Consular Times

A Preview

Robert M. Kerns

Copyright © 2021 by Robert M. Kerns

Cover Copyright © 2021 Dolton Richards / Knightsfall Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means--electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise--without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any place (terrestrial, exta-solar, extra-dimensional, or other) or person (human, Magi, shifter, fae, sapient undead, or other) is unintended and purely coincidental.

Published by Knightsfall Press

PO Box 280

Mineral Wells, WV 26150

About This Book

1

PANG! PANG! PANG! PANG!

A hammer struck a baking sheet with the regularity of metronome. It might not have been so bad, but the baking sheet sounded like it was right beside her head. And the evil bastard hitting it with a hammer just wasn’t stopping.

“I swear if you don’t stop beating that metal with a hammer I will arrest you for assaulting a federal agent.” Even inside her own head, her voice sounded rough, a mixture of a parched throat and disuse.

When no one responded and the hammering didn’t cease, she forced her eyes open and immediately closed them against the bright white everything. The curtains around her. The ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights overhead. The sheet and blanket that covered her. Everything was pure white and too damn bright.

She heaved herself into a sitting position and found she sat on a hospital bed in one of those horrid hospital gowns, and then, the stringent smell of antiseptic hit her harder than that damned hammering. It hit her so hard her nostrils and lungs burned.

Her body felt like it needed a stretch, like she’d been immobile for too long. But that wasn’t her focus. She looked for the source of the hammering, but there wasn’t anyone in sight. It made no sense. Something hammered against metal, and it was so close.

She endured another few strikes until tiny motion caught her eye. She watched a drop of water fall from the faucet and strike the metal sink with the same headache-inducing noise.

“What the hell…” she muttered as she forced herself to stand… and clutched at the hospital bed when the room spun and heaved around her like a rowboat in a hurricane.

The sensation soon passed, and she tried to stand on her own once more. Success. Her legs trembled a bit as she took cautious steps to the metal sink, but they steadied soon enough. Her sole mission was to stop the faucet from dripping, but when she stood at the edge of the sink, her thirst claimed her. She turned the faucet on full-bore and leaned down to swallow as much as she could.

When an automatic door swooshed open somewhere behind her, she paid it no mind as she maintained her focus on quenching her thirst, and it wasn’t until someone pulled the curtains aside that the memory of being in a hospital gown forced its way through her single-minded focus on the faucet.

She jerked a wet hand back to hold the gown closed just as a man said, “Well, it’s nice to see you up and around.”

She spun and found a man in blue jeans and a blue-and-green-checked shirt underneath a white lab coat. He looked like he was in his mid-40s.

“Hi. Most people around here just call me Doc. I run the infirmary. Can you tell me your name?”

She blinked and fought the urge to grimace. She hated her name. “Edwina Eustace Burke.”

Doc smiled and nodded once. “Good. Do you hurt anywhere?”

“No... at least… I don’t think so.”

“Also good. Now, tell me the last thing you remember.”

She turned and shut off the faucet, making sure it was all the way off and wouldn’t drip. Then, she crossed to the bed and sat, all the while searching her mind.

“I think… I think… I was shot and Special Agent Hauser was carrying me out of some kind of control center. We had been captured while looking into the black ops group that had been hunting Sloane Martinez. We were in a hallway, and I think I passed out.”

Doc smiled again. “Excellent. From what Agent Hauser tells us, that should have been your last memory. You were unconscious when Alpha Wyatt arrived and saved your life.”

Her eyes shot up to lock on his. “Wyatt saved my life? How?”

“Really, Agent Burke… do you have to ask? You were seconds from death. How do you think he saved your life?”

She fought a wholly irrational urge to grin like a child. If Wyatt saved her, he did it by turning her into a shifter, and Wyatt was the first feline primogenitor in recorded shifter history… a Smilodon. The memory of running her hand through his fur came unbidden to her mind, and a slight smile escaped her control.

“So, I’m a Smilodon shifter now, huh?

Doc shrugged. “If the process holds true, yes. But there is much… well… we hardly know anything about primogenitors. If the process held true, Alpha Wyatt would’ve been a cougar, or mountain lion if you prefer. So, while I want to say you’re a Smilodon shifter now, I—like everyone else in town—am waiting for your first shift. That will tell us beyond all doubt. Now, if you will excuse me a moment, I shall contact Agent Hauser and Alpha Wyatt to inform them you’re awake.”

“Wait, please,” Burke said. “How long was I out?”

Doc looked over his shoulder, answering, “Seven days. We were beginning to worry a bit.”

Burke sat back on the hospital bed, trying to wrap her mind around that. It was almost impossible to believe she’d been unconscious for a whole week. She didn’t feel hurt or sick or injured in anyway. In fact, she felt better than she ever had in her life. In the distance, she heard Doc talking to someone, and she guessed he was on the phone telling Hauser or Wyatt that she was awake. That meant she would be leaving the infirmary soon, and she needed clothes that were not bloody rags or a hospital gown.

Another cursory scan of her surroundings did not reveal the presence of her personal effects, which led her to wonder if anyone had found them in that black ops base. It wasn’t such a big deal to replace her driver’s license or voter registration card, but she despised the thought of dealing with her bank and credit cards.

Since she was a shifter now, would she have to move to one of the shifter territories? What would happen to her job? Burke reached behind her and pulled the sheet and blanket around her as she tried to organize everything in her mind. After chasing that rainbow for several moments, she realized that she had no way of knowing just what would change in her life now. She didn’t like that. She didn’t like not knowing. She didn’t like not being in control.

While she ruminated on her new situation, she heard automatic doors swoosh again, followed by almost running footfalls. Before Burke fully lifted her head, Winnifred Hauser charged through the open curtain and almost leaped to enfold her in a hug.

“I was so worried,” Hauser whispered.

Burke felt like her friend’s primary goal was to compress her ribs until they would fit inside a soup can, but she didn’t mind. Not yet, at least. They had become very close during the time they spent as prisoners of the black ops organization.

It seemed like they had only just begun to hug when the automatic doors swooshed again, and soon Wyatt stood at the curtain’s perimeter. He smiled at seeing them hugging each other, and he moved to lean against the wall to wait them out.

Burke whispered to Hauser, “We have an audience.”

Hauser jerked back from Burke and spun, her eyes wide and cheeks red from embarrassment. “Hello, Wyatt. I didn’t see you there.”

Wyatt grinned. “That’s okay. Burke did.”

Hauser’s blush deepened. “Yes… well…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wyatt replied. He righted himself from where he was leaning and reached behind him, producing a pair of flip-flops. He tossed them onto the hospital bed. “There you go. Even if your clothes were not a bloody mess, I doubt they wholly fit anymore. I know mine didn’t, and the fit was off just enough that it bugged me like a low-grade toothache. Hank, at the general store across the street, is waiting for you; his wife will help you with your new measurements, and I expect you to walk out of there with clothes for at least two weeks. It’s on me.”

“Oh, no… I couldn’t,” Burke demurred. “That wouldn’t be right, especially since I’m a federal agent.”

“Yes… about that. You might be a federal agent out in the greater United States, but you’re in Godwin County, which is shifter territory. And you’re a shifter now, too. So, while I have no authority over Hauser as such, you are another matter entirely. Besides, Hank will just deduct the price of the clothes from his monthly administration fee, so it’s all good.”

Hauser frowned. “Administration fee?”

“Yeah… it kinda threw me for a loop when Alistair and Gabrielle told me about it. Apparently, shifters don’t do taxes the way humans are used to thinking of taxes. Instead of quarterly taxes or annual taxes, all the shifters in a given territory pay a portion of the previous month’s income to the Alpha. The Alpha then, in turn, handles all the ‘normal’ taxes and uses what’s left over for maintenance, a personal salary, and things like that. So, Hank will tally whatever clothes or items you pick onto a form that he will then submit with his administration fee. I will then forward a copy of that form to the state and the IRS, when I handle our taxes… because nobody wants to piss off the IRS. Oh, and before I forget, I’ve arranged for a room to be waiting for you at the hotel, so once you get settled, find me. We have a few things to discuss, and I highly recommend you not put it off. I’d like to make your transition to the wonderful world of shifter life a little easier than mine was. But… that’s up to you.”

With that, Wyatt waved goodbye and left the infirmary.

Burke sat on the hospital bed, feeling a tad stunned. “He didn’t even let me thank him.”

“It’s not like you won’t have the chance later. Can you forgive me for having him bite you?”

Burke smiled and pulled her back into a hug. “Of course, I forgive you. I’d rather be alive than dead, and honestly, I’m wondering if I’ll be a Smilodon, too. I’m a little anxious to find out.”

“I know. I’ve thought more than once over the past week about asking Wyatt to turn me, too.” Hauser looked around the space as if she wasn’t sure what else to say. Then, she brought her eyes back to Burke. “Well, you ready to get out of here?”

Burke nodded, and Hauser grabbed the flip-flops, dropping them on the floor. Burke pushed off the bed and slipped her feet into them before following Hauser out of the curtained area.

“Doc, I’ll bring the gown back as soon as I finish at the general store,” Burke said as she followed Hauser out of the infirmary.

Doc never looked up from the book that held his focus, but he did acknowledge her with a wave.

Minutes later, Burke stepped out of the infirmary building and into the sun of a clear, cloudless sky about mid-morning. The air smelled fresher, somehow, and she couldn’t hold back a smile at the sheer joy of being alive.

As she followed Hauser across the street, Burke noticed Wyatt talking with a woman and a boy on the cusp of early adolescence. They stood beside a blacked-out SUV sporting US Government plates, and three or four people in suits and sunglasses—whose posture and mannerisms screamed protective services—stood near them. With a little effort, she forced her curiosity to release the idea and made doubly sure she had a tight grip on the seam of her hospital gown. She eagerly looked forward to wearing normal clothes again. Then food. Lots and lots of food.

2

A beautiful day greeted me when I stepped outside the infirmary building, the breeze still carrying hints of the heavy rain earlier in the week, and I smiled as I closed my eyes and focused on the smells wafting along with the wind. I loved a good rainstorm, especially how the air smelled fresh and clean in the wake of it.

The sound of engines rolling to a stop nearby pulled me from my reverie, and I opened my eyes to see two blacked-out SUVs rolling to a stop across the street. The lead vehicle sported government plates, and I assumed the chase car did as well. The moment the engines shut off, every door on the SUVs opened. A woman and man in suits and sunglasses exited the front driver and passenger sides, respectively, and a woman who looked about twice my age stepped into the sun from the rear door on the driver’s side. She shared a quick word with the driver before she started to cross the street, her eyes locked on me.

I started across myself, and we met on the yellow line that separated the lanes. It was a slow day, and their SUVs were the first vehicles the street had seen in a couple hours.

“Hello,” the woman said. “My name is Mina Vickers. President Williams charged me with establishing and overseeing the American consular office here in Precious. Am I correct that you are Alpha Wyatt Magnusson?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am. Let’s step over to the sidewalk beside your vehicles. It’s been a slow day in town, but that could change at any minute. I also understand you may have something of a personal request for me.”

Mina blanched. “How… how did you know that?”

“My sister Vicki told me about the situation with your son.”

“Oh… uhm… what are your thoughts on the matter?” Mina asked, still seemingly rattled by my knowledge of her son’s situation.

I shrugged. “How old is he?”

“He’s thirteen.”

“I’ll be honest. I’m very new to all this; it’s only been about sixteen weeks since I became a shifter. But… from what the born shifters tell me, the greatest risk in changing a human lies at the extreme ends of his or her life, so the further into childhood or old age they are, the greater the risk that they won’t survive. Most shifters won’t even consider trying to change someone who isn’t through puberty yet, but I understand waiting would not be in your son’s best interests.”

Mina shook her head. “No, it would not. The longer we wait, the worse his condition will become.”

The rear passenger door of the lead SUV opened, and a boy with red curly hair hopped out and ran to Mina’s side. She put her arm around him as he hugged her.

“Noah, this is Wyatt.”

I crouched to put myself at his level and smiled as I held out my hand. “Hi, Noah. How are you?”

He took a half-step out from behind his mom and gave me an acceptable handshake for a thirteen-year-old. “I’m okay, I guess.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, and welcome to Precious.” I gave him my best welcoming smile, then stood and turned to his mom. “I think the first step is getting you and your people settled at the hotel. Then, we can discuss both topics further. Maybe later today or first thing tomorrow?”

Mina nodded. “That sounds good. I think we’re all still on East Coast time. My body is screaming that it’s lunch time.”

I pointed over my left shoulder with my thumb. “Then, you want to visit Gladys’s diner right away. Since most of us get all our meals at the diner, we don’t really have a true grocery store in town. Oh… and if you do visit the diner, you should ask for the human menus.”

“Human menus? Why is that?”

“Let’s just say the portion sizes are radically different, and they need to be aware that you can’t put away food like the rest of us.”

Mina blinked. “Oh, wow… seriously?”

I just nodded. “One of the most difficult adjustments to… my new situation… is that six thousand to eight thousand calories per day—and most of that protein—are normal for me now. That’s how much it takes for one of us to be healthy.”

“So…?” Mina’s voice trailed off as she flicked her eyes toward her son and back.

“That would be a matter to discuss with Doc, but like I said, let’s get you settled and fed. Then, I’ll get Doc and Alistair to meet with us in the conference room to discuss the situation. Once we have that moving, we can discuss your consular office.”

Mina grimaced. “We should focus on that. After all, it is the main reason I’m here.”

I shook my head. “Nope. Don’t worry about what the government wants just yet. I’m still working on sorting out where the consular office will be. I’m thinking of taking First Avenue and turning it into a kind of Embassy Row, because the Magi Assembly decided to follow suit and will be establishing a consular office here, too.”

“Oh… I wasn’t expecting that,” Mina replied. “Do you think they would be amenable to talks for establishing an American consulate with them?”

“Who knows? But probably. In terms of their consulate with us, Vicki pushed the idea through the Assembly just so that I would always have access to Magi certified to create portals and assault rifts; she was afraid that I might call her someday for one or the other when she was too tied up in other matters to hop over here for me.”

Mina’s expression made it clear to me that she had no idea how to process that. “Your sister wanted you to have Magi available to support you, so she forced a measure to establish a consulate here in Precious through the Magi Assembly?”

“Yeah. We’re twins, but she has always looked out for me like an older sister. Besides, she will inherit the family seat on the Assembly one day, so Grandpa has been including her more and more in Assembly affairs.”

“I think I have a lot of catching up to do. I didn’t pay as much attention to the supernatural briefings as I should have, and that decision is coming home to roost with a vengeance.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you ease into it as best we can. But for now, let’s get you checked into the hotel, so you and your people can get some food.”

I left Mina and her people in Melody’s capable hands and headed back to the infirmary. I wanted to help her son if at all possible, which meant I needed to discuss the situation with Doc. There was also the issue of Moira MacCallan, but so far, she seemed content to keep pretty much to herself and treat her stay in Precious as some kind of vacation. It seemed odd that the idea of shifters didn’t surprise her at all, while she presented no indication of being supernatural herself, but I had bigger things to worry about. I decided to make a point of checking in with her at least once a week and otherwise leaving her to her own devices, which meant it was probably time to invite her to lunch or something and see how she was doing.

These thoughts carried me into the ward room where Doc seemed to spend most of his time waiting for the few patients he ever had. I found him sitting at his desk, focused on what appeared to be a medical journal of some type. He looked up as I entered the room and smiled a welcome my way.

“Ah, Alpha Wyatt… what brings you to my corner of town?”

“I have a bit of a sticky situation on my hands, Doc, and I’d like you to weigh in on the matter.”

“Of course, of course! Pull up a chair, and tell me all about it.”

I grabbed one of the ubiquitous wheeled chairs that seemed to be in every doctor’s office and hospital everywhere, pushing it over to a friendly conversation distance before sitting. “So, President Williams decided to establish a consulate here in Precious with the whole point of regularizing relations between shifters and Uncle Sam. I tried to get her to put it in Chicago where the Council meets, but Lyssa shot that down like a flak cannon. Anyway… the person President Williams named to run the new office is Mina Vickers, and her son has been diagnosed with Batten disease. In fact, I’m almost certain her son’s condition is why Williams chose her.”

Doc nodded his understanding. “I see, and you want to offer to turn the boy into a shifter to cure the disease.”

“Correct. So, what kind of minefield am I walking into? He’s thirteen now, and from what little the internet told me about Batten disease, he may have at most another ten years or so, if he’s especially lucky, with a progressive decline in his condition.”

Doc grimaced. “All other things being equal, I’d counsel you to avoid changing the boy. The human body goes through enormous changes during puberty, and the added stress of becoming a shifter during that time is often more than a body can bear. I would like to conduct an exam and evaluation of him prior to embarking on this path, and if I feel the risk is too great, I would like for you to refuse to turn him. Yes, that’s borderline cruel, but what would be worse? Going through an agonizing death now, or experiencing a progressive decline over the next ten years? That will be the question facing you and the boy’s mother.”

“And what if she says she wants to risk it, despite your recommendation?”

“I… don’t know. Wyatt, you have to understand; I swore the Hippocratic Oath just like every other medical professional, and I believe in it down to my very bones. I’m not denying he’s been dealt a bum hand in life, but I simply cannot sanction making him worse, essentially killing him. Honestly, it’s a horrible situation and an excellent example of why we do our best to keep the greater world unaware of our existence. Can you imagine what it would be like to turn away parents with children too frail to survive the change as they beg and plead for you to try anyway? I never want to live through that.”

I leaned back against my seat and sighed. “You have a point, Doc. A very good point, to be truthful. So, what should I do? What’s the best outcome here?”

Doc puffed out his cheeks as he heavily exhaled. “Damn, Wyatt… why put that on me? I suppose the best outcome would be that he’s healthy enough to survive the change and comes out the other side, hale and whole. But what about his mom? I mean, are we going to tell him that becoming a shifter means he’ll outlive all the humans alive today, even newborn babies, and probably their great-grandchildren? That’s a lot to put on a child. Most people that age are not ready to confront mortality, theirs or anyone else’s. I think the best way to go about it will be to have a meeting with the parents first, and I mean just you, me, and the parents. Say… you haven’t said anything about the dad; what does he think of all this?”

“I have no idea, Doc. Mina never mentioned the boy’s dad, so that’s something we should discuss with her when we have the initial conversation.”

Doc grimaced as he shook his head. “You never pull the easy ones, do you, son…”

“Nope. Mina and her people are getting settled at the hotel, and I think they’re going to the diner afterwards. I’ll see when she wants to have the first conversation and get back to you.”

“That would be best.” Then, he gestured to the otherwise-vacant infirmary wardroom. “I have so much work on my hands that I need to schedule my time, you know.”

I could not hold back the grin and reached over to the medical journal. Flipping it open, I revealed a smaller golf magazine tucked inside it. “I wouldn’t want to interfere with your brutal regimen of continuing education.”

Doc shrugged as embarrassment tinged his cheeks a faint shade of red. I grinned and clapped him on the shoulder as I stood and returned the chair to its former place. Doc and I exchanged goodbye waves as I left the infirmary.

I once more basked in the pleasant day as I transitioned from the building to sidewalk and looked at my watch. The thought occurred that I wasn’t completely certain what the day’s agenda was supposed to entail, which meant I should probably visit the admin building.

Even though Lyssa was still settling into the move from Chicago to Precious, she insisted on being productive and useful, and since the Shifter Council only met for a week three times per year—unless exigent circumstances arose—she had a lot of time on her hands. Time that she decided to spend becoming my executive assistant.

There was no doubt in my mind that someone more indoctrinated into the ‘shifter way’ of doing things would’ve seen it as an affront or major disrespect, but the fact of the matter was she saved my fur nine ways from Sunday. She had many, many years of experience as one of the feline councilors—not to mention being a born shifter—so she understood all the ins and outs and minutiae of administering a shifter territory. She brought all the major decisions to me, of course, but in the days since she became my assistant, all the minor administrative tasks that I found too annoying to care about vanished from my list. For that small mercy alone, I wanted to kiss her all over, not to mention all the other ways she complemented the three of us—meaning Gabrielle, Karleen, and I—while enriching our lives.

The young receptionist working the admin building’s front desk greeted me as I entered the building, and I returned it, making a mental note to stop and check in with him on my way out. I did care about all the people who looked to me as their Alpha, and it seemed like I’d been running off and handling everyone else’s problems too much lately. Maybe I should take a walk around the town later, too…

Lyssa’s office was empty, and I found her standing at my desk with her back to the door. Her black pencil skirt and white blouse looked very nice on her, and I had to take a moment to clear several non-work thoughts as I approached her.

I was halfway from the office to the door when my willpower failed me, and I enfolded Lyssa in a hug as I kissed her cheek and then her neck.

“Well, hello to you, too,” she said, her voice almost a purr.

“Hi,” I replied in between kisses. I continued to hold her tight as I asked, “Do we have anything major on the agenda today?”

“Hmmm… nothing significant. Why?”

“The delegation to establish an American consulate arrived today, and President Williams named Mina Vickers as the ambassador or whatever the appropriate term is. Once they’ve had a chance to get settled and eat, I was going to call a meeting to discuss the situation with her son, because I can’t stand knowing he’s in a bad way if there’s something we can do to help him.”

Lyssa turned to face me, a warm smile brightening her whole expression. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Wyatt… how much you want to help others.”

I gazed into her eyes and wanted nothing more than to take my time expressing just how much I loved her in return, but… we didn’t have that kind of time. And my office in the admin building probably wasn’t the best venue, either. At least not during ‘normal’ business hours.

I stole another, longer kiss before releasing her and stepping back. “Do you want to be in the first meeting with Mina about her son? I care more about addressing that than sorting out the consulate.”

Lyssa nodded as she smoothed her blouse. “Yes, I think I would. I would say we should invite Karleen and Gabrielle as well, but they took off on a hunting trip shortly after you left this morning. They might be back by nightfall, but probably not.”

“Okay, then. If you don’t mind, think about who else should be in the meeting. I’m on the fence about Alistair, not whether he should be in the meeting but whether we should bother him with it.”

“Inviting him is not a bad idea. With all he has seen, I’m sure he has some experience to offer. Shall I discuss it with him?”

“Yes, please. I think I’m going to go for a walk around the town in the meantime. I feel a little disconnected after all the trips lately.” Lyssa’s expression fell, and I realized my mistake. Helping her sister by recovering her niece was one of those recent trips. “No. Don’t think for even a moment that I begrudge the trip to Oklahoma. I would’ve been very unhappy if you had hired Gabrielle and left me out of it.”

Then, just to be sure I reinforced the idea, I sniped another two kisses.

“Go on, get out of here,” she said. “You have a town that needs walked around.”

She pushed me back as she fought to contain her smile, and I left her in my office, an insouciant grin dominating my expression.

3

The builders or architects of the hotel in Precious styled it after the ritzy, up-scale hotels of the early twentieth century, favoring the overall Old West theme that seemed to run through what Mina had seen of the town so far. A pleasant wall of cool air kissed her cheeks to the accompaniment of an old-time, physical bell over the double doors that jingled every time one of them opened.

The lobby and an associated parlor that seemed large enough to accommodate all the guests at maximum occupancy continued the old-fashioned theme with period-appropriate furnishings and lighting fixtures. Mina blinked at seeing what looked like an old gas lamp on the wall and smiled when she noticed the contours of a lightbulb inside it; it seemed someone engineered fixtures to meet the theme while still affording modern conveniences.

A twenty-something woman with red hair almost the color of copper stepped out of a back room to stand behind the front desk and offered a welcoming smile to the group.

“Hello, and welcome to the Precious Hotel. I’m Melody. How can I help you?”

Mina extended her smile to the young lady. “Hi, Melody. I’m Mina Vickers, and I’ll be overseeing the establishment and operation of the American consulate to the Shifter Nation here in Precious. Does the hotel have sufficient availability for me to book a few rooms for my people for the short term, until we can sort ourselves out?”

“Why, of course, ma’am. This isn’t one of our higher-traffic seasons. How many rooms do you need?”

Over the next few minutes, Mina and Melody handled the temporary accommodations, and after moving all the luggage into the hotel, it was time to visit the diner Wyatt had recommended. Leaving the hotel, Mina led her son and a few of her people up the sidewalk before crossing the street to the diner’s entrance.

Another bell overhead heralded their arrival, and the ambient noise level dropped as the diner’s patrons took in the new arrivals. Before the moment could become too awkward, a woman who looked to be in her mid- to late-fifties smiled a welcome as she carried an almost overflowing tray to a nearby table.

“Hi, I’m Gladys. Please, seat yourselves, and I’ll be right with you.”

Mina chose an empty table and led the way to it. She and her people quickly assumed their seats, and each retrieved a menu from a collection in the center of the table. She was still looking over the options when Gladys arrived at her elbow.

“So, what brings you folks to Precious?” Gladys asked.

“I’m here to establish an American consulate to the Shifter Nation,” Mina explained.

Gladys blinked, then looked all around like she expected a surprise. “You’re not… what do the youngsters call it… pranking me, are you? It doesn’t really make sense for the government to establish a consulate inside its own territory to its own people, does it?”

Mina shrugged. “The current administration feels the relationship between the Shifter Nation and the United States has not been maintained as well as it should have been, especially given the treaty between us, and desires very much to correct that.”

Gladys regarded her in silence for several moments before giving an exaggerated nod. “Fair enough, then. Have you folks decided what you’d like to drink?”

They gave their drink orders, and Gladys bustled off to see to them. As she returned her focus to the menu, Mina couldn’t help but feel Gladys had been just one short step from openly laughing in her face over the consulate idea. If she were completely honest with herself, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On the surface, she agreed with Gladys; the idea was ludicrous, and to top it all, she didn’t even have any formal diplomatic training. She was a lawyer, most recently a federal judge prior to her short-lived appointment as Attorney General. She was not the person for this post, and she knew beyond any doubt that President Williams chose her to establish and lead this mission just to give her the opportunity to save her son. She didn’t like that and, more than once since she left the capital, felt like she should resign. But if she did, what was she supposed to do? Especially after resigning from her post as Attorney General? The idea of hanging a shingle in Precious as an attorney occurred to her, but was there really that much of a need? How much business would she have?

Almost before Mina realized it, Gladys was back with their drinks. “Have you settled on what you’d like?”

“I probably should have mentioned this when you took our drink orders, but Wyatt said something about asking for the human menus,” Mina said.

“Oh, lordy me… I am so sorry. Of course you’ll need the human menus. One second…” Gladys dashed over to the register counter and snagged a number of menus from beneath it before returning to their table. “Here you go, folks, and I apologize for that. The menu items themselves are the same; it’s just that the portions are radically different.”

Mina returned her menu to the center of the table while the rest of her party did likewise. Upon opening the new menu, the first thing that leapt out at her was the difference in prices. These numbers were much lower than those in the other menu.

“Don’t get a lot of humans visiting the diner, huh?” Mina asked, adding a smile.

Gladys shook her head as she made a note on her order pad. “We surely don’t. So… what would you fine folks like to eat?”

Each person at the table gave her an order, and Gladys nodded once she double-checked that she had everything correct. “Alrighty. This should be out in no time. Flag me down if you need anything.”

Mina fought the urge to let her earlier doubts resume their hold on her. It was difficult, and she felt like she was losing ground until her son saved her.

“Mom, why does everyone around here act like they’re not human?” he asked in a voice just loud enough for her to hear over the ambient noise. “And what was all that about Ma… Magi earlier? What were you talking about?”

“Honey, that’s something we should probably discuss back in our room at the hotel, but the short answer is that the world isn’t as simple as we thought it was. Is that okay for now?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Mina smiled and took his small hand in hers. Unbidden, her memories of his infancy surged to the forefront of her mind, and she couldn’t help but smile. She was so proud of him, especially how he handled everything involving his medical condition. She wasn’t sure she would be as strong and level-headed if their places were reversed.

Later that afternoon, Mina approached the front desk of the hotel. No one was in sight, so she tapped the small bell in front of the sign that read, ‘Please ring bell for service.’ Moments later, Melody stepped out of the back office.

“Hello again. Is everything with the rooms to your liking?”

Mina nodded. “Oh, yes. Everything is fine on that front. Now that we’ve settled in a little bit, I was hoping to have a word with Wyatt on a couple matters, but I don’t know how to reach him.”

“That’s easy,” Melody answered. “I’ll just call over to the admin building and ask Lyssa if she knows where he wandered off to.”

Without waiting for Mina to reply, Melody put action to her words, grabbing the nearby phone’s handset and dialing a number. Moments later, she said, “Hi, Joey. It’s Melody over at the hotel. I need to speak to Lyssa.” A few moments of silence passed. “Hi, Lyssa; it’s Melody. I have Mina Vickers here at the front desk, and she’s looking for Wyatt.” More silence. “Ah. Okay. Are you sure about that?” Another interlude of silence. “Okay, then. Thank you. I’m sure Mina will appreciate it, too. Bye!”

Melody returned the handset to its cradle, ending the call, and turned to Mina. “She said Wyatt is out taking a walk around the town, but she’s going to call him on his cell. She said you’re welcome to wait with her in the admin building, which also serves as the county courthouse, or they could stop by here to collect you once Wyatt appears. How would you like to handle it?”

That was the question, wasn’t it. One of her advance team watched Noah, her son, and agreed to do so while Mina discussed her son’s situation with Wyatt. But she didn’t want to impose if there was going to be a wait before that conversation started. In the end, circumstances settled the matter for her.

“Ah, there he is now,” Melody chirped.

Mina looked up and turned toward the direction Melody pointed in time to see Wyatt walk by the hotel’s entrance.

“I guess I’ll just walk with him, then,” Mina replied and rushed to catch up.

The passage of a few minutes saw Mina sitting at a table in the admin building’s conference room with Wyatt, a stunning woman who introduced herself as Lyssa, a gentleman who looked older and introduced himself as ‘Doc,’ and another older gentleman who introduced himself as Alistair Cooper.

“All right, then,” Wyatt said, in essence calling the meeting to order. “I asked you here to discuss an issue facing us. As she said, Mina has been tasked with creating and overseeing the American consulate to the Shifter Nation of North America. But I’m more concerned with the fact that her son has been diagnosed with Batten disease.”

“How old is the boy?” Alistair asked.

“Thirteen,” Mina answered.

Alistair winced. “That… makes for a rather dicey proposition. Do you know if he has started puberty yet?”

Mina felt her cheeks heat a little, and she was sure she blushed. “Uhm… well, no. Not really. I don’t think so; he hasn’t had his first teenage growth spurt yet.”

“What say you, Doc? What are your thoughts on this?” Alistair asked, but Mina suspected he was not in favor of the idea.

Doc shrugged. “My thoughts are that I haven’t examined the boy yet. I would like to look over his medical records as well. Did you happen to bring them with you, by chance?”

“Yes, I did. The copies I obtained from each of his doctors are in one of my suitcases back at the hotel.”

“That’s good. If you will, get me those copies as soon as you can. Do you have a cell phone, and does it have signal here in Precious?”

Mina fished her phone out of her pocket and checked it. “Yes, it seems to have full signal.”

“Excellent. At this time, I am leaning toward opposing the idea from the simple standpoint that it is an incredible risk to try changing a child into a shifter. Most children’s bodies are not robust enough to survive the physical stress of the change. That being said, the disease creates an imperative all its own. I would like to get those records, examine them, and then examine the boy. Based on all that, I will then be in a position to decide whether I recommend proceeding with the attempt.”

“Has he shown any special interest in a particular animal?” Alistair interjected. “We should be prepared to offer him his favorite animal if the decision is to proceed.”

Mina smiled. “He loves dogs. My youngest sister is coming out with the moving company, and she’s bringing our German Shepherd.”

“So, he might like the idea of being able to turn into a wolf?” Wyatt asked.

“It’s possible. I know he and Duke are almost inseparable if you give them half a chance.”

“What does his father have to say about this idea?” Doc asked.

Mina grimaced and sighed. “His father hasn’t spoken to either of us since maybe a week after Noah’s diagnosis. He filed for divorce and has since remarried. He didn’t even try for partial custody or visitation or anything.”

The growls Mina heard from every other person at the table shocked her. They sounded far more primal and animalistic than she would’ve thought human vocal cords could produce.

When Mina’s shock became apparent, Lyssa reached over and touched Mina’s arm. “Sorry. You’ll have to forgive us. Abandoning one’s child is a heinous crime in shifter society. The most vile shifter would never abandon a child, even if that was in the child’s best interests.”

“I want his name,” Wyatt said, his voice carrying hints of his displeasure.

“May I know why?” Mina asked.

Wyatt pointed at Lyssa with his thumb. “Because she worked the Shifter Council to name me Consul of the Shifter Nation of North America, and I intend to put his face, his name, and a description of his conduct in this matter into a bulletin to all shifters, blacklisting him from doing any kind of business with us.”

Mina’s eyes shot wide. “You can do that?”

Wyatt’s serious expression dissolved into a lopsided grin and a half-shrug. “Can I publish the bulletin? Absolutely. Does that mean every shifter in North America will abide by it? No idea. But I feel the matter is serious enough to warrant the attempt.”

“Is it our place to do it, though?” Lyssa asked. “Do we have the right to expect humans to abide by our values and morals?”

Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t expect humans to fall in line with our values. I don’t want them to be shorter-lived versions of shifters who can’t shift. But I do think we can establish a basic set of values that are non-negotiable and choose to do business with only those humans who meet our standards. Yes, that might not be how modern America does it, but I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of how hypocritical our society as a whole has become. So, yes… in this instance and in this case, I think it is our place to do that.”

Mina watched Lyssa fight a smile that tried to overcome her self-control, but she said nothing further on the matter.

When silence threatened to become awkward, Wyatt looked around the table, asking, “Does anyone have anything else to say?”

No one spoke.

“Very well. We’ll consider the matter to be pending until such time as Doc has had a chance to review the medical files and perform his own assessment of Noah. Thank you for coming.”

That said, Wyatt stood and led them out of the conference room.

4

I left the admin building deep in thought about the Embassy Row that was now a priority. The problem was that the town planners didn’t seem to have considered such a need. Moving deeper into the town away from Main Street, most of the town was residential with lots of open space for us to run around in our fur.

And that wasn’t the sole consideration, either. Most of the town’s residents had owned their homes in those homes’ current locations longer than I’d been alive. I wasn’t about to uproot them for a project in which most of us saw little value. After all, there wasn’t a person in Precious who didn’t consider themselves an American citizen; many of them were veterans of at least one war, if not more than one. In fact, I wasn’t aware of any shifter in Godwin County who didn’t consider himself or herself to be an American citizen.

So, the government’s insistence on treating us like a foreign entity by establishing a consulate was a little… odd. Maybe even a tad backhanded? Especially since shifters were not ‘out’ to the world. How did the government expect to hide a consulate established inside the country? Maybe call it a State Department field office?

Another side to the problem was that I didn’t want to insult anyone—especially not the Magi, when they finally arrived—by putting Embassy Row in a subdivision several streets away from the center of town. That just seemed like a recipe for disaster, no matter how you looked at it.

With the issue on the forefront of my mind, I walked down Main Street to the intersection with First Avenue. Main Street ran North to South, and the town’s avenues East to West. With the exception of Main Street, the even-numbered streets and avenues were one way, with the traffic flowing toward the west. The odd-numbered streets and avenues—like First Avenue—were one way, the traffic flowing toward the east. Well, what passed for traffic, anyway. The town wasn’t really all that large, and most people walked wherever they needed to go unless their trip involved bulky or freight-grade cargo.

On the north side of East First Avenue, a line of structures looked abandoned or, at least, disused. I counted five or six of them, which was far more than I needed for the two embassies or consulates or whatever the proper term was. I pulled out my cell phone and, opening my app for notes, recorded the number of each building. The structures ran the length of the block from Main Street to First Street, and not one of them looked like they had seen use in the last fifteen years.

It seemed a visit to the town’s property office was in order.

The town’s property office was on the second floor of the admin building, across the hall from the county clerk’s office. A mousy fox shifter named Samantha ran the office, and she blushed and gave me a nervous smile when I entered the room.

“Hi, Samantha. How are you today?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Alpha Wyatt. How can I help you?”

I saw a stack of what looked like scrap paper and pointed to it. “Is that scrap?”

Samantha nodded. “Yes, it is.”

I pulled a square off the top of the stack and wrote out the building numbers on East First Avenue, then pushed the paper to Samantha. “I would like to know who owns those buildings, please. They looked empty, and I need some real estate.”

Samantha read the list, then turned to a large map of the town that hung on a nearby wall. She pointed at the map with her finger as she scanned the buildings in question. “Well, I need to check the property book to be sure, but I think you own them… or at least you as in the Alpha of Precious and Godwin County. Give me a minute, please.”

She turned and crossed the room to a bookshelf complete with a rolling ladder anchored to the top. She climbed until she could reach the second shelf from the top and scanned the spines, using one foot to push herself along until she found the book she sought. Retrieving it from the shelf, she brought it back to the counter and opened it where both she and I could see it.

The index listed properties by street address, and she went through it until she found the entries for those buildings, making a note of the page number on the paper. Then, she flipped to the page for the first property and scanned it, nodding once. She then flipped the pages to check each of the other properties before returning her focus to Wyatt.

“Yes… the Alpha before Jason McCourtney seized all of those properties in lieu of months and months’ worth of unpaid administration fees. I don’t know what she was going to do with them, and she died before she did it anyway. I don’t know that Alpha Jace ever realized the office of Alpha owned them.”

Relief washed over me, and I resisted the urge to grin like a fool. “Do we have a plat of those lots? I need to know if the original owners built to fill the space or just built what they needed.”

“Hrmmm… we should have a plat I can copy for you. Let me check.”

Samantha disappeared into another section of the property office, but my shifter hearing could still pick up the occasional sound of her moving items. After a few minutes, I heard a printer kick off, and it wasn’t too long until she returned with a print-out from a plotter printer that showed the half of the block those structures represented.

“Here you go, Alpha Wyatt,” she said as she laid the paper on the counter. “Do you mind if I ask you why you needed all this?”

“The federal government wants to establish a consulate to the shifters here in Precious, since Lyssa wrangled the Council into naming me Consul, and the Magi want to do the same as well. That means we have to put them somewhere, and I haven’t even considered where they’ll live. Buy plots in the new subdivision Evan wants to develop, I suppose.”

“But… but… I voted in the last presidential election,” Samantha protested. “I have a US passport. How am I not an American citizen?”

“You’re not the first person to raise that question,” I replied. “I’m not sure the government thought the whole matter through before they leaped on it. The current president in D.C. feels the relationship between the shifters and the government has not been given the attention it’s due, especially given the treaty we have… so… we get a consulate. If you figure out how we rate a consulate while still being American citizens, be a pal and tell the rest of us.”

Samantha collected the property book from the counter and returned it to the shelf, shaking her head and muttering about the sheer wastefulness of the federal government. I didn’t feel like I had anything to add, so I bid her goodbye and left her to her work.

I returned to the main floor of the admin building in search of Lyssa. Once again, her office was empty, and I found her in mine. This time, the rustle and crackle of the paper in my hands alerted her to my arrival before I could surprise her with a hug or kiss.

“And what prize do you bring me, fair prince?” she asked, eyeing the roll of paper I carried.

“A solution to our Embassy Row problem.”

Her eyebrows went in search of her hairline. “Oh, really? Do tell.”

I motioned for her to join me at the side table and cleared it before unrolling the paper. “These buildings along East First Avenue… the Alpha before Jason seized them for supposedly unpaid administration fees across months and died before she could do anything with them. Jason either didn’t know or didn’t care that the office of Alpha owned them, and they’ve sat unused for who knows how long. Well… I suppose we could find out how long with a records search, but I’m not sure it’s important.”

“No, it isn’t,” Lyssa remarked, her voice distracted as she looked over the plats. “Yes… I think this solves the issue rather well. I think Mina should get her choice of lots and then decide whether she wants to renovate the existing structure or demo and build new. With your permission, I’ll leave a message for Mina with Melody that we’d like to meet with her at her earliest convenience tomorrow morning.”

I nodded my agreement as I snaked an arm around her waist. “Yes, waiting until tomorrow morning sounds excellent, especially if Gabrielle and Karleen are still off on their hunting trip. It’s been a little bit since you and I played ‘Catch the Cat.’”

“Mmm… yes, it has.”

The next morning, I met Mina on the sidewalk as she approached the admin building from the hotel. I guessed that Lyssa was already in the office, as I woke up alone and found breakfast waiting for me in the kitchen.

“Morning, Wyatt,” Mina said as we met at the entrance. “What did you need to speak with me about? I just delivered Noah’s medical records to Doc last evening.”

“It’s about the embassy or consulate or whatever it’s supposed to be called,” I answered. “After all, there’s no reason we can’t multi-task, and there’s nothing for us to do until Doc finishes examining the records and then evaluates Noah.” I opened the admin building’s door and gestured for Mina to enter ahead of me. “After the meeting yesterday, I found a line of buildings on First Avenue that have fallen into disuse. Since I don’t want to insult anyone by establishing consulates out in the figurative boonies around town, I don’t see why we can’t use these lots. It would certainly put you close to the center of town, and as you arrived first, you get first choice. I thought we could show you the lots on a plat first and then go for a walk.”

My explanation carried us to my office, and I found Lyssa already there once again. She spent more time in my office than I did, and the thought made me smile.

“Good morning, Mina,” Lyssa said in greeting. “How was your night?”

“It was well enough. Noah has always had problems sleeping anywhere new, and he’ll probably just be getting used to the hotel when we finally move into a house. But Wyatt was saying you have a location for Embassy Row?”

“Yes, we do,” Lyssa replied, gesturing to the paper covering the side table. Mina crossed to it, and Lyssa acted as a figurative tour guide, pointing out the properties’ location relative to the admin building and the hotel.

It wasn’t even a full minute before Mina nodded her approval. “Yes, I do like the location. The Secretary of State mentioned something about making this a regional field office for such things as passports and travelers’ assistance. Personally, I would’ve thought Seattle or Spokane would be better for that, but mine is not to reason why, as they say.”

Lyssa shot me a concerned look behind Mina’s back, and I nodded my agreement. “Mina, I’d like to have a conference call with the Secretary of State as soon as possible. We don’t want a flood of humans stumbling around Precious or Godwin County. I think it would be best if she abandons those plans.”

“Yes… well… what would you have me do then? It isn’t like this is an overseas posting. Anything related to the State Department here is essentially make-work.”

I resisted the urge to smile as I replied, “You’re not the first person to raise those concerns. I’m not all that certain the president’s plan is well-conceived. Regardless, the Shifter Nation would very much prefer this consulate not be a regional office for anything. Perhaps we should thresh this out before we get too far into the planning stages.”

Mina interpreted the subtle hint as I intended, and she wasn’t wrong. We didn’t need a consulate here in Precious, and I was prepared to help her son and tell her to pack up once we were sure the boy was safe.

“Let’s head back to the admin building. We can set up for a conference call there. And while we walk, there’s something you need to understand about your son.”

Mina froze, weaving on her feet just enough to notice. “What is it? Are you not going to help him?”

I shook my head. “That’s still to be determined. It’s just that you need to understand… he will effectively be immortal if we agree and he survives.”

“I… I’m not sure what you mean,” Mina said, her voice quavering.

I glanced at Lyssa, and she gave a brief nod before stepping into the conversation. “Mina, honey… shifters don’t die of old age. Our accelerated healing prevents it. Yes, if your son becomes a shifter he can still be killed, but he won’t grow old and die like a human.”

“But… those men… Doc and the other one… Alistair, I think? Doc looks a little older than me, and Alistair looks like my grandfather.”

Lyssa turned Mina to face her. “How old do you think I am?”

Mina looked her over, then glanced at me. “I don’t… I don’t know. Late twenties, maybe? You’re certainly nowhere close to my age, and I’m not that old.”

“I turned fifty-seven a few weeks ago,” Lyssa replied.

Mina gaped, her eyes wide and complexion pale. “No… that’s… there’s no way.”

“And Alistair?” Lyssa pressed. “I’m not sure anyone truly knows how old he is, but I do know for certain that he’s over three hundred, possibly even over four hundred. Magi can also enjoy longer lives, if they develop the proper talents; each of Wyatt’s grandparents are over eight hundred. Magi do grow old and die, unfortunately; the proper talents and skill can stave it off for quite some time, but unlike us, Father Time always catches them.”

“I… I’m going to need a minute,” Mina said, almost whimpered. “I’m in no mental condition right now to call my boss.”

She staggered to a nearby bench and collapsed heavily onto it. Her head went to her hands as her elbows rested on her knees.

“What do you think?” I whispered far too low for Mina to hear us.

Lyssa shrugged, whispering her reply, “No way to know. We hit her with a lot of information all at once.”

After what seemed like ages—but was less than ten minutes in truth—Mina heaved a shuddering breath and forced herself to her feet. Her complexion wasn’t yet back to its normal coloration, and I saw slight tremors in her hands and knees.

“You good?” I asked.

Mina shook her head, scoffing at the idea. “Not even close, but I am functional. Let’s go have it out with my boss. I’m no longer certain of the wisdom of putting an American consulate here.”

“Oh?” Lyssa asked as the three of us resumed walking. “Why is that?”

“Because I find myself wanting to ask about becoming a hawk or falcon shifter. Would that be a problem if you choose to help my son and he becomes a wolf shifter?”

I glanced at Lyssa, who shook her head, and answered, “No. That won’t be a problem. We could go ahead and change you now, if you liked.”

She shook her head. “No, at least not yet. I need to be there for Noah, regardless of the outcome.”

“Fair enough. I can’t argue with that at all. While we’re still walking, I should probably apologize for my forcefulness when I asked for your ex’s name. Yes, it is as Lyssa says; shifters do not abandon children, but it is a much more personal issue for me. I was born to one of the most prominent Magi families in the world, and I was born without a trace of magic. I’m told they were going to abandon me and deny my existence, especially since my twin sister showed indications of incredible Magi talent, but our grandparents wouldn’t hear of it. They are now pretty much outcast from the family over their treatment of me.”

“That puts the exchange in a whole new light,” Mina remarked. “And yes, of course, apology accepted. I wasn’t offended at all, and if I’m being honest, I rather like the idea of the shifters blacklisting him. I don’t know how much it will affect him, but I like the idea all the same.”

The smile that curled Lyssa’s lips was downright evil. “Oh, it may hurt him more than you think. Remember what we told you about shifter lifespans? Well, we were here—meaning North America—first, even before the Native Americans. More than one shifter family or clan owns a sizable portion of stock in many of the country’s oldest and/or largest companies. Not controlling interest, you understand; we don’t want that level of scrutiny, but our ownership should be sufficient to make his life interesting.”

Mina erupted in a fierce laugh. “Oh, my… this day just keeps improving. Wyatt, if I were to resign from the government again and pursue becoming a shifter, would you have any need for a lawyer with experience as a federal judge?”

The idea of creating a fair and impartial justice system for the shifters leaped to the forefront of my mind, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Why, yes. I do believe I might have some work for you, and there’s nothing saying you couldn’t also work as a consultant to help shifters interface with the human legal system and government. There’s always work for an energetic and dedicated shifter; you just have to find it… or make it.”

“Excellent,” Mina almost purred. “In that case, let’s call my boss and deliver the bad news.”

Over the next few minutes, we claimed the conference room in the admin building, and Lyssa brought out a conference phone with satellite microphones that I didn’t even know we had. She then connected the phone to the cameras in the room that would allow us to make the call a video conference if the Secretary of State so chose. Once the technology and we were ready, Mina dialed a number I assumed to be a private line.

On the second ring, the speaker broadcast, “Secretary of State’s office, Barbara speaking.”

“Barbara, this is Mina Vickers. I need to speak with the Secretary of State regarding my recent appointment.”

A few moments of silence interrupted by clicking that I thought was a computer mouse or keyboard passed before Barbara replied, “Oh, I see. Ma’am, I apologize for the delay. I’ll put you right through.”

The connection went to a double-beep hold notification for a few moments, and then, the speaker broadcast, “This is Lucy Perez.”

“Madame Secretary, this is Mina Vickers. You’re on a conference speakerphone with myself, Wyatt Magnusson, and Lyssa Westridge. We have video capability if you prefer.”

“Hello, Wyatt and Lyssa, and thanks for the offer of video, but it would take too long to set up on my end. What do you need?”

“Ma’am,” Mina said, “I do not believe it is in our best interests to establish a consulate with the shifters, and even if we did, they do not want it to be a publicized regional office. The more I learn about the community, the more I agree that creating an influx of traffic—human traffic—into the town would not be even vaguely wise.”

Several moments of silence passed before Lucy said, “I’m going to need more than that, if you expect me to convince the president to abandon her idea.”

“Ma’am,” I said, breaking into the conversation, “it is not in the shifters’ best interest for you to drive a surge of human traffic into our territories. From what I understand right now, the existence of shifters is largely unknown to the human world, and we want to keep it that way… for myriad reasons. If you and the president have your hearts set on building a consulate here, I won’t fight you on that. But I will fight you—and win—over it being a regional office advertised to handle all sorts of human business.”

“That is a very bold statement, Alpha Wyatt,” Lucy replied. “What makes you so certain you’ll win?”

“The Shifter Treaty. One of the provisions was that we retain full control of our territorial enclaves in exchange for supporting the colonies in the War for Independence. I would much rather there be no fight over it, but I am within my rights to declare all shifter territories in North America non-human territories. I imagine it wouldn’t take too much work to get the Shifter Council to agree with me and publish that order within a few days.

“And on top of all that, the idea of a consulate here is a bit insulting, frankly. There isn’t a shifter in Godwin County who doesn’t already consider him- or herself an American citizen, and what government establishes a consulate to deal with its own citizens? Before you bring it up, a Magi consulate is less insulting because there is a history of conflict between us and them. The Shifter Nations and the Magi Assembly actually signed a truce to assist the Allies during both World Wars, but the shifters have always been neutral—if not friendly—toward the governments in North America; from what I understand, one of the ministers in the Canadian government is a shifter. So, you see, ma’am, that there is no need for an American consulate here.”

A few seconds of silence passed during which all I heard was Lucy’s regular, calm breathing. “Yes, you have a number of excellent points. I shall take this to the president as soon as I can. When I have an answer, I will contact Mina to schedule another conference call. Thank you for sharing this information.”

“Thank you for your time, Ma’am,” Mina replied.

The line clicked as the call ended.

I turned to Mina, directing a questioning eyebrow quirked upward as I said, “Why didn’t you mention your interest in becoming a shifter? Having second thoughts?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. I just didn’t want to hit her with too much all at once and risk losing her focus on the most important matter, namely quashing this consulate idea.”

I grinned as I stood, which prompted Lyssa and Mina to do likewise. “Fair enough. Be thinking about whether you prefer hawk or falcon. But if you happen to like larger raptors, I do know a Roc shifter.”

That said, I left the conference room.

5

Later that day, Karleen and Gabrielle returned from their hunting trip with several prizes. They kept a nice mule deer for the family and delivered three mule deer, three black-tailed deer, and a couple bighorn sheep to Gladys at the diner. Every time someone in town went on a hunting trip and brought back something for the diner, Gladys always sold meals based around whatever the hunters gave her at a lower price because she didn’t have any major costs associated with it.

I helped them unload the truck, and as I carried the last prize into the diner’s processing room, my cell rang in my hip pocket. I turned toward Lyssa who had kept herself clean and asked, “Mind grabbing that, please?”

“Why, not at all,” Lyssa replied and helped herself to a handful of my butt as she retrieved my phone and answered the call. “Wyatt Magnusson’s phone, and you’re on speaker.”

“Lyssa, this is Doc. As soon as Wyatt gets finished with whatever’s keeping him from answering his own phone, ask him to stop by the infirmary.”

I turned toward the phone and said, “I’ll be there just as soon as I wash up from helping unload the truck from the hunting trip.”

“See you soon, then,” Doc replied, and the line clicked when he ended the call.

Lyssa replaced the phone in my hip pocket as I asked, “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Why, yes… I do believe I did.” A satisfied smile curled her lips.

I returned the smile and headed over to the wash station, making two passes washing my hands just to be sure, and headed over to the infirmary.

Doc was in his actual office, instead of the treatment ward. The office was tasteful if spartan. Doc’s various degrees hung on one wall, and several pictures of Doc with notable people occupied the wall opposite the degrees. Two guest chairs—wooden without padding—faced his desk, which looked to be stained oak that had aged well.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked as I stepped through the doorway.

“Close the door, if you don’t mind.”

I did so and crossed to one of the guest chairs, retrieving my phone before I sat. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your office before. It’s nice.”

Doc shrugged. “My office sees even less use than the treatment ward. I think this is the first time I’ve spent more than five minutes here in… well… I’m not really sure. But it’s been a long time. I called you to discuss my evaluation of Noah Vickers’s medical records.”

“Oh.”

“Yes… oh. Noah is to my knowledge the first case of Batten I’ve ever encountered, so I contacted a few old friends who have a wider experience with genetic diseases. Based on those conversations, their conclusions are that the estimate of another ten years is rather generous. Whatever doctor told his mother that probably didn’t want to break the news that her son had—maybe—five years left. He isn’t displaying the common symptoms of Batten yet, but the markers are all there in the latest lab report. Based on this information, I don’t feel as though I have a choice but to recommend we attempt to change the boy into a shifter. If we wait too much longer, I can guarantee the physical stress on his body will kill him.”

“Have you examined Noah yet?” I asked.

“No. I probably should, just to keep up appearances, but the conversations with my colleagues convinced me this is a matter of some urgency. However, we should discuss the situation with his mother before we bring the boy in. Have you given any thought to who you’ll ask to change him?” Doc must have seen my uncertainty in my expression. “And no, don’t say Karleen. There are too many unknowns with primogenitors. The boy will already be facing enough risk as it is.”

“Okay, then. What about Buddy Carrington?”

Doc remained silent for a few moments, staring at his desk, before he lifted his face to me and nodded. “Buddy has really turned himself around. I’d say he would be good with it. He’ll essentially be the boy’s shifter father, so it’s possible some kind of bond might grow out of it. When we change humans, we generally like to keep them close for a little while to help them acclimate to shifter life.”

I lifted my phone and scrolled through the contacts until I found the hotel, tapping the control to dial the number and put the call on speaker.

After the second ring, the speaker broadcast, “Precious Hotel, Melody speaking.”

“Hi, Melody. It’s Wyatt. Is Mina Vickers in the hotel?”

“No, sir, Alpha Wyatt. She is not. Her whole group—Mina included—just walked across the street to the diner about five minutes ago.”

“Thanks, Melody. I appreciate your time.”

“You’re quite welcome, Alpha Wyatt. You have a good day now. Buh-bye.”

The line clicked as the call ended, and I looked to Doc. “Want me to get a to-go order and slip a note to Gladys to pass to Mina once they’ve finished eating? I don’t want to ruin her meal with nerves if I say something right now.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Doc agreed. He grabbed a prescription pad and wrote out a note. “Here. This will do.”

I accepted the note, folded it in half, and slipped it into my pocket. “Do you need anything else from me right now?”

Doc shook his head, then broke into a grin. “Nope. I need to get back to my golf magazine.”

I laughed as I stood and left the infirmary. I paused on the sidewalk outside and looked in the direction of the Alpha’s house. I figured that Karleen and Gabrielle would be skinning, dressing, and preparing the mule deer right about now, and they might even be planning to use some of it for dinner. Which left me very conflicted. I needed an excuse to visit the diner, but I didn’t want to waste my ladies’ hard work or Gladys’s excellent food. It seemed like the best thing to do was call home, and Lyssa might be the best one to contact if Gabrielle and Karleen were still bloody from the work.

After tapping her name, I lifted the phone to my ear. I only heard one ring before Lyssa answered, “Yes, my darling cat?”

“Well, someone’s in a playful mood. Do you know what the dinner plans are?”

Lyssa chuckled. “Gabrielle and Karleen are in the shower, and some of the mule deer is in the fridge with the rest in the freezer. I think they’re looking forward to anything but deer or sheep this evening.”

“That’s actually perfect. If you don’t mind, check with them and call an order into the diner. I’m across the street now, and I’ll go over and wait for it.”

“Will do,” Lyssa replied. “Bye.”

The call ended before I had a chance to respond, and I headed over to the diner to wait for the order… and slip Doc’s note to Gladys for delivery to Mina.

Our order was ready before Mina and her group finished, so I left the note in Gladys’s capable hands after ensuring she knew not to pass it to Mina until they finished.

A peaceful walk delivered me to the Alpha’s house and my waiting ladies. Gabrielle and Karleen dashed straight to me and waited just long enough for me to hand off the food to Lyssa before enfolding me in a hug and peppering me with kisses.

“We missed you,” Karleen said, once they both convinced themselves I was still in one piece and unharmed.

Gabrielle nodded as she snuggled into my arm. “It just wasn’t the same without you out there. You’ll go with us, next time, right?”

I smiled and nodded. “I will if I can. It all depends on when you choose to go and what’s happening here at the time. As much as we all might wish otherwise, I can’t control the future.”

Karleen snuggled into my other side. “We know.”

“So, do you want to eat or snuggle?” I asked.

“Both,” the ladies said, almost in unison.

I took the initiative and walked us over to the kitchen, where Lyssa laid out our orders. The smell of food that wasn’t deer soon worked its way through Gabrielle’s and Karleen’s senses, and they released me in favor of their food. But I don’t think their reluctance could have been more obvious if someone painted it on a billboard the size of Texas.

We ate in a companionable silence, and I had just finished my food when my cell rang. I retrieved it from my pocket and saw it was the infirmary, then accepted the call.

“Yeah, Doc?”

“Would you mind meeting me and Mina in my office, Alpha Wyatt? She just arrived.”

I looked up to find three lovely ladies pouting. Talk about brutal…

I didn’t feel like I had a choice, though, and answered, “Sure thing, Doc. I’ll be right there.” I tapped the control to end the call. “I’m sorry, ladies, but Doc asked me to meet him in the office. He wants to discuss Noah’s situation with Mina.”

“Oh…” Lyssa vocalized. “I should probably be there, too. I’ll do a better job of offering moral support than either of you guys.”

“Well, let’s go if you’re going.”

Lyssa looked down at her sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. “I don’t have time to change?”

“Doc and Mina are waiting on us… well, me… as we speak. It wouldn’t be polite to keep them waiting.”

Lyssa responded with a growl that sounded a bit more leonine than human, but she tossed her to-go container in the trash and met me at the door.

Since I had used the ‘time is of the essence’ card, Lyssa insisted we take her car, and we arrived at the infirmary in short order. I led her to Doc’s office—which she also had never seen before—where Doc and Mina waited for us.

Mina looked a little surprised when Lyssa entered with me, but Lyssa went straight to her, offering a warm smile and speaking in a soothing voice, “You didn’t think I’d leave you to fare for yourself in this, did you?”

“Thanks,” Mina replied, her voice soft and vulnerable. Then, she turned to Doc. “Okay. They’re here. What’s the deal with my son?”

Doc relayed what he had told me earlier in the day, and I watched despair take over Mina’s expression. When Doc ended his recitation, she sighed as her shoulders slumped, “So, you’re not recommending we try to save him, then.”

“Did I say that, missy?” Doc asked.

Mina’s head shot up, and she glared at him. “Did you just call me ‘missy?’”

“It worked to pull you out of your despair, didn’t it?” Doc asked, breaking into a grin.

“Yeah, I guess it did, and no, you didn’t say what your decision was.”

“Excellent. You were even paying attention,” Doc remarked. “Contrary to what some people think, I don’t just talk to hear my head rattle. The short of it is that I don’t see as how we have much choice. If your boy is to have any kind of future, we need to attempt to change him… and soon. From what my colleagues said, the longer we wait, the worse the chances will be.”

Mina’s struggle with the decision ruled her expression as we all watched weigh the matter. Of course, it wasn’t an easy decision; especially with something like this, there was no guarantee. I didn’t begrudge her the time to think it through—she was taking her child’s life in her hands, after all—but I didn’t need to be there while she worked through it, did I?

After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling with all manner of emotions flitting through her expression, Mina brought her focus back to us and asked, “So… is there any reason we can’t proceed right now?”

“None whatsoever. Would you mind collecting your son so we can discuss the situation? And, Alpha Wyatt, would you be so kind as to summon Young Mister Carrington? If Noah likes the idea of becoming a wolf shifter, he’ll be handy to have close.”

Mina stood and left the infirmary without another word while I scrolled through my contacts and dialed Buddy’s number. When we spoke, Buddy said he was about ten minutes away, but he’d be there sooner if possible before ending the call. The way he said that, I wondered if I should alert Sheriff Clyde that Buddy might be coming into town a little hot.

Mina returned with Noah, and Lyssa and I stepped outside the room so that Doc could discuss the issue with them in some measure of privacy. The office door was still closed when Buddy arrived.

“What did you need, Alpha Wyatt?”

“We might need you to shift and bite someone,” I replied. “There’s a mother with a very sick son in Doc’s office, and I gather they’re discussing the idea with the son. If he’s interested and agreeable, we’ll probably proceed.”

Before Buddy could answer, the office door opened, and Doc said, “Alpha Wyatt, Young Master Noah would like to see you and Mister Carrington shift if you don’t mind. He’s a bit skeptical that shifters exist.”

I wasn’t keen on shredding more clothes, and it seemed like Buddy wasn’t either. He started stripping right there in the infirmary’s hallway. I glanced at Lyssa who gave a shrug that implied ‘When in Rome…,’ so I proceeded to do the same. Mina brought her son to the door when Doc explained that it would be better for us to shift in the wide hallway, and her eyes shot wide at the sight of us standing there in the buff.

Buddy and I both started the shift at the same time, and within seconds, a Smilodon and large wolf stood in the hallway, shoulder to shoulder. Noah’s eyes went wide, and he charged straight to Buddy, whose wolf stood at near chest level to the boy.

“You really are a wolf!” he said, throwing his arms around Buddy’s neck. “And I love your fur. It feels better than Duke’s.”

“So how about it?” Doc asked. “Would you like to take a chance on becoming a wolf shifter?”

“Oh, yes,” Noah said, still beaming as he slid his hand back Buddy’s spine. “This is awesome!”

“And you understand Buddy will have to bite you, which will hurt?” Doc pressed.

Noah nodded as he scratched Buddy behind his ears. “I know. Mom explained how I was really sick and the doctors couldn’t help me. I never thought I’d get any better.”

“In that case, let’s move this party to the treatment ward,” Doc replied. “Wyatt, you might as well shift back once we vacate the hall.”

I walked into the treatment ward on two feet in time to hear Doc ask Noah, “Now, I just want to be clear that there is no going back. Are you sure you want to be a wolf shifter? We have a wide variety of possibilities here in town. Hank—who owns and operates the general store across the street—is a grizzly bear.”

“Nope! I wanna be a wolf!”

Doc turned and gestured to the wolf standing a short distance away. “I believe that’s your cue.”

Buddy trotted over and hopped up on the hospital bed, and Noah dutifully presented his right forearm. Buddy leaned forward and gave him a good, solid bite… making sure he broke the skin and mingled saliva with the wound. While Buddy delivered the bite, Doc stepped over to a nearby surgical tray and retrieved a scalpel.

Mina frowned when he returned to the bedside with it, but before she could say anything, Buddy shifted back to human, crouching on the hospital bed. Doc handed him the scalpel, and he slit his wrist. As soon as a small pool of blood welled in his cupped palm, Buddy extended that hand and slathered his blood all over the fresh bite. By the time he withdrew his hand, the slice from the scalpel was already healed.

“That’s as good as we can do,” Doc said as Buddy hopped down from the bed.

Lyssa handed him his clothes, and Buddy stepped around the curtain to dress.

“Mom… I don’t feel so good,” Noah said, almost a whimper.

Mina rushed to his said. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“I feel… hot.”

Mina laid the back of her hand against her son’s forehead and gasped. “He’s burning up! Quick… do something!”

Doc shook his head. “Nope. This is normal. It’s the first stage. He’ll pass out soon, and we won’t know anything until he wakes up.”

Sure enough, less than five minutes later, Noah laid his head back against the pillow behind him and closed his eyes.

Mina wrung her hands as she looked at her son. “What have I done? If he dies—”

“If he dies,” Doc interrupted her, “it’ll be more peaceful than he would’ve faced otherwise. I promise you that.”

With nothing else for us to do, Lyssa and I led Buddy out of the infirmary’s treatment ward. Only Doc and Mina remained.

6

The next morning, I left the Alpha’s house well-rested and eager to face the day. The past few days, I had allowed the issue with the consulate and Mina’s son to claim too much of my focus, and it was time I put some attention toward an equally important matter: Eddie Burke.

As far as I knew, she had yet to experience her first shift, which meant we still didn’t know for sure that she was a Smilodon shifter. Yes, Smilodon was the odds-on favorite for her animal, but by all rights, I should’ve been a cougar shifter, too. None of us knew enough about primogenitors to feel comfortable making predictions… but that didn’t stop people from making bets. Not at all…

The bell over the door jingled as I entered the hotel, and Melody met me at the front desk.

“Good morning, Alpha Wyatt,” she said around a beaming smile. “How is your furry self this fine morning?”

I paused, taking a moment to think about my answer, then said, “I’d have to say ‘well,’ if restricted to one word. It was good having Gabrielle and Karleen home. I wasn’t aware how much a part of my routine they were until they weren’t there. I slept better with them back.”

Melody gave me a conspiratorial wink. “Oh, I’m sure you did, sir. Now, how can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Eddie Burke.”

“You’re too late,” Melody answered. “She and Special Agent Hauser left about fifteen minutes ago, seemed to be headed for the diner.”

“Well, I was going to offer to take her to breakfast anyway. I’ll see about catching them. Have a good day, Melody.”

“You, too, Alpha Wyatt.”

I left the hotel and crossed the street to the diner. The bell jingled overhead as I entered, and I returned the several waves of greeting with one of my own while I scanned the tables for the object of my search. It didn’t take me long. Winnifred Hauser and Eddie Burke sat at a table near the opposite wall from the general store and a few tables back from the windows. I weaved my way through tables both occupied and not until I arrived at theirs.

“May I join you, ladies?”

Both Hauser and Burke nodded their agreement, so I pulled back a chair that made an isosceles triangle out of our seating arrangement.

“I’m sorry I haven’t checked on you before now,” I said as I sat. “There’s never a dull moment around this town. How are you doing?”

Hauser smirked. “I’m doing fine. She’s been eating everyone out of house and home like there’s no tomorrow.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I was almost ravenous when I woke up after the rogue cougar attacked me. Doc and Gabrielle heard my stomach growl from something like eight feet away. So, have you noticed any other changes?”

“Yeah,” Burke answered. “I was a partial vegetarian before this, and now, I can’t get enough meat… and the rarer the better. I… I want to be grossed out, but I can’t stand the thought of eating plants. Plants are what food eats.”

“Have you felt any inclination to shift?” I asked.

Burk shook her head. “Not that I know of. The only thing that’s different is how I’m eating more than an NFL linebacker without gaining a pound. Part of me wonders where it’s all going.”

“I know your pain. Wait till you’re routinely eating six thousand calories a day and Doc looks at you solemn as a judge and says you’re not eating enough.”

Burke and Hauser both gaped at me. Burke said, “Seriously? How the hell is six thousand calories a day not enough?”

“Dunno, but I’ll give him this much. I started feeling much better once I started following his meal plan.”

Gladys arrived with a couple plates, one order shifter-sized that she placed in front of Burke and the other a human-sized portion that went to Hauser.

“You want your normal breakfast, Alpha Wyatt?” she asked as she whipped out her order pad better than an Old West gunfighter drawing down on the villain of the week.

I smiled and nodded my thanks. “That sounds perfect, Gladys. Thank you.”

Gladys scribbled on her pad and nodded once. “Back in a jiffy.”

I pulled my attention from Gladys and back to Burke and noticed something was not right. Burke sat motionless, staring at her plate. She hadn’t even reached for her silverware yet. What’s more, her pupils edged toward vertical slits from their normal round shape.

“Burke?” I asked.

“I… I don’t feel right. Something… it’s weird. Something’s trying to get free.”

I stood and circled the table. “Don’t try to fight it, Burke, but let’s go outside. Okay?”

Burke bobbed a nod and let me help her stand. As I guided her toward the door, I turned my head to the side and said over my shoulder, “Hauser, bring her plate.”

We made it not quite three feet from the diner’s door when Burke let out a fierce RAWR and vanished in an explosion of fabric. When the rain of cloth pieces settled, Hauser and I faced what appeared to be an American lion. I had never seen a picture of myself as a Smilodon, but Burke looked like she stood about half a foot shorter than my Smilodon at the shoulder. Her coat was the tawny color associated with modern African lions, but she easily out-massed her mundane counterparts by an order of magnitude. Her shoulders and ribs were broader, while being their own version of sleek, and her paws looked perhaps an inch smaller in diameter than Gladys’s dinner plates.

She sniffed the air and zeroed in on the plate Hauser held, and before either of us could say or do anything, Burke took a half-step and leaned forward to help herself to the breakfast she ordered.

“She’s beautiful,” Hauser said as she stepped back from placing Burke’s plate on the sidewalk for her.

Burke paused her devouring of the food long enough to chuff a thank you and dug right back into her morning venison steak without missing a beat.

Hauser shot me a look as she asked, “Why isn’t she a Smilodon like you? I thought that’s how these things worked.”

“Don’t look at me. As far as I know, no one has explained why I’m a Smilodon instead of a cougar. When we answer that, we might be in a better position to explain why Burke appears to be an American lion. I wonder if anyone picked this in the betting pool.”

Burke stopped eating long enough to give me a flat look and flick me with her tail.

It wasn’t long until the steak was gone, and Burke proceeded to lick the plate, pushing it across the sidewalk toward the diner’s wall with every swipe of her tongue.

“Would you like more?” I asked.

She nodded mid-lick, and I went back inside to ask Gladys for two more venison steaks. In less than five minutes, I walked back outside carrying a platter with three venison steaks, sized for shifter portions. I didn’t even have a chance to set it on the sidewalk in front of her before Burke was already working on the top one.

“As soon as she’s had her fill,” I said, “we should probably go over to Hank’s and see about another set of clothes.”

“Is that how your first shift went?” Hauser asked.

I shrugged. “I… don’t really remember my first shift as such. I know the story, but the memories are a bit hazy. But Doc said that’s normal for turned shifters. Born shifters grow up shifting between their human and animal form, and from what I’ve seen it’s not uncommon for a shifter school to have half the classes filled with animals.”

“Do you mind telling me the story?” Hauser asked, still smiling as she watched Burke eat.

Gabrielle and Karleen arrived just in time to hear Hauser’s request, and Gabrielle was quick to comply. “Buddy Carrington pushed me into a table inside the diner, and the edge drew a little blood. I had no idea Wyatt was that close to shifting, but I guess the smell of my blood did the trick. Faster than you can blink your eyes, there was a growling Smilodon standing inside a rainstorm of clothing remnants, and he took Buddy to the floor in one leap. He then proceeded to make Buddy—and half the diner—piss themselves in submission. I’ve never seen Buddy so scared in all my life.”

Hauser pulled her eyes away from Burke to look at me. “That sounds like something you’d do. You gave off a strong ‘protector’ vibe even when I first met you.”

The sound of ceramic sliding on concrete drew our attention back to Burke, who was licking an empty plate again.

“Still hungry?” I asked.

Burke finished her last few licks of the plate before she shook her head in an obvious ‘no’ answer.

“Want to get a fresh set of clothes from the store?”

Burke started to shake her head ‘no’ again, but a huge yawn interrupted her.

I nodded my understanding. “Ah. Want to take a nap in the shade?”

Burke pushed herself to stand and approached me as she nodded.

“Come on, then. If you don’t mind a little walk, you can nap in the backyard of the Alpha’s House. It has a privacy fence and a massive tree that shades over half the yard any time of the day.”

Karleen stepped inside to get mine and Hauser’s orders boxed to go and placed to-go orders for herself and Gabrielle while Gabrielle, Hauser, and I walked with Burke to the Alpha’s House. The moment we stepped through the privacy fence, Burke trotted over to the base of the giant tree and turned a couple of times in a circle before curling up in the mid-morning shade.

“Come on,” I said. “We might as well be comfortable while we wait for her to get her nap out. Karleen will bring our food, plus something for herself and Gabrielle. We can eat here.”

It wasn’t long until Karleen arrived with a collection of bags, each labeled for who should receive them, and we wasted no time in breaking our fast while the world’s newest feline primogenitor dozed in the backyard.

She felt warm and fed as she floated up from the void of sleep. It was a good feeling. She yawned and felt her tongue brush her chin, which jerked her out of her sleepy state to complete wakefulness.

The world looked odd as she opened her eyes, and her body felt… off… somehow. Why was she laying in someone’s backyard? She looked down at herself and saw a massive, muscled frame with tawny fur. She flexed what felt like her fingers and watched paws—her paws—move.

Her scream came out as a roar.

She leaped to her feet and found herself standing on all fours. Looking behind her, she saw a tail lashing side to side.

What was happening? Was this some kind of dream?

Her ears flicked toward the sound of approaching footfalls, and she turned to look that way. Hauser and the woman Wyatt had introduced as Lyssa rushed toward her.

“Agent Burke,” Lyssa said, her voice calm and soothing, “the first thing you need to do is calm down.”

Calm down? That was rich. She wasn’t a gigantic cat.

“I know,” Lyssa said. “You woke up in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar form, but it will be okay. I promise. Concentrate on this morning. Do you remember what happened this morning? Wyatt met you and Hauser at the diner for breakfast? Do you remember that?”

Burke sat on her haunches—it seemed she had haunches now—and wracked her mind. Everything from before was just so fuzzy and distant. It didn’t really matter did it? Now was all that mattered, and she was full for the first time in recent memory. It felt good.

“Agent Burke, you need to take control,” Lyssa said. “Your animal side cares only about the now and needs your human side to put things in perspective. I need you to remember this morning. I need you to remember shifting on the sidewalk outside the diner. Can you do that for me?”

Why was Lyssa being so demanding? It was such a nice day and such good shade. They should all curl up under the tree and nap the day away. Then, tonight, they could hunt together. That would be nice. She’d be hungry by then.

Movement in the distance drew her attention, and she saw Wyatt striding toward them. He stopped when he reached Lyssa and Hauser.

“What’s the matter?” Wyatt asked.

“Her animal is too much in control,” Lyssa explained. “She’s not responding.”

Wyatt pursed his lips. “Fine. We’ll try Plan B.”

He kicked off his shoes and toed off his socks. Then, he became a hybrid cat-man. Half sabertooth, half human. The sight of him sent a host of complicated emotions swirling through Burke’s mind, and none of them made sense. None of them had anything to do with enjoying the shade for a lazy afternoon.

Wyatt the cat-man stepped closer and placed his furry hand on her head, his palm right above her eyes and his fingers between her ears. He looked her right in the eye, and when he spoke, she felt his growly voice touch the very core of her being. “SHIFT!”

All at once, she felt different, and it made her afraid. But she couldn’t stop it. Her legs, body, tail, and muzzle shortened. Her fur seemed to retract into her, except the fur on her head that became wavy hair. Before she realized it, she was human and lying naked on the grass, and in a torrent of memories, feelings, and experiences, her human self re-asserted. She remembered.

“Thank you, Wyatt,” she said in a small, timid voice. “The cat didn’t want to let me go. It was content.”

Wyatt shifted back to his human self and smiled. “We should not have let you go to sleep as a cat so soon after your first shift. I didn’t know that, but Karleen had some choice words for us when she arrived with food from the diner.”

“Is it… will it be like that every time?”

“No… well… maybe. You’ll have to integrate the animal side of you with the human side of you. You’re no longer the Edwina Burke who went into that underground bunker. And achieving that integration will be an… interesting… experience. My cat always seemed to have a handy supply of snark until we reached full synthesis, which allowed me to achieve the hybrid form. You’ll have one, too, someday.”

Burke’s eyes shot wide. “I will?”

Wyatt just nodded. “Come on. I’m sure you have questions, and I bet you’d rather not ask them with grass tickling your lady bits. Gabrielle will be here soon with some loaner clothes until we visit the store again.”

Then, Wyatt walked back to the house, stopping to gather his shoes and socks.

What’s Next?

Have you read “Lone Wolf,” Karleen’s origin story?

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The Novels of Robert M. Kerns

For a complete and accurate listing of all publications, both currently available and forthcoming, please visit Knightsfall Press.

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So… Who’s the Author?

Robert M. Kerns (or Rob if you ever meet him in person) is a geek, and he claims that label proudly. Most of his geekiness revolves around Information Technology (IT), having over fifteen years in the industry; within IT, he especially prefers Servers and Networks, and he often makes the claim that his residence has a better data infrastructure than some businesses.

Beyond IT, Rob enjoys Science Fiction and Fantasy of (almost) all stripes. He is a voracious reader, with his favorite books too numerous to list.

Rob has been writing for over 20 years, published his first novel in 2018, and has no plans to stop any time soon.

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