Werewolf single dad, p.10
Werewolf Single Dad, page 10
“I thought something stank like garbage, but I didn’t wanna be rude.” I smirked as I wafted my free hand in front of my face, and Trent flipped me the bird after checking Dionne was adequately engrossed in the iPad. “That all sounds pretty good. Though, I imagine leaving a pack to be a big-city player might not always go down too well with a lot of old urban packs, and surely AWOO has to be aware of that. When you move to the city, does AWOO offer you any protection from your old pack? Since they gotta keep things clean around here, and all.”
“Yeah, they do,” Trent said. “It’s all included in the sign-up process for when you make them aware of your change of location. You’ll need to tell them who’s pack you were a part of and give them a few details about how you left things. When I left Max’s, they said they couldn’t guarantee my safety if the old pack came after me, but they gave me the number of a hotline for an emergency branch of AWOOGA.”
“Did you ever need to call that number?” I was finding this conversation extremely uplifting. It was good to know there were measures in place to help keep my family safe just in case Silas was after me.
“Nah, I never had to.” Trent shrugged. “I got lucky, I think. My Alpha, Max, wasn’t too engrossed in the traditional pack lifestyle, either. He was more of a freewheeler. Don’t get me wrong, he cared about the pack, and he cared about his territory, but he wouldn’t have started a massacre over something as petty as what Orville did. He’d have been ticked off, sure, but he’d have risen above it, I think. Or he’d have gone in and used a few stern words and flashed his pearly-white pointers as a warning.”
“Sounds like Max was a leader with a good head on his shoulders,” I said. “I’d have done the same as him if I was the Alpha that night. We only needed to scare them, it didn’t have to become a murder scene.”
“Nah, it didn’t, that’s for sure…” Trent’s voice trailed off slightly before he met my eyes. “This kinda brings me onto another thing I wanted to mention.”
“What’s that?” I asked, though I knew what Trent was going to say.
I’d mentioned the fact I’d gone berserk and started on Silas after finding Katherine, but I’d left out the part about turning into an Alpha.
I guessed with everything that had been going on, trying to unravel that mystery right there on the couch with Trent the night before would have been just too much for me to handle. And I was also afraid Trent wouldn’t offer to help me if he knew I was an Alpha, which I couldn’t attest to being the right or wrong decision to have made right now. But my children were my absolute priority, and I had to get them somewhere safe.
“Well…” Trent scratched his head uncomfortably. “I don’t really know how to say this… so I’m just gonna come right out with it…”
“Say whatever you need to say, buddy.” I tried to sound as gentle as I could.
“Well, it’s just…” Trent sounded nervous. “You smell like an Alpha.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I should have spoken to you about that last night, but I was just kinda nervous to mention it. It’s just--”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Trent spoke before I could explain myself, and a strange mix of relief and panic washed over his face. “It’s fine, Mike. Please don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to me. I didn’t want to bring it up last night because there was just so much going on without--”
“Exactly,” I chuckled. “The whole Alpha business would have been one too many potatoes in the stew.”
“That must be a country phrase I’ve forgotten,” Trent laughed and cleared his throat awkwardly. “But yeah, I could smell it as soon as I opened my front door. You didn’t use to carry that scent. That’s why your pack is after you, isn’t it? It’s not purely just because you attacked Silas.”
“That’s right.” I nodded as I rocked Charlie in my arms.
“Couldn’t you have just explained to them it was the drugs and swore you’d stop taking them?”
“Whoa, hold on there, Trent.” My shock at the accusation made me sit bolt-upright in my seat. “I’m not taking any drugs, man.”
“Oh, you aren’t?” Trent recoiled with a look of deep confusion. “But… that smell. That’s undeniably the smell of an Alpha. And, hey, look. I’m not judging you, buddy. I take scent altering drugs, myself, and there are a lot of women out there who take scent suppressants. I thought that--”
“Whoa, you thought I had gotten hold of some kind of Alpha-scent emulating drugs?” I blinked in astonishment. “That’s crazy, man.”
“Yeah!” Trent said. “There’s all kindsa things popping up on the black market every day, and scent altering chemicals aren’t exactly new or classified. I thought maybe you’d got a hold of a bunch and…”
“And taken them to make myself smell like an Alpha to rile up my own Alpha to the point where he would go on a rampage that led to my wife being killed and needing me to flee to Chicago with my kids while she…” I cut myself off before I said anything Dionne might have heard in the background.
“You’re right.” Trent raised his hands in an apologetic manner. “I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t think that last part through enough. But I just can’t figure it out. If it’s not scent altering drugs, why do you smell like that? There’s no denying that’s the scent of an Alpha. My nose knows.”
“You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “Last night, I found Katherine, I had her in my arms, then all of a sudden she was gone. And I was gone, too. My beautiful, perfect wife was dead, and for what? Silas’ injured pride over some stupid territory dispute. It was all so… senseless, and something came over me. All the rage and hurt, it transformed me. I just… saw red. And I felt myself change. And the next thing I know, I’m a furious ten-ton juggernaut, and I’m out for blood.”
“So… you’re saying you’re an Alpha now. Like, for real?” Trent looked at me with dubious eyes after a moment of deep contemplation.
“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true.”
“I want to believe you man, I do.” Trent let out an exasperated sigh. “But that’s like… a biological impossibility. You’re either born an Alpha or you’re not. You don’t just get really angry and change one day. Hell, we’d all be Alphas if that was the way things worked.”
“I know,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense to me either, and believe me, as soon as I know where to look, I’m going to be looking for answers. But I’m promising you now, on all that I hold dear in this world, I am telling you the truth.”
“Well…” Trent ran his fingers through his hair, and his brow was furrowed for a long time before he let out a light laugh and threw his hands in the air in a defeated manner. “Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction isn’t it? There’s no shame in taking the tablets, if that’s what you were doing, but you’ve told me it’s not, and I believe you. There’s obviously a reason this happened to you, and hey, you might not even be the first. I travel in some pretty high circles. I’ll keep my ear to the ground, and I’ll try and help you get your answers, if you want me to.”
“Thanks, man, I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m really glad you do.” I felt the relief wash over me. “And yeah, I’d really like that. Any info you can get on this I’d really appreciate.”
“Hey, don’t mention it,” Trent said. “I’m not saying I roll with the CIA or anything, but you’d be amazed at what these upper echelon folk know we regular Joe’s don’t.”
“It’s a good thing you’re up in that upper echelon then, isn’t it?” I grinned, but I suddenly felt the need to make sure Trent wasn’t feeling uncomfortable having an Alpha around to stay. “I hope we’re still cool. And it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, right? Like, having an Alpha in your house. I don’t really understand it myself, but I wouldn’t want to cross any boundaries or anything by quite literally invading your space.”
“Nah, man, it’s cool.” Trent smiled wryly. “Here in the city, I gotta consent to being a part of your pack, so that means you have zero hold over me or anything I do. You may be an Alpha now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to a word you say.”
“I would expect nothing less,” I chuckled, and once again, Trent’s independent nature reminded me I wanted to revisit an earlier conversation with him. “So, back to lone wolves for a second, if you don’t mind. That’s something I’m kinda worried about. I want to be a lone wolf. I’m done with all that pack mentality garbage. I want it to just be me and my kids. But I’m worried that won’t be possible now, because I’ve transformed into an Alpha. Are other wolves in the city going to be tracking my every move? Like, are Alphas going to be trying to kill me? And are Beta and Omega lone wolves I meet going to be suspicious of me everywhere I go?”
“Hmm…” Trent took a moment to think. “Lone Beta wolves are an accepted part of society. I go about my day just fine. I smell the odd Alpha as I travel around, and I’ve been approached before and asked if I want to be part of their pack, but when I say no, they tend to back down. Some take it better than others, but on the whole it’s pretty well respected. But I see what you’re saying here. Alphas will fight other Alphas if they feel threatened, or if you’re overstepping their boundaries, so it’s hard to imagine you’ll be able to walk around town smelling the way you do and not turn any heads. The fact you’re a lone Alpha could either have you be seen as crazy or dangerous, and I don’t think any other Alphas would take too kindly to either.”
“Bummer.” I wanted to say something worse, but my kids were both in earshot.
“You’ll have to ask AWOO,” Trent said. “Maybe they’ve seen this before and can give you a strong dose of scent-altering pills. Or maybe even scent suppressants, a lot of Omegas take those in the city so they’re not hounded by horndogs all the time and can go about being business women.”
“Yeah, I’ll call them later on.” I nodded. “I’ve got to contact them anyway. They need to know where I am.”
“Mm, yeah, definitely let them know,” Trent said. “You can quite literally get away with murder with AWOO, but don’t you dare go AWOL.”
“Truer words were never spoken,” I chuckled.
“Tent.” Dionne’s little voice piped up from a fuzzy-felt garden book she was reading.
“Yes, my little friend?” Trent asked with a kind smile.
“Did you say we were getting corn dogs?” Dionne asked with her head cocked slightly to one side.
Trent and I looked at each other with wide astonishment in our eyes, before we both busted out laughing.
“That’s what I heard him say, baby,” I said with a grin.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I said,” Trent laughed. “I’ve got to go and pick Archie up from preschool soon, so I’ll make sure I bring some delicious corn dogs back with me!”
“Yay!” Dionne and I both cheered in unison, and I waved Charlie’s hands high like he was fist-pumping the air.
“Oh, before I forget.” Trent began rustling through the produce bag he’d brought back earlier. “I picked up some baby formula for Charlie. There’s a mini mart down the way, but if you mention you’ve been in Paris recently, they offer you the alternative menu.”
“Thanks, man, good to know,” I chuckled, and I thought fondly back on the movie that code was referencing. “When you were a kid, did you go through a phase of watching every werewolf movie you possibly could to see what they got wrong and what they got right? Or was that just me?”
“Nah, man, I’m right there with you,” Trent snickered as he unloaded the shopping bag. “It’s hilarious how wrong they got it sometimes, but then it’s kinda terrifying how right they got it in others.”
“I know,” I chuckled. “Glittering vampires? Imprinting on a literal infant? Yikes. Only a human could write such a fantasized dumpster fire.”
“We never speak the ‘T’ word in this house.” Trent grinned. “And they don’t actually like being called vampires in the big city. They say it comes with too many negative connotations, and they’re trying to reshape people’s perception of them.”
“Oh, yeah?” I cocked my head. “What do we call them instead?”
“Bat shifters,” Trent said as he rolled his eyes. “But yeah, back to werewolf flicks. It’s laughable how into the full moon thing they got-- hence the restaurant name-- which is a big ol’ crock of hooey. The silver bullets though, eesh. Feels like someone tipped them off in too much of the right direction on that one.”
“Don’t you serve your food on silver platters, though?” I asked Trent.
“Silver-plated, Michael,” Trent said in a faux posh voice. “There’s a big difference.”
“See, this is why you’re the guy with the restaurant,” I said.
“Well, there had to be some brains behind this beautiful face.” Trent pulled a carton from the bag and put it into the fridge. “I’m afraid Chaz is going to have to make do with bog standard cow’s milk for his formula. I could have got almond milk, but I figure it’s not natural to drink milk out of anything that doesn’t have a tit.”
Trent’s comment caught me off guard, and I laughed straight from the depths of my belly.
And it felt good.
We spent the next couple of hours chewing the fat and belly laughing. Trent and I were like two daddies, since Dionne had grown tired of the iPad and required attention for different questions she had and games she wanted to play.
We took it in turns to bounce Charlie and offer him rattles, though he wasn’t really interested in those, but when Trent shifted just enough for an ear to pop out and wiggled that, my baby boy was captivated.
Then Trent made Dionne a blood-berry smoothie and a platter of offal and cheese for lunch, and I mixed Charlie up another bottle of formula and fed it to him.
Soon after lunch, Dionne went down for a nap while Charlie continued being entertained by Trent’s ear, and after I changed my boy, I got to slip away for a shower.
Once I was inside Trent’s amazing bathroom, I stepped out of my old clothes and turned the water on.
WereWear clothing was great, in that it used a kind of technology within its fabric that meant not only did it stretch to accommodate shifters, but it was also incredibly comfortable and hard to tear. And, most importantly, stains would pretty much roll straight off it.
My clothes may have been clean to a degree, but I was not.
My skin felt grimy and sullied, and there was definitely a mental aspect where I felt the ruination of last night still clinging onto me, and I was eager to let the water wash at least some of my sins away.
I stepped into the shower, and I felt an instant sense of calm within me as the raging water cleansed my body.
I knew Trent needed to pick Archie up at two-thirty, and it was about one when I snuck away, so I had time to drown my sorrows for pretty much as long as I wanted.
The water kept the grief at bay, and while I was still filled with images and memories of my wife, I didn’t feel the bubbling anger rising in me like it had on the patio.
For now, I was okay. And if okay was the best I was going to be able to manage for a while, then that was fine.
I was probably in the shower for a good forty minutes, and when I stepped out, I wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped in front of the mirror to look at myself.
But when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see myself.
“First an Alpha, now you’re a vampire,” I chuckled when I realized I couldn’t see my own reflection in the mirror due to the condensation. “Oops. I mean… bat shifter.”
I scrubbed the mirror with my towel, and when I finally saw myself, I saw the animal I’d become for the first time.
I could barely believe my eyes when I saw who was looking back at me.
My oval-shaped face was now chiseled like a marble Adonis, and my patchy beard was a full-fledged fleece on my cut-glass cheeks and strong chin. My features seemed to look a lot more ‘masculine,’ and my hair even had a bit more of a bounce to it, like I was the star of my own shampoo advert.
I examined my new thick neck sitting on my new broad shoulders, and as I slowly raised my arms, I saw I was harboring a really nice couple of lats.
And don’t even get me started on my shiny new pec muscles.
As I stepped away from the mirror to look at my own body, I even realized I’d grown in height. I was surely over six feet tall, and if I didn’t know any better, I might have even had the slightest glimpse of a six-pack.
I guessed if one tiny positive had to come from the Alpha gene taking my body hostage in a surprise biological mutiny, looking like an Abercrombie & Fitch model wasn’t the worst thing to have happened.
I stepped into some fresh clothes Trent had left in a wicker basket outside the bathroom door for me, and they felt a little snug on my new buff bod. Then I strutted like a peacock into the living room, where Trent had moved with a bag of chips after putting Charlie down for a nap, and I started my comedic interrogation.
“How could you not tell me, Trent?” I put my hand across my brow and spoke like a silver screen dame from yesteryear. “All this time you knew!”
“Knew what?” Trent laughed through a mouthful of Fritos.
“You knew I was sexy, and you didn’t even tell me!” I feigned a sob. “How long have you known?”
