Wolf's Run: A BBW Shifter Romance (3 page)

“A shifter?” I asked, puzzled at what that meant.

“Fuck, this is so hard. I...I...,” he stammered. I squeezed his hand to lend him strength, amazed at how vulnerable he seemed. “I’m a shape shifter, a changeling. I’m a man like any other most of the time but I can change. I can become something else. I can become a wolf,” he said. I stared at him and then a moment later I burst out in laughter expecting him to join me.

“God, I thought you were serious for a moment,” I said but Yeager’s eyes told me this wasn’t a joke. The moonlight let me see him well enough to tell he was serious and I stopped laughing when he didn’t join in. “You’re not joking, are you?” I asked. He believed what he said even if I couldn’t.

“No,” was all he said. I went over his admission in my head, turned it over and tried to reconcile it with what I knew about the world. It didn’t make any sense. I couldn’t believe him though for some reason I wanted to.

“So, assuming you’re not crazy, what’s that got to do with me?” I wondered. I wasn’t ready for his answer.

“My kind, we aren’t human. Not anymore. We’ve evolved but we mate with humans. We mate for life,” he said and then he looked off towards the lake. “I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a hangover and I needed some breakfast. I reached the diner and I smelled it. Her scent. The scent of my mate. I was sure it was your mother but she was older than I expected. Her scent was faint, odd, not like I’d imagined. I was confused but she was beautiful, almost perfect,” he said and then Yeager looked back towards me.

I sat quietly stunned. What he said was strange to me. Unbelievable, in fact. Yet, it made so much sense to me. It sounded so right. But it wasn’t my mother he scented. I knew that much. “It was me,” I guessed.

“Yes. She walked behind that counter I sat at this morning and I saw you there making coffee. You were a child but I knew you were her, the one made for me, the one I was made for, my mate. You know it too. Your scent was overwhelming to me when I saw you this morning. I missed it deeply over the last seven years. I missed you, even though I’d only seen you that one time and only for a moment. I left you, knowing it wasn’t yet time, elated to have found you but shredded inside at having to leave you behind and wait,” he said.

Despite the vibe I got from Yeager, the sense of ease I felt with him, his story was too much. I stood up and backed away. It wasn’t that I found it to be ridiculous, just the opposite. It was the fact I believed him that frightened me. “What are you going to do to me?” I asked, suddenly fearful as my mind tried to grasp what Yeager had said, tried to work through what it meant.

“I’d never hurt you, Cassie. I know this is a lot to handle but its best this way. You must know what I am and how we’re connected. You must come to terms with it or we’ll both be doomed to a life of longing and pain,” he told me. Now the alarms in my head were blaring.

“Why must I? What if I don’t want any part of your delusions? Are you going to rape me, kill me...eat me?” I asked as I took another wary step backwards. Then my heel caught on a small stone and I fell. I screamed as I fell but Yeager, like a flash of lightening, caught me in his arms. I struggled as the walls closed in, the things he said, the peril I had put myself in, hit me. I opened my mouth to scream but he gently closed my mouth as I whimpered instead.

“Shh. There’s no need to fear me, Cassie. I’m not the enemy. I could never, hurt you,” he said. I wanted to believe that but I was no longer able to reason. I was scared and I told myself it was Yeager that frightened me but I knew deep inside that wasn’t true.

“Then take me home!” I told him. The pain in his eyes tore at my soul. Those words hurt him deeply but right then, I didn’t care. I needed to get away from him. I needed to be safe. I thought it was from him I needed to escape but it was from what he said. I needed relief from the truth. I refused to believe what he’d told me even though every fiber of my being told me I should.

~~O~~

“What’s up? You seem...distracted,” Edie asked me as I stared at the coffee machine, my thoughts somewhere else entirely.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just tired,” I told her.

“Might that have anything to do with going out with that biker last night,” she asked me. I turned to Edie, shocked that she knew but she was ready for my reaction. “I see everything,” she told me playfully but I wasn’t in the mood.

“We didn’t go out,” I said. We did but not like she was thinking. It wasn’t a date. It was...I don’t know what it was but it was weighing on my mind. I struggled with the pain I saw in Yeager’s eyes when I made him take me home as much as I wrestled with his impossible claims.

“So, just wild sex on his motorcycle,” Edie said revealing her real assumptions.

“No, look I don’t want to talk about it,” I told her.

“Something bad happen?” she asked. I looked at Edie and frowned.

“What part of I don’t what to talk about it don’t you get?” I asked and smiled at her so she’d know I wasn’t angry.

“Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” she replied. Willy slid several plates under the heat lamps and rang the bell. “If you want to talk, I’m here,” Edie offered and I appreciated the sentiment.

“Thanks,” I replied as we grabbed our orders and took them in opposite directions to deliver the food to our customers. On my way by the coffee machine, I hit the start button to start another pot brewing. We were busy, even busier than the day before. Thursday was the day Wolf’s Run officially began. There would be motorcycle shows, auctions, concerts, wet t-shirt contests, and generally all manner of debauchery. My crew and I would keep the thousands of bikers well fed and they would help keep me in business for a little while longer.

Things were going smoothly at the diner and the pace helped keep my mind off of the previous night. It hit me while I lay in bed trying to get a bit of sleep and failing miserably that I wasn’t as disturbed about Yeager’s claim he was some kind of werewolf as I should be. I should have assumed he was crazy but I didn’t. On some level I accepted his story despite how incredibly ridiculous it sounded. There was no such thing as a werewolf, or whatever he claimed he was.

No, instead I tried to understand why I trusted him so easily and why I felt his pain so deeply. I tried to figure out why I felt some connection to him. He said I was his mate as if I was some kind of animal but I couldn’t deny the visceral reaction I experienced at hearing it. Exactly what I felt I wasn’t sure but I sensed something and it wasn’t negative. It made me feel...I don’t know...special. I lay awake all night until the alarm went off trying to wrap my head around the biker, his questionable claims and the way they made me feel but it was futile.

“Out!” I heard and looked up from the party from whom I was taking orders. It was that big biker, Dolan, and his gang. They were kicking another group of my customers out of my restaurant. Yesterday, the two couples were done eating when Dolan and his gang, the Fangs as he’d called them, took over their table. Today, the table had just given me their orders only moments before.

“Hey, leave them alone,” I told him. I realized everyone in the Rusty Skillet was staring at me to see what was about to happen.

“Not going to sic your little boyfriend on me this morning?” Dolan asked referring to Edie.

“She’s a girl but she’s still more man than you’ll ever be. You’re a bully. I don’t want you in my diner. Get out!” I told him. Be strong and show him you’re not intimidated even if you are. That’s what my mom would have done. He just laughed, however.

“How about me and the boys here take you out back and show you a good time?” Dolan offered crudely. All my resolve melted at that. The look in his eyes was wild and raw. I knew he’d make good on that threat if I pushed him.

“Hey, you heard her. Get out of here,” a biker at a nearby table told the big man in my defense. Then Edie appeared there next to me to lend support as well.

“Yeah, beat it, loser,” she said. Dolan growled at her. Growled! Like an animal. Then he pushed a woman aside, knocking her and her chair to the floor, and approached Edie and me. He made me feel small and helpless as he loomed over us.

“Maybe we should take both of you out back,” he said menacingly. The biker that had warned Dolan stood up and got between us facing the big, dark man. Our would be protector was every bit as big as Dolan but suddenly, Dolan picked him up like he was nothing and held him aloft with one hand.

“Put him down!” a stern voice with a hard edge demanded. For a moment, I hoped it was Yeager. I’m not sure why but I knew he was the one man that could stand up to Dolan. But it wasn’t Yeager. It was the Sheriff. “I said put him down,” Sheriff Jones repeated. His hand went to his holster and he unfastened the strap that held his pistol in place.

Dolan laughed and threw the other biker onto the table he’d been sitting at a few moments earlier and somehow the table didn’t collapse. Many of the plates and glasses broke, however, as he landed on them or they fell to the floor. Dolan turned, his face screwed up in anger. “I should have killed you seven years ago, Jones!” Dolan told the Sheriff.

“I’ve got deputies with me. Leave now and I won’t throw you in jail,” Sheriff Jones warned. Dolan laughed again.

“I’d like to see you try, Jones. I owe you for what you did to my father. You’ll pay before I leave,” he told the Sheriff and then turned back to me. “You and I aren’t finished,” he said and then leaned close and whispered, “I’m going to breed you tonight. I promise, you won’t enjoy it and there ain’t nobody that can stop me. You’re mine, little sister.” Dolan winked at me and smiled showing me the long fangs that suddenly appeared in his mouth. Then the big, black-bearded biker turned and walked out as Sheriff Jones and the two deputies that backed him up watched him go.

“What did he say?” Edie asked. I turned towards Edie but I couldn’t find the words. It’s not that I wasn’t terrified by Dolan’s threat, I was, but suddenly everything Yeager told me hit me. Could it all really be true? Could he really be what he claimed? I knew now after seeing Dolan’s long canines that he could.

“You OK, Cassie,” Sheriff Jones asked. I nodded as I pushed the sudden thoughts from my head.

“I’m fine,” I lied. I wasn’t but I could barely think straight.

“I’m stretched thin already but I’ll leave Perkins here to look after you and Edie. I’m sure those are just idle threats. His beef is with me,” Sheriff Jones told us.

“Why?” Edie asked. Sheriff Jones looked away. Whatever it was, it bothered him. Sheriff Jones exhaled and turned his attention back to Edie.

“I killed his father,” he said finally. I remembered that as soon as he said it. It was seven years ago, the last time Wolf’s Run was in Gold Canyon. Sheriff Jones was still a deputy. He stumbled on a rape victim the last night of the run, a young woman that was in town for the festivities. She was torn to shreds and died in his arms just before the rapist returned and Jones shot him dead. It was ruled a justifiable killing but I couldn’t remember any details beyond that.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you girls are safe. The Highway Patrol will be arriving today to help out with security and traffic control so I can spare Perkins and he can keep an eye on downtown while he’s here,” Sheriff Jones said, nodded and then turned to leave after I thanked him. He ordered Deputy Perkins to remain behind. The deputy stood guard at the front door. The biker that defended me was up and cleaning himself off.

“I’m so sorry. Meals on me,” I told him. He smiled at me.

“No, it’s on me but I appreciate it,” he said. It took me a moment to get his little joke. I wasn’t in a joking mood. My thoughts were just a big jumble in my head.

“Thank you for sticking up for me,” I said. He nodded.

“No problem,” he replied but he was clearly embarrassed at being bested like that. He and his party left while Edie and I cleaned up the mess. I apologized to the rest of the patrons but those that hadn’t been served began to leave. The line at the front door dwindled as well. By lunch, the Rusty Skillet was all but empty. It was like a typical weekday at the diner despite the thousands of bikers. One or two tables full and the rest empty. Everything was falling apart and I didn’t know how to stop it.

Some big biker threatened to rape me, another had told me he was a shifter, a wolf, and that I was his mate. If all that wasn’t enough, my diner was empty and without the money this event brought in, I couldn’t afford to keep the Rusty Skillet open past the end of summer. To top it all off, without the crowds to keep me working my ass off, I had all the time in the world to think about everything that was happening and there was a lot think about.

At the forefront of my thoughts were Yeager’s claims. What if what he told me was true? What if I was his mate? What if I was made for him and he was made for me? What did that all mean? Was I fated to be his wife, his lover? That scared the living daylights out of me. I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t ready to be anyone’s wife much less their mate, whatever that implied. But even more frightening was the idea that it apparently wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t up to me. Whether Yeager was a good man or a creep wouldn’t matter. I was trapped if what he claimed was true.

And I had little reason to doubt Yeager’s story in light of what had happened. Dolan’s growl wasn’t that of a man. It was that of an animal. And those fangs, those weren’t there before. He was a shifter too. I felt just like I did when my mom passed away. I accepted the truth but it didn’t hit me right away. I knew it was true, that she was really gone, but it took a while for it to sink in, to become real. I felt just like that again. I knew Yeager was telling the truth, I think I knew it when he told me, but it wasn’t completely real yet.

“You scared?” Edie asked me as I leaned behind the lunch counter waiting for the single table I was serving to finish up. I’d already sent Jesus home. There was nothing for him to do. I’d have sent Edie home too but I didn’t want her to be alone. Maybe I didn’t want to be alone.

“Yeah, I am,” I told her.

“Me too. This sucks!” Edie replied. I giggled despite my mood. I could always count on Edie to distill everything down for me.