A Horse-Shifters Tale (Under Going Minor Editing Of Chapters)

Chapter Ten

Hali's POV
Eventually a stable hand did come out. He clipped a lead onto the halter I wore and led me towards a shower.
After clipping two leads to the side of the halter, the stable hand turned on the hose. The water was chilly, but it felt good in the nightly summer heat.
The stable hand grabbed a firm bristled brush which he proceeded to use to scrub off flakes of dried blood.
Once the blood was scrubbed off, he grabbed a curly, rubber brush and turned off the hose. He began to brush my coat, water dripping down as he did so.
After he got most of the water off with the rubber brush, he grabbed a comb and began to tame my unruly mane and tail (this wasn't easy, but I commend him for being able to do it).
Next came my hooves and a hoof pick. Quite a bit of dirt had become stuck inside them.
Once all was said and done, the stable hand led me back to my stall. I was a little startled to notice a small collection of apples in the feed bin. Who was I to turn down a delicious gift?
After eating about half my collection of apples, I rested my head on the windowsill again. The fresh air felt good and a brief cool breeze made it even better. I closed my eyes and listened.
If I listened hard enough, it was almost as if I could hear the various neighs from my herd miles away.
My eyes opened, only to be disappointed by what my gaze landed upon. I was still in the stable, stuck in an insufferable wooden box. Was I meant to spend my life stuck here? Unable to run through the mountains with my herd?
My eyes shone with determination. I can do this, I encouraged myself. Shifting had become less painful the more I had tried it, so I was fairly certain I could try it again with minimal pain.
Looking both ways through the stall door, I saw neither werewolf or vampire on either side of the barn. Only horses, large and small, young and old, sleeping and awake, through their stalls.
Sucking in a deep breath and letting it out, I slipped into my human form. At least my predictions were right and it was not as painful as before. I still had one major issue though: I was nude.
My face burned with a blush as I realized I had nothing to cover myself. I quickly covered myself with one arm and reached through the stall door to unlock the door with the other. The door swung open easily, odd considering the large amount of times I had already almost escaped.
I dashed over to the room I could easily identify as the tack room. I yanked the door open, spotting more riding gear. I quickly ran over and almost tore the outfit I was putting on by how quickly I was trying to cover myself. Though, I did opt out of wearing boots. It felt too unnatural to cover my feet.
After I was fully covered, I let out a deep breath. At least nobody saw me, I inwardly groaned. But you could have been, my mind so graciously offered.
I slowly stalked over towards the door, which had swung shut behind me. I inched it open, peering out through the crack in both directions. Good, still nobody in sight, I thought to myself.
I stepped out of the room. My bare feet felt cool against the cobblestone that made up the barn hallway's flooring. The stalls were mainly wood and straw. I longed to feel the grass against my feet. The dirt between my toes.
I tip-toed down the hall, the only sounds being the occasional noise from one of the horses or birds outside. It must have still been pretty early if there was no noise coming from the pack house. At least, if my assumption that pack houses were normally loud was correct.
Once I reached the end of the hall, I cracked the barn door open and peered out. No movement from the pack house, no noise. I tilted my head in confusion. There should be at least some noise, should there not? There were still various cars with different brands parked nearby and the stable boy who had taken care of my cleaning needs had only left moments before. Exactly how early was it?
Suddenly, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I whirled around to see the stable boy. I had become so focused on trying to figure out where everyone was that I didn't remember to look behind myself! He had his eyebrows scrunched in concentration, as if he were trying to figure out exactly who I was.
"Uh.. hi?" I offered. I was not normally one for conversation, but I had to figure out what the boy's reaction to my appearance was.
"Hello." He said in response, but still had the confused, concentrated look on his face. "You don't smell like anyone who lives here, but you do smell like the alpha's horse." He said in a concluding manner, as if he had just solved the mystery.
My eyes slightly widened in surprise. "You can determine who I am simply by how I smell?" I asked with a slight squeak.
The stable boy cocked one eyebrow and let the other drop. "I'm not determining anything, simply making an observation. Are you trying to imply something?" He asked. His tone was sincere, yet sounded as though he was not telling the whole truth. He knew, but he didn't want me to know that he knew.
"I think you fully know what I'm implying." I said, with emphasis on the word, implying. He knew.
He let out a deep breath. "Well that's a relief, I was honestly expecting you to not even know what you truly are yourself." He said, grinning and with a slight chuckle.
I gaped at him. "You are not going to tell Chase? You don't have a problem with what I am?" I asked in shock.
"Should I?" He asked. The cocked eyebrow was back. He was being sarcastic. Of course he was.
I gave him an unimpressed look. This was serious and here he was being a smartarse. I let out a snort.
"Looks like snorting is not just something horses do!" He let out a loud laugh.
I stepped back, slightly startled. Then, my face grew red and I stomped my foot. "It's not that funny!" I exclaimed.
"Of course it is." He said, wiping away an imaginary tear. Then, his expression sobered up as if he heard something. Knowing werewolves (as this boy was most certainly one, based on his smell), he probably actually had heard something.
"You should turn back and go back into the stall. I can hear Chase and Ash coming." He said without turning around. "You can take off the clothes in the stall. I promise I won't look and I'll take them to get washed. If anyone asks, I'll just say they fell off their hangar."
I gave him an alarmed look before sprinting back to the stall, yanking it open. I looked back out. "Thank you! Oh, wait. What is your name? I'm Hali." I said, giving him a small smile.
"Oh. I'm Adler." He said, returning the smile before turning around to give me privacy.
"Thanks again!" I shouted before stripping quickly, surprising myself at how quickly I was able to change. I dropped the clothes through the stall door before shifting.
I let out a whinny to let Adler know that I was done. I saw him as he walked over to the stall and picked up the clothes from their resting place in a pile. He also re-latched the door, giving me a sympathetic look as he did so. "I think it's clearly obvious that you can unlatch it yourself if you shift. I'll go wash this then hang it outside your stall if you need this. Again, if anyone asks why it's hanging there, I'll just say that Chase's girlfriend wanted it there in case she wanted to ride. Though, a word of caution, she might actually end up doing that. She's nice, I promise." He grinned, before scurrying away, exiting the barn from the side opposite of where we had been chatting.
I looked outside the stall door, watching for Chase and Ash to enter from where I had met Adler.