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I looked out to see my parents in their usual wolf form, both waiting patiently near the front entrance of our townhouse.
The sun had set, and it was dark all around.But we’d left the porch light on, and my shifter vision was good.Even in the darkness, I could clearly see the white of my mother’s fur coat, and the gray of my father’s.
I got out of the truck and followed Leo as he led our parents down the thin alleyway beside our house and around into the backyard.
Leo opened the back door and turned on the outside lights.“I’ll get the food.”He ducked inside for the raw steak we gave Mom and Dad every night.
I sat down on one of the old deck chairs, wanting to tell all.Mom came up beside me and put her head on my lap.She seemed to somehow feel the heavy weight I had pressing in on me.
I smiled and touched her head, scratching gently behind her ears.Even after all these years, it was still strange to interact with them only as wolves, but it was better than not having them at all.
They had to know how hard we’d been trying to find a way for them to come back to us.“We’ve found a witch who’s going to try and reverse the curse.”
Mom’s head came up and I could see the startlement in her eyes.Her ears pricked up and I knew that if she was still human, she’d be telling me off for messing with the magicals.That’s what had caused all this shit in the first place.
“Don’t worry,” I told her.“Tania’s a good person—the best, actually—and she hasn’t promised us anything.She just said she would try her best.”
Leo walked outside with two dinner plates for our parents, both containing fresh steak.
He placed their plates down on the low outside table we kept there for Mom and Dad.Our parents took their meals, eating quickly.
I glanced away, then went inside to get myself a beer.I never liked watching them eat for some reason.I think it was because my heart ached to take them inside and have them sit at the table in their human form.I wanted us as a family to share a Sunday roast.Like we used to.
“Want one, Leo?”I held up the beer.
“Yeah.Please.”
I popped the tops on two beers and walked back outside, handing my brother his drink while our parents finished eating.
I hated this, more than anything.I wanted to talk to my dad, get his advice.He shouldn’t be stuck in a wolf’s body.And my mother deserved so much more than running through the forest, dodging poachers, possibly for the rest of her life.
Leo sat forward on his chair.“Tania wants to try to reverse the spell, or at least assess you guys, as soon as possible.Can you hang around here tonight and tomorrow so we can bring her here?”
“You wanna bring her here?”I asked Leo, gesturing to our backyard.“Not exactly the best advertisement of the work we do.”
Leo turned to face me.“What do you suggest then?”
We needed a neutral ground, somewhere our parents could easily meet us.“How about in the forest by the river?Isn’t that kind of neutral zone for the witches and the shifters?”
Leo glanced back at our parents.“What do you think?Can you meet us there earlier in the evening?Or wait here until we know for sure.I know you guys don’t like staying in town during the day, but we have no way of contacting you if Tania needs us.”
Dad nodded his huge head and walked up onto the back deck, sitting down on the worn wood.
“That’s as good a plan as any.You wanna come inside?Sleep in the lounge?”We’d tried to get our parents to sleep inside, or in a bed before, to no avail.
Mom walked over to Dad and curled against his side.He adjusted his body to curve around her.
Leo chuckled.“They’re happy out here.But we could get the bed.”
We had a large dog bed, easily big enough to hold two, that we’d bought ages ago and never had the guts to bring them out to show our parents in case they took offence.
Leo went inside and dragged it out, laying it on the porch.It looked like a large gray pillow.
Mom put one paw onto it, then climbed in and curled up with a soft sigh.Dad soon followed, placing his head on her back, and closing his eyes.They didn’t look offended at all.They looked comfortable and warm.
I swallowed the lump in my throat that the sight of them together brought up for me.They’d stayed together, and got each other through what had to be the worst ten years of their life.
They were thin, and stressed, and from the looks of them, hadn’t felt safe for a long time.
