Page 11 of Wanderer

Mind spinning, the shift rolled over me without thought, thankfully picking my last form, the only form I could take in this place while keeping my true nature hidden. I fled from the room. Letting me be, neither Hestia nor Debra stopped me from leaving City Hall, though I was sure that their magic could have.

Gareth. The thought of his name alone was a punch in the gut.

The look on my mate’s face had been one of horror as I’d fled from him. Not that I could really blame him after the stunt I’d just pulled. He’d just met his fated mate and been rejected. He knew we couldn’t happen, right? That had to be clear. There was no way I could accept a warlock as my mate.

It wasn’t anything to do with him personally. I was sure he was perfectly nice and all. Fuck, he was handsome. He had beautiful eyes. His hands! I had a thing for clever-looking hands with long fingers. I’d even noticed the dirt under his fingernails, which suggested he wasn’t just an academic.

No, I had too much history with warlocks. It couldn’t happen with Gareth, no matter how appealing he was to me. My walls were too high for a normal mate, even another shifter would be a problem. It was best he understood now, so he didn’t get any false hope.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if my time in Greyhaven was over. There was no way they would help me after what I’d just done. Running out of there was a huge sign of disrespect. If I’d been in any sort of pack, the alpha would be on my heels to inflict my punishment right now. Warlocks were to be revered, maybe not as much as dragons and gods, but they were up there in the hierarchy. You never, ever crossed one like I just had.

I hoped they would just let me go without a fight, despite my knowing how to get into their town. Hopefully, they would let me leave with my tail between my legs, my hopes dashed and facing a hopeless future. It wasn’t like they could keep me for long anyway. No jail cell could beat the curse.

Hestia was better than that. It was a feeling I got about her. She knew all about the curse and my circumstances. I was sure she’d forgive me for my outburst, but my trust in her was done. I’d said no warlocks, and she’d ignored me, going to the one person I just couldn’t deal with.

Very few people were in the streets, and no one blinked an eye as I rushed past. I headed for my car, forgetting for a second that it was a pile of shit and wasn’t working. It didn’t matter. I’d sleep in my trailer for the night and gather my wits about me. In the morning, I’d apologize to the mayor, get my car fixed, and get the hell out of Dodge.

For miles, I ran. It hadn’t occurred to me that City Hall was so far from where I’d abandoned my car and where I’d been picked up. Once outside the more heavily populated areas, I shifted again, taking the form of a raven, and launched into the skies.

It was a relief to change form and stretch my wings, something I didn’t do often enough. If anyone was searching for me, they’d be looking for a bobcat, which made me far too conspicuous.

Flying over Greyhaven, it was easy to appreciate the beauty of the place. It was clean, organized, yet still held touches of wildness in the forests and around the lake. I followed the path I’d taken only the day before and came upon where Ryuu and Tatsuya had picked me up. Shifting forms once more, I turned into a German Shepherd—my favorite breed of dog—then ran the remaining distance to the place where I’d left my car and trailer.

Only, it wasn’t there.

I shifted back into human form to curse up a storm by the side of the road.

It had snowed overnight, so there was no trail, no clue for me to follow and tell me what had happened to my things. Unlike my brother, I kept all the vital things on me. I’d had a trailer before, stacked with all the things that meant anything to me, both old and new, and I’d lost it when the curse had hit me. All gone. Now my trailer was just somewhere warm and dry to sleep between jobs and between towns.

For a moment, I considered just abandoning everything I’d brought, just letting Greyhaven have all my shit, and getting away. They’d have no use for some clothes and trinkets I’d picked up over the last couple of years wandering. Maybe the trailer could be useful to someone passing through, though the cabin they had set me up in was pretty sweet.

Time passed as I stood there wondering what the hell to do. The cold was seeping into my bones, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. I felt hopeless. It didn’t matter to me that Hestia had warned me about getting a warlock to help. She could have eased me into it more gently. Or given me more time to prepare myself by telling me he was coming. It was like putting a bite victim in with a bunch of dogs and not expecting them to freak out.

A car pulled to a stop next to me. I’d zoned out so completely that I hadn’t even heard or felt its approach. “Hey, Riley!” Fen shouted from the driver’s seat. I wasn’t a dragon, so there was no way I was using his dragon name. “Get your icicle ass in the car.” I turned to him, and for a split second really considered shifting again and running off into the woods. Greyhaven had me fucked up. Maybe I just needed a couple of days to really process all the shit that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

“Don’t even, man. I’m not chasing kitties through the woods,” he warned, his head hanging out of the car, a grin on his handsome face.

Considering myself warned, I walked around the car and got in next to him. “Hey,” I muttered, rubbing my numb hands.

“Here, Debra sent me with these.” He held out a couple of flat stones and a thermos. At my look, he explained. “Hot rocks and some cocoa to warm you up properly. She was worried. We all were.” I could see he was genuinely concerned. Strange, for someone who had only met me the day before.

I repressed my huff, doubtful that a goddess felt bad at all. Not after what she had done. Maybe, though, my reaction had told her how deep this went with me. Either way, I needed to thank the brownie. Even if her boss had overstepped, it wasn’t Debra’s fault. I had nothing against Debra. She’d been kind, and it was sweet of her to think of me after how I’d reacted to Gareth.

“Thanks for coming out here. Though I’m surprised they sent you. I thought they’d send Ryuu to check up on me for his brother.” No matter what had happened in that office, Fen hadn’t been a part of it. All he had done was be nice to me. In another world, maybe we could have been friends.

“Well… Ryuu is busy. His kid is sick, and his wife’s too pregnant to cope with it. I offered to come. Really. I was worried about you.”

“That’s um… thank you.”

“No worries. All counts toward the hours,” he joked.

“I just needed to get away. I—” The adrenaline crash was coming. My hands shook around the thermos of cocoa. The hot stones warmed my lap. I felt detached from everything and suddenly utterly exhausted.

“Nah, I get it. Hestia’s a great mayor. She’s done so much good for my people, but sometimes she’s so removed from things, since she’s a goddess, that she doesn’t always see other people’s feelings, y’know?”

I gave a slow nod. That was exactly the problem. “Yeah, I can see that. It’s just, I warned her I didn’t want a warlock—”

“Gareth? He’s a great guy,” Fen protested.