Flesh and Blood
An Empathy in the PPNW short story
By
Olivia R. Burton
The Preternatural Pacific Northwest is a world just like our own—except for the hidden fairies, werewolves, vampires, and humans who can wield magic. The Empathy in the PPNW series follows Gwen Arthur, a cowardly, gluttonous empath who can’t seem to help getting caught up in the preternatural side of things. All she wants in life is a never-ending supply of cupcakes, but instead she keeps finding herself face to face with creatures that might eat her alive. Learn more at https://www.OliviaRBurton.com
Flesh and Blood steps into the shoes of Mel Somerset, a sexy werewolf whose favorite hobby is showing up to bother Gwen. The short takes place after he disappears in Business With Pleasure, the second book in the Empathy in the PPNW series.
© 2016 Olivia R. Burton. All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 9781311750846
Flesh and Blood
A Mel Somerset short
It’d been four hours since I’d woken up on the floor of my living room, covered in fur, my expensive clothes rent. I felt like shit. Even though I’d been out for over an hour, the pain in my balls was still immense.
Goddamn that Gwen Arthur.
I should’ve figured something was wrong when I'd smelled killers in my home. Gwen wasn’t a killer—would never be competent enough to pull such a thing off—but she’d brought two into my living room. Two people with guns, both intent on stopping the woman I’d so very shortly before fallen in love with. Yeah, I should have been watching my back better from the beginning.
It had been Chloe Warren who’d pulled the trigger and caused me to lose my mind. I hadn’t seen her do the deed—I had been too fuzzy-headed when it had happened—but I’d smelled the gunpowder on her hands when she’d tried to bind me with her enchanted chain. Now that I was marginally more alert, I was reminded that she wasn’t to be trifled with. I’m a goddamned werewolf but you can be sure I’d do my best to stay on her good side in the future.
I’ve put my mouth all over all her sides, though, so I’ve probably got the advantage over most others.
So why had I been lying on the floor, covered in fur, with my wolf face on? I’d made the damn mistake of nailing a succubus, that’s why. You wouldn’t blame me if you’d seen her, though. I’m a sucker for a pretty face. And a pretty ass.
And an ugly face, actually.
Okay, let’s be honest here: I barely notice the face. Or the body. I really just see gender.
I knew I was going to get shit for what I’d done when it all came out to my brother but I didn’t know anywhere else to go. I mean, nothing cures what ails you like family. Though, in my case, sometimes family comes with side effects.
As I pushed open the door to my brother’s home and saw my nieces and nephews on the floor, my brother right down there on the ground wrestling with them, I realized that those side effects were likely to include excessive ribbing, shameless roughhousing, and mocking of every type.
“Mel?” my sister-in-law asked from just outside the kitchen. I glanced over at her, tried for a smile and failed. I couldn’t tell if I’d even managed to grow hair back on my face; smiling just wasn’t something I knew how to do anymore. There may have been a baring of teeth, or a squinting of eyes. At most, I winced pathetically. At that moment, it felt like it would be the closest to smiling I’d ever get.
Shutting the door behind me, I moved to the edge of the foyer, feeling hollow inside.
Sarah glanced at Julian and made a subtle, very married head gesture that spoke volumes in a language I didn’t understand.
“I…” I trailed off. What was I trying to say? “I needed to go somewhere.”
“Are you all right? What happened?” my brother asked from the living room. Sarah moved to the back of the couch, grabbed his pants from there and tossed them over. He was naked, after all, fresh from a run with the pups. It’s not as weird as it sounds; you can’t easily change from a human to a wolf while restrained by human clothes, now can you? Well, you don’t magically get those clothes back when you revert to human, either.
The kids glanced up at their father, noticed me, and some came sniffing over. Oliver, who prefers his human shape, approached, held his arms up toward me. When I picked him up, more out of habit than anything else, he smiled, ran a hand over my bald skin where there would normally be an eyebrow.
“Fix your face,” he ordered in his small voice. I looked at him, failed again to smile.
Before I knew it, Sarah was rounding the kids up, stripping off her clothes and barking for them to follow her out to the forest. Within mere minutes, Julian and I were alone. I stared out the door after my family as they disappeared into the trees behind the house. Oliver was trying to keep up, but it was harder on two legs than four. Sarah hung back a bit, nudging his bottom as he passed.
“What happened?” Julian repeated, standing in front of me. My brother’s taller than me, though not by too much. I stared at him, stuck wondering if I’d managed to grow my eyebrow back or if he had that edge on me, too. It pains the part of me that still has high school insecurities to admit it, but he’s a good looking guy. Definitely better looking than me in my gutted state.
Julian reached out and lightly slapped my face a few times. “Mel, what are you doing here?”
“I… my mate died.”
Julian’s shocked and horrified reaction barely registered as I considered my words. Deep down I knew she hadn’t truly been my mate. She’d just been a creature I’d slept with, but a succubus plays for keeps.
Moving to the couch to sit down, I lowered my head into my hands, explaining quietly how it’d all gone down.