Page 14 of Shifting Years (Whispering Hills #5)

"You got here fast," said Penny with a slight Southern accent. She held her hand up against the morning sun lighting up her blonde hair. Today, she had a yellow top and bell-bottom jeans. Her pink lipstick smile stayed, but she positioned herself between Mary and me.

Mary had a black top with jeans. Her outfit wasn't butch, though Penny was clearly the more feminine of the two.

"I wish you wouldn't keep changing outfits," said Penny. "Makes it hard to spot you in a crowd." Her eyes widened. "What about a blue dress with pearls? You would look so cute! Well, cuter."

Mary mouthed no. "I wore enough at the studio. The day you see me in a dress again is the day I date Westley."

I shook my head in confusion.

Penny put two downward fingers over her mouth as if they were long teeth.

"I don't get it."

"You will," said Mary. "Come on, let's chat."

We sat at a rickety outdoor table beside a run-down burger joint, where the smell of burnt grease clung to the air. This place needed better restaurants, but at least the company made up for it.

I never dated women, and besides Bobby, I never really had friends. Sitting here with them, just talking, felt… nice. Even Penny was friendly, although she sat between me and her girlfriend, if not wife. The explanation came from Mary. "It's an Omega thing."

"Like Alphas don't get jealous," she said while looking up into the taller lady's light-blue eyes.

Mary told her story. She looked familiar—an actress and model—but whispers of lesbianism made enemies. A government summons forced her to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the fifties, accused of being a communist.

"You don't look old enough," I said.

"Wolves age slower," she said carefully. "Most start slowing around their thirties."

Wolf?

I shared the story of Todd and me with the wolves in the woods. "Alpha and Omega," the women said in unison.

When it was done and I forced the nasty burger down, I knew about magic, vampires, bayou witches—who I should always treat with respect— and male pregnancy. That had to be a joke, but we were in a small southern town with same-sex lovers holding hands. Even more amazing were the mixed-race couples.

"Magic," said Penny. "There's a spell to make people, well, kind of forget about this place." She gestured to a tall, muscled man with an Afro tenderly kissing a shorter White guy in public. "Nobody here cares and anyone from outside, they don't remember."

"There's no bigotry?"

"Well," said Mary, "there's a few but they wise-up quick. When you don't know what pelt you'll get…"

"Right, pelt ."

"Suddenly," said Mary, "you have red, black, white, grey, or blonde fur. Worrying about skin color isn't so important, then."

"What if someone passing through starts trouble?" I gestured to an interracial couple.

"It's human against a wolf," said Mary. "Who do you think wins?

" She motioned for me to get up. "Got a delivery.

" From the way she said it, I thought it might be me, but she pointed to two large animal feed bags.

Each had to weigh seventy-five pounds, packed full of pellets that smelled faintly of hay.

I grabbed one and grunted. "I can come back and get the other one."

Penny smirked. "Men are adorable, aren't they? Always gotta lift the heavy thing, like it's a law written somewhere." The thin blonde nearly my height and with no muscles picked up the other one as if it weighed nothing. Mary pulled the other one from my hands, equally unbothered.

"Most of your powers don't come in until after you mate," said Mary.

My voice lowered. "Seems so."

We walked and they put off my questions until we got to a red barn at the town's edge.

Inside was a stern sheriff with reflective sunglasses.

His long, brown handlebar mustache reminded me of Old West gunslingers.

He didn't smile but his aura was so unlike Todd's father.

He was all business but didn't radiate hate.

He looked up, smiled warmly, and waved to someone in the barn's shadowy rafters. "Git down here, boy."

Above was a young teenager with dark hair and blue eyes. I guessed his age at around thirteen. He somersaulted and landed on the ground like an Olympic gymnast. "Been practicing Pa, for when I do your job."

"Smart Wyatt. Sure, a lawman needs to know how to move, but there are other things.

" The mustache man gestured to me and smiled.

"Watch closely. When you're sheriff, if that's what you still want, this'll be your responsibility.

" He whispered to his son, but I still heard.

"Judging from his expression, he's got a whole heap of questions, so we'll ease him in. What do you say?"

His boy nodded, but not out of fear. The sheriff walked toward me with his hands out. One cough from him had the women's feet behind me scuffle against the ground before their footsteps died off.

"The womenfolk explain everything to you?"

"Yeah, but…" I fought a nervous chuckle.

"You don't reckon it can be true, but there's something to what they said?"

I nodded and searched his face for a slight grin, but he was all business. "Is this real?"

"Wolf? Yeah, but I suppose you won't believe for a while, but you will. I guarantee it. This town and loving who you want? Overall, yes."

"Overall?"

"Wolves mate by smell. You may find a guy you're sweet on, but he might not be the one for you. Course, if y'all want to hook up, nobody will stop you, but smell's how you track down your soulmate."

My chest tightened. Todd was a big question, but he wasn't here. I guess he'd be an experience I'd remember forever, and nothing more. We had a moment in a bar and woods, but he made it clear we'd never be together. I couldn't waste my life waiting for a man or wolf.

"So, are you the leader?"

"Hell no, boy. Can you imagine being a pack leader and sheriff? One's enough and I need time to raise Wyatt." He cupped his hand to his mouth and howled. Chills raced over my skin and not because of the cold January weather. It was hearing music in an unknown language, yet sensing loneliness.

Soon, men—fit and towering over me—began to appear one by one from the shadows, with a few women joining. The heavy breathing suggested some ran. The sheriff knew I liked men but shrugged. "It's better to check all possibilities."

A line of men and a few women passed, sniffing me. Strong scents wafted over ranging from slightly sugary, to chemical cleaners and one almost like a skunk. It wasn't until a huge, muscled man with upswept hair and an untrimmed short beard approached that I stopped in mid-breath.

I smell… cookies?

His southern-accented voice drew out. "Sorry I'm late, Sheriff." He smiled but didn't get one back from the lawman. "The Omega belong to anyone?"

The sheriff glared. "Himself."

He turned. "Henry Simmons and you smell good enough to eat."

The sheriff spoke. "You smell anything, son?"

"Freshly baked cookies."

My answer got a groan from the crowd. Even the women looked sad.

Conversations from others and what I overheard told me if there was a pleasant aroma, you were meant for each other. He was cute and well, what was the point of living if you didn't have someone at your side?

Isn't this what I want?

Henry pulled me up and turned to the barn's exit with a firm hand against my back.

"The Omega, whose name is Mike by the way, didn't say yes," said the sheriff before turning to me. "In our world, sleeping together isn't just sex—it's mating for life. It's a marriage you don't walk away from."

I still wasn't sure if magic existed, but I knew I couldn't stay in the past with Todd. I had to move forward.

"I'm not mating," I said to Henry. "However, I don't mind getting to know you and taking things slow."

The big man stared with a small smile. "Of course, whatever my Omega wants."

***

A Southern spring came, and Henry offered his cabin, so I'd have a place to live even if we weren't mated . John and Yoko weren't married and if they could do it, why not me?

We did everything couples are supposed to do, except have sex. He took me out a couple of times to Dallas, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. Then he gradually suggested we stay home so we could be ourselves.

He didn't argue politics or sign up for Vietnam.

He didn't seem anti-war but didn't want to go.

I guess that was fine since I wasn't enlisting either.

Henry paid for my expenses, and random conversations alluded to a trust fund.

He promised he'd take care of me, so I'd never have to worry about anything, except taking care of him.

His voice rang in my head. A good Alpha won't wait around forever. Todd was gone, and I had to make a life, didn't I? What else was there to do?

One day after getting groceries from a tiny store, I walked to the cabin with howling wolves in the distance. Nobody proved their shifting ability, but they were stronger than normal, and I heard more howls during a full moon. If this was a joke, everyone stayed in character.

Up the trail, I hiked to our cabin, and the screen door squeaked open.

A whiskey scent greeted me, and his mouth twitched as if to say something.

This was a moment where my life balanced on an edge.

I made him wait while other couples mated right away.

If I didn't say yes, then I should go. What was the point of being here with a willing man if I didn't take the offer?

"Let's do it," I said. "Mate."

I waited for something, but he was a man of few or rather no words. He pointed toward the bedroom like he was cocking a gun, and for some reason, I flinched when the door clicked shut behind me.

***

Everyone remembers their first time with anything. Todd's face from the bar still burned in my mind. This was sex, wasn't it? Henry didn't attack me in that way, but it hurt more than the stories ever suggested.