Nate didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind when he drove out of town. He just needed to get away from everything. He probably should have told someone where he was going. But he wasn’t worried about getting in trouble. Nate just went.
He drove up and down the streets surrounding Moon Lake, eventually finding himself parked at a rest stop. Nate got out of the car and walked the grounds a few times, ignoring the looks he was getting from the tourists. He was just pacing around and around, trying to calm himself down. But it wasn’t working so well with everyone staring at him.
Eventually Nate found a bench to sit on that was relatively far from the parking lot. Lying against the cool cement, Nate finally started to relax. Until he felt something poking his crotch. He propped himself up on his elbows to see what was going on.
Looking down, Nate found a Siberian husky with its nose in the crotch of Nate’s jeans. It looked up when it saw Nate staring at it, and proceeded to jump on his chest and lick his face. It had one blue eye, one brown, and dark gray fur that framed its face. It looked like the dog had a Widow’s peak.*
Nate was surprised by the dog’s reaction. He would have thought other animals would avoid him, seeing as he wasn’t just a were but a werewolf. But this husky seemed very friendly, a little too friendly with his thick claws pressed against Nate’s chest and legs.
“Who, easy. Ever heard of buying a guy dinner first.” Nate gently tried to push the canine back to the ground. He saw someone approach and then pull the dog off him.
“Sorry, about that.” a female voice said. Nate sat up the rest of the way, wiping the doggy spit from his face. And then saw the dog’s owner before him.
She couldn’t have been too much older than him. Nate took a moment to absorb the fact she was wearing a flannel shirt that showed off her generously endowed body. Then forced himself to look at her head before he got too “excited”.
Her hair was obviously dyed platinum blonde. It was almost white, and made her own blue eyes stand out that much more. If there was a competition for owners who look like their dogs, this girl would win hands down.
“No, it’s fine.” Nate said.
“Brady what have I told going up to strangers and sniffing their privates?” The girl wagged a disapproving finger at Brady. He ran to his master’s side and proceeded to lick her hands. She sighed, and ordered him to sit and stay. Then went closer to Nate.
“Anyway, name’s Liv.” she said, walking closer to shake Nate’s hand.
“Nate, nice to meet you.”
Once the two were within a foot of each other, they caught the other’s scent. They didn’t say it out loud, but locked knowing eyes. They dropped their voices down and both said it at the same time (much to their embarrassment). Nate tried that again.
“You’re a were.” he said, cheeks still a bit red.
“And you are too. At least now I know why Brady took such an interest in you. He always likes meeting a fellow canine.” Liv said with a certain gleam in her eyes.
“So, you have a dog and you’re a were.” Nate felt like he should just say it out loud to confirm it.
“Ya. I know it’s weird. But I live alone, so having some companionship is nice. I’ve already got a cat, but Mr. Whiskers is such a lazy fat-cat. Thank god my landlord likes dogs.”
“And everyone gets along with each other? I mean, they aren’t freaked out that you’re a… werecat?” Nate couldn’t identify the specific species, but whatever it was it was feline.
“Wereleopard. The trick is to get them while they’re young, so they’re used to your scent. The first time I changed in front of Brady here, he got pretty confused. It took a few times to finally get him to understand it was still me. Now he’s fine with it.” Liv reached down to pat Brady’s head.
“So, are you from around here? Or just passing through?” she asked.
“I live in Moon Lake.”
“That figures,” Liv laughed, “My parents live there too, and so does every other were within half a mile. I’m in Seattle for school. But I go back and forth between my place and their house.”
“What school?” Nate couldn’t tell how old Liv was. With weres it was hard, someone might look twenty but actually be forty. Nate’s best guess, Liv was probably in college. In fact, she was only a year older than Nate. She explained how she went to Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Nate spent some more time looking at Liv after. She was pretty well developed for a seventeen year old. And even more so for a were. Which contributed to Nate’s assumption that she was older than she actually was.
“I’m in my junior year myself.”
“And what are you doing out here? Sight seeing?”
“Uh, no. Just needed some fresh air. And some space. What about you? Had enough of the big city?” Nate asked. He didn’t want the spotlight on him. The breakup with Kenya was still sitting on his chest like a two ton weight.
“No. I come out here to walk Brady all the time. Actually, I was heading back to my parents place. There’s a trail behind the visitor center.” Liv pointed to the large brown building to their left.
“Would you like a ride back instead?”
“Aren’t you sweet. You don’t mind him shedding all over your car?” Liv pointed to Brady, who was busy sniffing Nate’s legs again.
“Please, I shed plenty. Won’t know the difference between my fur and his.”
“What kind of dog are you exactly?”
“You can’t tell?” Nate was used to most weres identifying him right off the bat. There were so many werewolves, how could you not know one when you saw one?
“Not really. I grew up in a household full of felines. And we only moved to Moon Lake two years ago. Before we lived in Cody, Wyoming. So I’ve never had much interaction with other weres, let alone normal people.” Liv admitted, again her cheeks flushing a bit.
The population of Cody was about the same as Moon Lake. But the vast majority of people were normal. A few other weres, but oddly enough they’d all been elk or bison. Not exactly a good match for wereleopards.
“That’s cool. I didn’t even know weres existed until I moved to Moon Lake. Was more than happy to join though. I’d been obsessed with werewolves since I was a kid.”
“You’re a werewolf?”
“Yep. That a problem?”
“No.” Liv said quickly. Just the opposite.
Though she was a leopardess, she had an affinity for wolves. Maybe it was because she grew up in such a rural place, and spent most of her free time running through Yellowstone. More often than not her were form would scare away the other animals. But the only ones who seemed even the slightest bit interested were the wolves and cougars. Nate sure seemed interested, evident in the fact that his eyes kept drifting up and down Liv’s form (settling on her chest). And Liv didn’t really care.