Moon Over Montana

They were back well before sunset, but Blake grew restless as the afternoon waned. They had to inspect all the haying equipment and Cooper noted the tension in Blake's every movement, the way his temper shortened, and how he finally withdrew from interacting with the others altogether. His stride seemed smoother and wider, his gaze sharper. Cooper swore if he drew back his lips he would see fangs starting to extend there.

Blake ate fast and heartily at dinner, and told Adele he was turning in early to get a good rest. Cooper tried to eat equally fast so he could leave the table at the same time. Blake was up and out of the room before Cooper got halfway through his meal however, and he couldn't chase after him and look suspicious, so he slowed down.

Dalton left the table the same time as Cooper did, and from Cooper's bedroom window he watched him cross the lawn toward the bunkhouse. The hands wouldn't bunk down for a while, and they usually stayed around the main house to have a few beers, watch movies, and socialize. Cooper found it strange Dalton was taking off, but he didn't have time to watch him. He had more important things to do.

Blake wasn't in his room, but the window was open. Cooper stuck his head out just in time to see him reach the ground below, having worked his way down the trellis next to the window.

"Blake!" Cooper whispered loudly.

Blake looked up. In the gathering shadows his eyes flashed. The moon was already climbing into the sky, silvery and bloated.

"Wait," Cooper said. "I'm coming down."

Cooper withdrew from the window and raced back to his room. He grabbed his pistol and tucked it into his belt. He would have to go down the back way and out the kitchen door so no one would see him. He hoped Blake was still around when he got out there.

He managed to get outside without running into anyone and circled around to where Blake's window was, above the flower garden. To his relief, Blake was still out there, pacing restlessly and running his hands through his hair. He stopped, stock still, and stared at Cooper as he approached, like a wild animal sensing danger.

"Try to stay near the house tonight," Cooper told him. "I'm gonna go out by the barn where I found you this morning. If I hear anything I'll come find you with my pistol."

"Don't put yourself in danger," Blake said. His voice was lower and gruffer than normal. "I don't want you alone out there in the dark, where anything could happen to you." He looked away. "Where I could happen to you."

"I ain't afraid. Except for you."

Blake looked back at him. His eyes shone, reflecting the moonlight. His hair was rumpled and sweat glistened in the hollow of his throat. On the warm night breeze Cooper could smell him, a strange scent, both human and animal.

"I'm telling you to stay in the house tonight," Blake said. "That's an order."

Cooper snorted. "Since when do you give me orders?"

Cooper wasn't prepared for what happened next. Blake grabbed him up by his shirt, and with a growl, and terrifying strength, lifted him off his feet and spun him around. Cooper gasped as his back hit the wall of the house. Blake got in his face, an energy radiating off him that crawled over Cooper's skin, under his clothes, with the intensity of summer heat. He tried to push Blake away but found him too strong to heave off.

"Get off me!" Cooper said. "Blake, you ain't yourself right now."

"You stay in the house tonight," Blake snarled in his face. "Do as I say!"

Cooper tried to push him away again. Blake's body was hot, his shirt damp with sweat. Then he suddenly backed off and stumbled away, but not because of Cooper. He looked alarmed, frightened, and Cooper sensed the change was coming.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to you," Cooper said, back still against the wall. "Go!"

Blake turned away. He tore his shirt open and ripped it off. Cooper watched with breath held as Blake's muscles rippled in the moonlight, the curve of his back flowing down to his hips like something an artist would create. Cooper only had a moment to admire his form before Blake dropped his shirt and ran off across the garden. In a twinkling he was gone, leaving Cooper with just the sound of his own pounding heart and the distant, muffled murmur of voices from inside the house.

Cooper shoved himself away from the wall. He walked over and grabbed up Blake's shirt and stared into the night. He waited for a great, gray wolf to burst out of the shadows, but he knew Blake would be running now, getting as far away from him as possible.

He looked down at the shirt in his hand. Blake had ripped the fabric, torn off the buttons. Cooper balled it up, looking back out into the night.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll look out for you."