Shifting Fortunes Ch. 02

I hope you're all enjoying my first ever story, made and submitted especially for Literotica fans :o) I'd love to hear your comments on how I can make this better! - SS

2. Confusion

Jake laid the little female shifter on his couch as gently as he could, still wrapped in the coat he'd found thrown near her when she'd fallen. He'd been expecting a woman to emerge from that big wolf shape, but he hadn't expected this young girl. Had to only be sixteen, some twelve years younger than his twenty eight hardened years. I'll be, he still reveled in drinking her blonde hair and soft features in. Another like him. He'd never come across a Were shifter like himself before, not since his dad. After she'd blacked out, the huge black wolf had shimmered and shrunk until it revealed her small shape - and a pitiful sight it was. Skinny and beaten, ribs showing, bruises old and new all over her body, she carried marks of one who is outcast and hated, just like him. No wonder she'd run.

Averting his eyes as much as he could, he'd shifted back to his human shape and grabbed the coat she'd dropped and quickly covered her in it. He wanted her to trust him, and she wasn't going to do that if she woke up buck naked in front of a strange man. It only took ten minutes to get her to his cabin in the thick of the forest. Once she was safely on his couch, he covered her in a blanket and slipped some rough woolen socks on her near-blue feet. She didn't even stir. He bent to start a fire and his stomach growled. Time to fix something to eat.

***************

It was warm and cosy, warmer than she'd felt in a long time. A fire was crackling in the hearth across from her. Sam looked sleepily around and stretched her arms, the rough blanket that had been covering her falling back to reveal her captor's stolen coat beneath it. Holy shit! Sam thought and threw the blanket off her, noting the thick grey socks on her feet. What the fuck? No one was in the room, she wasn't tied up, so Sam took the opportunity amidst her hammering heart to scope out an escape route.

But gosh it was nice in the warmth. Her stomach snarled and it was then she noted the smell of bacon cooking in the next room and she heard the shuffle of soft feet on the floor and a deep, rough humming, full of honey tones. As quietly as she could, Sam crept up, belting the coat tighter around her and quickly grabbed the fire poker from its stand beneath the hearth, whipping around in time to see a man carrying a plate full of bacon, eggs and toast into the room. He looked startled to see her, but he quickly held his one free hand up to her in surrender.

"Hey, it's okay. I just want to talk," he said in a low gravelly voice. It was the handsome guy from the diner. He looked very unthreatening, she remembered his rookie mistakes, but looks can be deceiving as Sam well knew. She knew he was a shifter, but she was pretty sure this was his proper shape. It looked...it felt...right. Sam scoffed silently at her thoughts, refusing to answer him. She just flicked her eyes about, looking for the way out. "Hey, really. My name's Jake, and I just wanted to meet you - being a Were like me and all, I haven't met-"

"A what?" Sam swiftly cut in, shooting him a glare, still holding the poker at him but her curiosity peaked. Were? What the hell was he talking about?

"A Were. You know - you can take animal form as well as other human forms. I've heard of others but I've never actually met one before." He gave her a sideways look. Obviously neither had she.

Sam didn't lower the poker, but her eyes flicked to the plate of food and her stomach snarled again, this time more angrily. And louder. He heard it. "Hey, I made this food for you, I honestly mean you no harm, I just wanted to talk. It gets a little lonely sometimes being on the move all the time. But I like it here, no one's ever found my cabin, and it's great to test out new animal forms. Did you like the tiger? A real beauty, huh? Managed to get close to one in a New Jersey zoo," he chuckled, absolutely enjoying being able to talk about taking animal forms with someone. Also something he'd never done before. He watched her stance soften a little.

"It was pretty cool," Sam reluctantly admitted. Honestly, she thought this guy was nice, a little naive perhaps, and definitely inexperienced with the whole being-on-the-run stuff, but nice nonetheless. She put the poker carefully back in the holder by the fire and waited to see what he would do. Jake watched her, relieved to see she was backing off. He set the plate of food down on the table and watched her green eyes flicker dark as she thought about something, moving slowly towards it. "Tell me more about Weres."

***************

Several hours later, it was nearing dawn, when Sam finally relaxed. Jake had provided her with a full stomach, warm clothes and easy conversation about their Were abilities, and he'd not made one wrong move as far as she thought. That still didn't mean she trusted him, but it was a start. He was sitting on the couch across from her, and as she sipped a hot cup of cocoa, curled up at her end, she was noticing more and more how attractive he was. Christ, she thought to herself again as she flushed. Get a grip, Sam! Can't fall for the first person who's nice to you, where will that get you? She needed a stern talking to, that's what.

Jake noticed her flush, giving her face some colour and making her look prettier than she had since he'd first seen her in the woods. The firelight was flickering on her face, and she looked so battle scarred and scared that he wanted so badly to reach across and brush his fingers across her cheek. A dark bruise that was starting to turn yellow had taken root there, just under her left eye, and the eye was half closed. There was another around her neck that looked scarily like thumb prints. He knew there were score of others under those clothes she now wore. He offered her a genuine smile when she looked back at him and was heartened to see her smile back and flush lightly again. "What?" she asked.

"Just wondering what you'd look like if you weren't covered in all those bruises," he said gently, quirking the corner of his mouth in a tiny smile. They hadn't touched on where she'd come from or who she'd been running from once so far. He'd decided he needed to try and broach the topic now. Maybe he could help her. He watched in amazement as she flushed now an angry red, then suddenly the bruises faded clear off her skin and her eye formed a normal one so now that the deep green was reflected in both eyes. He just about spat his drink out. "How the hell did you do that?"

Now it was Sam's turn to look amazed. "You never shifted yourself over to hide stuff before?"

"Shift yourself over?" Jake was truly puzzled.

"You know, shift bits of yourself," Sam replied uncomfortably.

"You mean you can change parts of your appearance too, not all of it?"

Sam started getting a little impatient and rolled her eyes. "Hell yes, and I'm sure you can too. You never tried?"

"Never thought to," he replied honestly but now feeling like an idiot. He thought of the scar down his left arm that went the whole way down from his shoulder to his wrist. He always kept it covered - it was ugly, red and huge and an awful reminder of something he'd rather forget. "How do I do it?"

Sam looked at him intently, not sure whether to share this information, in fact she was a little alarmed that he hadn't known and she'd unwittingly exposed this talent of hers. What the hell, he knew now, might as well show him too, he'd figure it out on his own anyway. He looked thoughtful all of a sudden and she knew that look well - he wanted to hide something; that made her curious. This was also a good diversion from telling him where she'd got all her bruises from. Her shoulder was still very sore and was a hateful reminder of where she'd been only hours ago. She turned back to Jake.

"Well, all you gotta do is concentrate on what you want to change, then picture what you want it to look like, and you'll feel the shimmer. It won't hide you from the pain you're suffering but no one else will know."

"Shimmer?" Jake asked curiously.

"That's just what I call it, it just feels...all wavy or something as you change your appearance," Sam flushed again as she stumbled to explain something she'd never told anyone before. God she needed to stop blushing, unfortunately shifting her appearance did not include blushes, that happened in any human form she took. She tried to cover it up with a quick line. "Don't forget the bruise on your face," she smirked, indicating the fresh bruise on his chin that she knew she'd delivered when he'd first grabbed her outside the diner.

He pulled a face at her, then closed his eyes briefly as he digested the information. She wondered what he was changing; she noticed nothing outwardly. Then she saw his right hand twitch and hesitantly reach over to his left where the shirt was buttoned right down to his wrist.

She curiously watched him fumble with the buttons and pull it up just a centimeter, then his expression turned rapt as he pulled it higher. He excitedly yanked it even further, pulling it up over his elbow as far as he could. His expression was incredible. All of a sudden he jumped up and Sam was on guard in a split second, leaping off the couch with him and placing herself near the door. He didn't pay even a scrap of attention to her however, he just started ripping his shirt off! Jesus Christ Almighty, she internally fanned herself as he pulled the whole damn shirt off and started excitedly looking over his shoulder and feeling up and down his arm and back.

"You're a bloody genius!" he laughed, still running his hand up and down his left arm, his eyes never moving from their inspection. She wondered what had been there that made him so happy now it was gone, but she wasn't going to ask. Heat had started pooling low in her belly. He was a gorgeous specimen. Absolutely ripped, finely muscled, a man in peak condition. Broad shoulders, a chest sprinkled lightly with curling hairs that shot like an arrow down his concave belly, with lean hips where his jeans were belted loosely and hung low. Her mouth was dry and she couldn't have spoken or looked away even if she wanted to. God she was glad he was so interested in his arm. His whole upper body was bronze and tan from working outdoors, muscles rippling as he walked away from her now over to a mirror on the far wall. He twisted to look over his shoulder at his back, marveling at the smooth skin. Sam finally tore her eyes away from him, trying to compose herself.

Jake was ecstatic. That scar had been the bane of his existence. To think he had never known that he could just hide it like this - he was a shifter for Christ's sake, and he'd thought the only way to hide it was to shift into another form. He shook his head ruefully at himself in the mirror, a big smile still plastered across his face, when he looked back at the girl he could thank. She was over by the door looking distinctly uncomfortable, not looking at him, in fact looking everywhere but at him. That was curious. Was she- Oh. He started grinning now, but he tried to hide it. He was half naked after all. He took a moment to enjoy her reaction, he hadn't enjoyed a female's company in a long, long time.

It was then that he smelled her arousal. It was just softly glinting under all the other smells, but it was there. He was halfway hard in a second. He knew that she wouldn't have a clue that he could smell her scent, it was something he kept to himself. He was sure she was under age, but that didn't stop him from enjoying her reaction. He reluctantly walked back to the couch and pulled his shirt back on arranging himself so the bulge of his growing erection wouldn't show in his jeans. He thanked her all the while, smirking at her relieved reaction when he had started buttoning the shirt up. "How old are you anyway, Samantha?"

"Sam," she automatically corrected him. "I'm nineteen, twenty in a few months." She was glad there wasn't a crack in her voice to point her arousal out. She was a little annoyed that he'd only bothered doing his shirt up half way. An expanse of tan, muscled, hair dusted skin was still tantalizingly on show. She watched his eyebrows shoot up into his curly bangs, and he let out a low whistle. "What? So surprised?" How old did he think she was? She asked as much.

"Sixteen," he said, rueful again. She burst out laughing, all tension dissipating and he marveled at the change in her, the gorgeous texture and sound her laugh had. It was about the best sound he'd ever heard. Her arousal was dimming and his erection thankfully started to subside. He breathed in relief. He waited until her last chuckle turned into an amused grin, green eyes sparkling, before continuing. "Well you look about that young, all small and hurt, scared and alone." That wiped the grin off her face. Oops.

"I am not scared," she said fiercely, the bruise suddenly reappearing on her cheek. She noticed his look, and he touched his cheek briefly to explain. She flushed and the bruise immediately disappeared again. "That happens sometimes if I...lose control. It's never happened during a big shift, but it happens sometimes if I'm shifting myself over..." Sam trailed off. Why did she feel the need to explain herself to him? She noticed his eyes softening at her, looking at her like she'd never been looked at. She found herself blabbering on. "It's more difficult to maintain as it's not a full shape to relax into. That's why I prefer to shift fully, it's easier to get caught out with a partial shift-"

"How did you get them?" Jake cut in and asked her softly, not sure if she would answer. She hesitated, and he watched her think over her answer.

"He thought he could beat it out of me. That I could be beaten into 'normality'," she said softly, the green eyes darkening and turning into empty wells. Jake scowled.

"It's happened to me before too. My uncle. Thought if he broke a few bones it would prevent me from shifting." Sam darted a glance at him. So maybe he did have some experience after all.

"So how old are you, Jake?" she asked, changing the subject. She watched his face crease easily into a smile. She wondered how he could do that.

Jake chuckled. "How old do you guess?"

Sam flashed him a teasing grin. "I better not guess too old, huh? Well I reckon about twenty six give or take."

"Give a little. I'm twenty eight yesterday actually," he grinned back at her. "Happy birthday to me".

Sam found herself smiling reluctantly. "Happy birthday to you." She smirked suddenly. He quirked an eyebrow at her in response.

"Good thing you didn't shift over the bruise I gave you on your chin after all. My gift to you."

Sam ducked with a shriek as a cushion flew across at her.