Page 92 of Shifters Unifying

“I’m not sure, but we’re all stronger, better when linked. It’ll be easier to sneak up on enemies, too. This is what our afternoon will be.” I met the gaze of each of the warriors and put my hands on my hips, forming an idea, a plan. “Now let’s try something fun.”

Salali climbed to her feet and dusted earth from her lower half.

“On me,” I yelled, charging toward the nearest and tallest oak.

“For the multimorph!”

“For East Nuttal,” I answered. “Shift!”

I shifted into a flying squirrel form and launched up the trunk. Then I scrambled to the top, taking a long branch to the left. Fifteen squirrels of all kinds and colors scampered after me. Darting to the end of the narrowing twig, I fought the desire to hang on with four legs. Then I leapt into the air, aiming for a faraway tree and sending tiny tendrils of magic out behind me, lifting the others who followed into the wind after.

Beneath us, Salali watched, her face upturned, her hands clutched over her chest, and cheering. Sixteen of us had sailed farther than we could have alone. As one, we landed safely and made our way down the tree.

Squirrels knew how to squirrel, and as a squirrel, I could make them better than they were without me. Whatever my insecurities were, or my failures had been, I was going to be the best damn multimorph I could, and today was a magnificent, flying step in the right direction.

When I reached the bottom, I shifted to my human self once more.

Salali came to a halt beside me, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. “That was…”

I waited for her verdict.

“…Incredible.”

I nodded once. “It’s only the beginning.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

emma

One Week Later

The Gathering Place

Between Bear Trees & Red Tail Territories

“Is it November yet?” I asked Salali.

She had volunteered to drive me to the called conclave, already determined to sing my praises to the council, since as an alpha, she had to be there anyway. We sat in the front two seats with the younglings in the seats behind us.

She tilted her head. “I think so, but only just. Why do you ask?”

“The days are all running together, so fast I can barely keep up. Before long, it’ll be the Beaver Moon, and time to prepare for winter.”

“Winter is coming,” John quipped from the back seat of the SUV.

“Shut up, John Snow,” Izzie answered.

Salali laughed along with the others. A small smile was all I could manage.

Training in East Nuttal had been long and hard, but successful, and she’d been satisfied by the attention I’d given her, her warriors, and her clan. However, since spies were a real and present risk, I didn’t want to showcase what I’d learned from her warriors or what they’d taught me.

Not yet.

So, as we came to a stop near the safety of the gathering place, I was still trying to come up with another way to impress the assembled alphas. The bond flickered in my mind, rife with tension. Logan’s nerves were doing a good job of obliterating my concentration. Izzie, Blaze, Oliver, and John all climbed out and hurried toward the amphitheater, probably anxious to see it for the first time.

After the doors slammed, Salali cleared her throat.

“Yes?”