Marilu Mann - Changing Focus

Olivia woke later with Micah still curled around her, his warmth comforting her. She stirred enough to roll over, studying him in his sleep. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, thick lashes and that lovely mouth. Thinking about his mouth could only lead to one thing. Olivia slid closer to kiss him.

Micah woke smiling. He brought one hand up to frame her face and kissed her again just as the bedroom door banged open, hitting the wall. A six-year-old bundle of excitement landed right in the middle of the bed, bouncing on Micah’s side.

“Hurry up, everyone’s going to be there before us and I can’t wait for pizza!” Talia bounded off the bed just as quickly as Olivia and Micah laughed together and got out of bed. Within thirty minutes they were piled in Micah’s truck for the ride to Pete and Margie’s. Talia talked nonstop from her booster seat strapped securely between the adults.

After they’d dropped her off and Micah had introduced Margie and Olivia, they headed back to the lodge. He explained that they’d change into wolf form at the lodge so they could safely leave their clothing in a warm and accessible place.

“There will be about thirty there tonight, Liv. Don’t be nervous, they’ll all want to sniff you, just to figure out who you are. Stay by me and you’ll be fine.”

Olivia kept her second thoughts firmly to herself. I want to do this, don’t I? I am a shifter, right? I should be looking forward to meeting others like me.

Still, as the turnoff to the lodge appeared, she felt her heartbeat increasing and her blood pumping faster. “Micah, I don’t know if I can do this. What if I want to stay a wolf?”

“Sweetheart, stop worrying so much. We’ll run with the others for a while then we’ll come back here together. Just stay with me, Liv, everything will be fine.”

Micah pulled the truck to a stop and she saw Gareth standing on the porch. He waved as they got out of the truck and moved toward them.

“Gareth, you’re coming tonight, right?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Olivia watched the way his gaze bounced off Micah’s face and to the ground between them.

“Gareth, you need to be there tonight.”

Olivia watched him carefully. Gareth sighed, shaking his head, then took a deep breath. “I’ll go.”

“Thank you.” Micah touched the other man’s shoulder briefly then turned back to Olivia. “Let’s go inside for a bit, we still have about twenty minutes.”

Nodding, she followed him inside. Gareth stood on the porch for a few minutes then came inside. She felt the tension surrounding Gareth but had no idea why he didn’t want to be with the other shifters.

Though they sat in fairly companionable silence, Olivia’s curiosity got the better of her.” Gareth? May I ask you a question?”

He glanced at her almost with a sideways sweep of his eyes then he did the same to Micah. “Micah?”

“Gareth, Olivia is with me. If you are comfortable answering her questions, feel free. You don’t need to ask my permission.” Micah clipped the words out as if he was annoyed by something but Olivia didn’t know what that might be.

“Go ahead, Olivia.” Gareth kept his eyes lowered as his shoulders seemed to creep higher up his neck.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but why don’t you want to be at the Gathering tonight? I know why I don’t, but you? Aren’t these your,” she stumbled over the word, “Pack?”

With a sigh, Gareth swept a hand through his hair. revealing his scarring and the patch over his eye for a moment before letting the hair curtain back over the destruction. “This isn’t really my Pack. I have friends here and I acknowledge Micah as my Alpha even if he doesn’t accept that, but I’m not really accepted among the Pack.”

A low growl came from Micah who softened it with a grin that was just shy of a grimace. “It’s not that I don’t accept it, Gareth. I can’t. Or I couldn’t. I was working two jobs-here and all over the country. You know that better than most.”

Olivia interrupted. “Micah? Pete acknowledges you as the leader and so does Gareth. I imagine that there are others as well?”

“We all do, Olivia. There is not one shifter among the Pack who will be at tonight’s Gathering who doesn’t accept Micah as our Alpha.”

The quiet after those words stretched out until Olivia couldn’t stand it. She smiled softly at Micah. “Well, I think there is one who doesn’t accept him as Alpha.”

Gareth’s menacing roll of sound made the hair stand up on her neck. “Who is it? I’ll challenge him in a heartbeat.”

“Gareth.” Olivia held her hand up. “I’m talking about Micah.”

The stunned looks from both men was too much for her. Giggles burbled up as she covered her mouth with both hands. She imagined they looked like they’d seen a two-headed moose in the living room with the way they stared. Then they both joined in her laughter-Micah first closely followed by Gareth.

This time the silence that followed was softer. Olivia felt less tense. But when Micah got to his feet she felt her stomach clench. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

He nodded at her. “Yes, Olivia. Time for the Pack to meet you.”

She wondered why he phrased it that way. It seemed to be more about her meeting the Pack. The question she had asked died when Gareth stood up as well. Without another word, both men started undressing. Not being as comfortable with group nudity as they obviously were, Olivia moved behind one of the tall chairs.

Her hands shook as she slipped her shirt off. The pants seemed to cling to her legs, making her struggle to get them off. She might have asked for help removing her bra, but Micah already stood before her in his beautiful wolf form. She watched as Gareth flowed into his own wolf-self.

The white wolf she’d seen it the woods really was Gareth. The scars he hid under the patch he wore stood out on his wolf face. One blue eye and a cloudy white eye marked him for sure. Micah stood several inches taller in wolf form than Gareth, but as she looked at the size of their chests, she could see that Gareth was about equal to Micah in total size.

A cold nudge on her hand broke her reverie. Micah’s moist nose insistently poked at her hand. She gave in to his pleas to scratch him behind his ears. Her tension was broken by the very doggy look of satisfaction he got leaning into her fingernails. Then he moved away and gave a sharp commanding yip. Olivia nodded in response.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on shifting. She heard Micah mentally encouraging her but lost her focus when howling sounded outside the window. Micah bounded toward the window then looked back at her. Gareth had moved to one side of the chair and a silent communication passed between the two of them.

Watching Micah push the partially opened window up with his nose, she realized she was holding everything up. “Micah, you go ahead, Gareth and I will be right behind you.”

First he shook his head, but she put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Go on, now. You watching me just makes me nervous. I promise I’ll be right behind you with Gareth.”

He came toward her, nudging her hand with his head then staring up at her. She got the message to hurry and smiled. “I will.”

Micah jumped out the window and the howls sounded again. This time he joined in. Olivia shivered and concentrated again. Her muscles shuddered as she tried to recall what wolf had felt like to her. Her bones ached. She could almost feel them reorienting in her body. She opened her eyes to see the floor much closer than it had been and a quick look at Gareth confirmed that she’d managed the change on her own.

Are you ready, Micah’s Olivia?

She knew the words came from Gareth. What an odd turn of phrase. I am ready, Gareth. Please don’t leave me.