“Um, I have no idea why I’m telling you all this. I’ve been on the trail for a week and haven’t seen many people, so—shit, I’m rambling.”
The owl fluttered its unhurt wing and came nearer.
“You want to come with me? Look, I won’t force you, so if you fight, I’ll just leave you be.”
Reaching down gently, I picked up the huge bird and tucked it next to me. There was no fight at all. In fact, it seemed like it snuggled in a bit. I hiked the rest of the short way to the campsite, and like I thought, it was empty. This was a shelter site, thank God. I trudged over to the shelter lean-to that had the opening pointed away from the wind and finally got us out of the elements.
“I know we’re not supposed to build a fire in here, but I have a camp stove we can use so we don’t freeze. Normally, if I were by myself, I’d just shift and stay warm, but I’m thinking that might freak you out, so I’ll deal. I mean, living in the Arctic, I’m used to it by now.”
As I set out my gear and got the stove ready, I realized once again I was talking out loud to the quietly listening bird. While I set out all my equipment and decided the best way to hang a rope that I could use to hang my tarp for more wind and weather protection, I decided to just lean into the one-sided conversation instead of feeling awkward.
“I know you’d probably made other plans for the evening than hanging out with a stranger at a campsite, but I’ll try to make us as comfortable as possible. I’ve got this tarp I’ll hang over this rope to close off the opening some more and keep the wind down. Maybe with the camp stove and the wind blocked, we won’t freeze before the sun comes back up.” The tarp hung on the rope but fluttered constantly in the high winds. It was better than nothing, but it was going to be a very uncomfortable night. “Well, that’s as good as it’s gonna get for now.” Clapping my hands together, I tried to warm them under my arms before putting my thin gloves back on to help with the sting of the cold. “Should have prepared better for the cold. Ironic, right? Live your whole life in the coldest place on earth, then freeze to death on vacation in the south. They’ll get a kick out of that back home for sure.”
There was a rustling in the corner, so I looked up to find the owl had hopped closer to the center of the room, head rocking from side to side while looking me up and down. I felt it sizing me up somehow before the owl hopped toward the tarp and then out into the storm.
“Hey, wait! Don’t go out there. It’s dangerous!”
I ran after the owl but got caught up in the tarp. When I had ripped the rope and tarp from around me, I ran out into the clearing, but it was nowhere to be seen. A sudden feeling of overwhelming sadness swept over me from out of nowhere. I had only been around the little guy for an hour or two, but I felt responsible for its safety. Now it was gone out into the snowstorm it was definitely not prepared for, and all I wanted to do was run out and find it to make sure it would be okay.
I knew I couldn’t do that in my human form, though. I hadn’t shifted before so it wouldn’t be alarmed, but now that I was on my own again, there was no reason to hold this shape and freeze if I didn’t have to. Besides, I’d had to piss for ages, and it was a hell of a lot easier to do that in my shifted from in the woods. I trudged away from the shelter a few feet to give myself room to shift when I felt the same tugging sensation I’d felt earlier. Not stopping to think, I picked up my pace on the frozen, slushy ground, following the direction of the tug in my chest. I had no idea where I was going since twilight was moving into the cold darkness of the stormy night, but I trusted the feeling to lead me to the little guy who needed my help. I was climbing up and away from the campsite, but kept trudging through the bush even as the snow started sticking along with the freezing rain. I should have shifted to stay warm, but my mind had one focus. Find the owl and make sure it was okay.
As I found a trail and kept climbing, there was a break in the trees, and the light from a cabin shone like a beacon in the storm. I hadn’t noticed how cold I was until that moment, but I knew it was going to be a problem if I didn’t get warm soon. Even if I didn’t find the owl now, I would have to either take a chance and shift to get back to the camp or keep going and hope the people in the cabin could shelter me from the storm. Looking inside for the tug in my chest that I’d been following, I realized it led straight to the cabin. Weird, but maybe the owl hadn’t been as hurt as I thought, and it’d flown back here to roost in the attic. No matter what, the chattering of my teeth and the numbness in my extremities made my decision for me. The cabin had to be my destination for now.
As I broke into the clearing, my bladder took that moment to remind me I had needed to piss for over an hour. I didn’t want to break into these people’s cabin and immediately demand the bathroom, so I looked around and found a spot to do my business before heading to the porch to ask for shelter. Unzipping in the frigid air was a shock to my dick. Even though my bladder insisted, my appendage wanted nothing more than to shrink inside and wait. The bladder won, and as soon as the hot stream descended, the relief was instant. I watched the steam rise from my half-shrunk cock on the cold air and sighed into the darkness at the unmatched pleasure taking a piss when you really had to go could give you.
The relief and exhaustion were why I probably didn’t notice the sound of wings behind me. Midstream, I whipped around to find white feathers everywhere, then a paralyzing zap hit my dick, and my whole body went stiff. I fell on the ground, white feathers blending into snow. Just before everything went black, I wondered why my dick had been set on fire and why someone was cussing at me.
4
ALDEN
“Mother fluffer, what the hell am I supposed to do now?”
The huge shifter I’d flown into earlier in the day was lying in the yard of my cabin in the middle of a storm. The one word I was trying to avoid kept bubbling up into my mind, but I pushed the M word down again and ignored it. I could deal with that after I made sure I hadn’t killed him. He was a shifter. He’d said that in the camp. He was all human now, though. His strong jaw and short brown hair accentuated his chiseled features to perfection. His broad shoulders and firm chest felt as good as I remembered from when he’d picked me up in my owl form and carried me earlier. All I’d needed to do was shift, and my healing was done, but I hadn’t wanted to risk that in front of a stranger. No matter the pull toward him, I was cautious about who knew my secret. But now, well, now, we were about to get to know each other very well.
I felt his head and noticed a large bump was forming there. Along with the awkward angle he’d landed, he’d be, at the very least, sore for a few days. The wind whipped around the clearing, blowing snow into small drifts, and my decision was made. I had to bring him into the cabin to ride out the storm. I picked up the large man under the arms as best I could and dragged him across the yard. Getting him up the steps was a struggle, but I managed to get him in and onto a blanket in front of the fireplace before I collapsed. He came to for a moment, and the flash of his green eyes held me captive. He smiled up at me, sighed, then rolled over into the blanket and fell asleep.
I wanted to roll up into the blanket with him. No, scratch that. I wanted to have him roll me all around a bed until I couldn’t remember my own name because I’d finally found my—nope, we weren’t thinking about the M word yet. Things needed to get done first. He hadn’t started the camp stove before I left the camp earlier, but I didn’t know if he had afterward. There was no avoiding it. I’d have to fly over there and check to make sure. Even with the rain and the snow, fire could be devastating in the forest this time of year. Checking my own fireplace and closing the screen, I left a note in case he woke up, then went to the front door, ready to shift and fly down to the camp to make sure it was secure. Before I could get to the door, though, he shot up from the floor and rushed over to block my exit.
“What exactly are you about to do?”
Taken by complete surprise, I answered honestly. “I’m going back to the camp to make sure you didn’t leave the camp stove burning. Fire would be terrible for the mountain with this wind.”
Relaxing back against the door, he rubbed his right shoulder with a flinch when he hit a tender spot. “No need. I didn’t start it. There’s nothing there that can’t wait until the storm is over.” He looked down at me, smiling, then frowned. “How do you know about the camp?”
Instead of explaining, I walked to the center of the room, closed my eyes, and shifted. My eyesight as an owl was much better than as a human, but even still, it wasn’t fantastic. I’d had special glasses made for when I shifted and flew, but I had forgotten to wear them today. That had led me to hurting my wing earlier, meeting my, well, the M word, and also for him getting zapped earlier in the yard. Noticing how his confusion had turned into curiosity now, I shifted back, then took the blanket from the floor and took it to him. Even though we were inside, he was still shivering slightly.
“I’m the owl shifter from earlier. Thought it would be easier to show you. Here, wrap up in this. You’re still chilled from the cold.” He took the blanket but just held it, staring down at me. “I know you know what a shifter is. You said you’re one, too, so please don’t be one of those assholes who only like their own kind of shifter.” I turned back to the fireplace, removing the screen and chucking another log on to build the flames back up. “We’re stuck here together, and that would suck if you were gorgeous but a massive asshole.”
Booming laughter filled the room, startling me. I turned, still holding a small log in my hand. “You can put the log away. I’m fine with shifters of all kinds. I just didn’t expect to have one run me over twice in the same day, then rescue me on top of that.”
Well, now I felt bad. I’d just insulted him, and he was right. I had pretty much ambushed him a few times today while he was just minding his own business. I got my glasses off the mantel, putting them on now that I wasn’t shifting again anytime soon, then turned around to apologize.
“About earlier, I really am sorry about that. I went flying and didn’t expect the wind to be so bad. I didn’t have my glasses on, either, so I flew into some branches and got twisted right before you showed up. I would have shifted and worked the kinks out, but you seemed so sincere in wanting to help that I just went with it. Plus, I wanted to make sure you were going to be safe from the storm, too. Once you mentioned you were a shifter, too, I knew you’d probably be okay.”
“Yeah, I’d have been okay.” He stood up from where he’d been leaning on the door and straightened to his full height. He turned to open the door and stepped onto the porch, leaving the door open behind him. “Want to see how alright I could be?” He looked over his shoulder and smirked, then stripped his coat off, then his sweatshirt, then shirt, kicking off his boots as he stepped down from the porch into the snowy yard. I followed as if pulled by an unseen string, standing at the top of the stairs to watch this gorgeous stranger strip in the snow. When he got to his pants, he noticed his fly was still wide open. With a one-sided, sexy smile, he winked at me. A flush crept up my cheeks, and I had to hold onto the handrail of the stairs to stay standing. What the hell was going on between us?
I had asked the question, but I knew the answer. I just didn’t know if he knew, too.
