Chapter 2
AMbrOSE
The weather sucked. It wasn’t unusual for where I lived. People teased that they lived in a place that hurt their face, but in reality, it often did. But today, it exceptionally sucked. Ice before snow always did.
I was in a more rural part of the state, so not only did the weather suck, but getting the roads cleared took forever.
This mess was going to take a long time to get drivable unless we lucked out with a warm spell, which was doubtful, given tomorrow was expected to have a high that didn’t pretend to be in the same country as double digits.
Normally I didn’t mind the bad weather. I had a wood stove, a generator, and enjoyed the solitude. I bought my cabin to enjoy living the quiet life, and that was rain or shine, or in this case snow or shine. Living here worked for me, but more importantly, it worked for my reindeer.
Being a shifter of an animal that didn’t naturally live where you did wasn’t easy. A wolf up here could blend in. No one would see one wandering too close to their backyard and think, “Oh, that animal doesn’t belong.”
But a tiger, an elephant, or a reindeer?
We didn’t blend, which meant we needed to keep to ourselves.
Sure, with a passing glance, somebody might see me and not realize I wasn’t an average doe or buck.
Not all humans could tell a deer from a horse at a distance.
But especially this time of year, when all the kids were talking about Santa’s reindeer and everyone’s decorations were up? Yeah, I’d stand out.
My location was perfect for my reindeer. There was a lot for him to forage for, no houses nearby, and a river he loved to run through. This location usually kept my beast in check.
Only today, my reindeer was being a butt.
Every time I tried to do something, he interrupted.
It wasn’t that he had anything to say. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all.
He just made his presence known, distracting me enough that I had to begin again.
I hadn’t managed to so much as get the dishes done, thanks to him.
And the worst part was I didn’t understand why.
I’d offered him time in his hooves, to go to the river, to mix him up a bowl of his favorite berries I’d collected and frozen last summer. Nothing made him happy. He kept on pushing at me.
“Fine. I’ll let you out. But after that, you need to chill.
” The more high-strung he got, the less I wanted to let him free.
I was stronger than my beast, and he basically fell in line in both human and shifter form.
Something about today, though, told me that wasn’t necessarily true in his current state.
It wasn’t something I wanted to test out. But doing what I was currently doing wasn’t helping the situation at all. Something had to give, and it was the best idea I had.
I walked out onto my porch, took off my clothes, and tossed them in the box I kept there for just this purpose. They wouldn’t be warm when I went to put them back on, but at least they’d be dry. Then I jumped down into the snow and shifted midway, my hooves landing where my feet would have.
Alright, buddy, go do your thing.
My reindeer wandered through the woods, and this was where I was lucky despite my beast not being indigenous to the region. Most people wouldn’t be able to distinguish one deer track from another. Unlike some animals, such as tigers or polar bears, he could blend.
He wandered through the woods, moved snow here and there, sniffing all around. I wish I knew what he was looking for. It wasn’t food. We passed multiple sources along the way. But he was itching… itching to go, itching to find something, and getting more and more worked up by the minute.
I steered him toward the river, one of his favorite places.
If anything could make him happy, it was jumping in the cool water that was only frozen in small patches.
But the further we got from the cabin, the worse he became.
If he wanted to be at the house, why had he been a butt? None of this made sense.
Then he managed to do something he had never done before.
He pushed past my influence and started heading toward the house again, this time walking right past it and toward the road.
I’d always been in control, even as a teen first coming into my own.
Something was different today, and it was starting to freak me out.
There was a huge gust of wind, the icy snow that was nearly sleet slapping into my nose.
That’s when my reindeer let down his guard enough to let me know what he’d known all along…
There was a scent that couldn’t be ignored.
It wasn’t another reindeer, and I didn’t think it was a shifter either.
But the warm, chocolaty goodness with a hint of cardamom and cinnamon nearly bowled me over.
I wanted to roll around in it, to be wrapped in it, to taste it.
It didn’t make sense. Not my reindeer’s reaction to it. Not my reaction to it. And more shockingly, that it was here at all.
We were in the middle of nowhere during a storm that had the roads all but impassable.
There were no cars around, even if they thought they could manage with chains on the tires.
And hunters never came this way. Most of the land was posted, and because I wasn’t the only shifter in the region, a few predators only a half mile on either side of me, it wasn’t a place where prey tended to congregate, making it not desirable for hunting even if it were permitted.
It was definitely a person, though, and this was not the weather they should be out in.
As my reindeer turned his head, I saw the car for the first time, and it wasn’t on the road where it was supposed to be.
It had been in an accident. My heart started to race.
I wanted to run to the vehicle and help anyone inside.
But then what? Run to the car and shift, leaving me, a naked man, there offering help?
What help would that be? None. If anything, it would freak out the person or people inside.
What I needed to do was go get dressed, get some equipment and my phone, and wander back down here when I could be of actual use.
Only as I was about to force my animal to do so, I saw a man. He was walking, or more accurately limping, toward my house. He still had a long way to go, but he was heading in the right direction.
That was good. That was very good. It would’ve been easy to get turned around and wander toward nothing in this storm. And it didn’t matter what the person was wearing, it wouldn’t be warm enough to keep them safe as they waited for someone to find them.
I needed to encourage him. I wiggled my head, wishing I had lights on my body to lure him to me.
For a second, I thought he saw me, and I took the opportunity to try to lead them toward the house after giving him a nod.
Did he see me? I wasn’t sure, but I needed to get to my supplies if I were going to be of any help.
My neighbor would be cracking up at me. I was in reindeer form, attempting to talk to a human who was far away and probably hadn’t seen me at all.
I wasn’t sure how closely he would follow me, or if he would follow me at all, but I went slowly, knowing that every step he got closer to my house, the better it would be.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I raced home, shifted at a full run, nearly toppling to the ground as I took my skin, and threw on my clothes and boots, grabbing my flashlight, phone, and a blanket.
The phone didn’t work near the house, but I could sometimes catch a signal by the road.
In any case, it was better to have it and not need it than not to have it if I did.
I wasn’t sure what all the man needed, but at least I’d be able to see anything that needed seeing, and a blanket when it was this cold would be helpful to keep him warm, and if he was too hurt to walk, I could use it to drag him. This was the first time I’d regretted living so far from the road.
He wasn’t walking right, and the car had definitely been in an accident. Was he hurt in the accident, or was that how he walked? If he was hurt, how badly? I knew basic first aid, but not much more.
I’d find out soon enough. I made my way through the snow as quickly as possible.
As he came into sight, my reindeer started shouting. Protect. Protect. Protect.
Yes, but first we have to reach him.
Hurry. He wouldn’t let up.
“No, stop. You have to let me handle this.” My patience had long since left the county.
I reached the man. He looked so cold, his face so pained. “I have a house up here. Let me get you there, get you warm, get you help.”
“You need to help the kitten,” he mumbled. “I can’t hold them anymore.”
And sure enough, tucked inside his coat was a kitten. I wrapped them in the blanket I brought.
“I got them,” I promised. “I got them. Now, let me help you in.”
I had him wrap his arm around me for balance, and we trudged our way through the snow. It was all I could do, given what I had. Please let it be enough.