“Not today, big boy.” Breaking our link, I take off my helmet and place it on the handlebars of my Harley. I may be a shifter; but I’m not taking any chances of losing control of my bike and wrecking. The thought of having my head split wide open, painting the road in crimson red, isn’t my idea of a good time. I only take chances when I can conclude that they won’t be life threatening. Shifters can heal a lot of wounds by shifting, but even we can’t come back from a fatal wound. Not even magical spells can bring one of us back from death’s door.
Trust me, I’ve asked Helga if it’s a possibility when I was going through a reckless stage. Anything that’d give me an adrenaline rush, I was all for trying. I still have trouble controlling my impulses when something catches my attention; the need to jump headfirst in something is still appealing. To both my human half as well as my leopard side. We’re both junkies when it comes to anything dangerous and thrilling… especially when it is presented to us as a challenge from others. I’ve always struggled with turning them down. I’m no pussy, and I never will be.
“Are you going to stand there procrastinating all day, young man? Or would you like to come inside and join us?” A woman who favors Helga asks me from the perch of her front porch.
Striding toward her, I hold out my hand as I introduce myself. “Lux.”
She eyes my hand before taking it with her own, replying, “Olga.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” I say, using my southern manners that Helga ingrained in me throughout the years.
“Hmm… manners, I like it. Well, come on, stop standing there staring at the front door.” When she says this to me, I hadn’t realized I was doing just that until she called me out on it.
“Lead the way.” I gesture with my hand, holding it out in front of me. She harrumphs before leading me indoors. This woman reminds me so much of my Helga that, even though I'm mad at her at this time, I also can’t help but miss that she’s not here with me.
3
Shelbi
Sitting at the kitchen table, my nerves are jumbled up inside of me. When Olga stood up from the table when we heard a motorcycle pulling up, and issued me to stay in my seat, I felt a frisson of something course through my body. I close my eyes and go to warn my mate that Olga is insisting on standing sentry, waiting on him. Helga clears her throat, interrupting me before I get the chance to open up our link.
“It’ll be good for him to sweat a little,” Helga states, as she lifts the cup of hot tea up to her lips. Tea that she overly doused in honey, just like Olga does. It’s never appealed to me; maybe it’s a sister thing. Maybe they grew up drinking it this way… great, now my nerves have me reminiscing over something that’s not mine to think over.
“You say this as if you know him,” I state as I squint my eyes in her direction. I’m missing something, these two have been looking at each other all morning and snickering like high school teenagers. Before she has a chance to answer me, I hear the front screen door squeak open. Damn, that door needs to be lubricated, the sounds it makes when opening and closing reminds me of nails on a chalkboard. My overly sensitive hearing has me wanting to rip the damn thing off at the hinges. I hear his voice followed by Olga’s. Standing up quickly, I take my hands and pull the neck of my top up, trying to smooth out any wrinkles that may have happened while I’ve been sitting here… waiting impatiently, as I fidgeted restlessly in anticipation.
Turning toward the entrance to the kitchen, my hands nervously clench in and out of closed fists. I can feel the indentations of my fingernails in the balls of my hands. He’s already seen me through our minds, so why I’m nervous for him to see me in person is preposterously ridiculous. As he breaches the doorway, he stops dead in his tracks; we stare intently into each other’s eyes. He’s so much more in person, his hair is darker than it was in the light of his bathroom. He’s broader than I remember. His eyes are molten, I could become entranced and lost in them for hours at a time. It’s as if time has literally ceased to exist and I’m pulled into a flash of what are either memories, or a complete daydream. It feels as if I’m no longer physically present here on earth; like I am in another world, or dimension. It is myself and the man I now know to be my mate. The only thing that I feel is an overwhelming sense of love; the most purest form of unconditional love that I don’t believe exists on whatever plane I was on before I entered this one. I’m an onlooker to this beautiful show, yet I can literally feel every sensation as it courses through my being. Am I dreaming? Have I fainted? Our bodies are translucent in appearance as they praise and lovingly speak to one another using only senses, not words. Simultaneously, they send a signal to one another agreeing that they are one, and they will find each other. Huh? When did we ever lose each other? I begin to question myself about this as their luminous bodies grab hold of one another and as they mesh, becoming one, they begin to swirl into the shape of a helix. Abruptly, I’m pulled from wherever it was that my mind just traveled to, leaving me with more questions than answers; especially considering how real that felt. Whoa, that was strange I think to myself as I try to hide
