Red-Headed White Speckled Owl

RED-HEADED WHITE SPECKLED OWL

Paul When I was young, adults called me an Oxymoron because I'm a Jock / Nerd. In high school, I played three sports: Baseball, Soccer, and Wrestling, plus being active in Mensa, Computer Science, the Library, and Accounting. My fellow teammates heard me being called oxymoron, and they knew I wasn't stupid, but they started calling me OX.

At the beginning of the summer before my junior year of college, where I was on full-ride sports and academic scholarships, I picked up a job working for Gerald Brightman, who was a businessman involved in a wide variety of investing, buying, and selling companies. The job was supposed to be a fetch-and-carry person, plus being a hulking presence to protect my boss. But he quickly started using my brain to help with his business ventures after I questioned the purchase of a small business he was looking to buy.

Over the next three years, he turned over much of the research needed after spotting possible business purchases to me. Sometimes, I saw a prospect for him, and if he bought it, I would get a high commission.

We had been working on one prospective investment I found over four months ago, and he was going to buy shares in it on Monday afternoon before the exchanges closed.

But I got a call Sunday night from one of his sons that he had died from a heart attack that afternoon, and I was fired as of now.

All that night and the next morning, I thought about him and this deal. In the bank, I had the money to buy into this from an inheritance and savings from investments. At 2:30, I went to the bank and transferred all but $1,000 to purchase stock. I got a lot more shares than I expected; I now owned over a quarter of the company.

In the middle of the next week, the company received a multi-year contract worth millions, which we had found out about during our investigations. The shares increased by 143% when I sold them two months later.

Gerald's sons, who had never had anything to do with him when he was alive, found out I had made this sizable profit, and they wanted their share. Then I told them to go fuck themselves. It was all my own money.

The sons threatened me, and I knew they had friends who would be willing to hurt or kill me for a few dollars. I contacted a friend to sell everything in my apartment and deposit it in my bank account minus his fees for acting as my agent. I slipped into my apartment, packed what I could into my pickup, and drove away, not knowing where to go or what to do. Over the next few weeks, I toured all the places I had always wanted to see. But I quickly found that I needed to settle down; besides, I was getting bored. Also, doing business in coffee shops wasn't safe or secure.

Finally, I returned to where I spent my first fifteen years, on the outskirts of a small northern Texas town, where we lived before my family moved to Minnesota for my dad's work. I was able to rent-to-own the same house we had lived in before the move. A home office was quickly set up, where I started looking for new investments.

I did everything using my middle name as my last name. So, I was known as Paul Warren. It's amazing what you can do when you are paying for everything with cash.

After being there for a couple of weeks, I went into the library to find a government pamphlet that wasn't online when I saw her: Sammy Jo Landry, the focus of my teenage angst. Sammy had been a red-headed, white-skinned, massively freckled girl built like Jane Mansfield. But she hid behind oversized round glasses and baggy Goth coverall dresses. That is why I nicknamed her "The red-headed, white, speckled owl." I had been obsessed with her back then and found I still was.

Sammy I knew instantly who he was: Paul/Ox, the boy I wanted for my boyfriend when I was fourteen. Six things had happened that year. I started a major quick female growth spurt. Paul and his family moved away. My periods, which started late, were normal in my family. I was welcomed into the family with a great celebration. I adopted a baggy, loose clothing style.

I was also found out about my skills in art, managing things, and being a people person for business by our neighbor. She asked my parents and me to meet and asked, "If I wanted to be trained in helping running her Gallery. For helping her, she would pay for all the costs of me attending a local college, plus the normal salary of a starting employee to start with." I loved art, artists, and the people at the Gallery.

After five years, one year after her husband died, the Gallery owner found she was needed to care for her sister. My parents offered to buy her Gallery and home. She said yes and left. They paid the appraised price and sold the house. I paid them back the following year.

I worked my college classes around the Gallery and other employee's shifts. I loved both and committed to both. I didn't have any boyfriends.

With the Gallery came four vacant storefronts.

Hearing that a friend's uncle, Ben, wanted to move back and start a bakery but didn't have the funds or credit score to do it. I talked to my parents about it, and they agreed we would check it out and we could be partners if needed.

After watching him work and tasting his baked goods, I offered him twin storefronts and set up. With a contract slowly to buy me out. He quickly agreed.

After being set up, the bakery had two weeks of slow sales, but afterward, it grew steadily. After three years, a mom-and-pop grocery store from ten miles away came to us and said their baker had retired, but their customers still wanted good baked goods. After long talks with our employees about expanding quantity while keeping the quality output, they agreed. Most of them worked part-time but would love to work full-time. It was decided to give it a four-month trial, with the rental of a used van and hiring a retired driver. After a month, it was a great success. Then, the cake and event cake orders started.

Ben made a call to a friend who was visiting for the weekend, then returned and gave his two weeks' notice. He was fired instantly, so he showed up for work Wednesday. At their request, Ben, his wife, and I sat down and was told they didn't want to own the bakery. They thought that with him as manager/baker and her as cashier, they would like 20% of the net profits weekly instead. After talking with my dad, a lawyer, everything was written up, and I owned a bakery outright after buying back their small portion.

After the bakery had been open for about two and a half years, a young woman came into the Gallery looking for the owner. When I told her, that was me. The woman stammered and stared at me. Finally, she asked, "You own the bakery and this Gallery?" Then I nodded. "I'm Emily Emerson; can we sit down and talk for a while about business?" she asked.

"Yes, but I need to have a friend watch the galley." The call was made, and a friend showed up quickly.

We went into the office, set, and Emily started talking, "I went to college to get my degrees in fashion and management. I was hired to work in a very upscale women's clothing store while I was in college. I quickly was moved up till I was the manager and loved it. One day, I was called into the office and was told the owners were getting a divorce. Did I want to buy the store? After two days, I answered no."

I said, "I was sorry to hear that."

Emily continued, "After two months, they sold the store. The new owner was a Bitch on wheels. She ordered clothes from China but had them reworked with local labels. She cheapened everything but the prices. I checked on you, but not your age, and checked the local area for the need for a high-end women's store here. The nearest is over twenty miles away in a decreasing worse area. My Grandma and aunts praise you."

"Okay. What do you want me to do?" I questioned.

"I want you to check on me. Here is a list of companies I worked with before with the store. I was hoping you could open a shop with everything local or the USA. That foreign stuff doesn't hold up. I will give you a five-year contract to work for you, with reservations, with renewals every five years. I don't want the stress of being the owner. I will be the "Jack-or-all-trades" in the beginning until you need more help. I will work my way back to the manager. I can order to start out, but I will want a bookkeeper sooner than later. Here is where I work now; I hope to see you checking on me soon. I will be here till Sunday afternoon if you have questions now."

I went and checked on the store, and Emily was working. I saw the owner and decided Emily underrated how bad she was. Checking the clothes, they weren't of the quality they were advertising on their labels. In fact, I put my finger through a hole in the shoulder of a blouse. The next morning, I checked the companies Emily had given me, cold calling about hiring her. It was all positive.

Then, I called my mom and grandmas for their inputs. Mom's mother told us to come for supper tomorrow night because we couldn't work this out on the phone. For hours, I was put through the wringer about Emily, the store where she worked, and my feelings for her. We finally came to the same answer." The next morning, early, I asked her to meet us for supper after she got off, which was our treat.

The "Stylish & Fun Women's Clothes" opening was agreed upon that night. I took a large sum from my family trust fund, which I had never touched before.

Emily put in her two-week notice the next day and requested her vacation pay, her 401(k), and to sell back her shares the last day she worked.

Two months later, the store opened with a flurry of excitement from women in the area. As they entered, for the first month, they received a 5% off for their entire sale that day.

After a few jokes, we started a card on each woman's sizes, special needs, and favorites so their partners, family, and friends could buy those items they would like and use. The stories that came from these cards were numerous. The sticky notes on them started early with the women's desires.

Everyone was happy with this. Customers brought young women for their first adult clothes.

All my businesses were growing well, but my personal life stayed stalled.

Paul Covertly checking, I found out she owned and ran an Arts & Crafts Gallery, a bakery, and she sold locally and USA-made exclusive women's clothes. However, she still wore unstylish Goth-style clothing that covered almost all of her. She was never seen in the clothes she sold.

She mostly stayed apart, with only a couple of female friends. She stayed at home to read a massive number of books and watch DVDs. I returned to the library later and tried to get into their database using my old sign-in as a volunteer from years ago. They hadn't canceled it. I quickly printed out the list of books Sammy had signed out, several of them multiple times. She was a paranormal romance junky. After reading the synopses of several books, including all the multiple checked-out ones, I created my action plan for her and us.

The next day, I was by the library checkout when she came to return her books. As she dropped them into the return bin, I walked up behind her and sniffed the air behind her. She heard me, blushed, and walked out quickly.

Over the next three weeks, I "accidentally" bumped into her all over the small town. Each time I would try to talk to her, she was standoffish or shy.

Sometimes, in the meetings, I would take a large breath through my nose and smile at her while asking her out on a date.

After about the seventh time I asked her out, she said yes. We went to a dinner club and started to get to know one another. The first thing she wanted to know was, "Why her?"

The truthful answer partly scared her and intrigued her. I said, "That when I first saw her again, I felt drawn to her. Every time I got closer to her, the feeling got stronger, that we had a real connection."

"That is a line of bullshit. Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that line?" she said as getting up to leave.

I laid my hand on her forearm to stop her. "I'm not joking about this. When I'm close to you, your scent captures me. I feel I must get to know you better."

As part of my plan, I started taking an over-the-counter hair restorer that had the side effect of growing hair on your head and over your body during the first few weeks of the medication.

She agreed to limitedly continue to go out with me, and we both found that we still fit well with our likes and dislikes. We also liked getting more and more personal with each date.

Sammy I had been very attracted to Paul longer than he had me. I had been groomed to be standoffish and shy from an early age because of my family. But when I was around him, I was besotted (old word), and then he and his family left and didn't come back.

I knew who he was instantly when he returned. His tracking me down all over our small town made me smile and scared me at the same time.

Since he was gone, I attended college, Bought a small Gallery in town, and had increased it with two other businesses to fulfill local needs. It now filled six storefronts.

I knew what he was doing the second time he attempted it. It was right out of the stories I read and watched. I hoped he knew what he was doing to us.

Paul She told me that we should get away one evening after our tenth or so date. We would have a late-evening picnic date on her family's farm. I would get everything on her list for the night, and she promised she would have everything else we needed. She said she would meet me there, and don't be late.

She went into her house after the best kiss she had ever given me, or any other girl/woman for that matter.

The night of our picnic, I started to leave three or four times, but it was too early. Finally, I started using the map program on my phone. It took me away from the settled part of the countryside and into the forest.

After several miles of twisting and turning roads, I was told I had arrived. On the right side was a parking spot and, in the front, a large meadow slightly sloping downward.

Stuck in the ground was a pike, by where the driver's door ended, with a note for me. "It told me to follow the path down to the end of the meadow and then take the path to the right. And don't forget the backpack with our picnic items in it," it said.

Anticipation made my journey seem shorter than it was until my watch signaled that it had recorded a new daily step maximum. The journey was lit by the bright moonshine. Following the right path was like walking through a rounded domed passage till it ended in another open meadow.

The meadow ended at a slow-flowing river that widened into a pool. There was a massive tree in the center. Under it was a flat raised area with Sammy sitting on a blanket covering it.

She said, "Sit here by me. We need to clear up some misconceptions. First, you've been putting on an act that you're some type of shifter, but it is just bullshit. Isn't it?"

Sadly, I nodded yes.

"That is okay with me. You found that I read lots of books on the subject. You checked what I read and watched from the library. I'll bet you used your old sign-in at the library. Didn't you?"

Again, I nodded.

"You expected me to buy into your persona, and later, you'd tell me the truth after we were very involved. Right?"

I nodded again.

"You were pretending to be a shapeshifter of some type. Which one?" she asked.

"I had been studying Alpha werewolves," I answered.

"You an Alpha werewolf! You are more of the OX! They used to call you. But you have the physical body down pat," she chucked "What if the whole shifter persona was the other way? If I was an Alpha Female shifter werewolf? And you would let me change you like you were suggesting?" She questioned.

"I would feel the same way as I do now. I've wanted you since I was fifteen, but we had to move away," I answered.

"I'm going to trust what you're telling me. Stand up. I've lusted for you since I was fourteen, too. I was heartbroken when your family left." She told me, "To take off my shoes/socks, shirt, and pants."

As I did, she removed her coverall-type dress and stood there in a matching green mini bra and panties set." She made my image of Jane Mansfield pale by comparison.

Standing there in just my boxers, she asked me again, "If the reverse was true, would I still want her?"

I told her loudly, "Yes."

"Good!" she said. She held out her hands to me, and we watched her painted nails change into claws. While her body slowly changed from top to bottom. Her red hair didn't change much but got a lot thicker. Her face lengthened as her mouth lengthened out from her face. Her teeth became those of a wild animal, and her canine teeth became fangs.

She said, "Now we can talk with our voices, mentally, and after your change, we can use our wolf voices.

Her fur was pure white with brown spots scattered over her entire body, except for the back of her head, along her spine, and her tail, which was a deep red, like that of a true Irish female.

Mentally, she said, "I will bite your shoulder, which will heal in minutes. You will start to change about thirty minutes later, and afterward, you will bite me.

Still standing, holding my shoulders, she said, "I've shown you the true other part of me. If we go on from here, "You are mine - and only mine. I'm only yours - and only yours until we die. That is our way." Do you understand and still agree?"

I answered by bending my head to the side and said," Yes."

"When we do this, everyone in my pack will know we are a committed couple/mates. This is our first wedding and the most important one. The one in front of the preacher, our families, and our friends is just for being regular Texans. Okay? "

Again, I could only force out my "yes" to her.

She lightly bites my shoulder, which was the most sexual thing I had felt till then. During our honeymoon, I found I didn't know anything about love and sex before.

After my turn, I lovingly bite her. After we got "Married werewolf style." It took over an hour before we were able to hunt together as werewolves. The next night, I met all of my new family.

I found I was a Beta to my Alpha wife in wolf form and equals in human form. By the way, the females happened to be the Alphas in her pack and other nearby packs. It had been so for hundreds of years there.

Everyone saw we were never far apart. I sat up an office in the corner of her Gallery. She slowly started wearing more and more revealing and fitted clothes from her shop. Everyone noticed and complimented her/us. A few of the men I had met and had been befriended by called me a "Dog" for seeing the real woman she was hiding. I couldn't help smiling.

We never made love in Wolf form if there was any chance of her getting pregnant. We wanted our "Litter" to be born in human form, one at a time, so it would take us longer to have it. Shortly, she was wearing maternity clothes from her shop. It did bug her that she couldn't change until she had her first period after their births.

By the way, the son's car was found abandoned two states away, but no trace of them was ever found. It was after I had lived and loved in Texas for over three years.

I started changing everything to my full name when I got married to Sammy.. Her family and friends loved calling me OX, more so when we were running or hunting together.