Page 8 of Jake

“My wife had affairs. Aborted children as if they were nothing more than an inconvenience to her. Spent money, the money I worked hard to earn, as if there was a limitless supply of it and no penalties if something else was set aside, just so that she could have things the way she wanted them.” Forrest nodded. “But you want to know something really strange? I’m so relieved that I can hardly contain myself. Not about the abortions or the money, but that she’s out of my life.”

“I can understand that. The few minutes that you spoke to her on the phone, all I could think about was how you’d put up with her for ten years. And that I think she’s a manipulative person who is finally getting her retribution.” Jake nodded. “Are you all right, Jake?”

“Yes, I think I am. I mean, I have my moments, but all in all, I feel pretty good. Tell me about this mate thing.” Forrest wasn’t sure that now was the time and said as much. He was glad now that Jenna had begged off, saying she’d had enough for one day, and had left them to their own dinner and drinks. “What I mean is, I need something to distract me and I think that’ll do it. Tell me. I need…I think I need to know.”

“Jake, you don’t have to do this. I’m sure we can find other things to talk about.” Jake nodded but said nothing. “I’m thinking that the divorce will go off without a hitch. Once we file—”

“How does that work? Sex, I mean.” Forrest shifted on his seat; this wasn’t what he wanted to do. Not now. The man was very overawed right now. “You think that I’m off my rocker, don’t you? That I’m only asking you these things because of Carol. I guess in a way I am, but you brought this up and I’d very much like to understand why you think I’m your other half. That’s what it’s called, right? Your other half?”

“Yes. And I don’t think you’re off your rocker. What I think is that you’re overwhelmed. You’re also stressed out and not thinking right. This is not something that I can take lightly with you. We have to.... This isn’t something that you can just step into without thought.” He asked him if it was because he was human. “That’s part of it. The other part is that—and it’s a big part—you’re not a homosexual.”

“How do you know? I don’t.” He asked him what he meant. “I mean, some of the things that are going through my head aren’t anything that I’ve ever thought of before. But you want to know something? I’m not sickened by it. Nor am I afraid of you.”

“But you might be.” Jake shook his head. “I want you to think about this. About how you think it will feel if I take you home and to my bed.”

“All right.” Forrest wanted to scream. He wasn’t making this easy for him. “Look, you think that I’m only doing this because…well, I’m not really sure what you’re thinking. But I have been doing a lot of thinking. About a lot of things. One of them is the fact that I seem to be drawn to you. I’m not turned on; I don’t think. But I feel…I feel something for you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do. And I’m drawn to you as well. But you can’t just do this on a whim, Jake. If I take you to my bed, you will belong to me. None other but me. And if you decide that this is something you can’t handle, it’ll be too late for me.” He asked him what that meant. “You’re my mate. My other half. And if I commit to you, I can never go back. I’ll die if I can’t have you. I’ll go rogue, and in that I mean I’ll go insane. More so than I think I’m feeling right now.”

“That’s being really dramatic, don’t you think?” Forrest said nothing. “You’re serious. You’ll literally die if I don’t stay with you after one night?”

“Yes. I will either be killed by the pride leader because I can no longer handle me or my cat, or—and this is what normally happens—I will end my life. Because once you and I are together, life for me will never be the same. We either do this all the way or nothing. There is no in-between for me. You? Yes, but not for me.” Forrest could see his struggle. Hell, he had his own struggles right now. The man was perfect for him. “Look. Let’s just get through this divorce and you can figure things out.”

“Is there a book?” Forrest told him sadly there was not. “So other men, they’ve gone through this before, I’m assuming. What do they do for answers?”

“Jake, I’m trying to tell you, I don’t think there are a lot of gay shifters out there. Especially with a human counterpart.” Jake said nothing, just sat there staring into his beer. “Like I said, we should just get you divorced. Carol is not going to go away nicely; I think you know that. This other? Nothing may come of this, and then you and I can go our separate ways.”

“Does it work like that?” Forrest told him he didn’t know. “I have a lot to think about. I don’t know a great deal about any of this, including what I’m going to do in the long term about my life. Not just anything that might happen between us—and I’m not saying it will—but with Carol, her parents.... Everything.”

“I understand.” He did too. It was a great deal to throw at someone. “I’m starved. How about we get some pizza or wings and then call it a night after we eat? It’s been a rollercoaster day for both of us.”

After they left the bar, going their separate ways, Forrest went to the edge of the property near his home and let his cat take him. He hadn’t been out much lately, not since Thomas, and it felt really good to be free. Well, as free as a big tiger in a small town could be. As he roamed the woods, doing nothing more than chasing scents, he paused by the large lake at the back of his property.

Forrest thought about Jake. Not just him, he supposed, but what having him as a mate would be like. They’d be happy, of this he had no doubt. But they’d have trouble too. Not between the two of them, but with the world in general. He knew personally what a gay man in this world had to deal with, and not a lot of it was pretty or easy. And being a shifter on top of that just compounded those troubles tenfold.

The noise behind him had him lying low on the ground. He sniffed the air around him, even lifted his head up a little to see if he could locate the noise. There wasn’t anything that he could see or smell, but he was still very cautious. As he lay there, his heart pounding in his chest, he thought of Jake and that maybe he’d come to see him. But the laughter, the soft laughter, had his heart skipping several beats. Then nothing.

Chapter 4

Carol paced her room. Living with her parents was certainly different now that she’d had a taste of freedom, but not in a good way. They were driving her nuts, especially her daddy. He was supposed to be on her side, and yet he kept saying she was lucky that they’d let her come back after all the things they’d heard about her. Carol didn’t understand what their problem with her was, not really. It wasn’t as if she’d filed for divorce.

“Well, that shit is not going to happen. I will not allow him to toss me away like I don’t mean anything to him. I’m his world, and the sooner he figures that out, the better off he’ll be.” As she looked around the room, hating it, she realized how far she’d come since she grew up in this house, and that she’d not had the fashion sense then that she had now. “What was I thinking?”

Posters, old and out of date, hung on every wall. One even had an ugly dog on it that had big sad eyes. She walked to it and tried to remember why she’d hang such a thing. And why on earth her mother would have let it still be there. Tearing it down, she felt satisfied and started tearing down the rest of the crap that she had at one time deemed perfect. Carol decided it was time to update some other things around here too.

It took her nearly an hour to get all the things off the wall. Then she grabbed up the trash can and started swiping things from the dressers and bathroom vanity into it. By the time she’d done all that she could with what she had to work with, the room was a mess and so was she. But she could almost see what she was going to do to this room and perhaps the rest of the house. Her daddy would be pleased with her again, and she’d be able to get him to help her with Jake. As he had before.

Going to the bathroom again, she turned on the water and stripped down. Carol looked at her body in the large mirror. Changes might be in store for her as well. Money was meant to be spent, she thought, and why not on her?

It wasn’t perfect. It might have been had Jake just let her get the rest of her surgeries to make herself just the way that she’d wanted to be. Bigger breasts, pouty lips. She even wanted to get her thighs shaped up and toned looking. Her nose was the only thing she’d been able to get done, and that had been nearly five years ago.

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to forgive him for taking all her money from the accounts and credit cards. But she supposed it was much better than living in a smaller house had they lost the big one. Who knew that paying your taxes on time was such a big deal? She looked at her belly.

Carol was glad now that she’d found out about the pregnancy when she had. She’d had to sell off some of her prettier things to get it taken care of, but it had been worth it. To be fat with a bastard would have been hard to hide when Jake took her back. And he would…soon too.

It hadn’t been her fault that she’d gotten pregnant this last time, but she’d been the one that had been caught. The guy—she could no longer remember his name—had told her that he’d been fixed. Sure he was.

As she got into the shower to clean up, she wondered how Jake had found out about the other brats. Surely they had some sort of law that prohibited them from telling on her. Of course she’d not gone to a real doctor; she knew they kept records. But still, with him knowing that little bit about her, she wondered what else he might have been able to unearth. Dressing in the bathroom instead of her messy room, Carol thought of herself.

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