Honorera didn’t have a driver’s license. Even if she had had it, she didn’t have a vehicle to drive, so she walked all the way from her home on the mountain to the convenience store in Pete’s Peak. She wished she could go into Rutberg, to a real grocery store but if she asked for a ride to town, Tanner would know she'd gotten money somewhere. And if he knew she had cash, he would take it from her, citing all the expenses he had incurred by feeding and sheltering her for the last sixteen years of her life.
She had a list prepared of the items she needed for the house. Nothing very extravagant. Dish soap. Laundry detergent. Toilet paper. Food. She had carefully calculated the price of every item to make sure she wouldn't overspend. She felt the eyes of the store clerk following her as she moved up and down the narrow aisles filling up her basket. She brought the items to the cashier and handed him the sturdy, reusable bags. She needed strong bags with handles since she would be walking back home with her groceries.
The nosy cashier snuck curious glances at Honorera as he cashed her out and packed up the groceries. He was a pimply-faced college student with greasy hair the color of sand. He knew who Honorera was, even though he was a couple of years ahead of her in school. He'd heard all the ugly rumors about what went on out there on the mountain. But she didn't really look all that bad. In fact, when she pushed her hair out of her face, she was almost pretty.
"Thanks," She mumbled and picked up the two heavy bags without really paying attention to the cashier. People had been staring and whispering about her for her whole life, and she'd had plenty of practice ignoring it. Honorera didn’t spare the pimply-faced boy a backward glance as she pushed her way out the heavy glass door, making the little bell overhead jingle.
She exited the parking lot and started walking down the shoulder of the paved road. There were many heavy items in the bags and the canvas handles bit into her hands. Every now and then Honerera had to stop, put the bags down, and rub her sore hands on her pants. Even though the air was cool and crisp, and multicolored autumn leaves were covering the fading green lawns, she soon had a sheen of sweat on glistening on her forehead.
She was a couple of miles into the journey when an unfamiliar black truck pulled up beside her. She gave the shiny vehicle a wary, sideways glance and kept walking. Nobody offered her a ride. Ever.
But there was a first time for everything. "Hey Honorera," the tinted window rolled down, and Mr. Shepherd leaned out. He looked so good, his hair tousled by the wind, a casual tee shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, and an easy smile on his handsome face. "Hop in, I'll give you a ride."
As soon as her eyes met his, her heart started to gallop in her chest. She tried to play it cool and forced a quick smile to her lips as she kept walking. "No thanks, I'm good."
The truck rolled along beside her. "No, you are not. Those bags are really heavy. Come on, let me give you a lift."
Honorera stopped and looked at him suspiciously. Why was he always being so nice to her? Why did he smile at her as if he really meant it? While she puzzled over his behavior, he parked the truck on the shoulder and jogged up to her, taking the bags from her sore hands. "Jeez Honor, these bags weigh a ton. You were gonna walk all the way home with these?" He set them in the bed of the truck, and opened the passenger door. 'Come on, I promise I don't bite."
Now she was trapped. He had her groceries held hostage and that puppy dog expression on his face made her feel like she couldn’t say no even if she wanted to. She still tried. "You don't know where I live. It's really far."
He gave her a strange look. "Sure, I do. You live on the logging access road. It's in your school records. And it is far, that's why I want to give you a ride."
Despite her reservations, she passed behind the tailgate and used the running board to boost herself into the cab. She frowned at him as she settled into the passenger seat. “Do you read all of your students' records?”
"Only the exceptional ones," he said with an easy chuckle. The sound of his laugh made her toes curl up in her tennis shoes. She buckled her seat belt and stared awkwardly ahead as he pulled out and drove. He was new in town, so how did he even know where the old logging road was? It wasn't on most printed maps, and Uncle Tanner’s trailer was the only house on it.
"Honor," he reached across the seat and touched her hand. There was something about the way he shortened her name that felt cozy and intimate. She felt the crazy sparks shoot up her arm from his casual touch and she resisted the urge to jerk away. He continued, "I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you need anything, any time you can call me."
She stared at him incredulously, too aware of his warm rough palm covering her knuckles. "No. You are just my teacher. And a substitute teacher at that. When Mrs. Dexter comes back from maternity leave, you'll be gone."
His hand squeezed hers gently. "You're wrong. You can trust me, Honorera."
Trust him? Honorera didn’t trust anyone, especially not big, too-handsome-for-real-life men with biceps that were practically bigger than her head. He was supposed to be a teacher, but he gave off a dark, dangerous, exciting vibe. Part of her wanted to grab ahold of that hand and take whatever he offered. But self-preservation won out over the compulsion. "Could you just stop here, at the end of the road? If my uncle sees me riding with a stranger, he'll freak."
He pulled over at the junction where the school bus stopped and put the truck in park. He turned and looked at her intensely with his beautiful grey eyes. He had long, thick lashes, the kind that any woman would envy, and she felt like she could drown in his eyes if she stared long enough. "Does he hurt you?" His question came out in a growl. Honorera flinched and grabbed for the door handle, yanking it harder than necessary before she bolted out the door. She couldn't answer him, and somehow, she couldn't lie to him either. She wanted to tell him to leave her alone, to mind his own business, but her tongue wouldn't obey. She grabbed her bags out of the back, careful not to scratch the paint as she hefted them over the side. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Shepherd,” she mumbled, backing away from the truck.
"Gabriel. When we are not in school, you can call me Gabriel,” he said through the open window.
For a brief moment, she dared to look up at him again. She felt a strange shiver run down her spine when he gave her a kind and gentle smile. She lifted her bags with sore hands and ran for the woods. When she reached the clearing of the yard, she slowed and approached the trailer cautiously. Luckily, her uncle was still away. She breathed a sigh of relief, and let herself in the back door. A glance at the clock assured her she had time to put the groceries away before Tanner got home and started to harass her about where she had gotten the money to buy such luxuries as dish soap and toilet paper.
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Gabriel couldn't just drive away. He went and parked in the bushes just off from the logging road. After covering his tire tracks he cut back through the woods until he found a hidden place where he could watch the trailer like a proper stalker. Now and then she passed in front of what he assumed was the kitchen window.
Gabriel’s whole body tensed as he saw the old, rusted pick-up pull into the driveway, and the big, barrel-chested Talbot jump out. Judging by his movement and posture, he wasn't drunk, or at least not very drunk, and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad for Honorera. Gabriel watched the hulking form pass through the kitchen, and then return to the living room. The TV switched on and some kind of sports review program could be heard through the open windows.
After a few minutes the back door opened, and Honorera quietly slipped out and jogged off into the woods to the west of the trailer.
He decided to change into his wolf form so that he could follow her, undetected. Gabriel quickly stripped out of his clothes, rolled them up into a ball, and tucked them in the crotch of a tree. He shifted with the swift efficiency of a blood-born alpha, with the usual snapping and popping of bone and sinew until the naked man became a large and handsome gray wolf. He trotted after her on silent wolf paws.
He admired how she moved through the forest, as though she were a natural part of the ecosystem. He heard a whisper run through the trees like a small breeze was following her, rustling the leaves. She was oblivious as she broke through the clearing and threw herself down in the fading grass.
Gabriel trembled. He wanted her to see him. He wanted to gauge her reaction to his beast. He stepped boldly into the clearing.
Honorera sensed his presence, her head snapped around and her eyes widened... not with fear, but with wonder. She held perfectly still, holding her breath lest she make any sudden movements and scare him away. She watched him, and he watched her. Slowly, he took a step forward, and then another.
"Oh," she breathed in a whisper, "You are so beautiful. Where did you come from?" She slowly extended her hand to him, and he approached her, careful not to seem overeager. He lowered his head and wagged his tail, trying his best to appear friendly and appealing. She reached out slowly and stroked his fur. He sighed and plunked his butt down in the grass beside her. She laughed, "Are you really so tame? You have beautiful eyes, almost like...."
Gabriel closed his eyes and relished in her touch, her gentle fingers smoothing over his ears, scratching at his neck. She knew just how to touch him with her small, sensitive hands. She was so reluctant and fearful of him as a human, but surprisingly had no reservations about the animal. After a while, she pushed herself out of the tall grass and headed for the rock in the birch trees. He stretched and padded after her.
She smiled at him, and for the first time, he saw how she glowed when she was carefree and happy.
Honorera scrambled up the back side of the rock and stretched out across the top of the slate escarpment. He followed her shamelessly and laid down next to her. He grumbled deep in his chest and laid his head across her stomach. She relaxed and rested her hand on his neck as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Do you feel it?" she asked absently. He lifted his head, and cocked it to one side, as if in inquiry. "The rock... it has a pulse..."
He didn't feel it, but he felt her, and he felt a sort of power radiating through her. Who was this young woman? There was more to her than met the eye, he was sure of it. But for now, he was just happy and content to be beside her, touching her. It was apparent that she had no wolf, she didn't and couldn't shift, and that saddened him, but he already loved her exactly the way she was... and the more he discovered about her, the more mesmerizing and intriguing she became.
They simply lay together, lost in their own thoughts until the sun began to dip below the horizon. With a sorrowful sigh, she pushed herself up. "Well, my friend. I better go home and make supper. I wish you could stay with me." She ran her hands over his body one last time and then climbed down off the rock and jogged back toward the trailer. He watched her disappear into the trees, and then slowly followed after, keeping out of sight.