You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 5: Jeannie

Mr. Bentley takes me outside after dinner so I can see the progress on the shed that’s being installed as the primary shelter for my chickens. I want it to be as close to what they had back home as possible. We ordered everything for the project just last night, so I’m impressed by how quickly it’s going. The shed is being put up tonight, and the rest we can start working on in the morning.

I can sense how nervous and restless my chickens are, which is the real reason I wanted him to bring me out here. They’ve been extremely patient through our move, despite being confined to the crates that Mitch loaded them into back at the farm, but I know they could use a little extra reassurance that this part will all be over soon.

So, that’s the first thing I do when we get down there, hurrying over to their little makeshift shelter so I can poke my fingers through the sides of their crates and run a soothing hand over each of their feathery sides.

It’s alright. We’re safe. You’ll have a comfortable place to nest tomorrow, I focus on communicating to them.

It seems to work just as well as it did the night before and this morning, though there’s not much to be done about the underlying restlessness they’re all feeling. They don’t like being kept in these little crates, and they’re craving someplace where they have more say over where they roost, but there’s nothing I can do about it presently. Hopefully, enough of that shed gets finished tonight that we can at least move them in there.

I worry what the people here might think if they found out that my chickens don’t even need all the stuff I had Mr. Bentley order for them. They’ll stick to roaming wherever I tell them to, and I get the sense that all the werewolves around here might keep other predators at bay. But still, I know they’ll feel safer around all these werewolves if their run is protected and there’s some structure for them to retreat to, and they prefer to nest and roost inside a shelter anyway. If the cooks here want the same bounty of eggs as before, then we need to finish this project for them.

With my chickens fed and tended to as well as I can manage for now, I return to the yard where the Bentleys have gathered. Gabe promised to show me his wolf after dinner, so I can only assume they’ve all come to see that, though I don’t know why it seems to excite them so much. Shouldn’t they be used to seeing it by now?

But me on the other hand, I’m beyond excited, especially after his wolf peeked out to see me earlier. I’m used to connecting with animals, but I’ve never experienced it when the animal is inside a person before. I’ve sensed that there are beasts within all the people I’ve met here so far, starting with Mr. Bentley, though it didn’t make sense until he told me he was a werewolf. But they all manage to keep such a strong hold over them that though I can tell they’re there, I can’t reach them.

Except with Gabe. His wolf not only connected with me, but it was the strongest link I’ve ever felt with an animal before. I can’t wait to see him again, especially since it will be in his true form.

Speak of the devil, Gabe steps forward to greet me with a broad smile, holding out a hand so he can take mine. I’m not sure how I feel about how he always seems to want to be touching me. I’m not used to it, especially not from a man, and I don’t know how to read his intentions.

He’s handsome, there’s no denying that, but he’s exactly the sort of man my grandfather warned me about. He knows how to flirt and to be exceptionally charming, expertly pulling out his manners and being a gentleman at just the right moments. I want to believe that he’s just a genuinely nice person, especially since I got such a good vibe from his wolf earlier, but it’s hard for me to accept it so soon after meeting him.

Make a man prove himself, my grandpa would say. Don’t fall for all the flashy smiles and empty promises. Words are just words until there’s some action to back them up.

So, I guess we’ll see who he turns out to be. For now, I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic.

“My wolf is dying to come out to see you,” Gabe tells me, his eyes twinkling at me as he smiles my way. “Would that be okay? Do you think you’re ready to see it?”

“Yes!” I answer him enthusiastically. It’s the one thing I’m certain about when it comes to him. The wolf inside him is a powerful personality, and I can’t wait to see him in the flesh.

His smile grows into a grin as he laughs a little nervously.

“It’s okay if you want to turn away for this. Shifting can be a bit graphic,” he warns me.

“We’ve got her,” Mrs. Bentley assures him, stepping forward to grasp me on the sides of my shoulders as if anchoring me to the spot.

I guess they must not realize the kinds of graphic scenes that are commonplace on a farm. That’s okay, though. I appreciate the concern more than they could ever understand. This family has been nothing but warm and accepting. I’ve lost count of how many hugs I’ve had in only the last day, but it’s probably more than my lifetime total before coming here.

Gabe nods at her appreciatively and then begins stripping off his clothes. I’m sure my eyes bulge out of my head when that starts happening. I’ve seen all kinds of things around the farm, but never a naked man before. I didn’t put it together until right now that shifting might involve taking off clothes first. It makes sense though. Wolves don’t wear clothes.

I glance around to see if anyone is watching my face during this, and it seems like that’s a no. Maybe I could get away with closing my eyes, at least until his nakedness is hidden by his wolf. Except when I look back at Gabe, he’s watching me intently. He wants me to see this. All of this. I may not know what to think about him, but I do know what I want him to think of me. So, I keep my eyes open. I guess this was bound to happen eventually.

I watch in wonder as he crouches down and thick, dark patches of fur begin to sprout all over his body. Soon, the hand on the ground is replaced by the front leg and paw of a wolf, same thing happening on the other side. Then his legs and feet become the rear legs and paws, and a long, somewhat fluffy tail sprouts on his backside. His head is replaced by the much larger head and ears of a wolf, and perhaps my favorite part happens at the end, when his human nose elongates into the snout of his wolf. His eyes are still transfixed on me, and I get to see the exact moment when his rich brown eyes become a bluish-gray.

That seems to be the final bit of his shift because as soon as those eyes change, he’s up and coming for me wagging his tail. I instinctively hold out my hand for him, and he leans into it with his snout, butting up into it to ask for pets. I’m beyond happy to oblige.

His fur is a thick and silky black, and I soon get lost in the sensation of running my fingers through it. I make a lap around him, inspecting every bit of him and gliding my hand along his sides, which he seems to like. Once I make it back around to the front of him, he seems to have lost patience with just sitting there and rises up on his hind legs, throwing himself at me to knock me onto the ground so he can get on top of me and attack my face with kisses.

It was done gently and with impressive control, and I could sense he was going to do something like that before it happened. Instead of it scaring me, I’m overcome by a fit of giggles from how much he’s tickling and playing with me, which both he and his family seem to be enjoying.

“You’re quite comfortable with him,” Mr. Bentley comments.

“I like wolves,” I remind him. “Does he have a name?”

“He does, but none of us know it. Gabe won’t tell us,” Mrs. Bentley explains.

“I’ve never seen him quite like this though,” Tyler adds.

It occurs to me then as they’re all standing there at once that he might be Mr. Bentley too, though that’s not how I’ve been thinking of him. He introduced himself as Tyler, just Tyler. But I’ve gotten the impression that both he and Mr. Bentley are with Mrs. Bentley, and all the kids seem to call him and Mr. Bentley their dad. I haven’t had the nerve to ask more about it though. All that matters is that these people have been nice to me, and it isn’t my business.

I turn my attention back to the wolf before me, or rather, on top of me, who is playfully nudging me like he wants to wrestle. I dig my fingers into the sides of his fur and give him some slightly more aggressive scratches, looking up into his eyes and focusing on my sense of him.

Simon. His name is Simon, I just know it. It comes to me the same way every animal’s true name seems to. But remarkably, this one has a human name. I suppose that makes sense considering that he shares his body with a man.

I don’t bother announcing that to anyone though. I figured out early on that the way I connect with animals and other living things isn’t normal, and telling people about it only makes them uncomfortable and inspires them to look at me as though there might be something wrong with me. That was true even of my grandparents.

Simon eventually lets me get up from the ground, and almost immediately after is nudging at my side as though he wants something else from me. I place my hand on the top of his head and look into his eyes again, understanding after a moment of tuning into him that he wants me to get on his back. His efforts get a bit more persistent as he latches onto my shirt with his teeth and starts tugging on me.

“Uh actually, it’s probably about time you shift back, Gabe,” Mr. Bentley interrupts him. “The men are telling me that the shed is ready enough that we could move your chickens in there for the night, Jeannie.”

“Okay,” I readily agree. This moment with Simon is pretty cool, but my chickens need me more.

As long as the men set it up according to my instructions, it should be safe and comfortable and there should be space that we can let them out, even if it means keeping them inside the shed for now. That’s way better than the crates. Tomorrow, we’ll work on building the rest of the nesting areas and the protected runs for them, and then they should be starting to feel content enough to make themselves at home and begin laying eggs for us again.

I’m looking at Mr. Bentley and don’t notice when Gabe begins to shift again, not until I look back at him and he’s naked for a second time, rising from the ground smirking at me. I don’t have to look in a mirror to know that my face is heated and flushed. But thankfully, he makes quick work of pulling his clothes back on.

“What’d you think?” he asks when he comes over to me, reaching over and claiming a section of my hair to run his fingers through.

At first, I find myself speechless and I can feel the heat intensifying in my face because I’m still stuck on how naked he was a second ago and assume he must be asking about that.

But he chuckles and leans over to kiss my forehead as though I’m the most adorable little kitten or something.

“I mean about my wolf,” he clarifies, his eyes still sparkling at me. “Do you like him?”

“Yeah, he’s beautiful,” I tell him somewhat breathlessly. “What’s his name?”

I already know, but if he tells me, then it won’t seem so weird if I let it slip out later.

His eyes do that thing where they change back and forth from his to Simon’s for a quick second, and then he fixes them on me again.

“Simon,” he tells me, grinning as though it makes him pretty happy to be able to share that with me.

“Oh, well that’s a nice name,” Mrs. Bentley chimes in. “I’m glad to finally know it.”

She knocks her shoulder into Gabe’s playfully as she passes by him, and then turns and looks over the group of us gathered together.

“Well come on then, Bentleys. We’ve got some chickens to unload.”

I don’t know why, but it makes me feel kind of warm and happy that she didn’t single me out there. It kind of feels like it was her way of telling me that I’m one of them now, and I rather like the idea of that.