Page 8

Sully

Fleeing the woods where my waking nightmare haunted me once more, I got back to my clothes in record time. Seriously, I bet I broke sprinting records on a twisted ankle, too. I had no memory of how I found my way back to the road or the copse of trees where I left my things. Naked as well. One minute it felt like I was running for my life, then the next I was out of breath next to my clothes.

It had happened again! The dingo was still in the woods. I had to tell someone! Or did they already know? They’d clearly missed him four years ago. They’d obviously gone into the woods, because they found my stuff and returned it to me, so they hadn’t lied about that. Had they fibbed and said the place was empty? There had to have been signs of my struggle to get out of there .

Why would they make me out to be a liar instead of making up some excuse? Knowing there was a predator in the woods, one willing to attack unprovoked, would be a much better deterrent than making me out to be a fool.

I paused while halfway dressed, thinking the encounter over. Little things about it were off, or at least different from the last time I’d met a dingo in the woods.

Then it hit me: it wasn’t the same one.

Their scent was different from the one locked in my memory. That one, from four years ago, evoked terror. This one, just… didn’t. I felt warm under his gaze, because that was a male alpha dingo looking at me. There was no anger or aggression there either. He almost seemed amused and fond.

What was I going to do about it? Would anyone believe me if I told them? Did I really want them to go hunting this dingo?

The thought brought me up short. Why was I protecting him? He’d scared the living daylights out of me! Though if he’d shifted, I still would have been as scared. Random naked man in the woods was just as terrifying to a little omega as a big dog-like beast was to a quokka .

Once I caught my breath and finished clothing myself, I made the slow walk home. My ankle throbbed something fierce! I was sure it wasn’t broken. Twisted for sure. It had stung when I’d pulled it free of the branches.

Nearing home, I wondered what to do. My best choice was to be quiet and careful. I could sneak into the house wearing my now rumpled clothes, my hair a mess, and with my sore ankle, before my parents got up for the day, so I could avoid their inevitable questions. They probably thought I was still with Orson. Maybe they thought I spent the night with him.

I opened the back door silently, thanking whatever gods that Dad maintained the house regularly. I tried to tiptoe through and up to my room without being seen.

No such luck. Mom was sitting in the kitchen wearing a robe, her hands around a mug of tea. When she looked up at me, she frowned.

“What happened?”

I limped to a chair and slumped into it, letting my blazer fall to the ground.

“Funny story…” I could see her patience running thin. “There’s a dingo shifter living in the west woods. ”

It just popped out. I hadn’t planned to tell her anything, wanting to keep it to myself.

“No, there’s not,” she automatically denied. “Not this again, Sully. We’ve been through this before. There was nothing there.”

“I wasn’t lying then and I’m not lying now. There’s a dingo in the woods. A different one this time.”

“There’s nothing in the woods because no one goes in there. They’re out of bounds.”

“There is. I was there. I saw him.”

“But you were out with Orson… you can’t have.” Her eyes snapped to mine. It was like watching her brain come to a screeching halt. “You went back there! You were in the west woods!” her voice rose in accusation.

“Mom—“

“Sully! That’s so dangerous!” Horror filled her expression. Her fingers clung to the edge of the table. She looked ready to fly into motion at any second.

“It was an accident!” I defended myself automatically. Not that it made anything better. She still looked fearful.

“How did you ‘accidentally’ go into the west woods?”

“I kept feeling something drawing me to the woods, so I shifted and… explored a little,” I finished meekly.

“Explored? Sully! Anything could have happened to you! Don’t pretend I didn’t see you limping!”

Mom-mode activated, she moved from her seat to the floor. Gingerly, she picked up my ankle. With gentle fingers, she tested it, noting each wince.

“A sprain. Here,” she moved her chair for me to rest my foot on, “I’ll get some ice. Your healing should deal with the worst of it by lunchtime. If not, I’ll get you a poultice.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said gratefully. She laid a cloth covered bag of ice on my foot, immediately easing some of the throbbing pain.

We had our issues, me and Mom, but I truly loved her and knew she loved me. Case in point was the date last night. Orson was very different from who I thought he was. I could admit I was wrong, and she was right about him. Almost a shame I believed he was completely taken, though. She was going to be disappointed when it came to nothing.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you going into the woods and how it sounds like this isn’t the first time. I thought after what happened last time you went exploring, you’d be done with the place for life. You better explain it to me.” She leaned against the countertop, watching me.

“Okay. Part of it was wanting to prove myself right. Or at least if I was wrong, take back my power a little.” Mom nodded at me with understanding. She got me. I continued. “Also, I caught this feeling over the last week or so. It kept drawing my attention to the woods. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had the time after me and Orson—“

“We’re coming back to him.” Figured she wouldn’t let that go.

“So I went for a look. I barely went in!” I swore. “Then I got turned around, and it was dark. Then I got lost…” My words trailed off. “I must have passed out. When I woke up, he was there, standing over me!”

Mom flitted to my side and cradled my head against her stomach. She smoothed my hair out of my face as if reassuring herself I was okay. “Oh Sully, it’s lucky you weren’t badly hurt! Anything could have happened to you. We don’t know what’s in those woods. Just that we’re never to go there! ”

“I swear, Mom. There was a dingo shifter. He’s real, but I think it’s a different one. This one didn’t try to hurt me.”

Mom’s fingers twitched, the only sign of stress. Neither of us were wearing our inhibitors, but as close relatives, her pheromones didn’t affect me. I didn’t pick up any sign of stress in her scent, completely nose blind to her, which was common with family.

She took another seat at the table, leaving my foot propped up. It did feel better from her care. I felt confident I’d be up to another adventure in the woods soon.

“You can’t risk yourself like that, Sully. Falling asleep alone like that? Anything could have happened.”

“Do you believe me?”

She looked torn. “I want to, baby, I really do. You were so upset when the sheriff came back with your things. I know you saw something there last time. Could you have been dreaming? You must have been so scared!”

“Terrified!”

With one last hug, she returned to her first seat, holding my foot in her lap, as if she had to keep touching me to reassure herself I was mostly unharmed. “Well, there you go. Remembering the last time you were there, you must have imagined this new dingo.”

“But—“

“No, baby. You need to stay away from the place.”

I was not going to keep out of the woods because I was certain that dingo meant me no harm. He could have done anything to me, instead he woke me gently and followed at a distance. I knew he was there. He dropped back when he got close. I felt him.

Once my foot was better, I was going back. In my human form, though. I’d take a flashlight and something to mark the trees so I didn’t get lost.

“You look tired,” Mom said after I stayed silent. She knew from experience when to drop it.

A yawn escaped me. “Yeah, I am. My foot hurts.” Even with the ice, it was throbbing.

“You’ve had a rough night,” she cooed sympathetically. “I’ll get your dad to carry you up to bed. We can order in lunch once you’ve had some sleep and you can tell me about your walk with Orson. Give me all the juicy details!” She even winked as she left the room to get him!

Dad wasn’t up for hearing me either. They both seemed to think I’d gotten myself lost and had a waking nightmare or something. I don’t know how they accounted for the scent that seemed to linger on me in my hair even after Mom had smoothed it back. Maybe it was just a memory of how he smelled. Either way, it was comforting.

After laying me down carefully on my rumpled bed, Dad arranged the covers over me and smoothed back my hair, much like my mom had. Both my parents were always showing their love, with hugs and gentle touches. I felt like a pampered prince like in those human stories. They were my favorite growing up. Dad even called me his little prince sometimes.

“No more going into the woods, Sully,” Dad chided, his fear clear on his face. Like Mom, he was showing some signs of age. “What would we do if we lost you?”

Guilt struck my heart. I hated making them worry, especially since they were so stressed with the hotel’s busy season and the matchmaking. I felt even worse knowing their pick wasn’t going to work. Orson would have been a good match for me, but he already had someone. The more I thought about it, the surer I became.

Instead of agreeing with him, I kept silent, my eyes closed against his worry. I snuggled down into the bed and let sleep take me.

My last thought before I drifted off was the tender way the dingo looked at me. How he’d followed at a distance until I was safely out of the woods, and if I’d been in my rational mind, maybe I’d have tried speaking to him instead of running away.

I knew I shouldn’t go back to the woods, but I was going to find that dingo and prove everyone wrong!