien.

As I closed the envelope with my will and the letter to my beta, I got a sudden urge to go for a run. I should explain that I go on a run of about five miles every few days. Running increases the ability to stay in human form for longer periods of time. I had worked myself up to five weeks at a time so I could turn unexpectedly.

Like the time I went to Egypt, that was interesting. It turned out that I could be forced into a change around mystic and spiritual items quite easily. Oh, and curses, particularly Egyptian curses, like the ones that they put on their graves. I found that out the hard way; I accidentally sat down in a minor pharaoh’s chair that had a curse on it. I later found out that the curse was to fill ones undergarments with sand until the next new moon. I had magically transported sand in my fur for a month after that ordeal.

I tightened my shoelaces and headed out the back of the Shelter toward the cages I worked in earlier today. I was pretty sure I had seen a jogging track out there behind the cages.