Page 6 of Grizzly Sleuth
“Therianthrope as interiantrop?” Yuri used an obviously Russian word.
“Assuming it means person who can change into an animal, then yes.”
Yuri pursed his lips. “This is very unusual. I did not think Americans could be blessed by Veles.”
“I’m Canadian, actually, and who is Veles?”
“Canadian. American. Same thing.” Yuri scoffed. “You’re not Russian, so how is it you managed to have our shapeshifting god bless you with this gift?”
“Wasn’t a god that did this to me,” Idris’s grim reply. “I’ll tell you my story, but do you mind if we do it somewhere without our dicks hanging out for everyone to see?” While the campground section they found themselves in appeared vacant, he’d rather not deal with someone randomly passing by.
Yuri glanced at Idris’ shredded clothes on the ground and smirked. “I should have something that will fit.” Yuri lifted the flap and beckoned Idris to follow.
“I assume your wife won’t shoot me if I come inside?”
“Wife? Ha.” Yuri snorted. “As if I’d marry thatzemleroyka. Svetlana is my sister.”
“Is she a therianthrope too?”
“No. Only I was blessed.” Yuri shook his head.
As they entered the rear of the truck, Idris noticed it had been arranged into an apartment with two beds. A wide one on the floor and a slimmer bunk bolted above it. Two worn armchairs sat across from a TV bolted to the frame holding the canvas covering. Svetlana knelt by a small woodstove and fed it some kindling.
She glanced over her shoulder and arched a brow. “No fighting inside.”
Idris dropped his hands to cover his junk and cleared his throat. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ma’am.” She snorted. “My name is Svetlana.”
“Here’s some clothing.” Yuri dug into a duffel bag and tossed Idris a well-worn sweatshirt and pants. Idris quickly dressed, feeling better now that his cold-shriveled dick could hide.
“I’m Idris, by the way,” he stated as Svetlana moved to a cupboard and pulled out several cans.
“He’s Canadian,” Yuri added.
“Far from home,” she remarked, cracking open the aluminum containers and handing one to her brother. Yuri drank the stew from the can, but she grabbed a spoon before sitting in a chair.
“I had to leave Canada. A few close calls and a need for answers sent me to Europe.”
“Answers to what?” she asked, sucking the hunk of meat and gravy from her spoon in a way that distracted.
“The bear thing.” Then because her brow furrowed, he quickly added, “I wasn’t born this way.”
“No one is,” she snorted.
He blinked. “Wait, are you saying your brother became a therianthrope because of a medical experiment, too?”
She stared at him. “Yuri was blessed by a god as a teen. He suffered a terrible accident and would have died, but Veles intervened, gave him the power of shifting shapes, and saved his life.”
Ignoring the god part, what Idris heard was that Yuri suffered a traumatic injury, which stimulated his shift. So maybe not so different after all.
“In my case, my own military took me prisoner and injected me with a serum that caused me to turn into a bear every time I get hurt.”
Yuri leaned down and, in a whisper that might as well have been a shout, said, “A simple punch to the nose and he changed shapes.”
The claim arched Svetlana’s brow. “Your military did this to you?”
Idris nodded. “Me and a bunch of other soldiers. We managed to escape and split up, mostly so the general in charge of Project Therianthrope couldn’t easily find us.”
