My key 29

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Chapter 29 Apologies in Action

“… You betterrr not.”

She drops her car keys into my hand, then sighs.

“Tonight…hasss been very fun. Thank you.”

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My heart starts speeding up. I mean, I’ve always liked compliments, but hearing them from

her is different.

“No prob, Cynth. I’ll drop your car off, but you don’t have to wait for me.”

“Alright.” She looks down to the ground, then looks back up at me from under her bangs. “Have a good night.”

Then, she starts walking to her house, but I follow her. With that strange smell’s source still hanging around, I don’t want too much distance between us. Cynthia glances at me, but her ears just turn a bit red and she doesn’t say anything.

I only head back to my car after she’s in the door and we’ve said our goodbyes again.

Once my back’s turned to her, the smile drops off my face.

I get into my car and start driving, but I don’t actually leave the area. Instead, I park my car around a corner, out of the way so Cynthia doesn’t notice I haven’t really left. I’d pulled this trick the first night we met, running back to Gunther’s and getting her car.

This won’t be all that different. Though, I take a detour into the woods.

It doesn’t take me long to find the source of the smell.

A’man stands amongst the trees in ragged clothes. His hair looks wiry and unwashed, and he certainly smells that way.

Chapter 28 Apologies in Action

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I know he’s aware of my presence, but he doesn’t even give me a glance. Instead, he keeps his eyes trained on the house not too far away.

Cynthia’s house.

“…Did you have fun on your outing with the monkey, puppy?” he croaked, starting to

smile.

“Hah. Call her a monkey all you want. At least she showers, unlike someone.”

“It’s so easy to hurt them, you know. Give them a few scratches, and they bleed out. Like

tomatoes.”

The hair along my neck tingles with the urge to rise. But I’m not in the right form to do

that.

I hear a slight cracking noise. It’s uncomfortable and somewhat wet.

“I mean, hit, bite, or stab us in the right place, and we bleed out, too.” I flash my teeth at him with a grin. “If you don’t want to know what that feels like, I suggest you head back to your trash heap. Or whatever you call a den.”

“A little puppy who hasn’t even awakened his nose to meet his mate wants to fight?”

The gross man finally turns toward me, showing that his other eye has already been taken over by the transformation, his iris bright yellow as his grin extends back toward his cheek.

“What kind of person would I be to resist?”

“A decent one, maybe,” I reply flatly, kicking my shoes off.

…Hah. Cynthia’s occasional snark is rubbing off on me.

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Chopter 2 Stoking Claims

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#Chapter 29: Staking Claims

Shifting always comes with a level of discomfort. It’s unavoidable, considering the changes to your body. I’m good at mine, so the sound of my bones cracking and muscles shifting is minimal compared to the stalker.

I was prepared to fight without transforming. But since the stink decided to pull out his wolf first, well. You don’t fight a wolf in human form unless you’re okay with having 42 very sharp knives coming for your very unprotected neck.

Instead of a half–shift, he becomes a scrawny 4–foot–5 wolf with graying, crinkled fur. I have a size advantage at 4–foot–8. I can’t take that for granted, though.

The stalker charges at me with a snarl, and I growl right back, keeping my ground.

I dodge to the right, his teeth clacking as he misses. A swift turn, and I’m jumping at his back. It’s surprisingly easy to sink my teeth into his shoulder.

But his skin’s tough. Hard to break through. I shake my head to try to force my teeth in.

He yowls and twists, finally dislodging me before jumping to bite one of my front legs.

My paw smacks his face before I charge at him again.

We keep trading blows. From my training at home and hockey, I’m good at keeping my back to the enemy, unlike this rogue.

I dodge a jump by going low. Then I jolt up, clamping down on his neck. It’s easy to tackle him to the ground, belly up.

His sharp claws scratch at me, but my skin’s thicker than his.

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#Chapter 29 Stoking Claims

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I’m not aiming to kill. Only to subdue and get him to concede. He should know once I’m

done with him to not come back.

Although he manages to turn over, my teeth clamp around his neck as I pin him. There’s blood against my tongue. Growls rumble in my chest as he continues struggling.

But, though I’m a “puppy”—his words, not mine–I’m still bigger, stronger, and faster

than him.

Eventually, his wriggling wanes, lying still. I keep him pinned though, waiting. My blood’s pumping so quickly, it’s taking more than usual for me to keep from running fully on my

instincts.

Then, I finally hear a noise.

A small, short whimper.

I growl once more before letting him go. As expected, he scrambles from under me and flees into the forest, his neck bleeding lazily. My tongue slides against my teeth as I try to get rid of the taste.

Still, it was too exhilarating. I’m still hopped up on adrenaline.

So, I slip up a little bit. Feeling heat and warmth gather in my chest before I let it out in a

victorious howl.

Huffing, I consider changing back, or at least stopping in half–form. But I know it won’t be so easy. My blood pressure is still high, pumping from exertion.

So, I trudge back over to where I kicked off my shoes, pick them up in my mouth, then head deeper into the forest.

I’ll just wait it out for a while. Then I can run and go get Cynthia’s car like I did last time.

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#Chapter 29 Staking Claims

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A wolf howled really, really close to my house the other night.

At first, I thought maybe a pack was migrating or something. But I don’t recall them ever being so close to my house.

And then, I remembered that Alex was still out in the world, getting my car. What if the wolf attacks him or something?

I’d considered calling him, but what if his phone attracts the wolf? I know a lot about wolf behavior, but I’m unsure if pinging noises would cause it to startle. If he was hiding from

the wolf, then me reaching out to him would be bad.

So, I waited until the next day, rushing to school the next morning.

I get there early enough that practice hasn’t ended yet, and when I walk into the hockey arena, I see his jersey mingling among the others.

But I don’t identify him by jersey, not at first.

No, I realize he’s there because the arena smells somewhat like pine.

Usually, I can’t smell much of anything in the cold room other than frigid ice and an underlying blanket of sweat. But now, even the sweat submits to the pine scent Alex gives

off.

Did he put on new deodorant? Wash his clothes recently?

As the hockey players take a brief break, Alex sees me and grins, skating over. Though, his

expression falters when he gets a better look at mine.

“Hey, Cynth! What’s up?”

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#Chapter 29 Staking Claims

“…Arrre you okay?”

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“Hmm?” He crosses his arms on the rink board–the wall–and leans forward. “What’re you talking about? Do I look ‘not okay‘?”

“Well, no, but…”

Something about him just seems more…potent. Refreshed?

Or, maybe, a better word would be imposing? I mean, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, which…

An imposing–ish guy not making me uncomfortable is enough to make the cogs in my

brain stall.

But yeah, even with this strange feeling about him, he doesn’t make me itch as he at me. Instead, it’s as though the little golden flecks in his brown eyes look brighter than usual. Plus the stronger pine smell, and he’s somehow more attractive now than he usually is.

“…I just…I guess I was wondering. Don’t worry about it.”

Since it doesn’t seem he heard or encountered the wolf near my place, I decide to just let it go. And there’s no way I’m going to ask why he smells stronger than usual. The answer could either indicate he smells nice or he smells bad, and considering he’s in such an active sport, he’d probably assume the latter.

“Alright, well…” He’s about to say something, but the coach blows a whistle, indicating practice is back on. “Ah, I’ll be back later. If you wanna just hang out in here, that’d be cool.”

“Okay.”

He smiles, then leans forward, pushing my bangs out the way as he kisses my forehead. I

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Sting Cars

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don’t pull away or shove him, just scrunching my eyes a bit as I feel his lips against my

skin

“Brb,” he says, then he skates back to the group, getting ready for the next practice round.

I head over to the bleachers as I readjust my bangs, covering my forehead. Though I already finished my homework, I still have some lines I could practice for the next performance. I’m not a main character this time, but being a secondary one is really good, too.

The players continue skating on the rink. One side doing the quick hands plus 360 drill. The other side also quick hands, but with sauce. The sauce version takes up more space than the

360.

You can tell some of the seniors from their upcoming juniors. Someone like Len, despite his

size, can use the edges of his skates to move around. There’s acrobatics, technical work,

and quick thinking involved in hockey that I hadn’t noticed before.

Technically, we don’t have to be so involved in each other’s hobbies anymore. However, Alex still drops by practice, though he gets an occasional scolding from Mrs. Taylor for being a tad too talkative and disruptive. And, of course, if I’m here early enough, I visit

practice.

Had it been anyone else, I don’t think I would ever get so involved. The fact I am is… dangerous.

Because I’m already sure that I’m not faking this as much as I should.

I feel at ease with him hugging and holding and kissing me. He doesn’t make me scared…

I sigh, closing my eyes.

…I don’t think I’ve kept up with my side of this deal after all. No, I know I haven’t.

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#Chapter 20 Stoking Clam

I like Alex. Genuinely.

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As practice ends, the players gather in the middle as the coach tells them about some sort of dance. I’m trying and somewhat failing to focus on my stuff, so I don’t hear them super

well.

However, when Alex comes off the rink and calls me over, he lets me know what it was

about.

“We’re having a celebratory dinner and dance cause we’re going to the finals. Yeah, might be a bit early cause we haven’t actually won nationals, but still. Something to motivate us, y’know?”