Laura seemed impervious to the male real estate displayed on the porch. Her face wore a permanent scowl. “What happens if you stagger?”
Neil’s mouth pulled straight and his eyes darkened. “Weres have died by getting confused or not paying attention. You shift partway, and you forget which way you’re going—the body starts to shift some things to beast, and others to human, and you’re in a world of hurt.” He met Laura’s eye. “Stay focused. Concentrate. Getting mad helps, but above all, don’t panic. That leads nowhere good.”
Jessie’s heart hammered. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to her just how dangerous this shifting thing could be.
“Does it hurt?” the blonde woman asked.
“Yes. But you do get used to it. And the better you are at it, the faster and less painful.” As he spoke, Neil began the process, showing them his hands as they changed. His fingers broadened, and the nails became strong, long claws. His hands lengthened, the wrists becoming what would look like a knee joint on the front legs.
Jessie had studied human anatomy. She’d seen it often enough now that she appreciated the anatomical changes required to shift to an animal form. It was miraculous that this transformation was possible. She watched as the shoulder blades rotated from lying flat along his back to hang down his sides, dropping the shoulder joint forward and lower. Neil’s arms supported his body as his skull altered to that of the beast, and the muscles expanded to form an arched neck carrying the head level with the spine.
Muscles swelled over the powerful shoulders. The front legs were longer than the hind, and the back sloped off to muscular thighs and bulging calves. The feet had thickened, clawed toes, with the ankle joint suspended in the air. They walked, not flat-footed like a human, but on their toes, like a cat.
And he was huge. Jessie thought Kade was bigger, but Neil’s beast was still larger than a grizzly. The boxer shorts were seriously stressed to their limits.
Jessie shot a look at Laura. The blonde woman stared at Neil in horror before covering her mouth and looking away.
“Take a deep breath,” Jessie advised the other woman. “See them as a part of nature, not a monster. He’s quite beautiful.”
Neil snorted. “Not prretty,” he protested, the words slurred by his fangs.
“Okay, handsome, then.” Jessie grinned.
Laura looked like she might faint, but she managed, “I’ll try. They are just so”—she groped for a word—“big.”
Neil panted his pleasure at that descriptor. Jessie flashed him a grin. No guy ever minded such a label.
The Were waited for a few minutes and then took himself back to human.
“Are Sabres different from Dires?” Jessie asked. “Braden wasn’t so massive.”
Cara paused before she answered. “Most of Cryptid origins are lost to time. But my oldest reference states that Dires and Sabres were created many thousands of years ago, by a race that no longer exists. They mixed Cryptid blood with the animals from the human realm to create these two races of shapeshifters. The records I’ve found say the Dires were based on the Dire wolf. Then they took the result and added sabre-toothed cats to the mix for the Sabres. So the Sabres have different characteristics.”
Jessie stared at her. Was she saying Sabres and Dires were created by aliens? Or by another advanced culture? This sounded like something from a fringe documentary. But the evidence stood before her.
It wasn’t any weirder than any of the rest of this.
“We’re much stronger than Dires. But not as fast,” Neil continued the conversation. “And Dires tend to be flakey as hell. The Sabres were recruited by the council because they have a strong sense of duty to the Cryptid community.”
“And the Dires don’t?” Jessie asked.
“Their immediate pack—family—matters to the Dires, but anything outside of it does not,” Cara noted. “Now, Neil. If you can run through it again for them?”
Laura abruptly stood. “I’m not feeling well.” She rubbed at her face. “I need to lie down for a bit.”
“You need to study this, Laura,” Cara said. “Can you stay through one more change?”
But the blonde shook her head and all but bolted from the porch. Cara stopped Jessie from following her.
“I can talk to her,” Jessie reasoned.
“I’m not sure talking is going to help.” Cara exchanged a look with Neil that twisted Jessie’s stomach.
“It’s just a lot to absorb,” Jessie said. “I’ve had more time. I saw Braden the night he bit me. It kinda opened the door to possibilities.”
Cara regarded Neil. “What do you think?”
Neil shook his handsome head, but his eyes were dark with concern. “She might rabbit. I can’t blame her. But we can’t have her out there when she shifts.”
