Touchdown Daddy (172 page)

Melissa sat there, listening intently. She wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth or just trying to let her down easy.

“My transformation is dormant throughout the Winter. Then in the Spring, it awakens once again. The Spring is easy. All I have to do is eat. Most Shifters with a transformation like mine can change at will after that, until Fall hits again. But I can’t. I transition in the Fall because I don’t have a choice. If I could get rid of the curse all together I would. Holding back my transformation all Summer is most likely the reason the Fall is so unbearable for me.” Melissa nodded slowly, trying to take in everything he was saying.

“Is that why you weren’t around the Anderson’s? Are the Anderson’s Shifters too?”

“No, the Anderson’s aren’t Shifters. But my situation is why I haven’t been with my family for most of my life,” Clayton answered, a grave look shadowing his eyes.

“My mother was an Anderson. My father was a Shifter. He was like me in the fact that he only ever let himself transform in the Fall. He wanted to live a normal life with my mom and me. One Fall, he decided that he was going to neglect the change altogether. He wanted so badly to just be human. But the more he resisted, the more powerful the animal became.” He fell silent for a moment as if he was replaying the scene in his mind.

“One night the aggression and hunger got out of control and the animal forced itself through, and because he had been ignoring the symptoms, the animal went on a ravenous rampage and killed my mother. The next morning when my father woke up, he found my mother. Ever since then my father hid inside his animal. His human form hasn’t resurfaced in years. Before he left town, he took me to my Aunt Bonnie. He told her the story and told her to look after me and she did. She raised me until my transitions started at sixteen. Then out of fear, she purchased a piece of land out in the woods and had a home built for me. She told me to stay away from them.” He let out an abundant sigh.

“That’s horrible,” Melissa gasped. She ran a hand through her hair. “How could she do that to you?” Melissa could feel anger and hurt rising from the pit of her stomach. She would never be able to look at Bonnie the same again.

“I don’t blame her. She had no idea what to do with me. She was scared. It’s completely understandable. It was my kind that had killed her sister.” He took her hands in his once again.

“She still checked on me in the spring to make sure I was okay. She didn’t completely abandon me.” He tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear.

“So you keep mentioning the animal, but you never said what it was.” She looked up at him with a look of interest. Clayton smiled brightly and walked out into the hall, returning shortly with a small bag.

“I bought you something. It’s something to remember me by for the next couple of months while I go into hiding.” He handed her the bag, his beautiful smile was almost splitting his face in two. Melissa reached into the back and pulled out a stuffed bear. She giggled and held it tight to her chest.

“You’re a Werebear?” She gave an awe-stricken smile. She looked at the cute little bear in her hands.

“When are you going away?” Melissa’s smile faded at the thought of not being able to see him over the next few months.

“As soon as I leave here.” He caressed her cheek.

“But I’ll be back for you. Don’t worry.” Melissa couldn’t help but smile. She truly was in love with this man, and now she knew for a fact that he loved her too.

Clayton wandered through his house mentally crossing things off of his checklist. He was ready for his transformation. He had stocked all the meat he had bought in a cooler outside and turned on the electric fence that surrounded the property. He made his way outside, locking the door behind him and hiding the key in a metal safe by the door. He had already walked the perimeter checking for damages in the fence and had found none. Everything was ready. He sat down on the porch swing and stared out at the forest wall. He wanted so badly to talk to Melissa, just one more time before he changed. But his phone was already put away in the safe. He watched as the sun sank in the sky. He could feel the pins and needles starting to riddle his body. The transition was starting. By the time the sun went down he would be transformed into his bear form until winter arrived.

Clayton decided to walk out into the middle of the yard while he still could. He sat in the dry grass and closed his eyes. The transformation always went so much smoother when he wasn’t trying to fight it.

His eyes started to burn and his nose started to itch as the new scents hit him that his human form couldn’t detect. His gums started to bleed as his new teeth cut through. He rolled his shoulders as his muscles started to swell and his skin started to crawl as the fur forced its way through his skin. He dug his fingers into the earth as every bone in his body started to fracture and reform. He pounded his fists into the ground as the aggression took hold of him. The pain from his bones breaking started to pull him under. His vision blurred and he saw stars floating across his field of vision. His head started to swim. The transformation was nearly complete. He knew that as soon as the animal surfaced he would have no control anymore. He was in full transition, not just the early stages where he would get to keep his own mind for a few hours. It was the beast’s turn and he had no choice but to let it take him.

***

Clayton had finally regained consciousness. He looked around in confusion. His two months couldn’t be finished already. He looked down at his smooth human skin and hands. A painful shiver racked his body. Little spots of snow covered the ground. He pulled himself up from the ground, leaning against a tree for support. His muscles were protesting with every movement. He imagined this is what a person’s body would feel like if they had worked out nonstop for hours on end.

Once his equilibrium was back on track he made his way to the house. When he was out of the shelter of the trees he no longer doubted that the two months were up. There was at least a foot of snow covering the ground and the air felt like tiny daggers piercing his skin. He took a deep breath and sprinted toward the house and fell to his knees in front of the safe. He made quick work of the combination lock and grabbed his keys and phone. The inside of his house was perfectly toasty. He knew the bills would be outrageous but it was worth it to crank the heat so the house was warm when he came out of his bear form. He tossed the keys on the table and turned on his phone. The only thing he could think about doing was talking to Melissa. He listened to the phone ring as he made his way to his bedroom to jump in the shower. The call went to voicemail but he didn’t leave a message. This kind of thing wasn’t something you announced on a voicemail.

Once he was out of the shower he threw on some clothes and powered up his laptop. The entire time he was in the shower all he could think of was what he was going to do to surprise Melissa. He had a perfect idea, but he was going to have to make sure it was possible first. He was going to have to pull every string he knew of to make this happen. But it was going to happen.

He had everything set up. He was amazed at how smoothly everything went over. He didn’t care that he had paid a fortune, all he cared about was whether or not Melissa was going to like it. He grabbed his phone and keys and made his way to his car. It was a Saturday so he figured Melissa would be at home and not at the office.

He dismissed all the fears that she had moved on while he was out of commission. He knew deep down that she had waited for him, so every time that tiny voice popped into his head he would beat it down as hard as he could.

He arrived outside Melissa’s house. He was relieved to see her Mustang sitting in the driveway.

He walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for her to answer. When the door opened it was all he had not to take the love of his life into his arms and never let her go. But she had beat him to it. The moment the door opened and she saw it was him, she threw her arms around him and burst into tears.

“I was starting to think that you were never coming back,” she whimpered into his chest. Clayton laughed and gently stroked her hair.

“I told you I would come back for you.” He pulled away from her and wiped the tears from her smiling face.

“I take it you missed me.”

Melissa answered by jumping back into his arms and slamming her lips into his before dropping to the ground, grabbing his hand and leading him into the house. Clayton looked around. Everything looked the same as it did the last time he saw her, except for one small detail. Sitting on the couch was the stuffed bear he had bought her and there was a pile of information books about bears sitting on the coffee table. He started laughed uncontrollably as he fingered through one of the books. Melissa came around the corner with two cups of coffee and a sandwich. Her cheeks turned red when she realized he had noticed her new collection of books.

“I wanted to do a little bit of research, but I wasn’t sure if any of it really pertained to your situation.” She set the coffee and the sandwich down in front of him and sat down on the couch. Clayton sat down next to her and grabbed the sandwich.

“It only applies to half of me,” he laughed as he took a gigantic bite of the sandwich. “Is this salmon?” Melissa smiled sheepishly and hid her face with the stuffed bear.

“What kind of book would I have to buy to learn about the other half of you?” Melissa sipped on her coffee. Clayton smiled sweetly at her.

“You don’t need a book. You’re it.” He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

“Which reminds me. I have a surprise for you. I’ve been working on it all morning.” He finished off his sandwich, wiping the crumbs from his mouth.“You’re going to have to go pack.”

Melissa jumped up with excitement, clapping her hands and dancing around. “Where are we going?” Melissa pounced onto his lap. Clayton showered her face with kisses and then stood up from the couch, setting her on the floor.

“I’m not telling, just go pack.” He gave Melissa a light pat on the backside to get her moving. Clayton shook his head and sat back down on the couch. He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life surprising her like this.

Melissa waited patiently at the baggage claim. She searched the crowd for Clayton. He had gone to grab a cart to carry their bags. She had almost given up the search when she saw his angelic face weaving in and out of the crowd.

“I’m pretty sure we could have just carried our own bags out.” Melissa shook her head. Clayton shrugged and started loading their luggage.

“It’s all part of the pamper-the-girl package.” He gave Melissa a wink. Once he had finished with the bags he turned back to Melissa.

“Your chariot awaits.” He held out his hand to help her onto the cart. She rolled her eyes and took his hand, sliding into the seat. He still hadn’t told her where they were going or what he had planned. She stared at him as they drove through the airport. She had never seen anyone look so happy. Well, no one outside of the mirror anyway.

There was a limo waiting for them outside, accompanied by an overeager driver waiting to unload their luggage into the limo. He then opened the door for them to enter the car. Melissa curled up against Clayton as the driver took off from the airport.

“Can you tell me what is going on yet?” Melissa looked up at him with pleading eyes. Clayton sighed and turned toward her.

“I suppose I can tell you a few things.” Melissa clapped her hands eagerly.

“Well, I will tell you the last part of the trip. The first part has to remain a surprise.” Melissa pouted and crossed her arms.

“Fine.” She waited with anticipation for him to continue.

“So I remember you telling me that you had never been outside the city. So I rented us a small country cottage out in the middle of nowhere. We are going to rough it.” He used quotations around the last couple of words which made her chuckle.

“I have a lot of fun stuff planned for you. Stuff you can’t do in the city.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“What are we going to do now? I don’t know why you booked us such a late flight.” She stared at the window at the passing lights. Clayton gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“It’s all part of the plan.” He smiled mischievously before kissing her on the tip of the nose and pulled a blindfold out of his jacket pocket.

“Put this on, we’re almost there.” She gave him a speculative look before doing as she was told. She felt the limo come to a stop a few minutes after she had put on the blindfold. Clayton helped her out of the car and led her to where they were going. She could hear that she was surrounded by a lot of people but there weren’t any distinguishable noises to offer clues to where he was taking her. They finally entered a building and there was more chatter. By the sounds of it, she was surrounded by thousands of people. They continued walking until everything went quiet. They were alone. They walked in the quiet part of the building for a few minutes before Clayton stopped her and removed her blindfold. She found herself standing outside of what looked like an office door. Clayton reached out and tapped on the door several times. When the door opened Melissa nearly passed out from excitement.

“James Hetfield!” She screeched in an almost inaudible frequency. “We are at a Metallica concert!” Melissa jumped up and down, fanning her eyes.

“You got us backstage to meet the band, I can’t believe it!” James Hetfield pulled her into a hug and led the two of them into the room to meet the rest of the band. They stayed and chatted with the band for about half an hour and then it was show time.

“So should we be getting to our seats?” Melissa was glowing. She had never been so happy. She got to meet the members of her favorite band and she was going to the concert, and she didn’t even have to sell her soul to the devil.

“Not exactly.” Clayton held out his hand to her.

“Come on.” She took his hand and followed behind him as he followed the band.

“Alright, wait here.” Lars held out his hand as they headed out onto the stage to start the show. She waited patiently with Clayton at the edge of the stage. The lights lit up the stage and the crowd roared. They started to play, but it was really quiet. It was the intro to EnterSandman.

Melissa bit her lip, she was totally elated. Then James walked slowly up to the center microphone. But instead of starting the song, he just spoke.

“So today is a very special day.” The crowd roared again.

“Today is a day that you all will remember for the rest of your lives. But, although you will all remember it, there is someone who will remember this night for a completely different reason. I would like to welcome onto the stage my new friends, Clayton and his girlfriend, Melissa.” He waved for them to come join them on the stage. As they approached the center of the stage, James backed away. The intro to Enter Sandman was being played on repeat.

Melissa stood, looking out over the crowd. There were so many people. She smiled brightly and waved at a few people who at been waving at her.

Is that Taesha?
She squinted her eyes and looked past the bright stage lights. Sure enough, front and center stood her best friend, jumping and waving hysterically. When she turned back to Clayton to ask what was happening she found him before her, on one knee, holding the microphone.

“Melissa Dawn Cleary. Since the moment I met you, I knew that you were different from every other woman in the world. I knew that I wanted and needed to spend the rest of my life with you.” He switched the mic to his other hand and pulled a small black box from his pocket. He flipped open the lid, revealing the most astounding diamond ring Melissa had ever seen. She threw her hands over her mouth. She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Will you make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife?” He smiled a brilliant smile and held up the mic. Melissa wrapped her hands around it and screamed,

“Yes!” Melissa shouted at the top of her lungs. At that, the music hit full volume and the entire crowd erupted with hoots and cheers.

Clayton slipped the ring onto her finger and just as the first chorus of Enter Sandman started, Clayton pulled her into a kiss. Melissa had gotten a happily ever after that even she couldn’t have dreamed possible.

*****

THE END