Making the Fur Fly

Five | Trae

"Let me guess. He wants to see you in your wolf form."

"Of course he does."

"I guess it can't hurt . . . not when he already knows so much."

Leroy shook his head and sat down next to me with a sigh. There seemed to be a lot of those coming out of his mouth these days. "Are you sure the bond is mutual?"

"It's only a theory," I said, "so no, I'm not sure at all. But it has to be mutual, right? It wouldn't be a bond if it wasn't. It would be more like . . . an attachment."

"That's true. I'm just—I'm worried it's not the same for humans. That it's only a bond between two werewolves. That would just be my luck."

"But that wouldn't make any sense. Why would Mother Nature give us soulmates and then not make them feel the same way? Why would she make it impossible for us to find a new soulmate?"

"Why do werewolves and soulmates exist?" he retorted. "Why does cilantro taste like soap? Why are periods so painful? There are a lot of things that don't make sense."

"Yeah, well—"

"Why do you believe in Her anyway?"

I gave him a look.

"No, seriously. Why?"

My hand clenched. "Why do you always have to question my faith? You never did that with Dad. Ever since he died, you—"

"Trae—"

"Ever since he died, you've been so bitter about Her. More than usual." I rose from the couch. "She didn't go away just because he did, you know? At least, not to me."

"I'm not questioning your faith, Trae. I'm not even saying you shouldn't believe in Her. I'm just trying to understand."

"You don't need to."

There was a moment of silence as my legs took me to the kitchen. My hands rested on the gray countertop, then found a glass to fill with water. I sipped from it, even though I wasn't thirsty.

"I guess it doesn't matter," said Leroy in the living room. "It doesn't change anything."

"Things will probably change anyway," I muttered with my lips still pressed to the rim of the glass before letting out a sigh. "Look, Lee. I get that you're disappointed, but you don't know how you'll feel about it in a few weeks. You don't know how Shaun will feel."

There was no response.

"I'm sure things will get better," I added. "Just be patient. Spend time with him. Get to know him. Chances are you'll get comfortable with him. Hell, maybe you'll even want to be with him at some point. Who knows?"

"Be with him? Shit, I can't even imagine wanting to touch him. Would you kiss a guy? Sleep with him? Nah, fuck that. I'm not doing that—don't roll your eyes."

"Bro, you can't even see me," I said, putting the glass down hard.

"I don't need to."

I rolled my eyes again.

No, I wouldn't kiss a guy, but my soulmate wasn't a guy. I didn't have to. I never said he had to, either. All I meant was that he might feel like it if he gave it some time. I didn't want him to give up so soon. He already kind of had, when he told Shaun everything.

He was lucky it'd worked out.

— · —

That was not the last time the topic was brought up. Not even two days later, we were back at it. But this time, I was the one receiving unwelcome advice. "Leroy, I'm not going to tell Mae I'm a werewolf."