13 Ch 13 An Invitation or Two (1/2)

Over the next week I began to settle into a routine of sorts.

Derrick and I ran a few miles every morning. He never understood my penchant for running barefoot. We didn't carpool because I spent more time than he did at the coffee shop.

Derrick spent a few hours at the gym house every night, often coming home so sore I wasn't sure how he would get through work the next day. I only went three times a week for Ed to teach me about knife fighting.

Mac, the big guy in charge, kept an eye on me. I could feel his eyes following my movements, watching my practice matches. Mac had something on his mind, he just wouldn't say what it was.

I focused on my lessons and learned fast. I didn't do any more fighting like I did the first day.

I became familiar with most of the faces of the guys who worked out and practiced there. I was grudgingly tolerated because Mac said so. None of them trusted a new guy showing up out of nowhere. Few actually spoke beyond what was necessary to practice their fighting skills. Derrick wouldn't talk about it and I didn't push him. I knew Mac had warned him to shut it.

I kept watching at the coffee shop for long legs. She was making me suffer. One night I know I missed her by mere minutes, I could smell where she sat. Another night her scent was faint, where she had been there earlier in the day. I wondered where she worked, what hours she kept. I couldn't hang there all night every night however.

With Derrick with me all morning, I needed some time in the evenings to practice my shifting and to just run and hunt as a wolf. I became familiar with our neighbors scents and sounds.  The few dogs in the neighborhood were easy to bluff into submission. Rabbits were wising up, using more caution. I kept extra shorts in the shed, and cached a few around the neighborhood, just in case.

Work was good. We started out tagging trees, checking for deadfall, keeping the unmarked roads used for emergencies clear. I patrolled the campgrounds with John, and became familiar with the terrain. There were times when I was on my own for a bit that I would take advantage of the situation and shift while at work.

The worst part of my new life away from home was the socks. Dad and I seldom wore them. It was easier to shift, stepping wolf paws out of man shoes. To fit in, I wore socks at work and hated every minute of it. Wolf paws just didn't wiggle out of socks.

I did get some of the work-out shorts that some of the guys at the gym favored. Snug, they even stayed on when I shifted to wolf. One hundred and sixty-pound man became a one hundred and sixty-pound wolf. The waist wasn't so different, just the length and angle of the back legs.

I practiced what moves I could make comfortably as a wolf wearing shorts. I got used to wearing them so I wouldn't have to worry about clothes when I shifted. The black shorts blended with my dark fur, making late-night shifting a workable option. The last thing I needed was someone calling the police about a naked pervert hanging around our house if they caught me going in and out of my window.

Of course a wolf wearing shorts wasn't suspicious at all, I snorted to myself. It at least gave me options.

My next payday had me picking up a spare helmet just in case I could talk someone into being a passenger. Derrick was more than willing to be my first test subject when I mentioned going into town.

”Still hoping your lady love will show up?”

”I'll run into her again.”

”I hope not literally, like last time.”

I threw him an irritated look but he just laughed at me. My obsession with long legs over the past few weeks made me easy fodder for his jokes.

I retaliated with comments about the love affair he had in his dreams with my bike. He jokingly ran his hands over my bike before we got on and headed to the gym.

Mac was outside when I dropped Derrick off at the gym house. He walked over while Derrick secured the helmet to the back of the bike.

”Why don't you come in for a minute?”

It was less of a request and more of an order. I gave him a look, trying to gage his intentions.

”Sure, for a moment.”

Mac sent Derrick to the basement before turning to me.

”Come on, I'll give you the nickel tour since you haven't been anywhere other than the basement.”

It wasn't like the house was large. It was a single story ranch above the basement. What little of the basement I couldn't see I figured was furnace and water heater. Mac led me down the hall that would have led to bedrooms if this was a family dwelling.

Each bedroom was devoted to fighting skills. The punching bag I had heard before was in the first bedroom. There were weights in the room as well. Another room had mats on the floor for scrimmages. The third bedroom had one of those things I had only seen in the movies. It had a big wooden contraption with moving parts for hand to hand combat practice. All I could think of was Kung-fu Panda as I gave one of the bars that stuck out a spin.

Mac used a key to unlock the door at the end of the hall.

The master bedroom was converted into a mini hospital. Two stainless steel tables, IV stands, bandages, medicines, and a small refrigerator that I could only assume held blood. The only thing missing was a doctor. The curtains were closed, a solid blanket hanging behind them. There were bars on the windows that wouldn't be seen from the outside.

Mac closed the door behind him. He didn't say anything for a bit, measuring my reaction so far.

Wolf knew how to be patient.

Finally Mac hopped up on one of the tables. I jumped up across from him. Patient wolf. Mac gave in first.

”What do you think?”

”I assume the bars are to keep the medicines safe? Otherwise this room would make a nice little prison.”

”No one comes that doesn't want to be here.”

The silence drew out again.

”Do you want to be here? We don't usually take in charity cases.”

”I never considered myself a charity case. If you don't want me here all you have to do is say so.”

Mac was having an internal debate, and I had a feeling my response wasn't making it easy on him.

”Ed says you're a good fighter, that you have some natural skills. You could be more involved, only condition around here is you don't talk to anyone about this place.”