Free Changing Hearts by Marilu Mann

for her, but she still needs time.”
    Tante Kay walked over to the cabinet and pulled two glasses down. Turning to another cabinet over the stove, she pulled down a brown earthenware jug.
    Slade laughed softly, “You’re kidding me, right?”
    “Best moonshine this side of Kentucky, boy. Ain’t no joke, this.” Tante Kay poured a healthy portion into both glasses then handed him one. “One glass of this won’t really affect your kind, will it?”
    “No. We don’t get drunk.”
    “Now that’s not what I heard, but that’s a story for another night. Drink up, boy, and then get you some sleep. Daylight comes early around here.”
    “Cheers, old woman.” Slade tipped his glass in her direction then upended it.
    The liquid burned all the way down and he shuddered slightly. Though shifters didn’t get drunk like humans did, they could briefly feel the effects of alcohol on the body. This stuff felt like pure lightning.
    Tante Kay had taken a sip when he turned his glass up, now she smiled at him, inclining her head. “Good night, boy.”
    Slade grinned as she moved back into her own room. He put his glass in the sink beside Joie’s then turned toward the living room. No way could he sleep now, knowing that Joie lay in the next room, knowing how she felt in his arms and having had just the briefest taste of her.
    Sighing, he slipped out the back door. He wondered about the man who’d hurt Joie. Wondered if he could track him down, hurt him for whatever he’d done. Slade shook his head. “What the hell am I thinking?” Stripping his jeans off, he dropped them on the top step then shifted to wolf form and jumped off the porch.
    Moving quickly to the edge of the trees, he slid through the shadows, shunning the moonlight out of habit. Scents of the night called to him as he lifted his nose. Nothing out of place, nothing stirred but some swamp deer off to the right and an armadillo slightly in front of him. The detritus beneath his paws felt good as he dug down for traction.
    Slade padded farther into the woods. Once he reached a reasonable perimeter, he put his muscles to work. Reaching out with long front legs and pushing into the dirt with his legs, his body twinged painfully to remind him that he still needed recovery time. He slowed some, but still made a swift circuit of the area.
    He realized he was running a safety perimeter, something he’d do in any new area. Marking his territory, tree to bush to tree, he never slowed down. The full circle included the edge of the bayou as well as swamp floors. Night birds squawked dismay at his presence in their world, but he ignored them. He lay down in a thicket to take a breather then stretched, flopped onto his back and rolled around for a bit. Regaining his feet, he shook vigorously, dislodging dirt and leaves from his coat.
    Making his way cautiously back to the cabin, he leapt onto the porch before shifting back. Slade picked up his jeans and walked into the house. The sofa bed was only slightly more comfortable now.
    He dozed with one ear cocked for any out-of-place sound until he heard the old woman moving around. Slade rolled onto his side and kept his eyes on Joie’s door as he waited for an early morning glimpse of her.
    When she came out of her room she avoided looking his way at all. She wore another of those shapeless skirts and a green t-shirt this time. Joie went straight into the kitchen where Tante Kay already moved around.
    He heard the low murmur of their voices and got off the couch. Slade had no compunction against eavesdropping, especially when he heard his own name mentioned.
    “I don’t know exactly what I saw, Tante , but it just wasn’t normal. Malcolm was there then he wasn’t.”
    “You musta been dreamin’, child. What make you think he can disappear?”
    “He didn’t disappear, that’s not what I said. He was there and then a wolf was.”
    “A wolf?”
    “ The wolf. The one we found in the bayou. The one we sewed up and fed the