Excerpt: Just Lucky / The Other Side of No

This time, he was going to win. She was several dozen yards behind him and too far north. He would find the target first. Laughing silently to himself, he jumped lightly over a fallen log, pausing only long enough to make sure his footing was secure before he leapt again.

Mid stride, Doug faltered. April’s emotions had changed. Usually, she was intent and rather calm but suddenly, she became animated and very agitated. He sniffed at the air again. No, not agitated but excited. She had found something. He paused. Was he wrong? Did she find the target first? Couldn’t be. He was sure it was hidden toward the southern end of this ravine. Not wanting to look foolish for making such a rookie mistake, he backtracked, stepping gently over fallen branches he had raced past before.

He was back amongst the thicket when he heard her call.

Game over. She had found the target.

Trotting quickly to her, he tried not to pout and grumble like a sore loser. She had won fair and square. Besides, it wasn’t like he never lost. He frequently did. It was just that he had been so sure he knew exactly where to go. How could he have gotten it so wrong?

When he finally found April, Doug skidded to a halt. She was at the northern end f the ravine, where the limestone was worn and pitted before it crumbled away. But…that was where he had been heading when she got all excited about something. If he hadn’t backtracked and double-checked himself, he would have easily found the site first.

April was grinning broadly, apparent even through all the auburn fur that covered her face. Her green eyes gleamed as Doug padded toward her. She seemed to be laughing. Laughing at him? Something was very funny and he didn’t get it.

Sparing him from feeling like an idiot any longer, April stood up, regaining her normal form as she did so, her smell shifting slightly, taking on a less woodsy scent now that she was human again. The impish grim remained as she leaned down to pat his dark brown fur. Doug sat down, short legs changing to long legs and arms. Just two naked people, standing in a secluded section of forest in western Oregon. Absolutely nothing unusual about that.

“What’s the joke?” he asked, not even trying to keep the irritation from his voice.

“Oh, Dougie,” she cooed as she gingerly sat beside him. He hated when she called him that.

“How did you find the target?” he asked, trying to ignore the sudden rush of heat he felt as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I didn’t,” she answered and giggled. “You did.”

Doug hated to feel confused, to feel like he was more than two steps behind everyone else. April peeked up at him. Seeing the look on his face wiped the grin away and she sat up, wrapping her pale arms around her bare legs.

“You found it,” she restated. “I just threw you off the trail long enough for me to find it.”
“How?”

“By pretending,” she said, studying her nails, picking out the encrusted dirt.

“Pretending,” he echoed, still not seeing it.

“Yes,” she said, barely glancing at him before she continued. “Once I realized how far off track I’d gotten and just where you were headed, I pretended to know something you didn’t, to get all excited and happy…to throw you off track.”

It was slowly dawning on him.

“You pretended,” he said slowly, “because you knew I would smell your emotions.”

“Yes,” she said, looking down in to the ravine. “And then you would doubt yourself, probably go back to check again, allowing me to get to where you were going.”

So she had faked the excitement he had smelled. Maybe that’s why he had had a difficult time placing the emotion at first. She deliberately used his strongest skill against him in order to win. Trying not to feel irritated at being defeated, Doug had to admit she had outwitted him. The win was rightfully hers.

Doug smiled at her, chuckled slightly, then sprang to his feet, pulling her up along with him.

“Alright,” he said as he squeezed her briefly. “You win.”

She giggled in to his chest, green eyes gleaming once more. Stepping away from him, she stood on tip-toe as she peered over the broken stone edge.

“It’s down there?” he asked, although there was no need. Even his human sense could smell something that didn’t fit on the air.

She nodded grimly. They made it a contest to help lighten the mood but it never made the search easier.

“Race ya back to the truck,” he called over his shoulder, his limbs sprouting brown fur again as he turned, not giving her a chance to respond. She could change forms faster so he needed every advantage. Besides, he knew the way better than she did, having gone over it twice now.

It felt good to run through the forest, letting his heart pound in his ears, feeling the wet ground fly away before him. This was his favorite part of his wolf form, to feel like a wolf, to hunt like a wolf. The smell of the green trees filled his head and he ran. Occasionally, he could sense other animals there with him, smell their fear or sometimes even their curiosity as he passed. Wolves might to native to the region, but it didn’t mean the other residents ever saw any as large as him and April.

He was already tucking in his shirt when she came panting down the faint trail. Giving him a playful glare, April changed forms effortlessly as she reached in to the truck bed for her clothes. Doug turned away in a chivalrous act to give her some privacy but also to cover his reaction at seeing her. Even after a year of living together, the sight of her body made him flush and drool at the same time. Sometimes he felt more animal than man around her.

“Do you want to make the call?” she asked as she pulled the laces tight on her hiking boots.

Doug grimaced.

“Would you?” he pleaded. “You are much better at that sort of thing than I am.”

She rolled her eyes at him and pursed her lips.

“Fine,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “Not sure what good it will do now. Can we at least wait until the morning?”

Doug agreed. Nothing else could be done today, as the sun was already setting and this terrain with it’s ragged rocks and unstable ravines had been treacherous enough for now.

She jumped in to the cab of the truck, sliding over to the middle of the seat, the very image of a large auburn wolf seated beside him. Doug had to blink to bring April back into focus. After long periods of time as a wolf, it was harder to see the human side of the animal.

Doug steered the big vehicle back over the barely-visible track, carefully avoiding large rocks and low branches as he maneuvered. It took the better part of the hour to get back to the dirt road that wound through this mountain. Once they were back on steadier ground, Doug slid his arm around the seat, wrapping it around April’s shoulders. Despite the occasional hard dip, she settled easily against him.