by JC Holly
Snow stood and moved to the curtain, poking his head through. He turned back to Micky and smiled. “Your boyfriend is back.”
He pulled open the curtain a little way, then moved back to the bed to lower it using a small wired remote. As Micky got lower to the ground, he caught his first sight of Hudson’s other form.
“Holy fuck.”
It wasn’t the most original of things to say, but his brain wasn’t running properly at that time. Standing before him was the largest wolf he’d ever seen, and from the look in its eyes, Micky just knew it was Hudson.
“This is…” He licked his suddenly dry lips. “I mean, I don’t…”
“Hey, relax,” Snow said, entirely at ease with the situation. “There’s no rush. Just take it in.”
Hudson paused halfway to the bed and sat on his haunches. His fur—my boyfriend has fur!—mirrored the man’s hair color, a medium brown. The eyes were the same color, too, and seemed to bore right through Micky.
“You’re beautiful,” he managed to say after a moment’s shocked silence.
Snow moved to the bed and put a hand on the rail. “Right, given your injuries and the less than ideal trip over, I’d suggest we get this done and leave the small talk for afterwards. As soon as it’s over, Hudson can shift back, too, and stay with you.”
Micky nodded, his attention still on Hudson. “So, how do we do this?”
“Well…” Snow lifted the side of Micky’s blanket, revealing a bruised leg. “I’d suggest the leg, since you won’t feel it that way. It doesn’t need to be a big bite, either. As long as the skin breaks, and Hudson’s will is behind it, it’ll work.” Snow shrugged. “Hell, you don’t even have to watch.”
“Okay. No, wait.” Micky bit his lip, then nodded to himself. “I want to see it. I think it’s a pretty important thing, and I should watch.”
Snow grinned. “Good man. Kinda like getting a tattoo done. I’m thinking about here, Hud?”
Hudson padded closer, then turned to look at Micky. They held the gaze for the longest time, before Snow cleared his throat.
“Uh, think he wants you to say it’s okay, Micky.”
“Oh.” Micky felt his cheeks color. “Sorry. It’s okay, Hudson.”
Hudson moved closer still, his mouth inches from Micky’s exposed leg, then he closed his eyes. After a moment he opened his jaw and very carefully sank his teeth into Micky’s flesh. There was no pain at all, but there was a momentary feeling of something that Micky had never felt before and couldn’t even begin to explain.
Once it was over, Hudson backed away and Snow bent to wipe the blood from the wolf’s mouth with a tissue. Hudson nodded his thanks to Snow, then left through the curtains. A moment later, the succubus nurse named Zeth reappeared and stooped to inspect the wound. Micky smirked as Snow inspected Zeth’s ass.
“Very nicely done,” Zeth said, as she stood. “I’ll dress it, but it’ll be healed by the morning anyway.”
“Thank you, nurse,” Micky said, stifling a yawn. “Suddenly I’m pretty damn tired.”
“That was me.” She winked. “Magic is easier on the stomach than meds. Sweet dreams, sugar.”
As Micky lay back, an overwhelming tiredness set in. He fought it just long enough for Hudson to reappear, then reached over and brushed the man’s cheek with his thumb.
“Tired,” he managed to mutter.
Hudson smiled and nodded. “It’s okay. Sleep. I’ll be here.”
Micky did as he was told.
Chapter Twelve
Micky awoke to find the pain he’d felt in his dream was very real. He cried out in agony as red hot waves pulsed from his waist and down his legs all the way to his toes, leaving him almost mindless from the sensation.
Hudson was up and by his side in an instant, yelling for a nurse.
“What’s happening to me?” Micky managed to say, half sobbing from the pain.
“It’s the healing. I’m sorry, Micky. I should have realized.”
Zeth pushed past Hudson and stabbed a large needle into the port on Micky’s IV bag, then watched the machines at his side. It took a few minutes before Micky could speak again, and he found to his dismay that he’d bitten his tongue while clenching his jaw.
“Healing?” he asked.
Hudson nodded. “You’re beginning to heal, and that means that the damage that stopped you feeling the pain from the crash is starting to repair.”
“Which means I’m feeling all the other damage,” Micky finished with a grimace. “It’s like fire.”
“I’m sorry,” Hudson said, as he leaned over and half-hugged him. “I should have realized and told the nurses to have something ready.”
Zeth shook her head. “I wouldn’t have administered anything anyway. Not that early after a bite. Meds can screw with the magics.”
Micky blinked the tears of pain from his eyes, then let out a long sigh as the pain began to subside. Within seconds it had reduced to a dull roar, then nothing more than an ache. Whatever had been in the syringe, it certainly wasn’t available to the general public.
There was a draft as Zeth unceremoniously lifted the blanket covering Micky’s legs and inspected his wounds. She poked and prodded a little, then replaced the blanket once more, apparently satisfied.
“Your swelling is much reduced,” she said. “Also, your toe twitched.”
Micky frowned. “It did?”
“It did.” She smiled. “You can thank Hudson’s age for that. Don’t expect to be walking for a few days, and even then you’ll have to take it slow.”
“Given my previous prognosis, a few days is freaking wonderful.”
After a few basic questions, Zeth left once more, leaving Micky alone with Hudson, who immediately leaned over and kissed him hard on the lips. Micky returned the kiss with vigor and was very happy to find a certain part of him rising in response.
“I think it’s safe to say I’m healing,” Micky said.
Hudson grinned as he noticed the tent in the blanket. “Now that’s a welcome sight.”
He stood and walked to the curtains that surrounded the bed and closed the small gap in them, then returned to Micky’s side. Without a word he slid his hand underneath the blanket and wrapped his fingers around Micky’s shaft.
“What if someone comes in?” Micky mumbled under his breath.
“We’ll tell them I’m checking for sensation.” Micky gasped as Hudson rubbed his thumb against the sensitive flesh of his cockhead. Hudson winked. “Looks like you’ve got some feeling there.”
Feeling was an understatement. Whether it was the drugs, the injury, or the gradual change to becoming a shifter—something Micky had decided not to think too hard about yet—Hudson’s work felt ten times as intense as the last time. He began slowly, looking for winces or discomfort, but once he realized that there wasn’t a problem he began to build in speed.
“You like that?” Hudson muttered.
“God, yes,” Micky said, his eyes closed. “Don’t stop.”
“Just think. When you’re all better, we can start where we left off.” He leaned in and kissed Micky on the neck. “And since you’ll be a shifter like me, I won’t need to hold back.”
Micky shuddered at the thought of finally experiencing what he’d been waiting for. The added excitement sped him along, and it wasn’t long before he was tensing up, trying to hold back his orgasm. He couldn’t manage it for long, and grunted as he came. After a few final strokes, Hudson pulled his hand from under the blanket and licked the few pearls of cum from his skin. The sight almost had Micky coming all over again.
“So, we know that part of you works,” Hudson said, chuckling. “The rest will come with time.”
Micky nodded and tried to level off his breathing once more. When his heart rate had slowed again, he turned to Hudson.
“Are there other shifters in the area? That you know, I mean.”
Hudson nodded. “There are a couple of packs that I get along with.”
“Packs?”
“Like in the wild, only a little more civilized. There are some loners like me and Bill, too, but most tend to gravitate toward groups, especially in the beginning.”
“I suppose it makes it easier if you’ve got someone to talk to.”
Hudson smiled. “That’s what I’m for. And Bill’s always happy to chat.”
“It’s still pretty unreal,” Micky admitted. “I mean, one minute I’m a computer repairman dating a gorgeous guy, and the next thing I know I’m hit by a car, then I’m turning into a shapeshifter in a hospital nursed by demons.”
“You’ve been through a lot, no one can deny that. You’re handling it well, though.” Hudson stood. “I’m going to go find a doctor and get some clearer answers on how long you’ll be here. It’ll be easier once I can take you home. Get some rest, okay?”
Micky smiled in response, then lay back and closed his eyes, letting out a long breath as he did. He didn’t sleep, though. The only reason he was handling the whole thing well was that he knew he’d had no other choice. The healing was more than welcome, of course, but what else would happen? He knew his senses would sharpen, and he’d become stronger and faster, but such changes had to have a cost. He just hoped that he’d be the same person by the end of it.
The end of it. That was another thing. Hudson was over five hundred years old. He’d clearly adapted well over the passing years, but would Micky manage to do the same? Given the state of the planet, he hated to think what things would be like in a century’s time. World peace wasn’t exactly likely.
He was still throwing questions around his head when Hudson reappeared between the curtains. Zeth came in behind him pushing a wheelchair.
“You have visitors,” Hudson said, smiling. “Bill and Laura.”
“You’ll have to meet them outside,” Zeth said as she moved the chair next to the bed. “The story we use is that we have a lot of celebrity clients who want to keep their privacy.”
Micky nodded and sat up. He couldn’t wait to see Laura again, even if he couldn’t tell her the truth about his condition. Hudson seemed to understand his expression and sat on the end of the bed.
“You can’t tell her that you’re a shifter,” he said. “I know you want to, but there are rules about such things that need to be maintained. The fewer people know, the better for everyone.”
“I know,” Micky said. “What should I say about the injury?”
“You had a minor surgery to reduce swelling and correct an issue,” Zeth said. “Luckily for you that’s all it took, and you’re already on the mend. Of course, even in a case like that, you wouldn’t be up and walking as soon as you will be, so you’ll have to be a bit of a recluse for a few weeks.”
Micky eyed Hudson and grinned. “I’m sure we’ll find things to do.”
Between them, Zeth and Hudson lifted Micky into the chair. The process wasn’t as unpleasant as Micky had expected, and once again he was surprised to find part of him responded with twitches and aches. At this rate, he thought, he’d be moonwalking by dinner time.
“Right, then,” he said as he slapped his hands onto the arms of the wheel chair. “Take me to my adoring public.”
* * * *
Zeth held the door as Hudson wheeled Micky out of the secluded rear entrance and down the short ramp to the pavement. The demon had hidden her horns and tail as easily as blinking, which had Micky’s eyes almost out on stalks. Hudson had been around a while, though, so he’d merely enjoyed Micky’s expression instead.
The path was surrounded by a large and lush garden, bordered with tall bushes that mostly covered the seven feet of iron fencing. Bill and Laura were waiting off to one side, in a small area that was marked out by borders of plants on all sides, other than a small gap to walk through. In the center were two wide benches for the patients and their visitors to sit and chat.
As soon as Laura spotted Micky, she smiled, her grin almost as wide as Bill’s. As Hudson wheeled Micky over, he leaned close to the man’s ear.
“Remember, swelling, surgery, few weeks of hard work.”
Micky nodded, then turned and kissed Hudson on the cheek. “I’ll be a good boy. Otherwise I won’t get a reward later.”
Hudson chuckled as he straightened, and then sped up to meet their friends. As trained, Micky explained loosely what he’d been told to say, and Laura seemed to buy it immediately. Hudson let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, then stood and nodded to Bill.
“Let’s let these two catch up,” he said, before putting a careful hand on Micky’s shoulder. “If you need us, we’ll just be over by the water fountain. We’ll hear you if you shout.”
Micky nodded and thanked him, then turned back to Laura. Bill stood, and he and Hudson headed over to the fountain. The noise would block Micky from hearing them, but Hudson’s older ears would still be able to pick up anything Micky called over. Bill sat on the low stone edge of the fountain’s base and Hudson joined him.
“All going well?” Bill asked as he dipped his hand into the cool water.
“All as expected, yeah. He’s already got sensation in his lower body.” Hudson didn’t mention how he’d found that out. “And his legs are starting to twitch a little.”
“Excellent.” Bill grinned. “How long, do you think?”
Hudson chewed his lip. “Three days to fully heal. Then I can start his training.”
“You think he’ll want to join a pack?”
His stomach lurched. He hadn’t thought of that. Just because Hudson preferred to spend his time away from other shifters, that didn’t mean that Micky would feel the same way. Young shifters often liked to surround themselves with others who were going through the same thing.
“If he does, I’ll support it,” he decided.
“Though you’d prefer it if he didn’t.”
Hudson nodded. Bill knew him well. It wasn’t that he had anything against packs in particular, but the local ones were often too wrapped up in each other’s business, and that might give Micky the wrong idea of what a good pack, and a good shifter, should be.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Hudson said, eager to change the subject. “How are things with Laura?”
Bill pulled his hand from the fountain and flicked water across the grass. “Pretty good. She needed a shoulder to cry on when Micky got hurt, so I was there for her. We’re dating now.”
“You? Date?” Hudson laughed. “I thought you were more of a ‘fuck ’em and leave ’em’ kind of guy.”
Bill raised an eyebrow. “And I thought you were a ‘no dating ever’ kind of guy.”
“Fair point.” Hudson slapped his friend on the thigh. “Doubles tennis next month?”
Bill laughed. “Perhaps. Though two shifters versus one and a human might be a little unbalanced.”
“We’ll go easy on you.”
The pair sat in silence for a while, Hudson trying not to listen in on Micky and Laura’s conversation. He wanted to be over with them, but he understood that Micky wanted some alone time with his best friend. If the roles were reversed, Hudson would likely want the same.
“So, how will you go about the training?” Bill asked, breaking the quiet.
“I’m not sure yet,” Hudson said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to do it.”
“Want some advice?”
“Sure.”
Bill nodded across the way to Micky. “Even after he’s healed, he’ll probably be a little shaky on his feet for a while, and won’t trust his ability. Start with the senses before moving to anything involving much exertion.”
“That’s what I was thinking, yeah. The full moon isn’t due for a while yet, so the shift isn’t vital.”
While the moon didn’t force a shifter to change, it did exert a pull that the inner wolf picked up on, especially amongst more powerful shifters, making it uncomfortable if the impulse was ignored. With younger shifters it wasn’t so bad, but since Micky had been bitten by an older
wolf, there was no way of knowing until the moon.
“Ugh, I still remember my first shift,” Bill said, shaking his head. “Left it too long and didn’t have much of a say in the matter.”
Hudson nodded, his attention on Micky. “Mine wasn’t too bad. Hurt like hell, of course, but I’d prepared.”
No shifter had ever had an easy first shift, and no shifter ever would. The changes involved in moving between forms were huge, and even when the body had gotten used to the action it was not something to look forward to. It was, however, part of being a shifter, and it couldn’t be avoided.
“I guess you’re sticking around for a while, then,” he said, turning to his friend.
Bill nodded. “Looks that way. Think you’ll get tired of me?”
“Two hundred years, and I haven’t yet.” Hudson stood and brushed the dust from his pants. “Never know, though.”
Chapter Thirteen
Two days passed before Zeth decided Micky was okay to leave the hospital, and it took another day for him to work up the nerve to stand. His legs had felt fine since the day before, but there was a psychological block that he’d had to work through first. He had reason to push past it. Along with the sensation in his legs came the realization that he hadn’t had sex in far too long.
Hudson came through the back door of his house just as Micky was rising to his feet and hurried over to offer an arm.
“I’m good,” Micky said, as he straightened. “You have no idea how good it feels to be upright again.”
Hudson stepped forward and carefully embraced him, holding him like an eggshell until Micky squeezed back. The grip tightened and Micky smiled into his lover’s shoulder.
“Any pain?” Hudson asked as they broke the hug. “Balance issues?”
“Just a few aches,” Micky said, walking on the spot experimentally. “And I feel as agile as ever. More like I’d had a hard day at the gym, rather than a car wreck. Pretty sure I could tap dance.”
