Page 1 of Shifting Years (Whispering Hills #5)

Mike

On one white cloth-covered restaurant table lay a borrowed book of French poetry. On another, I had left lipstick. On the third, I placed a tube of superglue. In an hour, shifters would come and find the item they needed. If not right away, then eventually.

What's this?

Grey, wrinkled hands pulled a cloth corner to my nose. If we served mostly humans, the dank mildew embedded in the fibers wouldn't be an issue.

"Todd!" Shifter ears said he had snuck in for an early morning sausage. "Doctor Keller told me we're supposed to watch your diet."

A deeper yell came from inside our restaurant. "Well, I'm having some. If he wants someone to eat oatmeal, he can eat it himself."

I mouthed 'Okay.' We had our fair share of disagreements, but when there's more time behind us than in front, why argue?

A good thought, but it didn't last as the mildew scent filled my nostrils. I walked calmly into the white brick building. "What happened to the linens?"

The tall Alpha I shared my bed with for decades stared off.

Years back, he'd flash back to Vietnam, but that disappeared as did other things.

He had a huge bald spot, I made sure to never mention, and only looked sixty, thanks to our shifter abilities.

I lost all my hair and stayed as short as ever. In other words, a common wolf couple.

"I must have forgotten to bring them in last night," Todd replied sheepishly. He finished a mouthful of blueberry sausage. "Sorry."

There weren't many other restaurants like mine in Whispering Hills. A sports bar and a few hangouts, but Mike's Place is the romantic spot where mates can get to know each other. Safer than depending on scent if you ask me.

"They don't stink much," he said.

"Not to you, but Omegas have better senses. Everyone knows that."

"…and emotional," he mumbled around the last mouthful of sausage.

"What did you say, Love?"

His shoulders rose and he whispered, "You're edgy today, and I don't know why. I'll take them for an emergency wash before the restaurant opens."

Oh, again? It's that time? My hand went out and searched for something needed .

Older shifters get a bonus power, at least that's the theory.

Near our thirties, the universe drops a gift and not a pup.

Some wolves, like Mary, are immune to poison.

Her Omega senses fear. One terrible governor saw the future.

Todd never figured his out, but it exists because it must.

"Tea," I said. "Yes, that's it."

He pointed to a big glass jug of sun tea, a Southern favorite.

"No. Something soothing like chamomile. Booze maybe and chocolate chip cookies."

His dark, forest-green eyes thinned. "Another one, now? We're busy."

"The heart has no schedule."

"Okay, fine, like I'm going to argue with Bayou ladies. How long we got?"

"I don't know…"

The tiny bell outside the front entrance dinged and from the timid steps, an Omega. The soft, snotty sniffs confirmed it, not that Alphas never cry.

The short, young Asian man, but really a kid, was Kim. I had seen him and his bright red mohawk around town, but I didn't know much more. He turned his amber-brown, bloodshot eyes toward us and spoke with a faint California surfer accent. "You guys are Todd and Mike, right?"

"Yes," we said in unison.

"Mary, uh, the pack leader. She, well, told me to tell you…" His neck muscles tensed. "I heard you two used to argue a lot so, you know. Well, my Alpha and I have been having problems, and I'm the only one who tries—" Tears burst from his eyes. "I hate that man!"

Because I'm the Omega, I laid my hands over his shoulders while he wiped away tears. Whatever arguments he had would multiply with an Alpha's smell. Jealousy went in other directions too. Todd was mine and only I got to touch him.

From behind, my other half sliced freshly baked bread. Kim's deep inhales suggested he was already mated and must be new to his powers. Sometimes a wolf's gift was enough to make up for the challenges of an Alpha and Omega life. Other times, they pick the human world.

With decades of experience, Todd slathered mayonnaise, cut a tomato, and added ingredients I whispered out.

Once done, we had tea brewing, a roast beef sandwich, and oven-warmed chocolate cookies.

My power tingled with images of a muffuletta with sesame seed bread, but not for the kid. Someone else was on their way.

"Wow, thank you, but I don't have money. Well, not with me, because I hurried out." I waved that it was okay, and he gawked as the plate rested on the table. "Your Alpha serves ?"

Todd chuckled. "I don't like seeing a hungry pup…"

"Kim. My, uh, Alpha's Jack. He won't set a table and says cooking and making meals is Omega work."

"Oh, dear." Todd didn't pay attention to couples, but I did. "I know him. Long blond hair, right? And… traditionalist."

"Yeah, and how was I supposed to know? I didn't know I was a shifter or an Omega. I had this urge to find this town, you know? Then all this magic stuff comes."

"We know," said Todd and I.

"So, I meet this really cute guy and that's cool, but I got to be his servant?"

The answer was no, of course, but that was a decision only he could make. "Do you love him?" I asked.

Kim bit his sandwich and mouthed, "Wow."

"I don't know," he said with a mouth full of fluffy white bread. "The sex is great. I mean like 'everything's blurry-amazing' because he knows where to touch me, even when I don't, but outside? We have nothing in common, and I got to stay with him because wolves mate for life, you know?"

We murmured before Todd spoke. "That's not true. We tell ourselves things because it sounds good. Gives pups something to aspire to, but all couples can separate."

"I heard this town finds soulmates. Doesn't that prove you're destined to stay together?"

I softened my tone. "The person who arranged for the spell, well, we don't know what the exact words were or their definition of a soulmate. That's the thing about magic, you have to phrase it perfectly."

Todd repeated and drew out my last word.

Kim's voice lowered. "So we might not stick together then? Mary said—"

I spoke first. "There were two shifters who argued all the time."

"And if anyone had the secret to staying mated, it's them," finished Todd.

"Yes, sirs. Something like that."

Kim reminded me of punks from the seventies, although he didn't have the in-your-face attitude. I couldn't judge because a free-love hippie once thought he knew everything.

"Well," I began. "It started decades ago, in the late sixties. It was a time of death, hope, and having it dashed away. My favorite television show was—"

"No," said Todd. "Start with our friend Bobby and leaving California. You bored the last one and me with your Star Trek discussions."

"It was an allegory for what happened later."

My Alpha turned to Kim. "Little pup, do you like Star Trek ?"

"Not really. I'm more into music, even the ancient stuff from the seventies, like The Clash."

"Oh, I'm hurt," I teased. "Not about the music, but Trek . Truman would be too if he heard."

"The Omega who runs the comic book shop?" asked Kim.

"Yes, and he had issues too."

My Alpha turned to me. "Focus. No comic book Omegas, vampires with an old Chevy, alligator shifters, or two very lovely ladies in the bayou. At least not until later."

Tingles went over my arm as he poured magic into his Alpha's Word. It's not like I had to listen, but more of a nudge to consider his idea.

"Okay, fine," I said. "But I'm still talking about how you made me wreck your car."

"God, I loved that car, and it was your fault."

My arms crossed. "No, it wasn't."

"Yes. It. Was."

***