Attar of Blue Roses, Part 2
It was a long time before the sobbing became the hushed tears of relief, and from there came the quiet moments of recovering from both the pain and the ebbing of pain. Through it all, Regan simply held the Pegasus close to himself, offering warmth and...
Jumping Mouse, Part 1
"Mrs. Peel... you're needed." I'd have jumped out of my fur entirely, if I hadn't caught a whiff of wintergreen a few seconds earlier. As it was, I pivoted in place and looked at the tall, lanky figure leaning against the coat closet door of my condo,...
Bloodline, Part 1
It had been about two months since that first night with Abram. For a long while, what I felt most was a peculiar kind of emptiness, a sensation of a large hole in my spirit. When that image finally came to me fully, I realized exactly what it was that...
The Second Door
Zachary Parker took in a huge breath, letting it out slowly at first, and then the rest with a wry chuckle. "What am I doing that for?" "To calm yourself, I would expect." The young Akita looked at the great crimson dragon sitting next to him....
Gaming the System
I left the employment queue, keeping my anger in check. It was bad enough that they weren't going to give me a job at this high-and-mighty office complex; I wasn't going to give them the excuse to have me incarcerated as well. Just as well that it...
Crime Scene
_ Tuesday, April 2 Winchester Heights_ A lot of things may be said to swarm. Bees do it, as the old song goes. So do football fans at the stadium gates. Groupies at a rock concert. Relatives at a will reading. The swarm that I see most...
Collar 10 -- Glory
Mrs. Whitson escorted me back to the vicarage, her arm wrapped in mine in the perfectly continental style of good friends walking together on a fine summer's afternoon. Speaking for myself, I needed the support. My emotions continued to war within me,...
Ring In the New
"Happy New Year, GMT!" Laughter rang with the clinking of glasses filled with sparkling cider, toasts were drunk all round, and then began the joyous abandon of kissing in the new year. Eoin snagged Zachary for his first and warmest kiss, and for a...
Role Play
Sean heard the chime that told him that Marty had responded. The fox had been so insistent that Sean have a role play with him that, finally, the German Shepherd had relented. Marty had made an opening gambit suitable to summer, with lawn-mowing and...
Collar 11 -- Memento Mei
I woke slowly to morning light trying to peek around the drawn curtains in a bedroom warm with the scent of recent lovemaking and the feel of a beautiful young wolf in my arms. Like me, he was shifting gently, not yet awake, not entirely sure he wanted...
Collar 12 -- Pax Vo Biscum
I gasped and pulled Fletcher tightly into my embrace, feeling him grip me closely to him. The words clanged inside my head:_I think he sold me._ Nothing in my life had prepared me for the horror that I felt from those five words. Even Elizabeth's...
Collar 14 -- Numbers and 1 Corinthians
Fletcher and I took our evening calmative in the kitchen, to sit at the table and talk about "small stuff," as he called it. Showing excellent discretion, Mrs. Whitson made sure that we had exactly two fine snickerdoodle cookies each to go with our...