And yet… Dolores’ scent still lingered in his nostrils. There was something about her that had gotten under his skin, like an itch that made him want to rub his hide against a tree trunk. But try as he might, he couldn’t scratch it out. And he’d sent her a truck. Stupid, stupid bear. His jaw began to ache as the bones stretched and broadened, and his skin bristled with the beginnings of fur.
And then came a knock on the door. Three sharp raps. Niall’s knock. Olsen let off a bad-tempered rumble. He could do without seeing the clan’s Second right now. He tore the door open and greeted Niall with a snarl. Niall strode through the door nonchalantly and looked around, his gaze immediately centering on the phone, which was lying facedown on the floor at the foot of his bed. Goddamn him. Why did he have to be so observant?
“Phone been giving you a hard time, bro?” Niall said.
Olsen growled. He was trying hard to hold back his shift, and wasn’t in the mood for Niall’s “jokes” as he liked to call them. His head felt thick and confused, and his claws pushed at his fingertips, itching to be out in the forest, tearing up the mulchy earth.
Niall ignored him and retrieved the phone, lips curving in an irritating smirk. And when he turned it over and read the message, a rumbling laugh burst out of his chest.
Olsen’s claws exploded out of his fingertips, burning to dig into his clan-mate’s neck.
“Dude, what’s this? Some girl sends you a nice message and you send her this random stuff. A woman? A bear? A truck?” His laughter got even louder. “What gives?”
With a roar, Olsen leapt at Niall, throwing his full weight on top of him, and sent him crashing to the floor. Niall struggled hard, but Olsen was easily able to pin him with his pure animal strength, his bear straining beneath his skin the entire time. Niall’s amusement faded, replaced with something close to fear. It was a look Olsen had seen in several clan mates’ eyes when he’d gotten mad. He sensed they thought of him as being more bear than they were, and they were uneasy at his excessive strength and wilder ways. This gave him no pleasure at all. But he couldn’t back down now. Niall had pushed him too far. He snatched the phone from Niall’s hand and held it two inches from his face.
“What does the message say?”
“What?” Niall’s forehead creased in incomprehension.
“I want you to read it to me. Every single word.”
“Why?”
“Just read it!”
Niall repeated the message in a strangled voice.
“Hey, Olsen,
Funny to see we’re both on this site :) Hey, I’m just shooting you a message to say thank you so much for helping me on Thursday. I hadn’t even realized I was having a panic attack until you reassured me. And thanks to you, I managed to finish the interview and I’ll be starting work at the school next week!
I wish you all the best.
Yours sincerely,
Dolores”
“Okay,” Olsen said, releasing his grip on Niall’s throat. He climbed off him and allowed him to get to his feet.
Niall glared at him with barely repressed fury, and something else. Some human emotion he didn’t know how to interpret. “Dude, no disrespect, but you’re a fucking psycho! And you know what? You don’t deserve a girl like that.”
Olsen grunted. Unfortunately, those were his own thoughts exactly. “What did you come here for anyway?” he snarled.
“To ask if you wanted in on the next job we’re doing. But forget it. It’s not happening.”
“What job?”
“Up in the Birchendacks.”
“I’m busy anyway!” he bawled after Niall’s retreating back, before his front door slammed shut with a crunch.
Olsen slumped against the wall of his cabin and stared at his phone. She was thanking me for helping her, that’s all. But instead, of relief, there was a prickle of disappointment in his chest. He shrugged it off. I can fix this, he thought, flicking through his emojis. He chose a big thumbs-up and a smiley face, and hit send. Sending her a truck probably confused the hell out of her, but she’ll get the message this time.
The frustration and sadness that had been clouding his thought ever since Dolores messaged him lifted, and he stepped out of his clothes and transformed into a huge, honey-brown bear, before stepping off his porch and out into the forest.
8
Dolores stood in front of the mirror in her cozy new bathroom, peering at her reflection, her heart beating fast in her chest. Today’s the day. The day that she’d return to teaching for the first time in six months. For the first time since an angry parent threw a firebomb through her front door and destroyed everything she cared about in life. She applied light make up and arranged her curtain of dark hair over the scar on her face. She was getting used to it, mostly. But sometimes the sight of it brought everything rushing back. And if anyone asked her about it, she felt her whole world crashing down around her. She was lucky, she reminded herself. She’d come close to losing the sight in her left eye. Another half inch, and her life would be very different now. But that didn’t make the thought of the day ahead any easier. Kids can be very cruel, as she’d learned over the years. And they didn’t have adult discretion. Their eyes wouldn’t slide away when they caught sight of the ugly pink weals that covered the side of her face. They’d say Miss, what’s that? What happened to your face? And she might fall apart again.
Just try, Tamika had said to her. Dolores hadn’t had to explain everything to her new boss. Tamika’s intelligent eyes had taken it all in. Try the job for a month, and if it doesn’t work out, no hard feelings on either side. I want you to be happy, Dolores. I care about that as much as I care about the kids. “Just try,” she repeated to her reflection. And then she shook herself, put her shoulders back. “Dolores Martin, you can do this. You’re tough.”
Adrenaline was still swirling in her stomach, but she ignored it as she brushed her teeth, collected her purse and jacket and strode out of her brand-new cabin.
As Dolores entered the school yard, Tamika rushed up to her and enveloped her in a fragrant hug, as if they were best friends.
“How are you, my dear?” Tamika trilled. “How’s the new place?”
“It’s beautiful! It’s the prettiest place I’ve ever lived in,” Dolores said, with a twinge of realization as she spoke the words. It was. It was even prettier than her old house.
“I’m so glad to hear that. And the neighbors will be over soon to introduce themselves, if they haven’t already. They’re a great bunch of humans and shifters. And did I give you Olsen’s number? Give him a call if you need any alterations making to the cabin.”
At the sound of Olsen’s name, Dolores got another little twinge in her stomach. Yesterday, he’d sent her a big thumbs up and another :-), to add to the collection of bizarre symbols that were coming her way. “Yes you did,” she replied, knowing that there was no way she’d call him.
“I’m dying to ask you all about your experience with Shiftr too, but I guess I should leave that until later in the day.” Tamika clapped her hands together. “Now, are you ready to meet your new class?”
“Sure am!” Dolores said, trying her best to conceal her nerves.
“Let’s go to the classroom and I’ll show you around, so you’ll be prepared for the little monsters when they arrive.”
Dolores must have looked stricken, because Tamika laid her hand on her arm. “I was joking, my dear. They’re lovely kids. All very well-brought up by their parents.”
The classroom was a joy to behold. It was so spacious and well-organized, with separate play and learning areas. All the equipment was new and very good quality, and the walls were covered with blank pin boards, crying out to be covered with children’s artwork. She’d be teaching the first graders – a year she adored. She loved their restless curiosity and enthusiasm, and the way they’d suddenly get sleepy in the afternoons and climb on her lap, reminding her that they were still babies.
“As I explained the other day, t
he curriculum is up to you. Please teach them as you see fit. I have every confidence in you,” Tamika said. Dolores glowed. Confidence. That was something she hadn’t felt for a long time. And right now, her mouth was very dry, and her hands were balled into fists.
Tamika brought them coffees and they sat down and chatted, Dolores telling her all the plans she had for the kids, while Tamika nodded enthusiastically and asked her lots of questions.
“I’m so excited to have you here, Dolores,” she said. “You’re a magical teacher. I can feel it.”
Dolores blushed and gave a nervous laugh. “I sure hope I can live up to those expectations,” she said.
The classroom door crashed open and two giggling, squealing balls of energy burst in and catapulted themselves at Tamika. They were large kids, but she managed to hold them in her arms as they smothered her in kisses.
“This is Bryce and this is Daniel,” she said laughing. “They’re both wolf pups. Boys, meet your new teacher, Miss Martin.” Immediately, they got shy, hiding behind Tamika’s chair. But Dolores crouched down and held out a hand to them, and slowly they came out and said hello. They were good-looking boys, with narrow, intelligent eyes. Bryce’s were pale blue and Daniel’s were an unusual shade of green.
“Wolf pups are often shy around strangers, but very affectionate when they get to know you,” Tamika said. “And here are their moms – Christie and Annabel.”
Two attractive women with curves as full as Dolores’ own entered the room and came over to them.
“It’s so great to meet you!” Christie said, as Dolores introduced herself. “I’ve been home schooling Bryce for the past few years, as there were no shifter schools anywhere around, so I’m real excited for him to have a real teacher. Especially one with your experience.”
Annabelle also greeted her warmly.
“Same here,” she said. “It’s sure been a steep learning curve bringing up a shifter pup. Whew!” She passed her hand across her forehead in mock exhaustion. “I’m looking forward to someone who knows what they’re doing taking him off my hands.” Dolores flashed a confident smile, belying the fact that her guts were churning.
“I’ll be sure to do my best with your sons. I can’t wait to get to know them. They seem like lovely boys.”
Christie blew out a puff of air. “They are, when they’re not tearing the house up, or demanding to be taken out in the forest. Good luck!” Both women grinned at her and waved goodbye.
“I hope that didn’t put you off,” Tamika said, once they were out of earshot.
“Not at all,” she replied, wondering just how much of a handful those kids were going to be.
Dolores spent five minutes speaking to the boys, trying to figure out their level of learning and thinking about how she could get the best out of them, and then some more kids came in with their parents in dribs and drabs, until she had a full class of fifteen.
“I’ll be employing a full-time teaching assistant for you,” Tamika explained. “But until then, I’ll be filling in. So don’t worry – you won’t be left alone with them, until you’re more experienced at dealing with shifters.”
When all the parents had gone, Dolores’ nerves dropped a couple of notches. While she was edgy about looking after a class of unruly kids, it was the parents she truly feared. She had them all sit down on the carpets, cross-legged, and they stared up at her, with bright, curious eyes, while she took the attendance register. She found they loved telling her their names and what kind of shifter they were, and she even managed to guess a couple of the species before they were revealed. She had two wolves, six bears, three tigers, one lion, one coyote, and two horses.
“Bears are always overrepresented in Hope Valley,” Tamika said. “It’s because they live in big clans, and after the first couple moved over here, lots of other bears joined them. But I think you’ll enjoy teaching them. They’re straightforward and good-hearted, and very good with their hands.”
Olsen popped into Dolores’s mind again, and she gazed around the room, thinking how much of it had been built by his hands.
Next, Dolores asked the kids to tell her their news, getting each one to stand up in turn, and tell a story about something that had recently happened in their lives. At first, they were polite, each waiting for their turn to speak. But soon they got excited, and started speaking over each other. She noted that each species was competitive among themselves, but they were a little shy of other species. So in the next task, she split up each species, and sent some to play in the sandpit, some to the painting table and others to the clay modeling table.
They were very nice kids, she noted, as she watched them interact with each other. There was none of the hostility that she’d seen at her previous school – hostility that the kids had evidently learned from their parents then played out among their peers.
There was the midmorning break, where Dolores was amazed to see the kids happily tucking into fruits and vegetables from their lunchboxes. And then she let them loose in the outside play area. Tamika had to go and attend to an urgent task, and Dolores found a spot where she could stand and watch them all at once. They were incredibly agile, most of them looking like they could try out for the national gymnastics team. Four of them were playing on the hanging ropes, taking turns to race to the top. One of the bigger kids – a bear shifter – started trying to pull one of the others off the ropes, accompanied by lots of excitable yelling and shrieking, then they all joined in the new game. Soon, it was getting more and more boisterous, and as she moved closer to tell them to cut it out, something weird happened. One of the kids dropped onto all fours, and his back humped and his arms and legs got a lot bigger. Then his clothes tightened all over his body, there was a ripping sound, and they burst off him altogether. But his skin didn’t look like skin – it seemed to be sprouting fur all over. There was a series of clicks and crunches, followed by a loud crack, and the boy was no longer a boy, but a wolf pup. Dolores clapped her hand over her mouth to silence the scream that had arisen on her lips.
“Oh my God!” she said aloud. Her instinct was to run away from this wolf, which although a pup, was practically the same size as her. And then another boy also dropped onto all fours, his body beginning to contort. Dolores looked around wildly. She was pretty sure this shouldn’t be happening. And she wanted to go get help. But she also knew that there was no way she was going to leave the kids alone. Then one of the wolf pups let out a howl – a baby sound, but loud enough to echo around the grounds. Shit. This is my fault. She didn’t know how she could have prevented this, but she knew that she was to blame. And then the other wolf pup howled as well. Didn’t Tamika say that most shifters didn’t experience their first shift until their teens? What have I done? Her heart began to pound, hard. Then the two wolf pups launched themselves at each other and began to scrap, claws and teeth flying.
Dolores ran up to them clapping her hands together, but they paid her no attention at all. They were growling and snarling like fighting puppies, rolling over and over, and nipping at each other’s flesh. “Oh, God! Stop it right now!” she yelled and clapped, and at last she waded in and tried to separate them. But all she got for her efforts was a bite on her wrist. She stifled the yell of pain, and backed away, the color draining from her face. Her head spun. I can’t do this again. I can’t endure any more injuries from the kids I teach.
Suddenly, a loud, animal rumble came from right behind her. She gasped and spun around. There was Olsen, hands on hips, and deep blue eyes blazing with annoyance. Her stomach tightened. He’s mad at me. He took a couple of long steps toward the scrapping kids and made another long, deep sound, somewhere between a growl and a purr.
Immediately, the pups quit fighting, and turned and stared at him. Then, in unison they rolled onto their backs, exposing their white, furry tummies to him. He purred again. Then he bent down reached behind the head of each one, grabbed them by the scruff of the neck, and, even though they probably weighed around 80 pounds eac
h, held them up high in the air.
“No fighting in school,” he said. “You do exactly what Miss Martin tells you. Do you understand?” Both pups whimpered. He released them from the grasp of his huge hands, and they fell to the ground. “Now, try to shift back to your human form. Think of yourselves as boys. Imagine your bodies getting smaller. Your fur becoming skin again.”
Dolores had to stifle a laugh as she watched their efforts. They contorted their small bodies, letting off yaps and grunts, as they tried to shuck off their fur, and regain their smaller, human forms.
For a long time, it wasn’t happening. But then there was some clicks and crunches, and their bodies began to thrash and hump, as if they were having a seizure. And slowly, painfully, they reshaped themselves into the human forms, and two little boys stood in front of her, looking dazed and exhausted. And they both burst into tears.
“Shush, it’s okay. Come here.” Olsen squatted down and held out his arms, and the boys rushed into them, burying their small faces in his massive shoulders. Olsen threw Dolores a sheepish glance. “They’ll be fine now,” he mouthed. Dolores separated her hands, realizing that she’d been twisting them together painfully, and rolled her shoulders back.
At that moment, Tamika strode into the playground.
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