Chapter 3
Abby
I was proud of finishing my shift despite Archer deciding to take up residence in that chair. I didn’t look at him once, even though I had to pass by him every time I needed to pick up food or fill drinks.
He didn't seem to mind that all the other shifters in the place kept glaring at him, and I thought I heard a few threats. He sat there, ate everything that Harper served him, then sipped coffee for over an hour.
My workday was done, but instead of grabbing my bag and leaving, I was standing in the small employee room, staring at my hands.
I'd started doing that years ago as a way to keep myself centered. I’d flex my hands and watch the tendons move, and think about all the things I could do with my human hands that I couldn't do as a seal.
It was silly, but it always made me feel calm, until now.
“Are you okay?” I looked up to see Harper, Jessie, and Adora crowding into the small room.
I summoned a smile. “I'm fine.”
None of them looked convinced.
“I'm going swimming with Bailey and his huddle,” I said.
“That's good,” Jessie said.
“Do you need a ride?” Adora asked.
“Tell the huddle about this Archer guy,” Harper said. “It's important that they know he's around.”
“I’ll tell them about Archer, but it's not a big deal,” I assured Harper. I looked at Adora. “I don't need a ride. Bailey’s boat is at the Embarcadero Marina.”
Adora nodded. “Okay, but if you're tired after you go out, call me. I can pick you and your bicycle up in the truck.”
I'd gotten rid of the car I'd stolen from the colony after getting to San Diego. Another car was out of my budget, but I'd bought a bicycle that got me almost everywhere I needed to go. If necessary, Adora and the pack members were willing to give me a ride.
Today, I was desperate to get outside and not shove myself into a car.
“Thanks, Adora,” I said. Although I rarely touched anyone, I gave her a quick hug, then Jessie, and finally Harper. “I love all of you.”
I could've sworn Harper went a little misty-eyed. “We love you too. Try to remember you're not alone any longer.”
“I will,” I whispered, pulling away and grabbing my duffel. I peeked out the employee door, but there was no way Archer could see me. The moment I was outside, I felt better. I could smell the ocean. Soon I had my bicycle unlocked, and I was pedaling to where Bailey kept his boat.
Bailey, Elsie, Baldwin, Joseph, and Theo were already at the boat, waiting for me.
We motored out to the huddle's favorite rock outcropping, stripped down, and slid into the ocean.
Walrus shifters weren't like selkies, they didn't really have a formal group.
These five were all mates, which was unusual for a huddle.
The first time they'd invited me, I'd thought it was to join their huddle. When they explained they were all mates, I blushed and went dizzy with embarrassment.
There'd been some stammering and explaining before we were all laughing. They explained they wanted friendship and thought I might like that too. Now I couldn't imagine life without them.
I shifted as soon as I was under the water, letting my seal take over. It felt good to be in my fur, and I let the water hold me as I stretched my flippers.
The huddle had also shifted and was exploring the ocean around us. It didn't matter that we came to this same place all the time; the sea was never the same.
I swam around, following Theo and then Baldwin. They were used to me doing this. My seal might be more emotionally secure than my human self, but she was still more fearful than she should be. As much as we loved the ocean, we were both scared to be alone.
In my seal form, I had a very poor sense of time. When a strange seal showed up, I knew we’d been in the water for a while, but not how long.
It wasn’t uncommon for actual seals to interact with selkies, but no seal had ever come close while I’d been swimming with the walrus shifters.
Surprise made me freeze, my back to Baldwin. He didn’t notice, he was busy rooting around a crevice in a rock. The seal was obviously male and huge. As he got closer, I realized he was a selkie.
Not just any selkie, it was Archer.
By now Baldwin noticed and moved to float next to me and watched Archer with interest. When Archer moved closer, Baldwin didn’t like it and put himself between the two of us.
I was thankful because I was still frozen. My seal and my human sides were locked in a battle of wills. My seal wanted to attack Archer. She was so angry that she didn’t care that he was bigger and stronger, she wanted him to feel pain. She wanted him to hurt like we’d hurt.
I didn’t blame her.
Just like back at the diner, my human side wanted to run. Get back on the boat and hide inside the cabin until he was gone. I don’t know how he found us, but here he was.
Seeing his seal made me want to weep. It filled me with a sense of loss. It was almost as if his presence here was a taunt, look at what we could’ve been.
Archer tried to move past Baldwin, but the walrus shifter was faster than his size would indicate. He easily blocked Archer.
They stared at each other for a little while, the gentle current slowly carrying us away from the rocks.
I could see Archer’s seal face. I knew him so well that I knew what he was thinking.
He was calculating the situation, probably playing out scenarios and trying to decide which one would have the outcome he desired.
Archer was rarely a male of emotion; he had that in common with his dad. He was far more likely to manipulate a situation to a desired outcome. It hurt that he wouldn’t even try to move Baldwin out of the way to interact with me.
That's what I needed to unfreeze my body.
With a decisive push of my rear flippers, I swam fast toward the boat. I saw Archer try to follow, but Baldwin got in his way again. After that, I was moving too fast to see, and soon I was flying out of the water to land hard on the swim deck of Baldwin’s boat.
It hurt a little, and a naked Elsie in her human form rushed to my side.
“Abby!” she cried out, kneeling next to me. “What happened? Was it an orca?”
While the local orcas didn’t go near the walrus shifters, they didn’t have any reluctance to feed on a selkie.
That was why we always swam in groups, with several individuals carrying weapons on specially designed packs.
If an orca got too close, they’d shift to their human form and be ready to fire on the animal.
That was almost always the only deterrent we needed.
Orcas were smart creatures, and when a seal suddenly turned into a human, they knew better than to stay in the same area!
I shifted to my human form so I could answer, but no sooner had my fur receded than I started shivering violently. Elsie’s eyes went wide, and she rushed to grab a heavy blanket and wrap it around me.
Tears leaked from my eyes as I tried to lock my jaw to keep it from chattering. What was wrong with me?
“Hey, it’s okay,” Elsie said, sitting down next to me and hugging me tightly. Her comforting hold made the dam burst, and the next thing I knew, I was sobbing.
The guys were suddenly climbing onto the boat. They had shifted in the water and were grabbing towels and talking rapidly.
“That was a selkie,” Theo said. “I know it was.”
“A selkie, down here?” Bailey asked. “That’s strange. They don’t like San Diego.”
Baldwin shook his head. “He wasn’t here by accident. He was here for Abby.”
After Baldwin said that, they all went silent. I was quietly sobbing against Elsie, and I heard them gather around me.
“Abby, do you know that guy?” Theo asked.
I looked up and tried to answer, but I couldn’t make my voice work.
“Hey, it’s okay, we can keep you safe,” Bailey promised with a determined grunt.
“We don’t care if he shows up with your entire old colony,” Elsie said, her expression stubborn. “We won’t let them get near you.”
Unlike everyone else, Baldwin’s expression was alarmed instead of angry. “Breathe, Abby. You don’t have to stop crying, but I don’t like how you're gasping for air.”
He was right, I was having a hard time getting oxygen into my system. My eyesight was starting to dim at the edges. It was only then that I realized I was having a panic attack. This was new, and I hated it.
Baldwin sank to his knees in front of me. “Abby, look at my face. There, that’s good. Now try to breathe in with me. I know you’re scared, but your lungs will work. We only need to remind them how to.”
I focused on Baldwin’s kind eyes. He took an exaggerated breath, and I tried to copy him. Mine was shorter and jagged, but it was better than the panting I’d been doing.
“That’s great,” he said. “Let’s do that again. Another deep breath. Try to pull all the air in. You can do it, Abby.”
Everyone else had gone silent to let Baldwin work. Elsie kept hold of me, and I took a deep breath when Baldwin said to.
“That’s two!” Baldwin enthused. “Let’s do it again. The next thing you know, it won’t be hard at all. Right, deep breath.”
Between Baldwin’s calm voice and Elies’s arms around me, I was able to breathe and my tears stopped.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“No thanks needed,” Baldwin said, patting my knee. “You rest. We’re going to motor back to the marina. Then you’re coming home with us for the night.”
They were always offering to let me stay with them, but I usually said no. It felt like I was intruding on their huddle. But today, I nodded my head. Being surrounded by these loving, calm, and sweet walrus shifters sounded wonderful.
“Okay,” I said, and they all beamed at me. I loved how easy it was to make this huddle happy. It made me wish I’d been born a walrus instead of a selkie. Sure, selkies thought they were special and better than other shifters, but in reality, we were nothing but seals with delusions of grandeur.
Archer
I’d noticed that Abby had disappeared from the front of the diner and never reappeared. It didn't take long to realize she'd left through a back door. The biggest clue was the way Harper smirked at me.
Feeling defeated, I'd left the diner and got into my truck. I was going to need to find a place to stay and maybe a job. I'd spent my life as a sheriff in a town where I'd only ever pulled my gun twice in ten years. If I couldn’t go back to that, then I didn't know what I was going to do.
Needing the comfort of the ocean, I started up the truck and pointed it west. When I saw Abby bicycle by, my entire body jolted. Making several people honk angrily, I moved across several lanes of the one-way street to follow her.
She never noticed me, and it wasn't long until we were at a marina. I parked in a spot with a view of the place and watched her lock her bike to a light pole, then make her way to a boat full of people.
The way she smiled and talked to them without hesitation made me feel both happy for her and jealous as hell.
I wanted to be the one who received her smiles.
We'd sacrificed so much to the colony. Years of happiness we could've had together, all because I’d bought into my father's propaganda about doing what was good for the colony instead of for the individual.
I'd been so damn blind.
When they headed out to sea, I rushed to follow them, only able to keep them in sight in my seal form by swimming as hard as possible. I don't know what I expected from Abby's seal, but the way she froze as if waiting for me to attack her wasn't it.
Then the massive walrus shifter moved between us. It was clear these shifters were as protective of Abby as the wolves back in the diner.
When Abby swam for the boat, I wasn't sure what to do. When I surfaced and heard one of the walrus shifters having to talk her through a panic attack, I stayed there, unable to move until I heard her breathing.
It was gut-wrenching to listen to and even worse to know that I was the cause and I’d only make it worse if I tried to help.
Then they'd started up the boat and left. Now I had the task of swimming all the way back.
I was exhausted by the time I made it back to the marina. They'd long since docked. The boat was empty, and Abby's bicycle was gone. Still in my seal form, I got up on the dock. No one noticed me, even when I flopped myself from the dock onto the boat.
I could smell Abby on the boat. The scent of her tears was the last blow to my composure. Shifting to my human form, I wrapped myself in the same blanket she'd used, left carelessly on a bench.
Tucking myself into a corner of the boat, I let myself cry, surrounded by the scent of my mate.