Dream Catcher (Woodland Creek)

“No, I’m still mad about the time you and Jase put hair color in my shampoo and the next time I shifted, I turned a delightful shade of lavender…jackass.” She punched my arm, but the force did nothing against my flexed muscles. She forgot I knew her well enough to not let my guard down with her.

“We didn’t know it would do exactly that…” The memory was an exceptionally funny one. Who knew blonde-haired shifters absorbed purple dye is such a unique way?

Well…we did now.

“Hmmph.” She looked about as tired as I was and even though our kind had some impressive stamina, our level of exhaustion was something that not even a coffee IV could cure at that juncture. Huffing out a breath, she put her clipboard down and ushered me over to her office down the hall, pushing me in and closing the door.

Reaching for a container of bottled water, she tossed one at me. Opening one for herself, she took a swig of the locally bottled spring water. “Warren, your stray cat is new here in Woodland Creek.”

“I know. Jase and I pulled her from her partially submerged vehicle off the main road into town. You know, right at mile marker nineteen. The one I’ve been complaining about for months now with the transportation department.” Lectures came easy to my older cousin and something told me I wasn’t escaping this one.

“God, you’re cute.” She shook her head and I got that she didn’t mean the comment as particularly complimentary. “A little dense sometimes, but cute.” And I was right about that one.

Tired, I waited for her to continue, finishing the water in one swig. “Just say what you mean, Eden.” Crushing the bottle with one hand, I tossed it in the recycle bin.

“It’s likely she doesn’t, uh…” Eden scratched her neck in a nervous gesture. “Know about the residents of Woodland Creek.” So Eden didn’t think Kerri Harper knew about shifters…Well, that was glaringly obvious.

“I sure hope not, we don’t advertise that now, do we? Hey, welcome to Woodland Creek, home of the weird and shifty.” I was trying to make a joke of things, but Eden scrunched her face up.

“Warren.” Scolding was Eden’s signature and I would only worry when she stopped doing it.

“It doesn’t help when Jase makes dumbass remarks. Of course she doesn’t know. Did

you think I would tell her?” Would I tell her? I wasn’t planning on it. We knew there were people out there who were into fetishes and searched out shifters, or what they thought they knew about us. We kept our kind a secret for a lot of reasons, especially after a few books went mainstream encouraging things between our kind and humans. “Oh, come on. Are you really that dumbstruck over her?” The last thing I wanted to do was admit something even I didn’t understand at the moment about what drew me to her.

“Eden, I just worked a double shift and my last call was Kerri Harper. I’m working on zero sleep here.” I would’ve slept for days after that if I could, but I was starting classes soon and work didn’t stop just because I was tired.

She nodded and then began again. “Are you still having problems shifting back and forth?”

Grabbing the back of my head, frustrated, I told her the truth. “I am…not all the time, but enough that it can be...problematic.” This was a new problem I was having since the recent lunar eclipse, but that wasn’t what I thought was causing it. Honestly, I didn’t have a clue and for all I knew it was a normal transition.

She made a thoughtful sound, nodding. “Well, you better stock up on razors and clippers.” Her eyes gave me a look and I knew I looked worse for wear after a long shift, but she crossed her arms and nodded to the mirror behind me. “Look at yourself, Warren.”

Turning, I spied a glance of myself and found that my hair was grown out and shaggy. I looked like a mountain man too far away from civilization. My half Native American blood on my dad’s side was prominent. I’d shaved the day before, but it was pointless. I could have sported the beard and man bun look with my longish hair at that point.

“Shit.” Running a hand over my face, I wondered if that was exactly what Kerri had seen earlier.

“I guess you’re perfecting the poor college student look?” Eden exhaled, but I didn’t find much of this funny at all. She leaned back in her chair, resting her hands on top of her desk.

“I look like a damn hobo.” I pushed my hands through my messy hair again and Eden chuckled.

“How do you not notice that you’re still covered in tufts of fur and hair? Doesn’t it itch?” Eden walked over to me and reached over, touching a length of hair hanging over my forehead and poking me in the ribs.

“If I knew the answer to that question I wouldn’t need you to censor me. Isn’t there something I can do or take for this?” Eden shrugged and moved to sit down behind her desk, ready to give me another discourse of what I should be doing. “Maybe see Pia and see what she says?” Pia Mathews was the apothecary in town and knowledgeable about all things herby and potion-like.

“Do you really think she could help me?” Eden flipped through some files on her desk and I felt summarily dismissed.

“I see your frown, Warren, but I’m not sure I should be getting involved in all this.” She waved her hand in the air and made another note on a chart.

“Eden…” Peering up from her paperwork, Eden began anew, folding her hands, the tips of her fingers tapping together.

“Kerri Harper looks like a gentle girl. I can sense that you…like her. I’m not telling you what to do here, Warren, but I don’t know if she’s ready to hear she’s living in a town full of shifters and magic.”

“Right. So let’s just ignore the obvious and pretend nothing happened.”

“She didn’t see you or anyone else shift, so I suggest you keep that little detail to your hairy self and visit the barber a bit more regularly.”

Rolling my eyes, I nodded, keeping my opinions to myself. I wasn’t going to tell her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t find out eventually if I wasn’t careful. If we weren’t careful. I amended to myself. I was going to have to keep a close eye on Kerri and a closer one on my foolishly interested heart.