Change

17

THAT EVENING I walked through the courtyard, heading for my apartment when I caught the scent of Kindred. I stopped and looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. 

There was only one person in sight. He had his back to me and a large box in his arms, but there was something somehow familiar about the tall, broad shouldered figure. I watched him, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar. He set the box down, turned and looked around, almost as though he had felt someone watching him. The moment I saw his face, I knew through the unfamiliar shagginess of his dirty blond hair, the angular jaw and distinctive set of his mouth were clear. His nose had been broken and healed crookedly since the last time I had seen him, but I hadn’t seen him years. I froze for a split second, disbelieving my eyes.

“Devon Wilson!” I shouted. 

He spotted me as I called out his name and it took a moment before recognition flashed across his face. He’d been in Payson’s class in school, they were few years ahead of me, but they’d hung out in the same circle. Her crowd had spent enough time at our house that we were friendly despite the age difference.

“Daniels? Nickie Daniels! How’re you doing?” A smile spread across his face. I changed direction and headed for him.

“I’m good, you? I heard you ran away and joined the Army. I haven’t seen you in years,” I said as soon as I was close enough I wouldn’t have to yell. When I got close enough, I caught the smoky scent of him under the sweat he’d worked up hauling boxes.

“I did. I was with them for almost ten years before I broke my leg and they gave me a medical discharge.”

“They discharged you over a broken leg?” I asked.

“Well, maybe broken’s not the right word, shattered would be more accurate. It’s been almost a year since the accident and I still have trouble.”

“Oh, wow. But wait. You’re Kindred, why haven’t you healed in a year?”

Surprise flashed across his face for an instant before he cleared it. 

“What do you mean?” His face was blank.

I panicked for just a second, worried I’d screwed up. I had to be careful here, I didn’t want to make him suspicious if I was wrong, but I knew I wasn’t. I was certain he knew. But this wasn’t the place for this, where anyone could walk by and overhear. 

“You look like you’ve had a full day. Why don’t you come up to my place and we can catch up,” I said. “I’ll fix us something to eat and we can talk.” 

“Um… okay, I guess. Let me just lock up and I’ll be right behind you. Which unit are you in?”

“315, but I didn’t know you live here.”

“I haven’t been, but I do now. I’m moving in today. I’ve only been back for a little while and I’ve spent the last couple of weeks crashing at my parents’ until I could find a place.”

“No wonder I haven’t seen you around here,” I said. “I’m going to head up and fire up the grill. I’ll thaw a couple of steaks and we can toss those on. You come up when you’re ready.” I turned and started across the courtyard. As soon as I got inside my apartment, I pulled my PCD out of my purse and dialed Bill.  

“Nickie, what’s up?” Bill answered. 

“Devon Wilson. Payson’s age. Why does he smell like Kindred? And why did he pretend not to know what I was talking about when I asked him?” I asked quickly, not wasting time.

“I knew he was back in town but didn’t realize you knew him.”

“He was part of Payson’s crowd in school; they spent a lot of time hanging around the house, so we were friendly,” I said, keeping it short; I was kind of in a hurry.

“I didn’t realize that… Anyway, Devon is Kindred, yes, but he doesn’t shift. I’m sure he smells more strongly of Kindred because he’s living with his parents. While he’s Kindred, he probably doesn’t think of himself as one of us. 

“He likely has no clue you shift, or now know about us. Remember the last he knew you was when he left town. Then, you didn’t know what you are and neither did anyone else. While you’ve known for a couple of weeks, not many in the pack know you yet,” he said. I went to the freezer while I listened and pulled out a couple of steaks.

“I guess,” I said. “He’s not living with his parents anymore, he’s got an apartment in my complex. That’s where I ran into him. Thanks for the info, but I’ve got to go. He’s supposed to have dinner with me and I don’t want him to catch me on the phone.”

“All right. Have a good evening.”

“Thanks again. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I hit the end button and laid the device on the table as I popped the steaks into a bowl of hot water. Stepping out onto the balcony, I lit the grill to let it start heating before going back inside and picking up a few things I’d left lying around. I was changing the now cold water in the bowl with the steaks when I heard the knock on my door.  

“Just a second!” I shouted, turning off the water and grabbing a towel off the counter. I carried it with me, drying my hands as I walked through the living room. Devon was standing on the doorstep. He’d pulled his hair back from his face into a ponytail low on his neck and I noticed he’d pierced his ears since I’d seen him ten years earlier. He now wore a single, small gold hoop in each ear. 

“Come on in, have a seat. The steaks are almost ready to toss on the grill,” I motioned him inside and closed the door. “Can I get you something to drink? I have soda, tea, milk, water, possibly some juice, I might even have a couple of beer in the fridge, if that would interest you…”

“Tea’s fine,” he looked around the living room of my small apartment, still standing. 

“Let me get that, make yourself at home,” I invited, heading into the kitchen to fix his drink. I heard him following me so I continued, “I’m sorry about blurting out about Kindred down there, it just surprised me. I didn’t know that you are one.”

“That’s what I thought you said but I wasn’t sure. I mean, you’re not Kindred so how can you know about them?” 

“Actually, I am Kindred. It’s a new discovery and I’m still learning my way around. I’ve only met a few of the pack. I’m not surprised you hadn’t heard.” I filled a glass with ice and tea and handed it to him as he sat at the dining room table. 

“Really?” he asked. “How? I knew you and your family for years. How can you suddenly discover that you are Kindred when none of your family are?”

“Well, you know that Raine, Pace, ‘Low, and I are adopted, right?” I pulled two baking potatoes from the basket I kept in a deep drawer and washed them. 

“Well, yeah. It’s hard to miss.” 

I laughed, I couldn’t help myself, he was right. Looking at all of us you would never guess we were siblings. 

“Apparently, at least one of my birth parents was Kitsune, so I am too. Bill, the Anikitos, has known I had Kindred blood since I was a baby, but never said anything.” I stabbed the potatoes several times with a fork before putting them in the microwave and starting them cooking.

“One day you just shifted and had no clue what was going on?” he asked.

“Pretty much.” I told him about my first shift, the things I’d learned, and that I was now working with Alexis.

“I see...” 

“I’m sorry about earlier. I had no clue, all those years you were hanging around the house.”

“I understand. But you need to understand, I’m not a shifter.”

“I know, before you got here I called Bill and asked. I was afraid I’d blown it big time. No one’s told me yet exactly what the punishment is for letting people in on our secret without permission, but it’s been hinted to be bad. I didn’t want to risk it. He said you don’t shift. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up what might be a sore subject.” I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the makings for a salad.

“It’s not a big deal. I came to terms with who and what I am a long time ago. I mean, yeah, it would be nice to shift and not be an outsider in my own family, but I’ve accepted my life and learned to be happy.”

“I’m just starting to realize how difficult it is to hide something like this from my family. I can’t even talk about it with them. We’ve always talked about everything.”

“How long have you known?”

“I shifted two weeks ago today…”

“Wow, that’s about when I got back into town. No wonder you don’t know many Kindred yet.”

“It was a bit of a shock to learn Bill is pack leader. I’ve known him always. I had no clue he was anything but human. Of course, I never suspected anything but humans even existed. Spending one day a week at the clinic has introduced me to a few more, but it’s going to take a while to get to know everyone.” I pulled a few leaves off a head of lettuce and washed them before tearing them into bite sized chunks and dropping them into a salad bowl, mixing in a pre-cut salad mix.

“I can imagine.”

“Enough about me and my drama. What have you been up to? You left here almost ten years ago. I thought you never looked back and you never would.”

“Since you’re in on the secret now, I’ll tell you the whole story.” 

“If you want to,” I waited for him to begin.

“I’d just turned nineteen when they decided I would likely never shift. I’d tried several times with no luck. We had a different second then and they couldn’t call animal forms. But we had Alexis’ grandmother and she could. She said it’s not possible to call someone’s wolf until they’ve shifted for the first time. Something about not being able to reach the wolf until then, I don’t really understand the details.” I glanced and found him looking sightlessly into his tea glass. 

“There are ways to help someone shift for the first time, but calling their animal form isn’t one of them. We’d tried everything we knew to do and finally had to give up. Anyway, the Anikitos told me I was free to do as I wanted, providing I kept the secret. 

“So, I did what I’d wanted to do for some time. I joined the Army, knowing it would take me out of town. I did well but not extraordinarily so, and I worked my way up in rank some. I wasn’t on the bottom of the pile anymore but I didn’t have huge responsibilities either. I’ve been all over the world and enjoyed what I did enough to re-up when my first commitment was over, I was content. 

“Then last year on a training exercise, I fell about thirty feet off a rocky ledge and landed wrong and the impact shattered my leg. I spent weeks in the hospital. Went through more surgeries than I want to remember and months of physical therapy. I still limp sometimes, especially when I’m tired. When they decided I could no longer perform my duties, the Army let me go, gave me a medical discharge. They didn’t just dump me. I get disability because the injury was in the line of duty. It’s enough to scrape by but not enough to really live on. It’s a lot cheaper to live here than in a bigger city, so I decided to move back. My family is here and even if I’m the ghost in the closet, they’re still my family.”

“I’m sorry that your family sees it that way. Bill’s given me permission to tell my parents, but I’m afraid of how they might take it so I haven’t yet.”

“He said you can tell your family?” Devon was surprised.

“No, just my parents. He expressly forbid me from telling the others.”

“That makes a little more sense. Telling anyone is a big deal, that he gave you permission to tell your folks at all is huge,” he said. “Speaking of your siblings, how’s everyone doing?”

“Pretty good, Brit’s married and has two kids. Cam’s got a steady girlfriend but he hasn’t brought her around the rest of us yet. Probably because he doesn’t want to hear the teasing he’s sure to get. Pace lives in Tucson, she’s got a good job there. Raine’s here though, he’s been with STPD for about three years now. And ‘Low is getting ready to start her last year a NAU. She stayed there for the summer taking a summer class and waiting tables in some restaurant.”

“Wow, the last time I saw Shiloh she was about eleven. It’s hard to believe she is almost done with college.”

“Yep. You have a brother and a sister too, don’t you?” 

“Yeah, Amy and Jason are both older than me. We aren’t close. We haven’t been for a long time.” I heard the regret in his voice and I suspected part of their not being close came from his not being able to shift. 

I checked the steaks and found them thawed so I dumped the water and started getting them ready to cook. I seasoned them, and carried them out to put them on the grill. I closed the lid over them, and then headed back into the house to finish the rest of dinner.

As I walked back into the kitchen I asked, “What are your plans now that you have a place of your own?” 

“Next is looking for a job. I don’t want to work for the mine or for any other big company, but I will if I must. I haven’t looked at what’s available yet, I’ve been concentrating on getting a place of my own.”

“Yeah,” I pulled a couple of plates out of the cabinet. “I can’t imagine living with my parents again, and I’ve only been on my own about half as long as you. I like being able to do things when I want without someone coming along and telling me how I should do it.”

“I know exactly what you’re talking about!” He laughed. “For the last two weeks, I couldn’t step out the door without being grilled, ‘Where are you going? When will you be home? Who will you be with?’ It’s like I’m fourteen again.” We both laughed at his imitation.

“Hang on. I’ll be right back.” I grabbed a pair of tongs and went out to turn the steaks. I came back to the kitchen where Devon waited and asked, “I forgot to ask, how do you like your steak?” 

“However you make yours will be fine with me,” he said. 

“Are you sure? I eat mine pretty rare.”

“All I care is that it’s hot all the way through, cold steak just doesn’t do much for me.”

“I think I’ve said that before, bloody is okay, but I don’t do cold.” I laughed and started setting the table. I pulled the butter and the salad dressing from the fridge, gathered flatware, steak knives, napkins, and salt and pepper, and set them out. Grabbing a plate and the tongs, I went back out to pull the steaks off before shutting off the grill. I carried the plate and tongs back inside to let the meat rest while I took the salads to the table. 

I sat down and told Devon to dig in, we were still eating our salads when the microwave beeped that our potatoes were done. Afterward, I took our bowls to the sink, then plated the potatoes.  

“Do you want sour cream with your potato?” I asked.

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

“Here we are,” I set the plates on the table and sat. 

Devon cut his steak and took the first bite. “Perfect. Thanks for inviting me,” he said. “I was starting to think about food and pizza was my most likely option, since they’ll deliver.”

“I was just going to end up eating alone again.” We finished dinner and I cleaned up the kitchen while we visited. Once the dishes were loaded, Devon and I moved into the living room for a while before he called it a night. He thanked me again for dinner and left. 

Devon stayed on my mind for the rest of the evening, something about him drew me. As I got ready for bed a couple hours later, it occurred to me. He would need to get reacquainted with people in town, maybe I could arrange for him to catch up with my family.