Chapter 8
By mid-afternoon, Charles had finished packing away all of the equipment that we would require for our camping adventure. It was all stowed away in a fairly big backpack that Charles buckled around his substantial waist before reaching out his hand to me.
Ready for the best time of your life, boy," Charles smiled with gleeful excitement at the prospect of adventure. I took his hand and Charles drew me out of the house, closing the door behind him.
"Are we going on the motorcycle?" I asked.
No chance, we're taking our feet. Hike down to one of the best spots I know. It takes a couple hours, but a little bit of exercise is good for you and the pup. Science has determined that pups whose parents get some exercise when they were in utero are healthier and smarter when they become adults.
Instead of asking me what kind of studies had been done and when, I just nodded. It made sense. As a result of that sort of thing, we probably learned it about human babies as well. I didn't really know for sure. It's not like I read "Pregnancy Weekly" magazine or whatever. I'm not pregnant and never even thought about it. Not even when I found out the wolf shifters had the magic touch.
Then Charles led me to a path way deep in the woods at the rear of his residence. We strolled and Charles took a deep breath, looking at me with a big smile that caused my heart to skip a beat. "Breathe that fresh air?"
I nodded and mimicked Charles' deep breath. "Smells quite different from city air."
"Hell yeah it does!" said Charles. "There is how to take care of its own. So many people forget that."
By maybe three hours' walking, I was famished. My belly rumbled unhappily and Charles came to a halt.
"Sounds about time for lunch," he remarked.
"That sounds good," I replied. I hadn't felt so hungry for years. "I can't believe how hungry I am."
Oh, I suppose that's the puppy," Charles boasted. "We have huge appetites. I'll get a fire started and grill the steaks I brought with us."
"You brought steak?!" I said.
"Sure," Charles replied, raising his eyebrow over me like I was a fool. "It's what expectant men always want. Isn't it?"
I glared realizing it was so true. Anything else was so much more appealing to me than steak lunch.
That's because puppies always need loads of protein. They turn into big carnivores, although not typically the kind that eats humans, to everyone's popular misconception."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that.".
Charles took off his bag and stretched. My eyes discreetly scanned the man's perfect body as he started working on getting the fire going. "We're going to eat and then go to where we'll be sleeping tonight. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me," I replied, smiling.
"Good."
We talked casually while Charles went about preparing the steaks, which he had kept in a small cooler with ice. He even had extra of the herbal drink for me in a giant thermos, and produced a glass and filled one for me to sip on while Charles finished the steak.
Finally, the meal was ready and my hunger was quenched. We sat for a few minutes in front of the fire while I chewed my food. There was comfortable silence, unlike those agonizing silences I'd shared with Deporta Enoch and some of my other ex-boyfriends. Charles looked comfortable at all times, as easy with himself as he was with others. And no wonder. He was skilled and excellent at everything I watched him do. There was not a thing incompetent or unlikeable about him.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Charles asked a bit later. He reached over and took my plate away from me and started to wash it for me.
"Great," I said, amazed at how genuinely I felt. It had been too long since I was able to feel so utterly at peace. There was nothing in the world to concern me. Even that I was pregnant was out of my head and didn't register as a concern. I was relishing the moment for the first time in years. Nothing appeared as though it could be amiss. Everything was in order.
Good, Charles said with a flash of his good looks. "I thought some fresh air would be good for you. The pups like it too. Believe it or not, they can feel it even before they're born. We're highly sensitive to nature. You'll find yourself being a little more sensitive than usual to strange things. Things you notice, smells, your own natural rhythms. That kind of thing.". But most people don't find it a bad thing. It just is what it is. I'm sure you're going to love it. Most men, after they've been pregnant, miss the feelings of it. A few rare others get to keep the heightened senses. At least, if they take good care of themselves. Those who return to the bad habits of the old, though, tend to only slide into their own sort. But if you really want to belong, to really be one of the pack, nature sets a way out for you. You will never be a shifter, but you would always be one of us.
I soaked it in, drawn in by the possibility of being truly able to belong as being part of nature. Because Charles mentioned it, I had been having really intense reactions to smells and food. But that was something normal for most pregnant people I'd heard. I never heard of pregnant men gaining shifter-like abilities and senses. Would I like them? Would I be able to keep them in the long term? If I'd given birth to my healthy shifter pup, would I be able to raise it, or would I have to entrust its care to Charles?
"I see that worried look on your face," Charles said beside me in front of the burning fire. "I want you to stop and take it easy. Something awful is not going to happen to you or your pups.". Somehow, someway, we are going to make this work together and provide them with the best for them. If you wish to raise them yourself, that is fine. But all I am asking is you permit me to mentor them about their shifter natures. No shifter yet has been successful in integrating fully into society. We are discriminated against, you see. It's not fair, but it's so.
I nodded.
"Of course. I don't know the first thing about shifter culture…would be best if you were a part of their lives. We will muddle through."
"Good," Charles said, smiling as his face relaxed. "You just keep that in mind. We're going to be alright."
My heart was skipping a beat. I loved how Charles was using "we." I loved being included in Charles's circle of protection. His pack. There was nothing more romantic or more appealing to me than the prospect of being able to spend the rest of my life living in this same comfortable sort of life. It was exactly what I hadn't known was missing from my life until I found it. But did Charles?
Well, I suppose it's time for us to move along if we're going to set up camp before nightfall," Charles said, standing and extinguishing the fire.
"Okay," I replied. I tried to stand and was surprised to feel a searing pain in my back. Charles stopped what he was doing and came over to me immediately, taking hold of me by the hand and standing me up.
"Easy there, boy," said Charles to me, his blue eyes worried. "Don't want to hurt yourself. You're carrying a heavy pack. Not good for the lower back. But never mind, I'll see you through."
Charles grasped my hand, his fingers resting gently around it as I finally managed to stabilize myself. Finally, once he could be certain I was all right, Charles swung his bag up onto his shoulder. "Let's go!"