Making the Fur Fly

Eight | Leroy

I backed up and pushed him forward.

His indignant snarl made Mae and Shaun fall silent and look over. A long, tense moment passed, in which nobody moved. Trae and I were still hidden in the shadows, but they knew we were here.

Then Mae scrambled up from the ground. "Hello?"

Shaun jumped up, too.

Mae called out for Trae, so I nudged him again.

When he didn't move, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. This got me a much more satisfactory reaction. He swiped at me, claws out, and I jumped aside. We came out into the clearing fighting. That part was . . . less satisfactory. Since I was too busy evading attacks from my frustrated brother, I didn't see Mae and Shaun's reaction. I could guess, though. My suspicions were proven correct when I heard Shaun chanting.

"Fight, fight, fight!"

Good lord.

I jumped out of Trae's reach and growled at him. His chest expanded to its full size, as if to collect air to growl back, before letting it all out in a forceful huff. He slumped down and backed off, gaze turned downward. Finally.

I twisted to face our soulmates.

Shaun looked like I'd told him some game he'd been waiting for had been released early. I could almost smell his excitement. He was still hesitant as he stepped forward, though. After clearing his throat, he said, "Leroy?"

"Is that really them?" Mae asked.

There was, surprisingly, no fear in her eyes. Trae and I were not small as wolves, and we'd just been snapping at each other like wild animals. To any innocent bystander, it would seem obvious we were not safe to be around, but she only looked . . . intrigued.

"Look at them," Shaun said, gesturing. "Those are not normal wolves."

I started to move, and Mae took a step back while Shaun came forward. This time he didn't stop until he was right in front of me. For some reason, he held his hand out to me. I wasn't sure what he expected me to do with it, so I decided to relieve the tension by licking it.

"Ew!" he exclaimed, jerking back. "Why did you do that?"

I gave him my best wolf smile.

"Right. You can't talk. How convenient." He wiped his hand on the thick fur in the back of my neck, then gave me a smug smile. "I'll just assume it's a kiss, then."

A kiss? I'm not a dog.

Affection from a wolf involved a lot more teeth.

Then again, I was a werewolf, so it was reasonable to assume these things were different than they were for normal wolves. In a way, they were, but not how one might think. Being something that is both wolf and human is exactly that: being both. There were things that felt natural to me that might not for a human, or for a wolf, and I could relate to both and neither for the same reasons. It was an alienating experience sometimes, and the only people I ever felt truly myself with were my family.

Showing Shaun this side of me was a little nerve-wracking, to be honest. I didn't know how I was supposed to act. When we were out here together that one time, when I was in human form, we wrestled. That had felt right. Now I would probably wound him if I tried to start a fight, no matter how playful my intentions. Part of me wished he was a werewolf, too.

It must be even worse for Trae, whose soulmate had almost walked away a moment ago. I looked over my shoulder again. Mae was watching Shaun and me, but she quickly turned her gaze away when our eyes met. My brother still stood in the same spot as he did before, ears flat against his skull. I wouldn't be surprised if he kept standing there until the sun started to rise again.