newest ID. The reason I had been away for a year was to take advantage of an innate shifter magic that would erase me from the minds of every human who had known me thirteen full moons ago and adjusted my birth year forward another decade to keep my age consistent with my appearance. As far as the humans on Half Moon Island were concerned, I had just bought a house on the island and was moving in. Little did they know, I had called the same place home for over fifty years.
That was probably the real reason I wasn’t feeling the holiday spirit; many of the humans I had spent the last decade getting to know – many of them for a second, third, or even fourth time – had become part of my holiday traditions. This year there would be no plate of cookies from Gloria next door or an invitation to drop in at Jasmine’s holiday party or the countless familiar faces waving at the Christmas parade. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I’d go to it this year; half of the fun of the parade was socializing.
Granted, the island was heavily populated by shifters, but thanks to my last minute decision to come home early none of them, with the exception of the ones house-sitting, had any idea I would even be home. I already missed the huge party Verona Silvanus threw every year and had probably already been counted out of most lists of people to include in cards or other festivities.
I trudged along the terminal and waited at my gate, all the while trying not to dwell on how lonely I was getting as I thought about the Christmas waiting for me.
As I took my seat, I vowed to push it out of my mind and think about something else. After all, I wouldn’t be that lonely. Sure, I was a lone alpha at Christmas, but it wasn’t as if I didn’t have some friends on the island. So what if I didn’t get more cookies than I could eat? I was sure that if I dropped by the bakery to say I was back early Ford would shove a bag of cookies into my arms. Then, my old friend would probably drop by for a visit as soon as his shift ended.
“Excuse me?”
I looked up to see a human smiling down at me with an awkward, sort of cute, smile that I felt myself returning. He just stood there, staring at me, for a moment before I realized I was probably in the way.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, standing up and hurrying into the aisle to make room.
He thanked me and squeezed by into his seat and we shared another awkward smile. As I settled back, he pulled out one of the magazines from the seat pocket in front of him and started to read it. Good; I was tired and not really in the mood for conversation. The plane took off not long after and the motion lulled me to sleep. After a weather-related delay and the layover from hell, I was exhausted.
When I woke up a while later my human neighbor had his tray table down and was busily sketching. His phone was propped up nearby, displaying a picture of a snow-covered barn and several pine trees; the human was doing a remarkably accurate drawing of it, hand flying over the paper.
“Wow, you’re really good.” I said.
He turned in surprise, then smiled shyly. “Thanks.”
“Are you an artist?”
“A painter, actually. I’m Cody.”
“Ryker,” I replied.
We shook hands; his grip was firm and his skin was warm, even though I didn't think the plane was that cold my hand felt chilly as we parted.
“Heading home for the holidays?” Cody asked.
“Technically,” I said. “I am going home, but only because I’ve been away. My trip just happens to coincide with the holidays.”
“Where is home?” he asked.
“A little place called Half Moon Island,” I said with a fond smile as I thought of home.
“Is this your final stop then? I think this airport is near the coast?”
I nodded. “This is it for me. Where are you off to?”
A broad smile crossed his face. “I’ve got a connecting flight; I’m going to Frostbourg!”
Something about the way he said the name made me think I should be familiar with the place. “Frostbourg?”
“Yeah, you know, the Christmas Capital of the World?”