Page 31 of Shifting Years (Whispering Hills #5)

Mike

Todd had the sense not to aim his rifle at two women who, with no more effort than lifting a teacup, held an armored worm—definitely not a snake—suspended in the air. Henry thrashed his tail, trying to escape. Green bile sprayed from his mouth but evaporated as soon as it neared the two women.

"Are you here to change him back?" I asked.

"If only the will were present," said Tina.

The shorter lady turned to me. "You wish to find your daughter. We can provide a child that would be yours, but it will not be her ."

"I don't understand." In my confusion, I faced Todd, and his shrug said he was just as lost.

"Altering reality," said Tina, "is a creation based on perception." Her voice iced over. "You both ask for the wrong things. Words contain power."

"Beings have will," Dawn said gently, but there was weight behind her words. "Men, how many times did you spit his name like a curse? How often did you call him a worm with hatred burning in your heart? Over and over again."

"The universe listens," said Tina.

I thought I learned my lesson, but the women felt different. "Why are you here, ladies?" Thoughts of punishment came, and I hoped I was wrong.

You are. The thought wasn't my own.

"Three choices," Dawn said, and the air around us seemed to hum with something unseen.

"Each will require great magic and none will be without cost." She turned up to an armored thing of my creation, still thrashing as if trying to explode out of his body.

"We can turn it back. He will then leave Whispering Hills in fear and find another Omega. "

"To hurt like he did me," I said.

"You asked questions when you know the answer," said Tina.

"If he stays like this, do more people die?" I asked.

"Another despair field will keep humans away," she continued. "Paranormals know the danger and can gamble with death."

"The animals already know," said Todd, gesturing around us.

"Creatures," said Tina, "know their place in the world.

Shifters and humans often need painful lessons to learn theirs.

" She waved her slender hand and a shimmering portal appeared.

The sun within rose, set, and repeated quickly.

Decades passed while the cabins slowly decayed into black, wet wood. "No innocents will die."

"No deaths?" I asked.

"No innocents, " said Dawn.

Keeping a man as an armored worm was monstrous, but weighed against the life of a child or future Omega? The scales tipped easily.

Dawn spoke softly. "You could have your Alpha's memories back."

"Not an option. The kid," said Todd and turned to me. "End of story."

"Then all our will goes toward making sure your child is safe," said Tina.

"You mean getting her back," I said. "Getting her back safe with us, right?"

We didn't move, but the campground with Henry and its death stink left. Now two bayou witches and a shifter pair stood in a small town on a sidewalk as cars slowly drove by under a mid-day sun. This was earlier than before unless we were in an earlier time zone.

Men and women strolled along the sidewalk and casually walked around us as if not seeing us but sensing something to avoid.

"Come," said Tina, "Time grows short to save your daughter." My feet were as heavy as lead, every step heavier than the last.

Todd rested a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I leaned into it, fighting tears. Words have power, and witches choose their speech with reason. Something seemed off.

Please just let her be okay. That's all I want.

We hurried into the white building and the staff didn't see us but still avoided our group.

The two women gestured to the left and we entered a brightly painted girl's room.

Four girls, all around age five, stood together.

Their skin tone ranged from black to white and they looked toward my little Angel who painted them all as stick figures on a large white paper.

In battle, I ran to a large, armored worm. Now I stayed frozen, unable to move, and it wasn't because of the witches.

"This doggie," said Angel, pointing to another painting, "is looking for another doggie." Her brow under blonde hair scrunched. "It's because they love each other."

Todd and I locked eyes before watching her again. How did she get here?

"Only the worst monster would hurt a child," said both women in response to my thoughts.

Paranormals didn't as a rule, but humans like my uncle did. Who was worse?

"Henry," said Dawn, "wanted his possession, but knew he hurt her and thus dropped her off with the last of his intellect."

"Hurt her?" I asked with bile before the answer came. She was smart, but in her mind, a monster crashed into her aunts' cabin, injured them, and then took her away from her father. The poor girl must have been terrified.

"She was ," said Dawn, again reading my mind.

Todd ran a gentle finger under my eyes, wiping away the tears.

"She doesn't remember the attack," said Tina. "Or you."

I hugged myself. Todd forgot about me, and my baby girl did as well.

Dawn gestured, showing another rotating portal.

A possible version of us appeared back in Whispering Hills at night, and we raced to a bedroom with a screaming pre-teen girl.

Memories came of what never happened and never should.

She remembered Henry and spent years wondering if a giant worm would come to take her.

Understanding came and I hated the women for it, even knowing they knew my thoughts. I asked questions, just in case, but I already knew.

"If we take her back…" I said.

"She will not grow up well," said Tina.

"She's my daughter!" My voice cracked. "Todd deserves a chance to get to know her, and you're asking us to let her go? She grew inside me. We should be the ones to protect her!"

My throat burned and Todd rested a hand on my shoulder.

The women gestured again, showing an older Angel. Instinctively, I knew she was twenty, but her life added another ten years to her look. "She will be a danger to herself and others," both said.

"Because we won't be good enough fathers?" I said. "This isn't right!"

"No," said Tina. "However, if you want a life you think you deserve, we can recreate her mind to your specifications. She will laugh, play, and do everything you believe your daughter should do."

"Like people want to do to Todd and myself," I said slowly.

The women spoke in perfect unison. "The time will come when she remembers. Her mind needs to heal and grow strong for the revelation."

The words came out slowly. "Will she have a good life?"

"Does anyone have a solely good existence?" asked Dawn. "She will grow and have heartache. However, like Mary, she is a leader." She pointed to the four girls who listened to my Angel tell a story about doggies.

"In a possible future, a lonely family will come and adopt them all, but it will not happen without a special child demanding they all go together."

"She's saving her squad," said Todd with shiny eyes. "Making sure nobody gets left behind."

Someone would, and we'd do it, so she'd have a good life. She wouldn't be Angel anymore if we recreated her mind, nor if we took her home. A life with Todd and I would give her nightmares and no sisters her age. A quick confirmation said her future parents, but not us, would be kind.

I never said yes, but my question answered it. "When will I see her again? The one who'll know her fathers?"

"In a little over ten years," said Dawn softly.

Once, they said Wyatt would have heartbreak in the eighties and he wasn't the only one. A little girl will grow up to be a teenager and wonder why a father and non-existent mother gave her up.

Todd's shiny gaze met my own. She's my blood but she's his daughter too. I forced the words out. "She's not abandoned. She's just healing somewhere safe. Somewhere we can't follow."

I turned to two ladies, wondering if I'd hate myself later. "P-promise me she'll be okay and that I can love her again."

"You will never cease," said Tina with her silky-smooth voice. "For all our power, we cannot stop love."

Dawn spoke. "You will see her again before she remembers you, but she will not see you."

Images of future birthdays with her sisters filled my mind.

As soon as they solidified, I tried burning the images into my memory, but they fell apart like a sandcastle on the beach.

My head flew back with tears streaming down my face.

I needed her to be happy and be whatever she wanted but around me.

So why did I feel like a worse monster than an armored worm?

***

I already had Kleenex tissues ready for Kim and Penny before they looked.

"You know she doesn't hate you," said Penny.

"She was confused," said Todd. "But she eventually understood."

Angel and I weren't as close as we were with our other pups. Living in two worlds does that. She worked around humans who wouldn't understand her power. Even her new mate would never know unless he was latent.

A deep male yell came from outside. "Hey, rooster! You in this chicken coop? Bawk, bawk!"

Kim slumped, touching his red mohawk.

The door dinged and in came a grim-faced mountain of a man with a similar bright red mohawk. The hair dye smell said he did it recently and he used egg yolk to make it stand tall.

Todd and I lived through the seventies and eighties, arguably the Golden Age of Punk, but it was never our music.

Only certain men could pull off the look well.

Kim's Alpha was a 'good ol boy' or Bubba as they were called in The South.

He loved cold beer, football, and taking his truck out for spins along muddy roads.

He was as far from punk as you could get.

Kim blurted, "What did you do to your beautiful hair?"

Jack, the big Alpha, slouched. "Dammit. I made another mistake, didn't I?" He tried running his hand over his head, but the hard hair stopped him.

"No, it…" Kim paused and my eyebrows rose to a sugar scent. "It's kind of hot, well, really hot, but you love your hair."

Some folks here got described one way. Truman was our comic book geek, and I had the restaurant. Todd owned the grocery store, and Westley was a former vampire. Mary led our town, Penny sensed fear, and Kim's Alpha had a beautiful mane of soft curls that belonged on a woman or fantasy warrior.

Now it was a tall, red mohawk like I've seen in post-apocalyptic movies. We used to joke he was more of a lion shifter than wolf.

"Why?" asked Kim.

"He did it for you," whispered Todd.

Jack shrugged. "Now we're both roosters." He looked down at the wooden floor. "I'm… sorry for what I said about your hair and saying you need to clean for both of us." His cheeks puffed out. "So… I got rid of the mess I made and did the dishes."

"Dishes? Omega work?" said Kim.

His neck tensed. "Yeah, and I'm sorry about that too. You listen to my 'sawdust' music, so—"

"Country and Western," explained Kim.

"So, I should do the same for you." He reached into his jean's back pocket for his phone. "One of those punk bands is coming to Dallas, so I got us tickets. It's a bit back in the nosebleed section, but best I could afford." He paused. "Is Rammstein punk?"

"No," whispered Kim.

"Ah, hell."

"But they're amazing!" Kim threw his arms around his mate, who sighed with relief. "I'm sorry, Jack."

For a minute, two shifters argued, each saying they were the worst and to make sure to do better for the other.

Once done, Kim jumped in place, showing us photos.

"They're German but more popular outside their country.

" They were men with an Alpha vibe and heavy black makeup.

It was like punk and eighties heavy metal mixed, minus the big hair.

They were also unknown to me since music stopped being good after The Grateful Dead.

Kim bit his lip, staring hard at his tall Alpha and back to the table.

He'd stay and finish the story out of obligation to an old shifter pair, but they were both young. My power didn't just suggest items, but sometimes people. Some mates need each other and nobody else.

"It's okay," I said with a smile. "Go."

He beamed, slightly jumping in place before whistling at his Alpha, but really at the hair. "That is so hot." He cursed a few times as a compliment.

Penny smirked and waited until they left. "The kid didn't last into the eighties." She paused. "I'll have to remember 'Big guy with red mohawk' and 'little Omega with the same.'" She stared at me. "Something tells me, you need to finish the story."

"Yeah," I said. "One of the scrapbooks is almost finished, so you know…"

"Oh." She nodded in understanding. Silence dragged on before she resumed. "Have you thought about what you're going to ask?"

"It's Todd's turn."

Without asking, she slapped her hands over his. Touching another mate was forbidden, but we put that behind us decades ago.

Penny shivered, sensing his fear. "She's old and it's her time. You won't be killing her."

Todd pulled his hand back. "It's not for me to decide. I already did enough."

"So, you'll keep her alive?"

"I ruined her life," said Todd. "Now I have to end it?"

"No," said Penny. "I know what you did for Donna and her husband over the years."

"Talk about something else," said Todd. It couldn't be a command since her mate was the pack leader, but she stopped.

"Fine, then tell me how you got your memory back."

"It involved sex," said Todd dryly.

Penny smirked. "I live in a town of mostly men.

I know how that works." She made a circle with one hand and jabbed her finger through it.

"Like that, right? Now with Mary and I…" With one hand, she spread two fingers apart and her other finger darted back and forth like a snake.

Female Alphas had 'something' that came out of them, but I never felt like asking more. I had my fill of worms and snakes.

"Thank you for the visual," said Todd.

"Oh, you're welcome."

She did it to break the tension, and I appreciated the gesture.

"Seriously, jokes aside, the book's getting filled no matter what. Tell me?"

"Sure," said Todd. "Then I can ask Tina and Dawn… because they'll come."

I've had cranky customers over the years, but nothing compares to a hungry witch.

Especially two.

***