Owl Be Yours

by RJ Blain

  “My lead was a hit, and I startled her into shifting in the parking garage. I didn’t have a bracer or hood with me, and she got tangled in her clothes. It was easier to carry her up here. Honestly, I doubted I could get a hood on her even if I tried, but you know how the uppers get. Hood the cranky birds with beaks. I’d like to see them start muzzling the wolves.”

  The woman chuckled. “They’ve been trying to pass muzzle laws for years. It’ll never work. And you know full well they’ve never managed to get a hood on you, either. She’s an Ural owl?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  “You don’t have to look so damned smug about it.”

  I didn’t know what expression Daniel made, but smug over me being an owl worked in my favor and put me above the rival female. My virus approved of an elevated ranking. I had no idea what an Ural owl was, but I assumed they were talking about me.

  “Yes, I do,” Daniel replied. “She accepted an offering of steak, lobster, and cupcakes to come with me to my hotel room tonight. I’m hoping I’ll be able to extend the invitation tomorrow until I’m able to find her a nest she can settle in properly.”

  “You got off light.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s only the beginning. I might have to offer Brad’s head on a platter to get her to trust me.”

  “I’m game. Do you need the rest of his body to appease her wrath?”

  “Good question.”

  “So, this is your high school sweetheart that that ass infected during a fight? How’d she contract your virus?”

  “High school sweetheart is a stretch, and I took a few hits trying to protect her.”

  Well, I gave credit where credit was due; Daniel didn’t shy away from the reality, and I appreciated the closure of knowing for certain he’d been the one to infect me—and it explained my virus’s keen interest in him, besides a bed and a lack of clothes. I’d heard the lecture.

  Like called to like, and my virus would want someone of the same or similar strain. It wouldn’t surprise me if his virus acted the same way, drawn to mine like a magnet.

  The woman hummed. “You bled that much?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “All right. Introduce us.”

  Daniel began the tedious process of extracting me from his jacket without ruining it. Once he freed me, he shook his head at the mess of my clothes. “Miranda, this is Emily.”

  Miranda wore a blazer and silk blouse, the kind I expected from a wealthy business woman ready to conquer the world, so far out of my league I wondered why she bothered staying in the same room with me. If she got a good look at my grease-stained fingers, dirt likely lodged under my nails from my morning prep work, and gaunt frame, she’d laugh me right out of California.

  “Pleased to meet you, Emily. Don’t let Daniel be too much of a pest. You’re encouraged to put him in his place if he bothers you.”

  Daniel grunted, and he raised a brow. “Emily, Miranda is another woman Brad infected. She’s a lawyer, and she’s made it her life’s mission to make Brad as miserable as possible.”

  I tossed my initial impression of the woman right out of the window and upgraded her to a potential partner-in-crime. A lawyer could advise me on how best to kill someone—specifically, Brad—and get away with it.

  “You may as well tell her the rest,” Miranda stated.

  “When she’s not making him miserable, she pretends he isn’t her mate. One of these days, she’s going to kill him, and I’ll be the poor bastard stuck with the investigation.”

  Miranda secured her place as my favorite person on Earth, a staunch ally in my quest to ruin the man who’d ruined both our lives. I cocked my head to the side and watched her.

  “He deserves it. Take it from me, Emily. As far as lycanthropes go, Daniel’s not bad at all. I might’ve taken him if he hadn’t been so set on finding you—and Brad hadn’t been a determined, cheating bastard of a wolf. Lycanthrope males are pests to begin with, and they play for keeps. I look forward to the day I bury my so-called mate so I can find a real man. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to convince Mr. FBI here I’d be doing the world a favor. I’m hoping someone else tires of Brad and kills him so I can bury him.”

  Until Miranda, I hadn’t met someone with the same chip on her shoulder as mine, and I watched her with interest. I broke laws every day, especially on the lycanthropy virus front. I confessed my status, somewhat, when asked, but I dodged the mandatory testing and had neglected to inform anyone I’d undergone my first shift.

  Thanks to Daniel, I’d never be able to hide the truth again, and I wondered how much my life would change.

  “Come on, Miranda. Don’t give her ideas. She already tore his face up again. She really might kill him if she gets a chance. How the hell am I supposed to investigate her?”

  “You don’t. We pitch justifiable homicide, I try the case, I use our mutual status as unwillingly infected, and she walks with a token slap on the wrist at worst. It’s true he infected her.”

  “With my virus.”

  The bitterness in Daniel’s voice startled me into hooting. After his speech, I’d believed he liked the outcome. My virus certainly liked him. It made sense, however.

  His virus had become mine.

  “I think you’re approaching this the wrong way, Daniel. Emily, he’s more of a gentleman than my worthless mate. Don’t let him deceive you, however. He would’ve infected you—”

  “Miranda!”

  I fluffed my feathers and hopped across the table out of reach of the raging lycanthrope.

  “Daniel, don’t be an idiot. It’s important she knows the truth. If you want her to become your mate, start with telling her you’d planned on winning her long before Brad targeted her. That she never learned about your—”

  “Miranda!”

  “Thank you for reminding me I have a name. Stop being a baby. Emily, the man’s had a crush on you since he discovered girls were pretty instead of cootie carriers. He’s been checking into every Emily Hall in the entire damned country trying to find you. He drags me along to help him with the legalities and keep Brad in line. Brad owes you a substantial amount of money due to infecting you. I realize you’ve received the first lump sum payment, but the rest owed has to be signed for in person. I tried to have that overturned, but I haven’t had any luck so far. He’s had his wages garnished since the day he was sentenced to pay out what you’re owed. No pity from me, either. The CDC pays me a stipend to put up with him. Please feel free to kill the bastard at leisure so I can court a wolf worth my while. My virus is developed enough leaving is not an option.”

  Daniel sighed and lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You’re chatty today, Miranda.”

  Miranda pointed at me. “She beat his face in with a crowbar. As far as I’m concerned, she’s my best friend for life. I haven’t shifted yet, and I hope that fucker’ll be long dead before I do.”

  “Unless he directly violates his parole or forces you, we can’t do anything about it. And should he, I’ll testify before an angel while picking his fur from my talons.”

  I hooted, lifted my leg, and showed off the curved daggers attached to my toes.

  “You can help,” he promised.

  If Daniel was trying to get on my good side, he was doing an admirable job of it. Revenge might give me a chance to accept the infection I couldn’t cure and rid Miranda of the asshole permanently. I savored the idea enough I fluffed my feathers, hopped towards Daniel, and issued several demanding hoots.

  “We can discuss it after you’ve been fed. Miranda, according to her, it’s been two years since she’s eaten as a human. She’s pretty gaunt. While she showed interest in my offerings, I’m worried she’ll get sick. Thoughts?”

  “Wait. Two years?”

  “No license, no bank card. She’s been shifting and hunting at night and over the weekends as far as I can tell. I found where she was nesting, but the boss confirmed my worries before I picked her up this morning: he
r hunting grounds have thin pickings at best.”

  “Do you want to try her on raw or live meat? I can send someone to the pet store for feeder mice. If she’s been hunting, pellets aren’t going to bother her.”

  “I want her to be human,” Daniel snapped.

  Miranda’s brows rose. “Easy there, Mr. FBI. Maybe you need a few steaks to take the edge off. Ask her nicely to shift, give her some space, and wait to see what happens. I really don’t know why you’re asking me. I can’t even shift yet. It’ll be at least another ten years before I’m ready. Frankly, I’m more concerned she’s shifted so far ahead of schedule.”

  “Do or die. She got caught in a wildfire. And anyway, she has every reason to hate me.”

  “If she hated you, she wouldn’t be waiting patiently for you to feed her.”

  Miranda made a very good point, and I wasn’t sure what I thought about that. My relentless hunger didn’t help, as it insisted on gnawing at me. Could I get away with a light nip to inform Daniel he needed to live up to his promise to feed me?

  “All right. Emily, please shift. I’ll be right outside if you need anything. Just give a hoot or holler if anything’s wrong.” He rose to his feet and headed to the door, hesitating before reaching for the knob.

  “Good grief, Daniel She’s a lycanthrope. She’s hungry, not on the verge of death. Relax. You can leave her alone long enough to shift and get dressed. While you’re fretting, I’ll go find her something to eat and call for a doctor. She’s going to need more than a virus scan, and a doc will let me know what to give her.”

  Daniel twitched. “Maybe I should take her to my hotel room instead of doing this here.”

  “So you can get territorial? No, Daniel. You can entice her with bribes after she’s gotten something to eat and she’s been checked over. Honestly, if she’s as starved as you think, she’s going to be sleeping it off. You’re just going to have to wait. Emily, smack him around if he enters your personal space without your permission. You have a lot of legal leeway as an unmated lycanthrope, and I know every loophole in the system should you need them. Daniel’s going to hover. That’s what interested unmated lycanthropes do.”

  The entire exchange baffled me, especially when Daniel stormed out of the room. Miranda chuckled and followed. “Don’t mind him, Emily. He’s a lycanthrope. Lycanthropes like him are driven to protect. It’s their role. Your role is to kick his ass whenever he oversteps your boundaries. He’ll hover until he thinks you’re back on your feet.”

  “Hoot if you need me,” the man in question demanded from the hallway.

  Miranda left and closed the door behind her. What did Daniel think I’d need help with? I found it absurd he thought I’d need help with anything. It’d taken me a few hours to figure out how to become human again after fleeing the wildfires, but I’d gotten to the point I barely had to think about it to trigger the flash of pain and the disconcerting lurch as I shifted from an oversized owl to human. My clothes hadn’t emerged unscathed, and I sighed over the new holes in the fabric.

  I should’ve been grateful the tears were in acceptable locations. Once clothed, I considered my escape routes, of which there was exactly one: through the door where Daniel waited.

  While tempted to run so I could test his willingness to chase me, I accepted the reality of my situation. Even if I ran, he’d catch me without much effort.

  I smoothed my clothes the best I could, lifted my chin, and said, “I don’t need help shifting, you know.”

  My words summoned Daniel, who closed the door behind him. “Good. Honestly, I expect you’re better at shifting than most. Your virus developed a lot faster than expected, too.”

  “It was either shift or burn to death,” I reminded him.

  “I’m sorry you lost your home.”

  “Shit happens.”

  Taking a seat across from me, Daniel looked me over and sighed. “Can you handle answering a few questions? If you need to settle in and get something to eat first, just tell me. I don’t think this’ll take long, but it’ll keep the paper shufflers happy.”

  “Heaven forbid we disappoint the paper shufflers.”

  “Exactly. They’re vicious when thwarted.”

  “What are your questions?”

  Daniel clasped his hands in front of him on the table, and he alternated between clenching his fingers until his knuckles turned white and relaxing his grip. “Why didn’t you have your cards replaced?”

  Did he really not understand why I wouldn’t want anyone to know I’d shifted? Then again, he had the hybrid form. He had options. “It was hard enough keeping a job while infected. I’m too much of a liability without a pack.” I wrinkled my nose at the thought of being a bird among wolves, a target because of my gender and lack of a mate. “Everyone always assumes I’m a wolf.”

  “Ural owls are rare. You’re one of twenty in North America. Unlike traditional lycanthropes, our species has a tendency to engage in long courtships. Most pairs only have one or two children, and the odds of passing on the virus is slim. This might comfort you: it’s harder to catch the infection from one of us. I was infected before birth, which puts me as an oddity, too.”

  “I still managed to catch the virus.” Somehow, I managed to keep my tone from turning bitter.

  I accepted Daniel hadn’t been at fault, and I believed him when he claimed he’d wanted to protect me. I suppose he had; catching his virus far surpassed being burdened with Brad’s.

  “Brad’s the kind who wants what others have—or wants to stop others from having something. He knew I was interested in you. I’d been wanting to court you for years before the fight happened. It’s my theory, now that I know you were infected with my virus, that my virus took action to infect you so you wouldn’t be taken by another lycanthrope. Please believe me when I say I meant to go about courting you in a far nicer fashion, after I found a way to win you without costing you the career you’d wanted.”

  While I found that hard to believe, I decided I’d hear him out before judging him. “Why?”

  “You were always something special. I’ve always believed if I won you, I’d never have to worry about breaking you. You were born tough. You could handle anything I tossed your way. You broke Brad’s face with a crowbar, and you did it so it would hurt more. I’ve always thought you were incredible, but when you went after him to defend yourself, it confirmed what I’d always believed. You’re vicious, but you’re not malicious.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, Daniel. If I ever catch Brad alone in a dark alley, I’ll be the living definition of malicious.”

  “If Brad knows what’s good for him, he’ll avoid you. If he even thinks of raising a hand against you, I’ll tear him apart myself.”

  I frowned. Competing with Daniel for rights to beat the life out of Brad hadn’t been part of my plans, such as they were. Then it filtered in that Daniel implied he would’ve infected me if given a chance. “And how would you have infected me?”

  His answer would form the foundation of how I’d handle him in the future, if I needed a crowbar to rearrange his face, and how much effort I’d put into making a break for freedom.

  His smile interested my virus too much for my own good. “My plan had been a simple but effective one. First, I’d convince you that I’m worth sticking around for. Then, after proper disclosure of the nuances of the lycanthropy virus, I would’ve begged you to marry me. Then I would’ve begun a very long campaign of making love to you repeatedly to ensure infection.”

  Daniel’s blunt admission shocked me, revved my virus’s engine, and added to my desire to break the extra bed to ensure maximum chances of giving him exactly what he wanted. “Oh.”

  Great. I sounded like an idiot.

  “It would’ve taken me years to get through my plan. We owls have an almost ritualistic approach to courting. My mother thinks it’s because you women want to make sure us men aren’t useless wastes of air like Brad. It begins with food. An interested man, such as myself,
will make food offerings to the woman he wants to court. If accepted, it’s considered an invitation to make additional advances. It’s a game. By offering you food, I’m displaying my interest. You, as the one I’m courting, will try to take me for all I’m worth. You’ll ask for better food, things you want, or issue challenges. I need to prove I’m determined enough to earn the right to be your partner.”

  “Wait. You’ll feed me, I’ll ask for stuff, and you’ll just give it to me?” I blurted. “How’s that even fair?”

  “If I succeed, it’s generally accepted you’d be agreeing to be my mate. That’s worth any challenge you throw my way.”

  I narrowed my eyes, well aware he’d bribed me with a lot of food to lure me to his hotel room. “And this started by your offers to feed me?”

  “Until you’re healthy, gaining weight, and settled, any food offerings are platonic in nature. I need to earn you. When you accept my offerings, you’ll do so knowing exactly what you’re getting into.”

  “I better still get those cupcakes. An entire box of them.”

  “Let’s start with one. I’d rather you didn’t get sick. When you’re ready to tackle an entire box of them, I’ll provide them as promised.”

  I couldn’t argue with him since I didn’t want to get sick, either. “I want beef jerky. You taunted me using your damned dog. I thought about eating your dog.”

  “That dog is actually my boss, a wolf lycanthrope with a potent illusionary ability. He was keeping an eye on Brad. Brad doesn’t realize he’s being monitored.”

  “Oh.”

  “I wasn’t trying to taunt you. I had no idea you were starving.”

  “I’m not good at hunting,” I whispered.

  “It’ll be better now,” he promised. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know, and those nights you don’t catch anything, I’ll make sure you go to bed with a full stomach anyway.”

  I couldn’t remember what it felt like to be anything other than hungry, and once the first frustrated tear leaked out, I couldn’t stop the rest from falling.