Shifting Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  Maybe she didn’t have to find out. Maybe Zach would fix all of this at full moon.

  Hope burned bright in him for once in his life. Maybe all his problems would be solved in less than two week’s time.

  **

  Penny drove back home totally confused. She liked Vince, but what the hell was going on with him? It was obvious he had some issues besides just stomach aches, but he wasn’t exactly opening up about anything with her, and Zach hadn’t volunteered any info either. Was that bitchy of her to want to know more about his health? Her, the one who always felt like guys never wanted to get serious with her, was now on the other side wondering how serious she was willing to be with a guy. Was she strong enough to deal with Vince’s obvious health issues? Could she let herself fall for a guy that had stuff going on that she had no idea how to handle?

  She parked in the garage and went down to the club on auto pilot. She headed for the bar, not really sure why, but stopped halfway there when someone called out her name.

  She turned to see two shifters sitting at a table together. One was a wolf she didn’t know, though she’d seen him sometimes as a guard upstairs. The other was Darius, a coyote in her pack. He was part of the online ‘Plan for the Apocalypse’ group that she followed. The group was for anyone, not just shifters, but once they realized there was a large enough group of them that were interested in the topic, they’d splintered off for things like hikes and other activities where their extra strength and speed would just give them away to the humans. They still mixed with humans for meetups that taught other skills, though, like tricks for surviving outdoors for long periods of time, how to build a fire, how to find water and dig a well, how to kill zombies, and basic first aid. That last topic wasn’t quite as important for the shifters, but who knew what skills they’d need if the end of the world came because of a biological attack, or some crazy magical thing. If it somehow messed up their shifter healing abilities, Penny would rather be safe than sorry.

  Except the meetups inevitably devolved into a big free for all with everyone standing around drinking coffee, having side conversations, and eventually cutting in on the presentation with so many jokes and other commentary that they never really learned a whole lot. Darius showed up to a lot of the get-togethers prepared to the extreme, though. He always came with all the latest gear and recorded each presentation either on his phone or with a hand held recorder so he didn’t miss anything. Then he usually left as soon as the presentation lost everyone’s interest, which was about half way through. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy.

  She wandered closer to their table, eyeing the incredibly expensive laptop sitting between him and the muscle head wolf. “Yeah?”

  “Come here. We need your opinion.”

  “On what?” She slowly walked closer. The wolf guy didn’t exactly do anything weird, but something about him made her a little creeped out. Maybe it was his thick neck, solid as a brick body, and the intense look in his eyes as he watched her.

  Or maybe she still felt like a jerk for how she left things with Vince today, and was now imagining things about other people. She tried to lighten her mood by giving the dude a head bob and saying hi.

  He mostly just grunted back at her.

  “What do you think of this brand for a surveillance system?”

  She looked at the bright screen with pictures of the Oxnard Nine cameras and specs listed out in a neat grid.

  “It’s crap. If you can even get it up and running, it bombs out within a day, and then you have never ending customer service calls with the manufacturer about everything they accuse you of doing wrong on the install. Read the reviews online about it.”

  Darius frowned. “We read the reviews. They seemed mixed.” He gestured for her to sit with them. Creepy wolf guy was still giving her weird looks, so she sat next to Darius instead.

  “Well, where are you putting them up? What are you watching for?”

  Wolf guy’s expression closed down and Darius hedged a little before saying, “A buddy’s got a cabin in the woods and wants to put some cameras up to find out about the wildlife. He’s trying to figure out if it’d be a good place to shift and run around.”

  That didn’t feel like such a big secret to be so dodgy about. “Does he have reliable power out there?”

  Wolf man looked down his nose at her and said, “Powers not a problem.”

  She still didn’t like the vibe she got off him, but she pulled the computer closer and started a search. “The most dependable brand is what we’ve got here. Q-See. Here it is.” She turned the computer back to show them the product page.

  “We tried to save some money when we decided to install more cameras out back last year, but the Oxnard’s were nothing but a nightmare. Not sure how much you’re looking to spend, but we ponied up for the more expensive Q-See’s and haven’t had any problems since. They’re not just plug and play, though. They need some setup, and if your power is off and on, they’ll be a nightmare for you. But if you’re trying to record footage, day or night, or just get consistent, reliable images, you’ll need something like these.”

  The guys exchanged a look between them that was obviously communicating something she wasn’t privy to. Luckily for her, her chirping phone saved her from the uncomfortably intense vibe that was growing between them.

  “Hey mom.”

  “Honey, where are you? You said you’d go grocery shopping with me today to pick out what you want for Christmas dinner.”

  “Oh crap! Sorry! I’m on my way!”

  **

  Penny’s trip through the grocery store was a weird experience as she thought about Vince and his mom’s limited ability to buy food while she picked out all the organic, non GMO, and other healthy stuff she was so used to getting. Lots of it was also more expensive than the generic stuff out there, which always seemed to be full of preservatives and other things that were bad for you.

  “What’s his name?”

  “Huh?”

  “The guy who’s got you down in the dumps today. I can smell him on you, you know. Though you two don’t seem to have, you know.”

  Her face instantly felt hot. “Mom! Stop!”

  “Oh don’t give me that. I’m not a prude. Besides, I can’t help what I know. The curse of being a shifter mother.”

  She groaned under her breath, but finally said, “His name is Vince. Zach’s new jaguar.”

  That got a surprised look and a little smirk from her mom. “Really? I heard he’s quite a looker.”

  “Mother!”

  “What?”

  “He is.”

  They shared a chuckle. “I’m confused about him, though.” It didn’t feel like the swoon worthy romance she’d always wanted and she wasn’t sure what to think of that.

  A can of organic black beans got stashed in the cart. “About what, honey?”

  “He’s… well, I’ve never been around someone with… issues.”

  She laughed out loud. “Really? It seems like the guys you date have nothing but issues.”

  She grumbled under her breath. “I mean real issues. Not just stupidity.”

  “What do you mean, real issues?”

  Penny spilled her guts to her mom, including how weird it was that Vince was so awkward and uncoordinated. Instead of the scolding she expected for being insensitive to someone with physical problems, though, her mom surprised her with some heartfelt advice.

  “Honey, no one’s perfect. It’s more important to find someone you trust and enjoy spending time with, someone that makes you feel like they’ve got your back, no matter what. If you can find that, you’re a lucky woman. The rest will find a way to work itself out.”

  **

  The way he and Penny parted after lunch bugged Vince the rest of the afternoon and night. He’d spent too much time around humans, too much time pretending to be human, yet he’d never felt as handicapped as he did now that he hung around shifters. Around humans he was only slightly clumsy. Around shifters
he was hands down disabled and he hated it.

  Luckily he didn’t have a lot of time to wallow in self-pity because after getting off work at three, he had to head straight home to help his mom and Ed pack up the house. Zach hadn’t wasted any time getting a place ready for them in Brookhaven, and some others were going to help get their things moved over as soon as they could get them boxed up. With all the help, they should be in their new place by tonight. His life was changing so fast his head was spinning, and he still wasn’t sure if the good outweighed the bad, but either way it was too late to turn back now.

  Chapter 16

  A piercing blade of bright light woke Vince. He squinted irritably at the source of it, a break in between mostly closed curtains. The sage green color of the drapes looked wrong for some reason, and he finally remembered he wasn’t in his old room anymore. He sat up and looked around himself in wonder.

  It was unreal how fast things had changed after those few, simple words to Zach. ‘My mom and I want to move to Brookhaven.’ He hadn’t even told him in person, he’d just sent a text message. After that, magic happened and they had brand new furniture, a whole team of people to help them pack their belongings, get rid of their old furniture, clean their old place, and move everything over here. In less than a day. If that wasn’t magic, he didn’t know what was.

  He heard movement in the other room and decided to get up. His tired, stiff muscles tried their best to keep him from moving properly, but he was used to pain and exhaustion. If he stayed in bed every time he felt this way, he’d never do anything.

  Boxes were shoved up against his walls, on top of his new dresser, and inside the opened closet. He didn’t have a lot of stuff, but you’d think he did by looking at his unpacked room. He hadn’t wanted anyone touching his things last night, and he hadn’t had the energy to do much beyond making his bed so he could go to sleep, so there everything was waiting for him now.

  He threw on a pair of jeans and joined his mom in the kitchen. She turned and smiled one of the happiest smiles he’d seen on her in a long, long time, which only reinforced the fact that he’d made the right decision in coming here.

  “Honey!” She reached out and gave him a big hug.

  “Good morning, mom.”

  She pulled back and looked around herself in amazement, then went back to unpacking a box of dishes. His attention was drawn to the percolations of the coffee pot, with an empty mug sitting beside it. “Is that for me?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t sure when you’d be up.”

  He reached for the cup and filled it up with his lifeblood, black coffee, then watched her for a time while it cooled. She was busily moving things around the way she liked them, opening cupboards and drawers, sometimes just to look at how big the space was, and occasionally catching his eye. The air was thick with all the emotions she had turning in her this morning.

  He took a sip of coffee, then tried to break the tension. “This is a nice place.”

  She immediately went still, then slowly looked at him.

  He said, “We’ll give it a try. If things go south, we’ll take off and find a way to survive.”

  She silently nodded. They’d already talked this through, all the good and bad things that could happen being here in the midst of a bunch of supernaturals they didn’t really know. By now, there wasn’t much else to say about it.

  He noticed a brand new kitchen towel draped over her shoulder and smiled. “You’ve been wanting new towels.”

  She turned her head to his glance and got a little smile. “Ed asked what my favorite color was.”

  Her cheeks turned rosy pink at the mention of Ed. He chuckled, gave her another hug, and turned to help her unpack when a knock at the door surprised them both.

  Zach, Ed, and a woman jaguar around his mom’s age stood in the doorway with bags of hot food.

  “Hey everyone. Thought you might be hungry.” Zach walked in like he lived here, Ed and the woman trailed more tentatively behind.

  Zach directed the woman to put the food on the table after he moved some boxes off it. As soon as she did, she turned to Vince and said, “You must Vince. I’m Lauren, Zach’s mother.”

  He immediately wished he’d bothered to put a shirt on as he shook her hand. “Ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

  Her smile was warm and her eyes were kind as she said, “Now don’t get all nervous around me. Whatever Zach inherited to make him alpha wasn’t from my side, I can assure you. We’re just so glad to have you two here.”

  She wrapped both hands around his and gave him a little squeeze, his heart sinking at the thought of what he’d inherited from his own father that possibly hadn’t manifested yet.

  When she introduced herself to his mom, and everyone became distracted with situating the food, he slunk back to his room to find a clean shirt.

  Zach followed him in and quietly said, “I’m glad you guys decided to move in.”

  He turned around and was surprised by how serious he looked. And tired. “You’re not normally up this time of day, are you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m up when I need to be up.” He fought a yawn. “I’m usually sleeping during the day, though.”

  Vince looked around his new room as he tried to remember where his shirts were. This place was a thousand times nicer than their old place, not to mention all the new furniture. He almost felt guilty for constantly mistrusting Zach and giving him such a hard time. The others were still making noise in the other room, but just in case, he stepped closer and quietly said, “You promise to protect my mom? From anyone?”

  Zach frowned. “Yeah. That’s what family’s for. Why? What’s bugging you?”

  He stared him down for a time, then said, “Nothing.” Now wasn’t the time to talk about his homicidal father. There were too many people here, and he didn’t want to upset his mom by bringing it up. She’d had enough stress in life to worry about and this should be her time to finally relax.

  He turned back to a box on his dresser and rifled through it. He couldn’t remember if these were his clean or dirty clothes because he’d just thrown everything randomly together last night. He gave a couple shirts a sniff and decided it was his clean pile. He slid it on while Zach closed the door.

  “I want you to try drinking blood.”

  “What?”

  “Blood. We’re supernatural creatures and blood holds power in it. It can also heal… sometimes. It can make people stronger anyway. I want you to try it.”

  He was sure his face couldn’t look any more disgusted than it was.

  “It’s not as bad as you think. In fact, after the first time, some people even start to crave it.”

  “Oh God, stop.” He waited for Zach to make some joke about it and tell him he was kidding, but Zach was either too tired, or this wasn’t a joking matter to him, which was unnerving.

  “Think about it. If that’s all it took to heal you, wouldn’t you want to try it?”

  “Have you ever drank blood?” As soon as he asked that, he remembered the vampire Benicio telling him that he’d torn into Anthony’s arm and drank his blood recently. He kept that to himself.

  “Of course. I’ve had Anthony’s blood more times than I can count over the years. And when I’m shifted into my cat, when I make a kill in the forest… of course I’ve had blood.”

  A vision of Zach running as a powerful, sleek jaguar brought back the sharp sting of always being an outsider in a world he was supposed to belong to.

  “I thought you were going to force my shift on me at full moon. Won’t that heal me?”

  He wasn’t comforted by the uncertainty in Zach’s eyes. “Maybe. But even if I can get you to shift, I don’t know if that’ll fix everything. We just don’t know.”

  **

  They all ate breakfast around the new dining room table, and he hated to admit he liked the feel of all these jaguars together. This group of people that were all cat made it feel like home to him even though he didn’t know them very well. It was l
ike when he first realized how to tell a jaguar’s scent from other animals. Everything about them felt right. Their scent, their movements, their comfortableness with each other… It was as if they’d known each other all their lives.

  When everyone started disbanding, he texted Penny. She said she couldn’t come by today because she was with family, which was more than likely a nice way to tell him she wasn’t interested anymore, so he was on his own tonight. That was ok. Lauren invited him over to her place for Christmas Eve dinner with her and Zach and their family and friends, but as much as he liked this sense of community, things were happening too fast. He wasn’t ready to let his guard down yet, and going to the alpha’s mother’s place felt just a little too close for comfort.

  Besides, he felt like he was now in charge of looking out for both his and his mom’s safety. She’d been the one to insist they not trust too quickly, but she was falling into this like she had no fear. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe she’d decided to hell with the hard life they’d had, especially since it seemed like she’d found someone to love.

  She and Ed were all into each other today, smiling and laughing, Ed sometimes grabbing her into his big arms and just hugging her until she pulled away, especially whenever she looked Vince’s way. Their affection for each other was cute, but he also found it irritating, which made him feel like crap. He shouldn’t be upset at his mom for finding love so fast, and with a seemingly decent guy.

  Penny came to mind again and he scowled. Would he always struggle with absolutely everything in life because of his handicap? Women? Friends? Shifting…?

  He went down to the club so he didn’t spoil his mom’s mood, and had been nursing a beer for a while when Kaia and Anthony stepped out of the vampire hall. Kaia didn’t notice him right away, but Anthony’s eyes locked on him. His expressionless face looked inhuman and intense. It wasn’t until Kaia finally noticed Vince and guided them over to say hello that Anthony seemed even remotely human.