Chapter Fifteen
Daniel
A sense of impending doom had me on my front porch, sniffing the air and waiting for whatever was about to happen. Sometimes, as shifters, we sensed stuff like this. And yet, as I scanned the area I deemed my front yard, I saw nothing that should have my bear so upset. My gaze went to the woods all around me, and I strained to see or smell anything that might be off. Everything seemed to be in its place.
But that just meant I hadn’t found the source of my unease yet.
Narrowing my eyes, I locked my door and took a few steps down from my porch. Sniffing the area slowly and feeling every hair on my body stand on end. A slow growl rolled up my throat, and the territorial instinct deep inside me rumbled through my mind and body.
Someone or something was on my land.
I took a few more steps, sniffing the air, then froze. I smelled Nathan. This wasn’t good. I hadn’t realized he’d gotten sprung from the county already. The fact that he was here now probably meant he was itching for a fight. The bear within me wanted that fight. He wanted to show the pup that he couldn’t just show up on my lands and expect to be welcome, not after the fury he had shown at our last meeting. But I wasn’t a young man who gave into my bear’s wants over my own any longer. If this kid was looking for a fight, I’d do everything in my power to make sure he didn’t get it from me.
I shifted quickly and headed in the direction I’d smelled him. My bear wanted to give in to the animal with me and go to my favorite bush full of berries, gorge myself, and take a nap in the sunlight. But I shook away his desire.Later, I promised.For now, the pup.
It didn’t take me long to find him. He was near the house rather than far out in the woods like I half expected. He’d driven halfway up my road, pulled off, and shifted. I still caught whiffs of exhaust fumes from him. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’d expect him to taunt me at the edge of my lands, but not be foolish enough to be smackdab in my terrority.
With any other shifter, that would be a dangerous move on his part. Either he didn’t care, or this was something else.
His gray eyes met mine as he stood near his truck, but there was nothing defensive in his position. Instead, he seemed uncertain as he turned his back on me and trotted into the woods. His dark fur, the same shade as his hair, was a little messy and tangled. As I followed him, it half made me wonder if he’d gone directly from jail to see me, which probably wasn’t a good thing. He hadn’t even given his temper a chance to cool.
His wolf stopped in the woods and shifted into the young man I’d been so worried about. And sure enough, he looked like a mess. There was no way he’d had a chance to shower since jail, not with the dirt on his face, and his hair a mess. And yet, he wasn’t radiating rage.
He wasn’t radiating anything that my bear could pick up on, which made me even more uneasy. Animals were good at reading non-verbal cues. I should be certain right now of how he felt.
So I didn’t shift yet. I was certainly safer in this form if things got messy. A bear could just pin him down and let him work out his anger, without injuring him too terribly.
“I dreamed about my dad,” Nathan said, kicking the dirt with his toes.
Okay. If I had to guess, I’d say he hadn’t dreamed of his father. His father’s ghost had probably visited him. But it was enough to make me shift back. Or maybe the reason I shifted back was because, when he looked up at me again, that deep hurt was back in his eyes.
I stood, shaking myself a little, then met his gaze once more. “Tell me about it.”
Nathan looked around, and not seeing anywhere to sit, plopped down on the dirtl. It was a subtle way he was showing me deference. Something hard for an alpha to do.
I released a slow breath. He wasn’t looking for a fight. He was looking to talk. That, I could handle.
“It started in jail. My roommate was an old badger. Literally. He was a badger shifter.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Don’t see them around much.”
But in this town, I knew exactly who he was talking about. I didn’t know him well. Prey animals tended to stay away from large predators. And the fact that he was well-known for his drunken mistakes… he had even more of a reason to stay away from an ex-cop. But I knew him well enough to picture the tiny old man, with a few wisps of grey hair, and wild eyes.
Nathan nodded after a moment. “He was only there for a night, but he told me that he and I are a lot alike. He’d heard of me.” Nathan stared off into the forest and scoffed. “He said it like he was proud of it. He wanted me to be like him.”
I didn’t reply. He’d obviously seen himself in the older man, too, and hadn’t liked what he saw. Sometimes the worst thing, and the best thing, we can do when we’re making bad choices is to hold a mirror up to ourselves. It can feel like a crushing blow to see the truth in a way that we couldn’t ignore, but it often saved people. I’d seen that time and again as a cop, and I’d seen it when I was at my lowest point.
“Anyway, that got me a little shook up. Then I dreamed about Dad.”
I didn’t tell him what I suspected, just let him get it all out.
“Dad told me I was wasting my potential and that he was proud of me, but that I needed to straighten up before I ruined it all.”
Nathan looked up at me with sorrow in his big gray eyes. “I want to change. I want to be a good leader and take our pack higher, not lower.”
Smiling, I stepped forward and sat across from the boy. “I’m really happy to hear that.” I kept my happiness in check, though. Nathan had talked about the straight and narrow before and nothing had come of it. This time did seem more serious, more sincere, but I’d proceed with caution and see what happened.
“I’m here for you, Nathan,” I said. “In any capacity. Advice, anything. You know that, don't you?”
