Page 37 of Shifters Unifying

“Looking for shifters,” I said.

They all froze. No one spoke for long moments.

“Like you, I’m a shifter,” I added.

“No shit!” Izzie whistled. “Can you communicate with the animals, like some Dr. Doolittle shit?”

I chuckled and shook my head. The only animal it worked with was Logan, and that didn’t qualify as any “Dr. Doolittle shit.” So, I said, “No, it doesn’t quite work that way.”

“Too bad,” she murmured.

“What’s your proposition?” John asked.

“I live with the Six-Mile wolf shifters, and we can teach you how to use your powers. Each member of our kind needs at least a little training.”

“Bullshit,” Oliver snapped. “We figured out how to do it on our own. Why do we need any help from you?”

“Ollie, stop,” Blaze said, elbowing him. “I could probably use some help. I can’t even shift yet.”

John’s gaze narrowed, and he crossed his arms. “Then prove you’re one of us.”

I considered shifting into something large and impressive, but I didn’t want to shred my clothes and have to explain my lack of clothes when I got back to my mother’s house. A fox or a squirrel probably wouldn’t shred my clothes, and it’d be enough to impress them. They didn’t need to see the fancy stuff yet.

So, I summoned the change, and a burst of colorful wind blew through, more air and more color than they had been able to do. Gritting my teeth, I focused on changing into a fox and then I morphed into a squirrel before I turned back into my human form.

All four were nodding in appreciation.

Oliver asked, “Can you teach us that double-shift thing?”

The other chorused their agreement with the request.

I shook my head. “Oh, no, that’s not really?—”

Their eyes jumped to something behind me, but before I could ask or turn around to find what had caught their attention, I had my answer.

A scream split the morning air, and I stiffened, bracing for all hell to break lose, and more than a little afraid that I recognizedthe horrified shriek. But I didn’t want to see the effects of my secrets, so I didn’t turn around immediately. Instead, I crouched to grab my clothes from the ground in front of me, wringing the fabric in my hands.

When I finally pivoted slowly, my mother stood there, watching me, with her mouth hanging open. Maybe she and I didn’t share DNA, but we shared a heart, and mine broke because of what I’d done to her. This was a helluva way to be introduced to shifting and her daughter as a shifter, and it was all my fault.

“Emma, what are you doing?” she shrieked. “You’re naked! Completelynaked!” She swallowed and covered her eyes with her hand, as though that made me not naked and didn’t make the whole situation more awkward. “And in front of people… in public… Don’t you know they can arrest you for that?”

“Sooooomebody’s in trouble,” Izzie sing-songed.

Jasper gave me a sheepish smile and a shrug. “She didn’t want to wait in the house. Once she set her mind to it, I couldn’t stop her. Looks like yer secret cat’s out of the bag.”

My shoulders drooped. “Mom, this isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

“Find out what, Emma?” Her hand lowered, and she glanced at me. Then she raised her hand once more. “That you like exhibitionism?”

The quartet of young shifters snickered.

“No, this is what I’ve been working on.” I shifted again, choosing the same small creatures I had for the teens, hoping they would frighten my mother least. As I changed, her hand lowered until it fell to her side. When I morphed into a human again, I added, “I’ve learned a lot about myself these last few weeks.”

“Emma, you… you…”

“I can turn into animals.”

“I don’t… I don’t…” Mom’s voice trailed away. “How many different animals?”