by Sable Sylvan
“So what do we have here?” asked Alice.
“We have some Norwegian country bread,” said Herbert, putting a small toast slice onto Alice’s plate. “Then, of course, we have the famous Nordic smoked salmon. The dark jam is from the bjørnebær, the ‘bear berry,’ but you Anglophones call it a ‘blackberry.’ I guess the one thing us Norwegian bears and the bear shifters you have in America have in common is a liking for salmon and blackberries.”
“Have you been to the Pacific Northwest?” asked Alice.
“I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure,” said Herbert. “Why?”
“Because that region’s famous for its salmon and its blackberries,” said Alice. “A girl on my hall freshman year was from the Oregon area. She said there are lots of shifter towns there, and they even have a special kind of blackberry called a Marionberry.”
“Måriønbær…hmm,” said Herbert. “I’ll have to have those imported.”
“Imported? I think for that price you might be better off visiting and eating your fill,” said Alice with a laugh.
“Then I supposed we’ll have to go there for another date,” said Herbert wickedly.
Herbert explained the rest of the delicious dishes to Alice. There was smoked eel, barbecued shrimp, and tart red lingonberry jelly. There was even roasted reindeer.
After dinner, it was off to the lake. The lake was just down the hill from the lookout point, and the ducks were still up. Herbert had some bread for them to throw to the ducks from the bridge.
“Are you having a good time?” Herbert asked Alice.
“Yes, but…” started Alice.
“But?” asked Herbert.
“I hope my sisters are having a good time,” said Alice. “Thanks for the movies and the pizza.”
“I’m sure they’re fine without you,” said Herbert.
“You know, you don’t know my sisters or me that well,” said Alice, crossing her arms.
“Okay, what do I need to know, Alice?” asked Herbert.
“Well, first off, our parents named us after spicy stuff,” said Alice. “It’s so stupid, but, that’s what they did.”
“Wait, what?” asked Herb. “I know about every spice there is to know about. What spice is related to the name Alice?”
“My name is Alice Penny Quincy,” said Alice. “It’s Allie, for short. Allie Penny. Get it? Like ‘jalapeño.’”
“Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but I get it,” said Herbert. “What are the others?”
“Well, okay…the next eldest is Abigail. Her middle name is Olivia, so she’s ‘Abby O,’ habanero,” said Alice. “I guess she’s just lucky her middle name isn’t ‘Arrow.’”
“That one really is a stretch,” said Herbert. “Keep going.”
“Middle child is Addison, Addison Obelia,” said Alice. “She hates her middle name, but I think it’s prim and proper sounding, which is probably why she hates it. Her nickname is, ‘Addy Obby.’”
“Like adobo?” asked Herbert. “Adobo chiles?”
“Close, adobo chipotles,” said Alice. “You’re catching on. The last two are obvious, Cayenne and Savina.”
“Are they really named Cayenne and Savina?” asked Herbert. “I haven’t talked to your siblings. That just hit me. Only you and I have talked.”
“Yeah, because I forbid my sisters from getting into any trouble with your brothers,” said Alice.
“Seems like they should’ve stopped us from getting in trouble,” said Herbert.
“What are your brothers’ names anyway?” asked Alice.
“Clove, Sage, Basil, and Mason, but he likes to be called Mace, makes him sound tough, at least, he thinks it does,” said Herbert.
“Seriously? Clove? Sage? Basil? Mace? And I’m the one with a family with weird names?” said Alice.
“Hey, those are all pretty common names,” said Herbert. “But yes, my father thought it was amusing, given the relationship that the Scoville clan has with spices.”
“So you’re a Scoville through your father?” asked Alice. “Neat. I’m a Quincy through my dad.”
“Yes, and my brothers and I are the only heirs to the Scoville fortune,” said Herbert. “My grandfather and my father are still with us, though.”
“That must be nice,” said Alice. “My father helped out my grandpa, but he didn’t take over the store. He and Grandpa decided the best thing was for me to take over the business. My dad’s health isn’t like it used to be, so being retired with mom suits him.”
“Did your father have any siblings?” asked Herbert.
“Nope, the only kid my grandparents had was my dad,” said Alice. “Funny how that works. Hey, were you serious about getting some dessert? Because it’s getting pretty late.”
“We could get something at my hotel,” said Herbert. “The hotel bar is open pretty late, and they have a selection of desserts.”
“I’d like that,” said Alice, taking Herbert’s hand into hers. This date had turned out well after all. There was nothing that could mess this up for either of them.
Chapter Eight
Herbert and Alice talked during the car ride to the hotel. Herbert was staying at the Fallowedirt Hotel, the only hotel in town, and luckily, it wasn’t too far from Alice’s house. It was in Fallowedirt’s downtown area, which wasn’t much more than the lower part of Main Street. Even though not many folks passed through Fallowedirt, it was one of the nicer hotels in Bright Star County, and it had a certain charm.
The limo dropped off Herbert and Alice. The couple headed in. The bar was on the first floor of the hotel. They sat at the bar and ordered a fruit and cheese plate, a glass of wine for her, a tumbler of scotch for him.
“Just a moment, I need to straighten up,” said Herbert.
“Of course,” said Alice. She pulled out her phone to see if she had any messages. Worst case scenario, her sisters had managed to burn down the house. There were no messages or missed calls. Phew!
Alice pulled her hoodie on. It had gotten a little chilly.
“Hey, toots,” said a voice.
Alice turned. There was a man in a leather jacket taking a seat next to her.
“Hey,” said Alice, not wanting to be rude.
“Take that hoodie off, show me them curves,” said the man, motioning for her to spin. That’s when Alice noticed his hands. The marks. They were like the paw pads of a dog. The man had green eyes and black hair with gray streaks. Something about him just seemed…wolfish, and the wolf whistle he gave her didn’t hurt matters.
Alice turned back to the bartender, ignoring the man, but the shifter stood and put his arm around her waist and gave her a tug.
“Come on, let’s go party,” said the man.
“Get off of me!” shouted Alice, pushing the man away from her.
Herbert came back from the bathroom. He hadn’t noticed what was going on, and when he saw the shifter with his arm around his date, his eyes flashed pale blue. The polar inside him roared. Herbert had kept the shift at bay during his trip to the small town, knowing shifters had a reputation, in some parts, and that that reputation could get him into more trouble than his family wanted. However, there was a reason that shifters had their reputation: they were willing to protect those close to them no matter what.
Herbert ran up to the man and picked him up by his plaid shirt.
“Get your hands off her, and keep them off,” warned Herbert.
“Or what?” asked the shifter. “I’ll have to deal with your teddy bear ass?”
“That’s right, but I’m no teddy,” said Herbert. “Polar. One hundred percent. And he’s real close to coming out to play.”
“Then let’s dance,” said the shifter, pulling away from Herbert and getting down on his four legs before lunging, transforming in mid lunge. The clothes the man was wearing came apart and where the man had been was a large black wolf, with gray streaks in its fur, and brilliant bright green eyes that looked rabid, feral, as if they were really intending to tak
e Herbert down and put him to ground.
The wolf was fast, but not fast enough to hit Herbert while Herbert was still in human form. The polar had been waiting for the wolf to make one wrong move, and of course, the wolf had no idea who he was messing with. If he had, there was no frikkin’ way he would’ve attacked.
In front of her very eyes, Herbert shifted. Alice had never seen anything as enthralling as the transformation that took place before her very eyes. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. One second, Herbert was standing in front of her, wearing his fancy schmancy suit with cufflinks and leather shoes, the next, there was a big white furry bear roaring at its nemesis for the night, a wolf with gray fur, green eyes, and claws that sent a shiver down Alice’s spine.
Herbert’s body expanded, the suit ripping before tearing to shreds as if a balloon had popped and shreds of latex had become airborne. The scraps of fabric were like confetti and what was left were bits and pieces of expensive cloth, his wallet, his phone, and his keys. Even the fine Italian leather shoes had been destroyed during the shift.
Fur came out of his skin as his body undid and remade itself, turning Herbert from human to bear. The only things that were the same after the transformation were the marks on his hands, which had gone from being callouses to being real paw pads, and the steely blue of his eyes, which glinted in the low light of the bar. The patrons were all moving to the sides of the room, and Herbert shot Alice a look. He nodded his head towards the side. Alice knew what he meant. She had to get the heck outta the way!
Alice moved to the side of the bar. The wolf was circling the large white bear. Herbert had size on his side, but the wolf had cunning. Would strength beat speed? There was only one way to find out.
The wolf finally lunged at the polar again. The giant white bear swatted the wolf out of the way, and the wolf yelped as it hit a chair. The chair was knocked to the ground, and the food and glassware on the table hit the ground. The china plates shattered, but the wolf wasn’t about to leave with his tail between his legs, at least not yet.
The wolf roared at the polar and howled. The polar roared back, louder, but the wolf had a look on its face that the polar couldn’t understand. Why did he have a feeling something bad was going to happen?
The polar listened as a howling sound came through the windows. They had company, and it wasn’t about to be pretty.
The polar turned and watched the windows. What was going to happen? Who the heck had the wolf called?
There was a crash. Through the large windows looking out onto the main street came shadowy forms, crashing through the glass and landing on the pads of their feet in the hotel bar. The polar hadn’t seen them coming as the street was dark and the wolves were all like the wolf in the bar, shadowy, with black coats with streaks of gray and white.
The wolves howled at the polar, but the polar wasn’t about to lose his ground. He roared back in their faces.
The wolves lunged at the bear, but the last thing the bear was about to do was to lose a fight for his mate. Sure, he and Alice hadn’t confirmed it, but what the heck else could explain the connection they had? He hadn’t felt a connection like that since…a time he had no time to think about.
The polar used the wolves’ own weight against them. He knocked one to the left, then, as the next lunged, he pushed that wolf to the left too, so it landed on its pack mate. The next wolf that lunged ended up in the dog pile as well. The third and final outside wolf lunged from the right, but the polar swiped the wolf hard into the pile of wolves before the polar got onto the bar and jumped, like a pro wrestler, onto the wolf pile, trapping the wolves underneath his heavy body.
A wolf wheezed. The polar bear was heavier than it looked, and that white fur wasn’t exactly slimming to begin with! The wolf wiggled its way out of the pile, but the polar grabbed it and roared in its face. The wolf didn’t have to be told twice. It yelped as it scampered away back towards the street, leaving three wolves (the two remaining outside wolves and the original wolf in the leather jacket) behind.
One wolf wiggled out of the pile, and the polar slammed it to the ground with its paw, the wolf’s back on the ground, its belly facing up. The polar stared the wolf down. The polar’s eyes were as steely gray as a Nordic storm, and the wolf’s forest green eyes were not filled with the same passion as the polar’s glistening orbs. The wolf knew that this polar wasn’t playing around. There was a chance for the wolf to leave. Would it take it?
The wolf was off like a shot.
That left one wolf underneath the polar, but where was the first wolf?
The polar wasn’t the only one who could jump off the bar. The original wolf had slunk onto the bar and aimed carefully for the polar, moving quietly and carefully. The wolf lunged, landing on the polar’s back.
As soon as Herbert felt the wolf’s paws hit his back, he turned, but the wolf had grabbed onto his neck!
Herbert bucked like a bull and scraped his back against a table as if he was rubbing his back on a tree in the forest. The wolf was scraped off, and Herbert faced the two wolves, the one outside wolf and the wolf who had stirred this all up to begin with.
Herbert roared. He’d warned them to leave in an undeniably primal way, but they hadn’t. What was their end game?
Out of nowhere came a chair that hit the intruder wolf with a sickening crack. The wolf was knocked into a daze, and the first wolf’s concentration was broken. It was staring at its pack mate, wondering if the thing to do was to end the fight and take the pack mate to the clan doctor or to continue the fight.
The wolf turned. Who the heck had used the chair?
The answer to that question was curvy, sassy, and had another chair ready to strike.
“Go,” ordered Alice. “You git! Go on now, and don’t you dare come back ‘round these parts, or you’ll have me to mess with!”
The townspeople and hotel staff hooted and hollered.
The wolf shifter shifted out of his form, back into his naked human body, and without a word, grabbed his unconscious pack mate, who was slowly shifting back into a human form, before leaving out the lobby entrance.
“That’s right, you better leave!” shouted Alice, and everyone in the restaurant clapped.
Alice turned back to Herbert. He’d already shifted out of his polar bear form, and he had a tablecloth wrapped around his shoulders, but it didn’t hide what he had down below. Alice felt rude staring, so she tried to keep her eyes on his face, but it was difficult when much more interesting things were found below the belt…or rather, where he should be wearing a belt.
A concierge rushed up to Herbert.
“Mr. Scoville, sir, we’re so sorry,” said the concierge. “Here at the Fallowedirt Hotel, we do not have truck with violent people like the man who attacked you. We’re escorting him from the premises to a motel down the street, and will be on the lookout to ensure he does not disrupt your visit again.”
“That’s quite all right,” insisted Herbert. “Although, do you happen to have something I might be able to cover myself up with?”
“I’m so sorry sir,” said the concierge. “We don’t exactly, uh…that is to say…”
“Not many shifters come this way, I’ve noticed,” said Herbert. “It’s truly quite all right. A towel would suffice.”
A busboy walked by, and the concierge stopped him and whispered something in his ear. The bus boy nodded, turned to put down his tray, and the concierge undid the busboy’s apron.
“Here, I know it’s not much, but, it’s what we have,” said the concierge before passing the apron to Herbert. “Again, we extend our dearest apologies.”
“Hey, you’re not the one who shifted and destroyed a bar,” said Herbert, tying the small black apron around his waist. “Do send me the bill for the damages.”
“But it’s not your fault that the bar is, well─” said the concierge.
“A mess,” offered Herbert. “Well, somebody’s got to pay for it, and I’m sure that the wolf
isn’t about to do the right thing and pay for it. Trust me. You don’t want this to go through insurance. Just send me the bill. It’s the least I can do for the hospitality I’ve been shown here in Fallowedirt.”
“I’ll have to talk to my manager,” said the concierge. “But, I will. I promise. Thank you so, so much, Mr. Scoville.”
“Don’t mention it,” said Herbert, taking his keys, phone, and wallet from Alice and putting them in the front pouch of the apron, before pulling the wallet back out to pull something out. “And really, don’t mention it.” Herbert passed the concierge a few hundred dollar bills.
The concierge’s eyes widened.
“Of course, sir,” said the concierge, nodding before walking away.
“What was that?” asked Alice. “You know, he’s right. You don’t have to pay for the damages or tip the concierge.”
“Ah, but I do,” said Herbert. “The last thing I need is more trouble, rumors, gossip. If I wasn’t a Scoville, sure, we could just go back upstairs to the room, but being a Scoville means something. It means I’m looked at more closely than others, scrutinized, if you will. If I didn’t pay for the damages, the press would have a field day. Tipping the concierge ensures they won’t even be alerted as to what happened, and not to offend, but, it’s not like much happens in Fallowedirt, and a story like this would make the front page, and snowball into a scandal.”
“And you want to avoid being implicated in a scandal,” said Alice.
“No, I want to keep you out of that limelight,” said Herbert. “But, even if I weren’t a Scoville, I’d pay for the damages. Like I said, it’s the right thing to do, and what matters is not how much money I have, but how I use it. Supporting small businesses is all well and good, but while someone like you can help a small business by buying goods and services, somebody like me can help through, well, a form of angel investing. Consider it a donation to the continued health of this town’s economy.”
“You really are something else,” said Alice. “You can go from suave, charismatic heir to billions, to big, furry predator that can destroy a room, and back again, within minutes.”
