As promised, here is the first installment of Buster's Story. It is nearly 100 years in the past. This is as much a voyage for me as it is for you. I hope you enjoy the story. It is a little slower paced. Let me know what you think.
He ran through the woods, not caring that he scared deer or elk out of their daytime hides. He ran for the pure enjoyment of moving. Leaves rustled as he ran through them. Then the scent hit his nose. He came to a dead halt and practically fell on his snout.
"Female-in season"
he thought. He turned and loped along following the scent. He found the places she'd marked as she peed. He rolled in it and continued to follow the scent trail.
The woods thinned and opened out into a huge alpine meadow. Looking across the open space, he saw movement off to one side. He crouched as he entered the tall grass. Inching forward towards that enticing scent. He was close enough to hear her panting in the heat of the day. Arching up out of the grass, he pounced and caught her by surprise. She yelped and scrambled out from under him. Once she gained her feet, she ran.
He chased her, almost nipping at her hind legs. She dodged, then bounced left, heading into the woods. He followed. Heading back out to the meadow, she ran flat out across it. He followed. Being bigger and stronger, he caught up with her at last and with a swipe of his head, he knocked her legs out from under her.
This time, she didn't run. Instead, she bumped noses with him and then they circled each other warily. His nose went under her tail and licked her. She shied away, but didn't run. He licked her again, and this time she stood still, lifting her tail off to one side. He mounted her and slid in deep. After a few strokes, he felt the knot form. His forelegs gripped her hips as he sunk his teeth into her neck ruff.
"Mine!"
he thought as his seed filled her.
*
He woke up in the meadow, naked and sticky from the sex. He looked around, but saw no one. Sitting up, he shook his head and laughed.
"Damn! Sex I don't remember,"
he thought looking down at his crotch. He looked around for any signs of his mysterious partner. Nothing. He shifted back to wolf form and headed back to his cabin.
He got there just as twilight claimed the valley. It took him a moment, but he shifted back to his human form and went into the cabin.
"Where you been?" his brother asked.
"Went running. Found something sweet, but it was him, not me," said Brian.
"Damn, you have to work on your communication skills Bri," said Kent. This is the third or fourth time you've gone off and had fun and don' remember."
"I know. It's almost more frustrating than being horny," said Brian.
Kent laughed. "Want some bathwater?" he asked.
"Yeah, guess I smell pretty ripe," said Brian.
"Oh yeah. Can't tell if it was another shifter or a real wolf though," said Kent as he sniffed the air around Brian. He went to get some water and put it on the wood stove in the kitchen.
Brian walked to his bedroom in the cabin and grabbed his towel and toiletries.
"I gotta figure this out. Not knowing is gonna get me killed,"
he thought. He headed off to the back porch where the big wash basin stood on the stand. When the water was boiled, he poured it into the basin and added cold water until the temperature was okay. He washed up and dried off quickly. Grabbing jeans, a flannel shirt and socks, he got dressed and then found his boots.
"Kent, I'm going to head into town," Brian hollered as he went out the door.
Kent replied, but Brian couldn't make out what he said as he walked down the road to the small town about a mile away.
*
"Hello Brian," said Sally. She was pouring beers and making whiskey ditches as fast as she could. It was a Friday night and the saloon was busy.
"Hello Sally," said Brian. "Doin' okay?"
"Yeah, it's busy, but I can handle it," she said as she plunked a beer down in front of Brian. She took his money and headed off down the bar to another customer.
Brian watched her as she filled orders. None of his friends were in yet. Too early for the towns folk and almost too late for the farmers. He sipped his beer and chatted with Sally between customers. The door swung open and Big Joe and his brothers came inside. They were loud and obnoxious, and headed for the center of the bar. Brian turned away, not wanting to engage them. He and Big Joe had been trading punches ever since they were in diapers.
"How ya doin' Joe?" asked Sally. She didn't care for them either, but their money spent.
"I'd be doin' a lot better if I had a beer," said Big Joe.
"Coming right up. And the rest of you boys?" she asked.
"Beer," most of them replied. Sally started pouring beers and setting them on the bar.
"If I ever find out what bastard poked our little sister, I'm gonna kill him," said Big Joe.
"We told her to stay home," said a smaller carbon copy of Big Joe.
"Yeah, but when women are in heat, do they ever stay put or do what we tell em?" asked Big Joe.
The men shook their heads. They knew from experience not to disagree with Big Joe. He was a bully in both shapes and they knew it. He was ten kinds of pissed off too, because his little sister had come back from a run in the woods whistling happy tunes. She'd taken a bath in some pond, and they couldn't scent who'd she'd been with.
"Will she tell Ma?" asked the smallest of the lot.
"Maybe. Ma won't tell us neither," said Big Joe. "When I find out though, and I will, I'm gonna bust his head."
Brian drank his beer, waved at Sally and slipped quietly out of the saloon. He got off the main road fast and headed back to his cabin through the woods. He met Kent just as he came out onto the road in front of the cabin.
"That was damn fast," said Kent. "Only one beer tonight?"
"Yeah. Big Joe and his brothers are at the saloon and complaining about their little sister Natalie being in heat and loosing her virginity," Brian said.
"What?" said Kent stopping dead in the road. "You don't think that was your mystery lady do you?"
"Could be. She came back late in the afternoon after swimming in a stock pond," said Brian.
"Damn! You better be careful. They find out it was you, and you're dead meat," said Kent.
"I don't even know if it was her!" exclaimed Brian.
"Right. You get laid, she looses her virginity on the same day. Can't possibly be happening," said Kent sarcastically.
"Dammit!" said Brian. He headed back to his cabin and went to bed. His head throbbed and he tried not to worry as he attempted to go to sleep.
*
The families in the small town high in the mountains were almost all shifters. Kent and Brian's parents had moved to the big city a few years ago, leaving the boys with their Grandma Davy to 'keep an eye' on them. She was the midwife for most of the families and along with Doc Anders, kept everyone healthy. Every woman in town came to her when they were expecting.
She was brewing up her morning tea when there was a knock at her back door.
"Come on in Natalie," she called out.
"How'd ya know it was me?" Natalie asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"Cause even under all that lilac water, you still smell like the little girl I helped into the world eighteen years ago," said Grandma Davy. "Now what you need?"
"I...um... I need some pennyroyal tea," she said softly not looking Grandma Davy in the eye.
