Chapter 14 #2
Past Soren throws the furs over his shoulders, and a spasm runs through his body.
His shift is nothing like Lyall’s, which is fluid as water.
His limbs jerk. His bones creak. He throws back his head and screams through a mouthful of bloody fangs.
The fur comes alive, wrapping around him only to recede.
“Soren!” Past Lyall breaks from the crowd and crashes into the dirt beside him. “I know it hurts. Don’t fight it. I’m here. Right here.”
Past Soren’s eyes are wide and wild as he snarls, “L-Lyall…”
Past Lyall takes his face in his hands. “You can do this. This is who you were meant to be. You’re part of our pack and always will be.”
The furs settle over Past Soren’s skin, consuming him until the man has disappeared and only a wolf remains.
Beside me, Lyall smiles. “You did so well.”
“I did? That looked agonizing.”
“You were scared. Most are before they accept the change. Before the ceremony, you told me you were worried you wouldn’t make a good wolf, that you’d be thrown out of the pack and lose your family all over again.”
My wolf self bounds among the crowd, most of whom have shifted or are in the process of shifting.
Lyall’s gorgeous white wolf tackles him and they chase each other into the woods.
It’s easy to distinguish Lyall and his brothers as well as their dad.
They’re all huge, making the other wolves, even the full-grown ones, look like puppies.
A lump rises in my throat. “But that didn’t happen.” I had found a family in the past. One who loved me and accepted me as one of their own. “We looked close.”
Lyall nods. “Aye.”
“How old were we here?”
“We’d just seen our seventeenth winter.”
After a while, the wolves return to human form and make their way back to the village.
I could have watched them all run and play for the rest of the night.
It was a sweet sight. We follow Lyall and Soren as they peel off from the crowd and head inside a cabin, which turns out to be a sauna.
Steam clouds the air, though I can’t feel the heat or the cold our past selves escaped from.
“What a hunt!” Past Lyall says, undressing.
“Wish I could have caught that rabbit. Your father would have been proud,” Past Soren says, looking put out.
Past Lyall ruffles his hair. “He was. I could tell.”
“Really?”
“Aye. If he were not, you would have known. Trust me.”
My past self removes his clothes, then sits on a bench. Past Lyall joins him, breathing out a contented sigh. Swallowing nervously, Past Soren bumps his shoulder against his friend’s. “Thank you. I could not have done it without your help.”
Past Lyall scoffs. “Of course you could. You are stronger than you realize.”
“I mean it, Lyall.” Past Soren takes in a breath, then reaches out to twine his fingers with Lyall’s. Past Lyall stiffens, his lips parting. “You’re always saving me. From the moment we met. Thank you for… for everything.”
Past Lyall’s gaze falls to Soren’s lips, his chest rising and falling faster. “I… of course. We’re—we’re friends, after all.”
“Lyall.” Past Soren hesitates, looking away.
“What’s wrong? Your heart is racing.” Past Lyall’s face creases in concern.
“It’s been a long time since I… since I saw you as only a friend.”
There’s a long beat of silence. Past Lyall laughs nervously. “I… I’m not sure what you—”
Past Soren takes Lyall’s face in his hands and lunges in, closing the distance as he seals their lips in an urgent kiss. Past Lyall’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t return the kiss, still as a statue. My past self lurches away and stumbles across the room, a hand over his mouth.
“Gods, I—I am so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Past Lyall’s expression is unreadable.
“I… I thought you felt it too when I shifted. It was like a hook had caught in my chest. Your scent… it’s like nothing I’ve smelled before. My wolf, he kept whispering that you were ours.”
“Our mate?” Lyall whispers.
Past Soren doesn’t face his friend when he nods. “I just ruined everything between us, didn’t I? Please, Lyall. You do not have to return my feelings. Forget it. Forget I said anything. I am sorry.”
Past Lyall stands and goes to the door. My heart sinks.
Damn. I guess Past Lyall didn’t return our feelings right away.
He reaches out and locks the sauna door.
Past Soren turns, confusion wrinkling his brow.
Before he can say a word, Past Lyall has crossed the room, grabbed Soren’s face in his hands, and hauled him into a kiss overflowing with years of desperation and yearning.
I breathe a relieved sigh. “Thought you were gonna reject me for a second.”
Beside me, Lyall shakes his head, chuckling. “I’d cut off my leg before I rejected you.”
When our past selves start breathing heavily and groping frantically at anything they can reach, I nudge Lyall. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
Lyall laughs and follows me through the cabin and out into the night.
Congrats, young me, I think to myself as I take Lyall’s hand, you couldn’t have chosen a better guy.