𝐃𝐞́𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐫 || 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐒𝐨𝐨

Chapter 6

Between the nebulizer and the antibiotics, Eunbi managed to coax Eric into a peaceful sleep late that afternoon. Joshua spent the rest of the day going through paperwork, trying to get up to speed while keeping half an eye on his emails. He’d managed to hand most of his work off to colleagues at the Omega Advocacy Center, but there were some things he’d rather handle personally, cases he knew better than anyone else.

By dinner time, he found himself restless, unusually so. It took a few minutes of pondering to trace it back to his encounter with Seokmin earlier that day. It was the kind of agitation that left him constantly moving, stretching his shoulders, twisting his neck, seeking out some relief in his body. Only to realize that the relief he sought would come from one place and one place only—he needed to shift, to change form and let his animal side roam free.

There was a small wooded area set aside behind the Omega House for just that purpose. Joshua recalled as a young child feeling like it was a jungle he could get lost in, but as a teenager seeing it as a cage keeping him trapped. Now it was just a little oasis of calm, an escape from life. It was only as he stepped outside that he realized how long it had been since he’d taken the time to change form. Weeks. No, months. Two and a half, to be exact. Shedding his clothes in the evening gloom, he didn’t let the cool air bother him, crouching and giving in quickly to the power of the change as it washed over his skin.

It always took time to adjust when he’d gone this long without shifting.

His fox form was slight and small, giving him a far different perspective on the world. His ears adjusted first, the cacophony of the nearby town fading as his attention zeroed in on the woods ahead of him. His eyesight was slower, the muted world it showed him brought back to life instead by the heady scents his nose took in.

It was a good ten minutes before he moved, unsteady at first on four legs, taking his time to get the balance right. He’d missed this, unable to shake the feeling that he’d lost touch with a key part of himself. But that was modern life. These days, every magazine, every talk show, every self-help guru was full of opinions on how best to fit shifting into your life. The newest idea was ten minutes every day to decrease stress and increase endorphins. Joshua thought all of them missed the central point, the real problem. Being shifters had become sidelined, something pushed aside, seen as an inconvenience to living your life instead of a central part of it.

But with the demise of the pack and the rise of the single-couple family, was it any wonder?

His mind and body finally one again, he took off at a run, racing through the familiar copse of trees. He heard mice scurry through the undergrowth and an owl hooted loudly from one of the trees. It hooted again, and Joshua lifted his gaze and searched for it, wondering if it was just an owl or perhaps one of the staff, having the same idea as he’d had. He continued his exploration until the crescent moon had ridden high in the sky and the stars carpeted the ceiling above him. Feeling his eyelids start to droop, he padded back to his clothes, shifted, and dressed quickly before the chill could set in.

He felt much more relaxed in his skin as he stepped back inside the house. Still, it was unsettling that an alpha could have such a strong effect on him. There was no denying he and Seokmin were compatible, one touch had made that clear, but Joshua encountered compatible alphas every week.

He’d never had to run and shift because of something as simple as a handshake... But he knew it was more than that, more than just the alpha’s touch—it had been his voice, his eyes, the way he’d looked at Joshua.

Reaching his room, Joshua sighed and stretched, changing into a sleep shirt before climbing under the covers.

Maybe it wasn’t really about Seokmin. Joshua spent too much time working and no time taking care of himself. Couple that with his parents’ tragic death, and the stressful time he’d had since then, and was it any wonder his body was crying out for escape? Resolved to put the alpha out of his mind, he fell into an easy sleep.