Love, Lust, and Desert Dust

Adjustments

I wake up and the last thing I remember is passing out in the clearing. I feel like I'm in a daze as I get out of my bed. How did I even get here?

I walk out of my room and I see Rosetta asleep on the couch. She jolts up and turns to me. It's as if she sensed me or something. I rush to her side.

"Are you okay?"

"You're half naked."

I look down and realize I'm only wearing boxers. Then I look over at Rosetta and see that she's possibly naked under the t-shirt she's wearing.

"Uh, you are too."

My face goes beet red. Her face turns at least 3 shades brighter than mine.

"Weren't we clothed when we passed out?"

"Yeah, I thought so--wait! What were you doing here in the first place? Why did you become chief on the same night that I did?"

"My uncle was the chief until I was old enough. I turn 18 in a month."

"I turn 18 in two weeks. Why did it feel like you could sense me coming into the living room?"

"I'm not sure." She stands up and walks towards me.

She gets closer and closer. Next thing I know, her hands reach up to touch my face.

"W-what are you doing?"

She cups my jaw and pulls my head down.

"I'm checking something."

She gets my head to a good height. I'm bending downwards. She puts her thumbs on my mouth and I open a little. She inspects my teeth.

"Where are your canines?"

"I don't know, maybe they haven't come in, yet?"

I look into her eyes and she asks a weird question.

"Do you see any color change?"

"No. They're still a gorgeous cocoa."

She looks deep into my eyes and I can feel her soul touch mine. I want to grab her and never let go.

She stands on her tip toes and plants a kiss on my lips. I'm shocked, so I don't respond immediately. She pulls away with a look of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I felt something and it may have been nothing."

She takes her hands off my face and begins to turn away.

I grab her hand and swing her back to face me. I put my hands on her hips and I kiss her with all I have in me.

She pulls away ever so slightly, licking her lips.

"Mm, I did not expect that."

I laugh and kiss her again. I lift her up and she wraps her legs around my waist. We're just making out in the middle of the living room and my hands are sliding up her legs. My hands grip her bare ass right before the front door opens.

I separate my mouth from hers with a shallow sigh.

"Ugh. Do people not know how to knock? Come on, this is MY house. I should be able to do as I please without being interrupted."

She hits my chest.

"Put me down."

I look in her eyes.

"They're purple."

"What?! My eyes changed?!"

I smile and she gasps.

"Your canines. They're so big."

"Cool."

I set her down gently and kiss her one last time. It's like my soul is addicted to hers.

*ahem* "I see you two have become well acquainted. Did you feel the pull already?"

"What?" I turn towards the door and see someone I don't recognize.

"Who are you and why did you just barge into my house? Also, what the hell are you talking about?"

"And, there's the deep-seated rage."

"What the f**k?!"

"Oh, just tell him who you are. I'm sure he could rip you to shreds."

"He wouldn't hurt a lady, would he?"

"You're not acting like a lady."

"She's my cousin, Cassidy."

"Okay, why are you here, Cassidy?"

The taller and less curvy version of Rosetta, walks towards her and grabs her arm a little more aggressively than I would've liked. A noise escapes from me and I almost don't realize I did it.

*growls* "Don't be so aggressive with her."

Rosetta sets one of hands on my chest.

"She won't hurt me. See ya later?"

"Wait, what's going on?"

"Ugh. You two have begun the change into full blown wolves. Our tribe of wolves show their magic through the change of their eye color. You show yours through--"

"Our canines." Justin materializes in the front doorway.

"We are supposed to teach you two how to be wolves. Separately."

"Why are we drawn to each other?"

"Sorry, Cuz, I'm not allowed to answer that. You two are supposed to figure that out on your own." Justin smiles at me.

"Can we get dressed?"

"Sure." Cassidy shrugs and lets go of Rosetta.

She stumbles and then walks over to me. I put my hand on the small of her back.

"There's probably something in my mom's old room that could fit you."

"I'll check."

I start to walk away and go to my room, but she stops me.

"We'll figure this out. I get it if it's weird for you and maybe we can fix it."

"What if I don't wanna fix it?"

I squeeze her arm reassuringly and head to my room. After 15 minutes, I come out of the room to find that Rosetta already left. I guess she got ready faster.

I follow Justin out into the woods and we spend all day trying to get my wolf to come out without any kind of emotion. Like a light switch.

"This isn't gonna work. Maybe I'm too... domesticated?"

"Bahaha!!! What?!"

"You know, maybe I've been so immersed in another way of living that I can't get my body to do what I say."

He just automatically shifts into a wolf right before my eyes. His wolf is different shades of brown.

"Woah!"

He charges after me and I start running. As I'm running, I feel my bones crack and my face elongate into a snout. Soon, I'm a large, solid black wolf with my normal hazel eyes.

I get so excited that I stop and howl. Soon after, I hear another howl and a white wolf with purple eyes comes bouncing towards me. She's smaller than me, but she knocks me down and then starts circling me and growling in a playful way. We run off and we have Justin and what I believe is Cassidy tailing us.

I hear a voice inside my head.

"You'll need to shift back, soon. Your body will be exhausted and you may pass out if you stay as a wolf for too long."

"Justin?! Are you in my head?! Is this telepathy?! Oh, awesome!!!"

"Yes, yes, yes, and I know right?!"

"Now, what do you mean by, I'll be exhausted? What good is being a wolf if I only get to be one for like 15 minutes."

"It's just because this is your first shift. Now, please shift back and we can continue training in the morning."

"Oh. Okay. But, teach me how to get into Rosie's mind."

"Just block me out when you're ready to "hang up" and think about what you want to say to Rosetta. Soon, she'll hear it."

"Got it. Bye."

I hang up and he growls behind me.

"Rosie."

"How is this happening?! You're in my head."

Her wolf form purposely runs a little sideways to nudge mine.

"I just found out we could do this."

"Cool!"

"Justin says we need to shift back or we'll get exhausted and pass out because this is our first shift."

"Got it. On three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

We shift back and we have nothing on. I cover her with my chest and hide behind a tree. I can feel her naked body pressed against my skin. Oh, God!

"Justin. You didn't tell me that we wouldn't be clothed when we change."

He comes out from behind a tree and is wearing basketball shorts.

"We have clothes hidden everywhere for this reason."

He tosses shorts and a men's t-shirt to me. I take the shirt and put it over Rosetta's head and she slides it on.

I break away from her as soon as she is covered and start putting on my shorts. She's looking anywhere but at me.

I catch him laughing and I glare at him.

"It was priceless. Don't be mad at him."

Cassidy comes out from behind another tree and she's wearing shorts and a sports bra.

"Why do you have more than just a shirt and all she has is...one of my shirts?"

"Yeah, I took it out of your stuff and actually carried out here before we began. As luck would have it, we switched back over here."

I notice that Rosetta isn't looking at me at all.

"I'm half clothed, you're okay to look."

"Uh, I'm just gonna go back to the house."

She starts walking barefoot and in just a shirt. Something comes over me and I scoop her up and carry her back.

"You don't need to carry me. I can walk."

"It's fine."

"She said she doesn't need you to carry her."

I hop into Cassidy's head.

"Shut the f**k up. She's just being polite. I WANT to carry her."

I hop back out and I hear an "ow" from Justin.

"What was that for?"

"For teaching the asshat how to use the mind link."

"This asshat is the chief of this tribe and now the owner of the land you're standing on. Don't call me names."

She punches Justin in the arm again.

"Please don't punch him. He meant no harm."

We get back to my house and I shut and lock the door behind me. I set Rosie down gently and head for the kitchen.

"I'm starving, do you want anything?"

"Why did you lock the door?"

"I don't want anyone else just barging into my home."

"This is more like a summer home, though."

"What?" I keep my back to her and dig through the cabinets.

"You already have that massive house."

"I'm dividing from my mother on my birthday for the good of the tribe and she's signing a contract giving me ownership of the businesses in town or within 20 miles of this town. Those will be mine and the money from them will be for the tribe and myself. It's only fair, especially since half of the adults work at those places anyways. Now, they can never be fired."

"So, you'll lose your mansion, too?"

"It won't be a loss. It will be a burden lifted."

"How so?"

"I won't have to associate with my mother ever again."

"Oh."

She goes silent and I start cooking the pasta that I found.

After a few minutes, I feel arms wrap around me.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For you having terrible parents and the rage you feel inside. I felt it when you were talking about your mother."

"What do you mean, you felt it?"

"I don't know why, but it feels like we're connected through our souls. Maybe, the chief ritual being done on two people at once connects them forever?"

"That's a possibility."

"Yeah."

She lays her head on my back and I instantly feel relieved. My whole body loses tension.

I continue cooking with her holding onto me. She offers to let go, but I don't let her. When I'm done cooking, we end up with fettuccine Alfredo.

"Sorry, there's no chicken. I didn't realize they would be so low on groceries after the feast. I guess, I'll have to go shopping soon."

"Well, there are adjustments to be made, relationship wise..."

She lets go of me and grabs my hand, rubbing her thumb on the back.

"And, in other aspects of our lives. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah, I'll need to adjust to being on my own financially, yet being responsible for so many people."

"At least, you'll have some businesses to start out with."

"Yeah."

We eat and then we hang out on the couch, watching movies on my phone for a few hours. We go to sleep in separate rooms. It's so hard to sleep.