18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Connor knocked on our apartment door, which made me frown. Why was he knocking? Then he immediately punched in the door code and opened the door without waiting for a response. Oh-kay.

He tossed my bag on a chair whilst I looked around. It was a fair-sized studio apartment with a small bathroom in the back. It reminded me of my old flat in London, though it was bigger, cleaner and had nicer furnishing.

I couldn’t see any packages or anything. Hmm… Where was my surprise? Then the door to the bathroom, which hadn’t been fully closed, flew open and Fluffy and Shadow came bounding towards me.

‘Oh!’ My eyes filled with tears as I squatted down to greet the most wonderful surprise ever. My complicated four-legged friends engulfed me with their exuberant greetings and love – plus an extra side of spit from Fluffy, who must have just had a drink. Lovely. Let’s hope it hadn’t been a drink from the toilet.

‘I missed both of you so much!’ I tried to stroke them both at the same time. Shadow jumped on my shoulder and buried his purring face under my hair and into my neck. I grabbed the heavy kitten and snuggled him until he squirmed. Fluffy waited patiently for his turn, sitting on his haunches with his head cocked. His tail hadn’t stopped wagging since he’d seen me. Once Shadow jumped down, he walked over calmly and put his head in my hands. I gave him several full body cuddles as I murmured how happy I was to see him.

‘I can’t believe you brought them to me!’ I said to Connor after the love fest was over. ‘How did you pull that off?’

‘Well, I chartered a plane – for Shadow, mainly – so that was easy. It was a little harder with the Airbnb, but I convinced them it would be fine.’

There was something in his tone that told me there was more to that story ‘How?’ I pressed. I continued to scruff Fluffy’s ears and caress Shadow as he rubbed against me.

‘In the end I rented all of the apartments so no other guests would mind about the animals,’ Connor said matter of factly. ‘Prime season is over and they had all of these vacancies…’ He trailed off as I leapt up and threw my arms around his neck. I started to kiss him again as we fell back on the bed.

A whine from Fluffy slowed us down and Connor chuckled. ‘Fluffy has his own room with Shadow, but first we’re going out to dinner like I promised.’ He sat up and looked at Fluffy. ‘You promised you’d come too, so you’d better change,’ he said to my dog.

Fluffy whined and dropped his head. ‘I’d love to see you, Reggie,’ I said softly. ‘But if you want to stay Fluffy for a bit longer, that’s okay with me, too.’

He lowered his head and gave another low whine, but then he shifted and Reggie was standing in his place in his black jeans and black jacket. ‘Can I have a hug?’ I asked lightly. ‘The academy has me attention starved.’

Reggie stepped into my arms and rested his head on my shoulder. A fierce wave of protectiveness rose up in me; I wanted nothing more than to see this lad happy and free, but it was very much a work in progress. Something about his situation reminded me of Lieutenant Fischer’s lecture; Reggie wasn’t quite in a Stockholm Syndrome situation, but he was in something similar.

He was institutionalised into being Fluffy so being Reggie was hard and scary. When he was Fluffy, he lost a lot of his human cerebral capabilities; he became a smart dog, but a dog , nonetheless, ruled by instinct rather than by making conscious choices. For Reggie, being Fluffy was the easier option.

‘I’ll come to dinner,’ he said shyly. ‘But then I can go back to being Fluffy, okay? I like being Fluffy.’

I nodded sadly. I loved him as Fluffy, too, but that wasn’t who he truly was. It was going to be a long road to get him back to wanting to be human again. I wondered if we could find him a psychologist in Portlock; there had to be one.

Connor consulted his watch. ‘We should go,’ he said.

Reggie, with his black clothing, skinny build and shy, quiet demeanour, could pass as a local teenager as long as he didn’t talk. His London accent would instantly give him away as being different. Not that I cared about that – I was different, too.

It was a tight squeeze with all of us in the truck. Changing gears was interesting, since the gear shift was between my legs. If Connor and I had been alone, it would have been a titillating experience.

Reggie was staring out of the window, his shoulders hunched. He was way out of his comfort zone. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he half-smiled in response.

Thankfully it was only a couple of miles to the restaurant. I hadn’t seen much of Sitka so I enjoyed the drive, short though it was. After flying in, Sidnee and I had been driven over the bridge and straight to the academy, so we’d only seen the place from that short bus ride and our quick run through town looking for totem poles. It was truly beautiful: wooded, historic, and green, even at the end of autumn.

The restaurant was on the main floor of the historic Sitka Hotel. When we were ushered in and seated, Reggie squirmed, kept his eyes averted and slouched as low as he could in his seat. He was painfully shy and I wondered if he’d been like that before he’d been turned into a werewolf. He appeared confident when he was Fluffy, but he’d told me he was barely aware of his human self when he was a dog. That was different from his life as a werewolf, where he was fully aware of both selves, and it was why it was so damaging for him to be stuck as a dog rather than a werewolf. It was another tally mark against Mum.

The waiter came and took our drinks orders, passed out food menus and gave us some water. Reggie looked nervous. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked softly.

‘I haven’t eaten as a human in a long while. What if I can’t remember how to use a knife and fork?’

I thought back. The day we’d broken the curse we’d had a small party and though Reggie had helped us prepare the food, he hadn’t eaten. He’d helped us clean up, had a shower then gone back to being Fluffy.

Connor’s eyes were kind and he nodded in understanding. He squeezed Reggie gently on the shoulder. ‘We’ll help. Don’t worry.’

‘You’ll remember,’ I assured him. ‘It’s probably like riding a bike. You’ll do great.’

‘I’ll try. Thanks, guys.’

I handed him the basket of bread on the table. ‘Why don’t we start with something with no knives and forks? Take a roll and take a small bite. We’ll practise together.’ Connor and I demonstrated.

Reggie watched us carefully then copied us. We all ate some bread, then he tackled the glass of water. He lifted it to his lips and took a small sip. His shoulders relaxed and his smile widened as he managed that small task without incident. ‘Thanks,’ he said softly. ‘I was scared I’d choke or make a mess, but it’s not so different.’

This time I reached out and took his hand. ‘Anxiety is normal but remember that we’re always here for you. You can be Reggie any time you wish.’

He smiled wanly at me. ‘Fluffy is easier and I’m useful as Fluffy. I like being useful. I’m … well, as Reggie I’m nothing. I’m not even a werewolf anymore.’

‘You’re not nothing,’ I said firmly. ‘None of us are nothing. Every human and supernat on this planet deserves to be treated as something, someone . If anyone ever makes you feel less, you tell me or Connor and we’ll beat them into a bloody pulp for you.’

Reggie smiled again. ‘Thanks.’

‘Bunny!’ I heard a familiar voice and turned in time to see Sidnee flying towards me with Stan trailing in her wake. I stood up in time to get an armful of my best friend. ‘You sneak!’ she teased. ‘You got Stan to visit!’

I grinned. ‘I asked and he was more than willing to come. And Connor sorted out the flights and stuff.’

‘Mackenzie.’ Stan gave Connor a neutral nod.

‘Ahmaogak.’ Connor nodded back, expression also carefully neutral. Stan sat opposite him and the two men held eye contact for entirely too long.

Sidnee huffed. ‘Can you two just be Stan and Connor for one damned dinner? Leave your titles and politics at the door?’

Connor looked amused. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

Stan looked at him. ‘She’s small but feisty. Frankly, I’ve always found it easier to do what she says.’

‘He’s not wrong,’ I agreed.

Reggie had a small smile on his face, which was worth all the silly bickering in the world. Stan patted him on the back in greeting; I’d seen Stan push people over with that gesture but he didn’t even sway Reggie’s frame.

‘Thank you,’ I mouthed and Stan winked back at me.

‘So.’ Stan sat back and helped himself to some bread. ‘Have you both been having a nice holiday?’

‘Holiday?’ Sidnee screeched. ‘I’ll give you a holiday!’ She swatted him on the arm.

Now this was home.