“I am. Am I also allowed to touch?” Seth waggled his brows. “Not yet. Watch carefully.”
Letting his mind go blank, Dustin nudged his sleeping beast awake. It gave grumbling protest, yawned, and wakened, stretching and stretching and stretching until its tiny body seemed to fill Dustin’s skin. He opened his eyes to see Seth’s feet and ankles jump up onto a chair.
Seth stood frozen on the chair, eyes wide.
Dustin had barely enough time to regain human form and catch Seth before he hit the floor, out cold.
Along with superior hearing and smell came additional strength. Dustin hefted Seth in a fireman’s carry and trotted down the hall to deposit his pliant form on his bed. He hurried back to the sitting room to dress and then returned to perch on the edge of the comforter, smoothing Seth’s hair back from his forehead.
Seth’s eyes fluttered open, then widened in horror. He jumped back, knocking his head against the headboard. “Why did you wait until now to tell me?”
“You only came here to get Irene’s affairs in order. You didn’t need an added burden.”
“No, I mean, when we were kids. Why didn’t you tell me?” “I thought your family gave you ‘the talk’, like mine did. Anyway, I asked my mom why you never seemed to find me during our games like I found you, and she explained that maybe you were a late bloomer, and wouldn’t fully develop your senses until you were older. It happens sometimes.”
“How old were you the first time you changed?”
“Thirteen.”
“And this has been happening in our families for generations?” Dustin nodded, reassured by Seth’s rational tone.
“Are there any more animals around? Werewolves?”
Dustin managed a shy half smile. “We’ve never allowed predators to stick around except for foxes. There was a terrible power struggle near Atlanta back in the sixties and they were ousted. Irene allowed them to stay until the danger passed, which turned into several decades, but their last change of power didn’t go well and left them needing a new leader. The town also needed a veterinarian, and we got both in the same man. We decided to keep him, and by extension, his foxes. He has an office next to mine.”
“Are there other towns like ours? Isn’t the name a bit blatant?”
“Sure, but we have to be able to find each other some way, though a name like Turkey Run doesn’t necessarily mean shifters. North of us, you have Turtletown, Elkton, and Ducktown, Tennessee, though most of the elk folk migrated to Canada. There’s a huge colony up there.”
“I want the truth. What happened to my parents? Nana told me theywere hit by a car while crossing the road.”
Dustin winced. He’d hoped Seth wouldn’t ask. “Are you sure you really want me to tell you?”
“If you don’t, who will?”
Dustin shared the tale, matter-of-factly, though it ripped his heart out. At one time, he’d been as close to Seth’s parents as his own. “Carriers who can’t shift are posted as lookouts, to ward off stray dogs and keep the passel—that’s a group of possums—out of trouble. Your mother was a new shifter and somehow snuck past the guards and onto the highway. Your dad tried to stop her, and they were both killed by a car. Your grandmother told the truth.”
“I recall some comments from their memorial service. They’re not actually buried in the cemetery in town, are they?”
“No. Those who die in animal form remain in animal form. They’re buried down by the pond in the unofficial family graveyard.”
“What happened to Aunt Irene?”
“She turned one last time, too weak to survive the change. She’s buried beside your parents.”
“Dustin?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you do me a favor?”
Dustin stopped stroking Seth’s hair and clasped his hand. “Anything.”
“Would you get the fuck out of my house?”
NO YELLING; okay, not much. No flung breakables and no threatening of vital parts with sharp objects. Overall, not too bad, Dustin supposed, as far as revelations went.
He climbed into his truck, staring at the light in Seth’s window and wishing he’d been allowed to stay. Seth needed watching over tonight while he dealt with what he’d been told. Recognizing his fretting probably wouldn’t be appreciated, Dustin drove to the Johnsons’ next door and parked behind their barn. Friends and passel members, they’d never even question the presence of Dustin’s Ranger.
