"You can ask," Ezra told JD as he and their young sheriff headed for a patrol to check on how the outer homesteads were faring by now.
The weather was brilliant today, the sun shining down on the ravaged land, with clouds chasing over the sky since it was still gusty. Ezra had had enough of sitting in town and when the young sheriff had headed out, he had come along. While Ezra could while away the hours reading a good book, enjoying the sun, or play cards with whoever wanted to lose a little money to him, he also enjoyed a ride, talking to whoever was home on the farms they visited.
Also, riding didn't count as heavy lifting in his vocabulary, so Nathan couldn't have his hide over disobeying orders. Chris had only raised his eyebrow without a verbal comment, which was blessing enough.
So now he was here with JD.
"You wouldn't mind?" the younger man asked.
"No."
JD was silent, gazing at the neck of his horse as they made their slow, steady way along the torn river banks. The river had swept away most of what had been there, leaving mud and debris behind. A bridge had been torn down and was now in shambles several miles downriver. Another had suffered greatly. Rebuilding would take a while and crossing the river was dangerous at the moment.
"I read up on crossbreeds," Dunne finally said. "Because I don't understand what's supposed to be evil or abnormal about it. I mean, triple-changers are accepted. Why not multiple changers?"
Ezra was silent, surprised that his young pack mate had turned to books.
"I read a lot of horrible stuff. Makes you want to throw up. It was like a witch hunt back then."
"Not just back then," he added quietly. "It still is now. Some Territories are safe, others not so much. You can never tell in any town or with any person."
JD looked pained. "I know. Some places are still rather... extreme about it."
Ezra chuckled. "You could say that. Doesn't matter whether it's a city, a town or some rancher in the middle of nowhere."
He had been to enough places to know. He had hidden too often, scared for his life, ready to run far and hard.
"But it's getting better."
"Maybe."
"You never trusted anyone with this, right?"
"No."
"Not even Chris?"
"Not even my alpha." Ezra felt a twang of guilt at the thought.
"But he's your mate!"
Standish gave him a perplexed, slightly stunned look. JD rolled his eyes.
"Please! We all knew it was more than just… well…"
"Sex? Stress relief? Pack mates with benefits?"
It got him a glare. "Well, I knew it was more than any of that. Or whatever. No idea why Buck thought he had to be so embarrassed about it when I asked. I'm not a kid! I know about pack matters and mates!"
"Yes, you do," Ezra agreed quietly.
"So you are mates. You're the alpha's mate, Ezra. You could have trusted him."
"I trust him, JD. More than I ever trusted anyone else in my life, and that means more than just words. I trust the pack." He sighed softly. "It's not easy. It never was. You made it as easy as you made it difficult for me. The concept of trusting people… with my life, my money, everything about me… it's rather new. I didn't trust anyone like that, like you, before… well, before you." Ezra gave a little shrug. "You did your darnest to include me, to make me more than a mere acquaintance who might just bail after his year of penance service was up."
"It wasn't like that," JD muttered.
Ezra chuckled. "No, not really. In the beginning maybe. The Judge… gave me options. I took the more appealing."
"Prison isn't fun," the sheriff agreed with an amused tone to his voice.
"No, it isn't. And Travis knows I could get out, would get out." He let his eyes sweep over the horizon. "But to reveal I'm a crossbreed… that was more than just trust. It's my life, my survival."
"Chris wouldn't… he wouldn't have hurt you, Ezra."
It was the same argument from the shelter all over again just with another pack member.
"We wouldn't have done anything either," JD insisted. "You're pack!"
And it meant more to a wolf than to a cougar, a bear or a fox. Wolves were pack animals. It was instinctual. Like Buck had taken JD under his wings, taught him, protected him. Like Chris was watching over everyone, not just because he was the pack leader. Wolves tended to drift together, to form family structures, to have friends. Ezra had never felt that notion, but now, after all that time, he knew what it meant. And he didn't want to miss it ever again.
"I come to understand that now," he said softly. "It's a new concept. I have to get used to it. My life was very different up until two years ago." He self-deprecating smile accompanied the words.
"As was mine," the sheriff told him firmly. "As was Vin's and Buck's and everyone's!"
"Yes."
They rode in silence for a while, the river gurgling wildly alongside breaking the otherwise quietness of the land. Ezra let his eyes roam over the scarred landscape where the storm had uprooted trees and flattened bushes.
"How do you do it?" JD asked after a while.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Shifting to another form."
"I just do. Like you shift into our wolf form."
"You think of what you want to be? You have to see it first to know what to look like?"
Ezra smiled a little at the burning curiosity behind the words. "I can, simple as that. I never thought about the how and why. It's a skill I have and I used it."
"Huh. It sounds cool." JD looked truly fascinated by the concept. "And you can add things the original shape doesn't have? Like the wings?"
"Theoretically yes, but it was never necessary to fly as a wolf, a dog, a horse… and it would draw attention."
"But you flew as a fox."
"It's my first form, my natural shape."
JD silently contemplated that, then nodded. "Would you… show us one day?" he finally asked.
Ezra tensed a little.
"Not now!" JD added quickly. "I know it's new for you and all of us, but maybe one day…?"
Maybe one day, Ezra thought. The memories of his mother, how she had used him like just another tool at her disposal, a show pony, were too vivid on his mind.
But JD was not her. Nor was anyone else. All his shifts in the past had been to help with a mission, to get him in and out of somewhere, and they had been voluntary, though none of his pack mates had witnessed any of that. These were the men he trusted. They didn't abuse his abilities; never had.
Ezra nodded slowly.
The nod was enough for his companion and JD gave him a real, open, very happy smile.
They continued on their patrol, passing by several farms where people were cleaning up, rebuilding what had been destroyed, and both men talked amicably with the farmers or homeowners. Crops had been ruined, roofs lifted and blown away, barns flattened, but no lives had been lost. The people who lived out here, away from the cities, abiding the Territory laws and the Protection Act, were a hard bunch. They were hard to keep down after such an event and many had lived through a category five before.
Ezra felt their unbroken spirit and strength inspiring. Not many stayed out here after living through nature's forces. A few couldn't handle the Protection Act's restrictive nature, but those were truly few. Everyone who was allowed to settle in a Territory knew what they were getting themselves into.
JD and Ezra talked to the home owners, the farmer and ranchers, listened to how the storm had hit, asked if they needed help.
One couple invited them for a quick lunch, the next offered lemonades. They politely accepted, though they didn't stay long. Just dropping in, showing that the regulators were keeping an eye on their Territory, was enough for these people.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Both men returned after nightfall and left their mounts in the capable hands of the livery employees. JD headed for the sheriff station to catch up on what might have happened, write his report on their patrol. Ezra veered off toward the saloon.
He found Nathan and Josiah there, involved in what seemed like a spirited discussion over whatever had been in the newspaper, it seemed. On closer inspection it was the monthly crossword puzzle, which spread over two pages and was usually quite challenging. Buck was flirting with Inez, who good-naturedly let him employ his arsenal of charm and what he called animal magnetism. Not that it ever worked, but it was a game both liked to play. Vin was probably already off on night patrol.
And Chris… Ezra located the pack alpha unerringly, sitting in a corner and surveying the crowd, keeping an eye on matters in a very covert way. He was blending in, all in black, but his presence couldn't be overlooked. Everyone was aware that Larabee was here. While the crowd was their usual loud selves, there was hardly more than a scuffle here or there. Most were ranch or farm hands, and some of the construction crews handling the downed towers.
Ezra grabbed a fruity drink, adhering to Nathan's stern advice to lay off the alcohol for now, and joined the dark-clad man.
"A rather uneventful patrol," he said as he settled down, answering the unspoken question that had only been relayed by raised eyebrows. "We encountered the expected damage. Bridges are still down. Might take a while to get them rebuilt. We talked to the Karls, the Grayssons, the McKays and Herb Donner. They are all in good spirits. No physicals injuries but a few scrapes and bruises. No one asked for specific help."
Chris nodded, sipping at what Ezra identified as coffee. They spent the next minutes in companionable silence, Ezra relaxing in the powerful presence. JD came in not much later, ravenously hungry and ordering dinner, then joining the others.
Josiah left to pick up his own patrol, joined by Buck. Chris was still silent, missing nothing, as his men, his pack, went about their scheduled routines, had dinner, laughed together, exchanged stories, then left to sleep or pick up their duties.
Nothing unusual.
Ezra took out a pack of cards and shuffled them expertly, fingers nimble and quick. Chris' eyes strayed to the card play and Ezra gave him an inviting smile.
He got a smirk and a quick shake of the blond head. The crossbreed replied with a shrug and continued his display of dexterity. He finally spread the cards for a few rounds of solitaire.
As the evening crowd dispersed and Inez cleaned up, Larabee rose, all power and grace, and Ezra followed him silently.
"Feel like a night run?"
Ezra gazed into the dark streets. It was rather cold tonight, heralding the approaching change of seasons. His breath clouded in front of his face. But a night run sent a strange thrill through him. Still, contrary to his last breath, he scowled.
"On four paws?" he asked, putting as much disdain and doubt into the words as he could.
Chris raised his brows. The man could have whole conversations with just his eyes and eyebrows.
Ezra shifted on the balls of his feet, feeling strangely hesitant. He had spent three whole days as a fox; more time than all the other times added together of the past two years. It should have been enough, but ever since… since the truth had come out, he had felt more adventurous. He had never known how much shifting meant to him.
"How… uncivilized," he quipped, using his usual self-defense.
Chris grinned, still looking at him like no more words were needed.
And they weren't, because the alpha didn't have to say a lot. Chris also probably saw the spark of excitement in his mate anyway.
"You are bad for me," Ezra muttered.
The glint was hard to ignore.
XxXxXx
So he followed Larabee, feeling strangely liberated in his four-legged fox form. The dense fur didn't let any cold through and his body was fully healed. Instinctively he had chosen red, even if Chris had shot him a scowl.
To the town he was a red fox.
Within the privacy of a pack outing he might just show his true colors.
Ezra almost laughed.
True colors. Right.
Strong jaws with sharp teeth snapped at him, had him dance out of the way with real laughter, then he whisked through the streets, the wolf hot on his tail.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Ezra flopped down on his belly, then rolled on his back, tongue lolling, feeling strangely playful and free after the chase. A large, black muzzle pushed into the soft fur, teeth nipping at his belly, and he batted at it with his paws, laughing.
Chris snorted and caught one paw with gentle teeth. He was looming over the fox, eyes aglow with the same excitement Ezra had felt. He finally released the unharmed paw and settled next to the smaller shifter.
Ezra just watched him, grinning, batting at the other's head.
::For someone who thinks four paws are uncivilized, you are a giant tease, Ezra Standish::
::You bring out the worst in me, Chris Larabee::
Chris licked a wet stripe along his face. ::I try:: he purred.
Ezra rolled around and curled into his alpha with a contented sigh. ::The worst:: he muttered, pushing his nose into the thick neck ruff, just like he had done at the shelter. It felt absolutely normal. And he truly enjoyed it. ::Three days more fox than human and look at me::
::Hm, I like looking at you. Just like you are. Well, mostly.::
Ezra raised his head and stared at the Fenris. ::Excuse me?::
::Red. You're not red, Ez.::
He huffed. ::I can be whatever I want::
::But you are gray:: Chris' gaze was intense and without compromise.
::Yes, we established that::
Yellow eyes looked at him, the Fenris silent, and Ezra finally relented. It wasn't because Chris looked at him with puppy eyes; he would probably have laughed his tail off if the other shifter ever tried that. It was something else, something more intimate, something just between them.
The red became light gray.
He didn't dare show his wings because just about anyone might see them. It wasn't private enough. It wasn't safe.
It got him a nibbled-at ear that was bathed in a big tongue afterwards. Chris rested his head on the smaller shifter's back, totally at ease.
Ezra relaxed as well, burying his head against Chris' thick fur.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
They stayed like that until dawn.
A thick fog had come in throughout the early hours of the morning, blanketing the town and everything around it in a fluffy, dense and rather surreal cloud. Things disappeared after just a few feet, shrouded in a fine cover that clung damply to Ezra's fur and making him absolutely invisible.
Chris, his dark form next to the fox, was equally barely recognizable. Ezra enjoyed the atmosphere, the strangely dampened sounds, the cool but still rather mild air. People were either already waking up or just about going home, and no one really saw the two shifters moving noiselessly through the fog.
XxXxXx
Chris slipped into bed next to Ezra, who was pleasantly worn out and ready to sleep until noon.
tbc...