Page 28 of The Bull's Head

Byk nodded, but he wasn’t feeling the least bit agreeable. Something niggled in the back of his mind, barely out of reach. He knew whatever lay there was dark and scary, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to venture into that area.

“You never ate,” Teddy said, pulling Byk from his thoughts.

“I know, and I’m starving.” He did his best to smile. “When your bull has four stomachs….”

Teddy’s eyes widened. “Really?” The mixture of horror and curiosity on his face was everything.

“We have one stomach, but it’s got chambers. We can’t digest grasses and the like easily, so our food gets pushed through each chamber, which breaks it down. You’ve heard of a cow chewing cud? That’s part of it.”

“I never really gave much thought to shifter biology beyond bears.” He leaned in closer. “Tell me more about bulls.”

“Well, I’m a Highland bull. We’re supposed to be friendly and docile, but as a shifter, we have to deal with aggression too. My family lived on a farm?—”

“Mine too.” He smiled. “Sorry, go on.”

“Cooper is… was….” He sniffled.

Teddy reached for Byk’s hand. “We don’t have to talk, if you’d rather not.”

Byk shook his head. Having Teddy touch him gave him strength to go on. “No, it’s okay. Cooper was the biggest one in our herd. He used his power to bully the smaller males and figured any female would fall over for him. When the housing bubble burst, a lot of properties in our area were in trouble. Dad came up with an idea that he’d take Cooper out and show him in county fairs and things. Some of those places have insane prizes, and, of course, Cooper swept them all.”

“But how?”

“Well, they didn’t do DNA tests, so no one questioned it. They did check for steroid usage, but Cooper would never touch that kind of crap. Anyway, my parents sank a lot of money into getting him geared and traveling and stuff. So, naturally, I was left without more than the basics, because Cooper needed it. Then I was selfish, because I was thinking of myself instead of the herd.”

“And do you think you were?”

The question gave Byk pause. He never asked for much, and once he had his own job, he took care of his needs by himself. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I can’t see you doing that.”

“Part of the problem was I got my own job, and they wanted me to chip in to get Cooper the things he needed. Professional hairstylists, specialists to travel with them to care for his horns, that kind of thing. I was saving every penny to go to college, and I said no. The day Hyde took us, Cooper and I argued because he didn’t want me to leave him alone with our parents. He knew he wasn’t going to get drafted by a baseball team, and he didn’t want to be a show bull for the rest of his life.”

“Sounds like your parents didn’t want to hear either of you.”

That was the truth. “They didn’t. My dad wasn’t even our herd leader, but he still felt an obligation to do what he could for the whole group, instead of worrying about his family.”

“What did you want to go to school for?”

Byk opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. “Nothing important.”

“Hey, talk to me. You can tell me anything, and I swear I won’t judge you.”

Not that Teddy would. He was kinder than anyone in Cal’s life. “I wanted to be a baker.”

He waited for the laughter, but instead got a brilliant smile. “I love cake, you know. And pie. And… well, I love all that. Bears have an innate sweet tooth that’s never satisfied. Combine that with a human’s love for sugar, and you get me and Ivan. If you ever need someone to practice on, I am your bear.”

Before Byk could answer, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Teddy said.

The door opened, and Mal stepped inside. In his hands was a stack of clothing. He placed it on the bed, then turned his attention to Byk.

“I think these should be about your size,” he said. “Alp and I made a quick trip to the store in town and grabbed some necessities. He’ll be bringing personal supplies—toothbrushes, paste, deodorant, stuff like that. If you can think of anything else you need, let one of us know, and we’ll do our best to get it for you. Okay?”

Who were these people? They didn’t know Cal, so why would they go out of their way to get things for him?

“How much do I owe you?” His face heated. “I don’t have anything now, but?—”

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