Read Online The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge by Mark L. Van Name - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Mark L. Van Name
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“A Sioux shaman turned me about a hundred years ago as part of my initiation ceremony. My dream self was a cougar, and in my soul journey, I was a cougar. What I didn’t know was what my father kept hidden from me: He was a werewolf. He came to America to escape a death sentence from one of the Austrian packs for turning someone without permission. Away from the influence of the others, he was able to pass as human. He married a human and had children. Something in the shaman’s magic screwed up all that. Now I change to cougar each month. I can also change to my father’s form, but it takes planning and meditation, or extreme provocation.”
Liz watched him in slack-jawed amazement. Her eyes darted over his features, looking for all the usual tells of the lie, the story made up to entertain or confuse.
But the truth was in his voice. She could hear the frustration, bitterness, and sadness in his confession. He must always feel alone, a fate all the more so damning for being at least in part a pack animal. Not sure whether she should offer comfort or distraction, or if she should run away, she lay still. How much strange could she accept in one night?
“I promised you a hot tub,” she finally said, “and I could use it now myself. Let’s go.” She paused and arched a wiseass smile at him. “Do cougars like to get wet?”
He didn’t answer her, but after a moment he followed her, naked, into the night.
* * *
Liz stepped back into the house to grab robes and towels, while Armando opened the hot tub and moved aside its lid. As she approached the open door of the patio off her bedroom, she stopped cold. A rather large wolf, cast in silhouette, crouched on the low roof of the shed.
Armando was setting the lid on the grass and seemed unaware of the intruder, but he spun suddenly when the wolf jumped into the courtyard. It changed to human form in midflight, and landed, naked, on two feet.
“Damn it to hell, Armando, why are you with a human like this?” the intruder said. “How can you expect respect from any pack anywhere if you can’t keep away from the humans? Every time you veer away from our rules, you know you get further from being allowed to join a pack.”
“Your pack doesn’t belong here, Georg, so you matter not to me,” he replied, stepping closer to the man form.
Distracted by his body, it took Liz a moment to recognize the powerful threat rolling off this guy. She dropped the towels quietly and padded over to her dresser. She slowly pulled the pistol from its holster in the bottom drawer.
She stood in the doorway, quiet and ready to move. For no good reason, she believed Armando could handle himself, but a little backup couldn’t hurt.
“I told your punks to tell you to leave town. Didn’t they give you the message?” Armando said.
Liz appreciated that he was steering the conversation away from her.
“Yeah, they told me, and I took them down for failing to deliver my message,” Georg snarled. “I’m taking over this region, and your lame coalition of packs needs to just get over it.”
“Look, if we changed pack structure every time some lame-ass traveling troupe from Europe came through this town, we’d have moon-rage every month,” Armando explained, clearly exasperated. “Just pack up and move on.” With apparent disdain, he turned his back on the man.
Liz was surprised at his move and clutched the pistol. She released the safety.
Georg turned at the metallic snap and stared into the house.
“You think your human play-pet will keep you safe?” Georg said, keeping an eye on the doorway. “You keep polluting the pack with them, and they let you get away with it for reasons beyond my comprehension. That’s why this region needs me. You forget the old ways, the important lessons we all must heed.”
Liz kept to the shadow but did not drop her aim.
“Georg, just leave it,” Armando sighed, clearly trying to sound placating and lower the tension.
“A Sioux shaman turned me about a hundred years ago as part of my initiation ceremony. My dream self was a cougar, and in my soul journey, I was a cougar. What I didn’t know was what my father kept hidden from me: He was a werewolf. He came to America to escape a death sentence from one of the Austrian packs for turning someone without permission. Away from the influence of the others, he was able to pass as human. He married a human and had children. Something in the shaman’s magic screwed up all that. Now I change to cougar each month. I can also change to my father’s form, but it takes planning and meditation, or extreme provocation.”
Liz watched him in slack-jawed amazement. Her eyes darted over his features, looking for all the usual tells of the lie, the story made up to entertain or confuse.
But the truth was in his voice. She could hear the frustration, bitterness, and sadness in his confession. He must always feel alone, a fate all the more so damning for being at least in part a pack animal. Not sure whether she should offer comfort or distraction, or if she should run away, she lay still. How much strange could she accept in one night?
“I promised you a hot tub,” she finally said, “and I could use it now myself. Let’s go.” She paused and arched a wiseass smile at him. “Do cougars like to get wet?”
He didn’t answer her, but after a moment he followed her, naked, into the night.
* * *
Liz stepped back into the house to grab robes and towels, while Armando opened the hot tub and moved aside its lid. As she approached the open door of the patio off her bedroom, she stopped cold. A rather large wolf, cast in silhouette, crouched on the low roof of the shed.
Armando was setting the lid on the grass and seemed unaware of the intruder, but he spun suddenly when the wolf jumped into the courtyard. It changed to human form in midflight, and landed, naked, on two feet.
“Damn it to hell, Armando, why are you with a human like this?” the intruder said. “How can you expect respect from any pack anywhere if you can’t keep away from the humans? Every time you veer away from our rules, you know you get further from being allowed to join a pack.”
“Your pack doesn’t belong here, Georg, so you matter not to me,” he replied, stepping closer to the man form.
Distracted by his body, it took Liz a moment to recognize the powerful threat rolling off this guy. She dropped the towels quietly and padded over to her dresser. She slowly pulled the pistol from its holster in the bottom drawer.
She stood in the doorway, quiet and ready to move. For no good reason, she believed Armando could handle himself, but a little backup couldn’t hurt.
“I told your punks to tell you to leave town. Didn’t they give you the message?” Armando said.
Liz appreciated that he was steering the conversation away from her.
“Yeah, they told me, and I took them down for failing to deliver my message,” Georg snarled. “I’m taking over this region, and your lame coalition of packs needs to just get over it.”
“Look, if we changed pack structure every time some lame-ass traveling troupe from Europe came through this town, we’d have moon-rage every month,” Armando explained, clearly exasperated. “Just pack up and move on.” With apparent disdain, he turned his back on the man.
Liz was surprised at his move and clutched the pistol. She released the safety.
Georg turned at the metallic snap and stared into the house.
“You think your human play-pet will keep you safe?” Georg said, keeping an eye on the doorway. “You keep polluting the pack with them, and they let you get away with it for reasons beyond my comprehension. That’s why this region needs me. You forget the old ways, the important lessons we all must heed.”
Liz kept to the shadow but did not drop her aim.
“Georg, just leave it,” Armando sighed, clearly trying to sound placating and lower the tension.
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