Shifting Hearts

Chapter 5 - Reunions

After a little while of sitting in silence, Cooper let out a frustrated groan and stood up quickly. He strode away and shifted mid-step, melting from a man to wolf in the blink of an eye and disappearing towards the house. I could hear his confused and angry growls as he darted away. Something must have happened because I heard howls from a bunch of wolves split the air and echoed across the ranch.

I rolled to my feet and hauled myself to my hooves, shaking the grass from my coat. I felt so guilty. My 'disappearance' was obviously messing him up, and his emotions were leaking through to me. It was like a hose that was pinched; there was a tidal wave trying to push through, but it could only trickle through a bit at a time.

Anger at me for leaving. Grief for losing me. Confusion at his connection to 'Misty." All this and more was flowing from him to me, but it wasn't as noticeable when he wasn't close by to me.

Snorting and shaking out my mane as though that could disperse the stolen emotions, I launched myself to where Rosie and Skipper were hanging out. Rosie was still nervous around me since she found out, but Skipper was trying to calm her down. She was upset about us not letting her in on the secret, but she also missed how close we were.

The little roan and the paint stallion were silhouetted against the setting sun as I came skidding to a stop in front of them. It's a gorgeous sight but I dismissed it. I loved our sunsets— they were beautiful, but I had more important things right now.

Rosie snorted nervously and pranced slightly, moving closer to Skipper's flank.

"Rosie, it's still me," I whined sadly; I wanted my friend back.

She closed her eyes and heaved a big breath before looking at me. I was delighted to see her sigh and come over to me, nudging my face happily.

"I miss you too much, and it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with you, so I shouldn't be an empty-headed filly for no reason," she explained shyly.

I laughed and hugged her, resting my head on her shoulders. She hugged me back, and I let it sink in that I had my best friend back.

After we separated and stepped back, we stood in a triangle all facing each other. I took a deep breath before speaking.

"Do you both really want to stay here?" I asked quietly, beginning what I knew was going to be an awkward conversation.

Rosie nodded silently and Skipper answered, "Yeah. We're sorry if you don't want to but—"

I cut him off before he could continue, "No! No, that's fine. I'm okay with staying here. I was actually hoping you were both serious when you said that. Because I want to stay, too."

Skipper let out a short neigh of surprise and looked at me like I was crazy.

Rosie whinnied happily and reared happily. "Oh, that's so good. Eli, I was scared that you were going to leave us. I couldn't live without you and I know that Skipper would miss you too!" The burly stallion nodded in agreement.

I laughed again and smiled; I really did love our little herd of three.

"You didn't think I would break up the terrific trio, did you?" I teased. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye but when I looked, the pasture was empty, except for us. I shrugged before continuing.

"And I know this sounds weird, but, as you can see, the alpha has a connection to me."

Rosie nodded with a small, knowing smirk that made me swish my tail nervously. Skipper just shrugged.

"Well, he's been... 'off' because he's attached to me as a human and doesn't know I'm a horse. And I don't want him to do anything bad to you, the other horses, or even his wolves because he's upset about me. So, would you be okay without me for a day if I shifted to calm him down a bit?" I asked this quietly and hoped they didn't respond badly.