Fighting to go on

Chapter 15

            Ryan’s jaw dropped and he looked at me like I’d grown a second head. I gazed at him calmly, waiting for him to say something.

            “I… you… um… what?” he stuttered.

            I rolled my eyes. “I’m not dumb, Ryan. I knew something was definitely different about you and I put two and two together. I just want to know why you didn’t tell me.”

            He looked at me with a guarded expression. “Most people would freak out if their boyfriends could turn into a furry creature.”

            “I’m not most people. I’ll admit, I found it weird at first, but I’m over it. But I do have some questions for you,” I said.

            “I’ll answer them, but you have to answer one for me first,” he replied. “How did you figure it out?”

            “Well,” I started, “first of all, Fluffy only ever showed up after you had left for the day. Don’t think I didn’t know about him watching me every night after I told you about Jason. Kind of stalkerish of you, but I get it. Secondly, I could feel that same current with him that I do with you, just not nearly as strong. That night after the picnic, you were outside my window, weren’t you?” He nodded, so I continued. “I could barely sleep that night, so I started piecing things together. You’re stronger then anyone I’ve met and you’re a lot quicker as well. Plus, you can hear, see and smell things that normal people can’t. But that’s not what really gave it away,” I said.

            “What did then?”

            “Your eyes. You and Fluffy had identical eyes and I could read the expression in his just as well as I can in yours. That’s when I finally realized that you are Fluffy.”

            “You know I hate that name, right?”

            I grinned evilly at him. “Oh I know. That’s why I kept calling you that even after I knew it was you. My way of getting back at you for not telling me what you are.”

            He sighed. “So you aren’t scared of me then?”

            He looked so worried that my heart melted a little. “No Ryan, I could never be scared of you. Just like I couldn’t be scared of Fluffy. And yes,” I added when he made a face, “I’m still calling you Fluffy when you’re in wolf form. It makes it easier to comprehend in my mind.”

            “Fine,” he grumbled. “Now, ask your questions. I’ll answer them all as best I can.”

            “Okay, first question. What are you called?”

            His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

            “Well, obviously you’re not a ‘werewolf’, so what are you?”

            His expression cleared. “Oh. I’m a Wolf Shifter. There are all sorts of shifters in the world, but not many of each kind, if that makes sense.”

            I nodded. “So all that stuff I’ve read about shifters or whatever being in a pack is bogus?”

            “Yeah. There’s only a handful of Wolf Shifters in the world, and our wolves aren’t in control enough to need to be in a pack with other Shifters. We just use substitutes.”

            “Okay, so explain what you mean about your wolf being in control.”

            “First I’ll explain some other things to you. See, when a Shifter is born, they’re born with the soul of an animal, rather then a human soul. It means we can talk to our animals inside of us, which is cool and annoying at the same time, but it also means that we have a lot of instincts that are the same as the animal in us. You’ve seen that I have five close friends, right?”