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“That’s probably too strong of a …” The man at the front started herding all of us towards a small dip in the river bank. I took several steps forward, closing the gap between the few women in front of me.
“So, you’re one of those, huh?” She cocked her head to the side and shot me a look I couldn’t decipher.
“One of those what?” I’d heard that plain humans were notoriously prejudiced against different sexualities, but I thought that was a stereotype.
“I bet your girlfriend doesn’t think it’s too strong of a word.” Oh. Right.
“We’ve been together for years. I’ve always been upfront and honest with her about my appetite. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
She raised her eyebrow but didn’t speak. We continued to walk along the river bank. Where in the hell was this guy taking us? “I’m serious. It’s not like she isn’t with other people.”
“Let me guess, it’s you, her, and some dope that thinks he’s won the lottery.” This girl was quite perceptive for a plain human. What other tricks does she have up her sleeve? I laughed.
“Yeah, we’ve had plenty of dopes. Most of them thought they won the lottery. A few of them knew it.”
She cracked a smile. “No other women, though?”
Let’s see. Maya and I had been sleeping together for the last ten years on and off. A few years ago, I began sleeping over at her cottage and simply never left to get my own place. During that time, we probably had a couple threesomes a month. Only a couple of those were recreational, most of them were with targets. But, there was Ava. “There was one other woman. A few years ago, I went off with a caravan for a few weeks. I met her on the road. We had a few passionate nights under the stars. Never saw her again after that.”
“Did you ever tell Maya?” The mention of her name jolted through me. Had I mentioned it? How else could she have known her name? If she was a witch, why didn’t she greet me like one? And if she was a straight laced plain old human, how could she know such things? “No. But, I’m sure on some level she knew. She never wanted me to go on a caravan again. And...”
“She didn’t want you to breed with a shapeshifter?”
“You could say that. But, no matter what, she’ll support me. She might be mad for a few weeks, but we’ll be back to normal like always.”
“She’s not wrong you know. You can’t expect to become a breeder and not have it change your life. There’s something about having a life growing inside of you…” Vivica clutched her stomach.
I opened my mouth to speak, when I crashed into the chick in front of me. We were stopped. I swiveled around to see how far we were from our starting point, but the surroundings were all unfamiliar. The river had narrowed to the size of a large creek and we were now standing in front of a thick forest. How long had we walked? I’d let my desire to have Vivica sit on my face interfere with my safety. What’s wrong with me? Shame hit me like a punch to the gut. Maybe Maya was right. I was taking unnecessary risks already. Now, I had no idea where we were. How would I be able to escape if things went wrong? I guess I could follow the creek, but I wasn’t even positive that this was the same body of water. Fuck!
“We’re now at the entrance of shapeshifter territory. You are to form one line and hold hands. No matter what h
appens, do not let go. They chose these woods for a reason. If you need to, close your eyes. I’m sure some of you have seen strange things before, but the creatures in this forest are experts at changing appearances. Even the trees will fuck with your head if you let them.” Shapeshifting trees? That sounds exciting. Not. The last thing I wanted was to expend energy before I knew what I was actually getting into.
“Is it dangerous?” Vivica’s raspy voice shook a bit.
Sync shrugged his shoulders. “They are mostly mischievous creatures. We just don’t want you getting lost. It’s going to get dark in a few hours. We’re not going to come looking for you until morning. Our nights are busy enough without having to send out a search party.”
Vivica gulped and nodded vigorously. She reached out and grabbed my hand. Her fingertips were sweaty, and her palm was soft and smooth. My skin tingled where we touched. I was going to have to watch myself around her. Were shapeshifters as pliable as other species of males? Most men were disgustingly possessive until it came to their woman eating pussy. Then they were all for polyamory as long as it gave them something to watch while they jerked off. A woman’s softness balanced out the desperate hunger of a man. Men were on with the flip of switch. I’d come to enjoy a female’s slow burn. I pulled her closer and wrapped my arm around her. “Don’t worry. There’s nothing in these woods I can’t handle.” She turned towards me and leaned into my body. My head reached her nipples. I’d never been with a woman so much taller than me before.
“For some reason, I believe you.”
“Ready or not, ladies? Let’s go.”
We all headed into the forest without another word. When I looked behind me, I could see nothing but the last edges of daylight squeezing through the trees.
-3-
We walked about twenty minutes before we saw anything out of the ordinary. A chubby sprite with olive skin gasped and planted her feet. Several of us bumped into each other like train cars ridden off the track.
“What’s wrong?” The girl that was holding her hand rolled her eyes and yanked her back into line.
“I saw a wolf. It was huge with yellow eyes that were glowing. It looked like it was snarling, but I couldn’t hear anything.” Her eyes were wide with fright.
“You didn’t see a wolf. Didn’t you listen to the man when he said these are shapeshifting woods?” The twang of the girl behind her was unmistakable. Definitely a plain human. Why were the shapeshifters recruiting weaklings? How in the world would a plain human be able to birth a shapeshifter? They take a whole nine months to growth their own babies. How long would it take them to nurture a king of shadows?
Another cry from another one of the girls.
“It’s not a wolf. It’s a bear! Don’t you see it? It’s in the bushes! Straight ahead!” She pointed with her free hand. We all turned to stare. Several of the woman in the group gasped. I could see a large shadowy figure, but it didn’t look like a bear to me.
