by Ann Mayburn
When Dr. Literon cleared her throat I forced my still spacy mind to focus. “How can I be a shifter? I tested human. Like, multiple times.”
“Syn, you’re what’s known as a latent. A rare, but not unheard-of occurrence in the shifter world.”
“What, exactly, is a latent?”
“A latent is a shifter who shows no signs of actually being a shifter until they receive their animal spirit at twenty-five. Sometimes, a shifter couple will give birth to a human. It happens, just like occasionally a human couple will give birth to a shifter. I’m sure you’ve heard stories that King Arthur was actually a raven shifter despite being born to human parents.”
“Huh, I always thought that was a myth. So, he really was a raven shifter?”
“Yes, he was. And he was a latent like you. Latents go through a second puberty of sorts when they’re around the age of twenty-five, give or take a few months. Up until that point they appear totally human. With the second puberty, their biology changes and they gain the ability to receive a spirit animal. That’s what happened with you. Your body has changed on a fundamental level, allowing you to see the magic that exists behind the illusion.”
“I don’t understand,” I rubbed my forehead, careful not to irritate my IV. “I can see magic?”
Leaning closer, Dr. Literon opened her eyes a bit wider. “Do you see anything unusual about me? About my eyes?”
“Are you talking about the blue glitter?”
Her lips quirked in amusement. “Yes, the glitter. It is proof I’m a bear shifter. And I know with one glance into your eyes that you’re a hyena by your gold sparks.”
“Wow, that’s crazy. My eyes have sparks like yours?”
“No, not like mine. Yours are a deep gold, and a potential Queen by the amount of spirit in your eyes. I only have a few sparks here and there, while your eyes practically glow gold. It’s the sign of a dominant ruler among shifters.” She hesitated for a moment. “Being a Queen is no easy task, especially a dominant one.”
I swallowed, my throat once again dry and achy. “You keep saying I’m a Queen, what is that?”
“You’re not a Queen yet. Queen is a title that’s earned among the hyenas, but you are a potential Queen. And until you complete your family, you’re referred to as a Lady. In this case Lady Synthia Rowley. You were given a hyena Queen’s spirit to lead your people, to protect them and keep them safe. It is your destiny and your duty to protect your den from those who would do your people harm.”
“People? I have people?”
“You will someday, if you succeed in becoming a Queen.”
“But you just said I’m a Queen.”
“You are, but until you get your den together you won’t be acknowledged by your people as one.” She tugged gently on one of her earrings as her gaze went distant. “I may be wrong on some points, but from what I know of the hyena culture, a Queen must prove herself by completing her familial den, then proving she has the ability to protect and provide for her people. Or something like that.”
“This is so fucking confusing,” I groaned.
“I know, and I wish I had more time to explain, but your mother will only be held off for so long. Listen to me carefully, she cannot know what really happened at the museum with the lion shifters.” My heart monitor started to freak out again and the doctor admonished, “Calm yourself. As far as the world of humans is concerned, you had low blood sugar and exhaustion, which made you pass out and knock over a display case on yourself. It is important that you stick to this story with any ordinary humans. I’m sure by now the witches know what really happened, but that’s to be expected.”
“What really did happen?” I whispered. “Those lions…”
Dr. Literon grimaced. “You got caught up in lion shifters’ internal politics, which are a bloody and vicious affair. Valaria, the girl you tried to protect, is the ninth daughter of Rex Michael Corgan, and she used to be one of his favorites. Though the male offspring get preferential treatment, Valaria is the only daughter of the Regina.”
“Regina?”
“The Rex’s…main wife. The Regina is the most dominant female in the pride, the most powerful. Like the hyena Queen’s Alpha.”
My head ached and I squinted my eyes against the increasingly too bright lights. “Okay, I think I’m following you—kind of.”
“What’s important is the fact that you have the potential to become a powerful Queen, your world is about to become very complicated, but my Clan will do what it can to keep you safe.”
“Your Clan?”
She smiled and the sparks in her eyes whirled. “Ted is the Clan Leader of my bear Clan. You’re lucky to have such a powerful friend. He talks about you all the time.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ted is a bear Clan Leader? Ted who I’ve known since the day I was born? Ted that built me a dollhouse when I was ten, the same Ted that took me to my first amusement park? That Ted? He’s like, the sweetest guy ever. I cannot picture him as a bear shifter.”
Dr. Literon laughed softly. “He is the sweetest guy ever, but he can be a real monster when it comes to protecting those he loves. Lucky for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Ted and Joven hadn’t shown up, those lions would have killed you.”
“Joven was there as well?”
“Yes, along with her security team. They were unfortunately delayed in their arrival by the fake bomb scare. By the time they reached you after receiving your distress call, the male was already incapacitated—”
“Wait, who incapacitated him?”
“Valaria Corgan, the woman whose life you helped save.”
“But she’s so…young.”
“She’s thirty-nine.”
“No way.”
“Yes way. She’s still considered a fledgling in the shifter world. When you can live to be well over three hundred years, someone not even forty seems like a toddler.”
“I’m going to live over three hundred years?”
“If you’re lucky you might get close to four hundred.”
I rubbed my head, which was starting to ache. “And that sweet young girl in the pink is actually older than me, by a lot? And she killed that guy?”
“Don’t let her adorable looks fool you. She’s been trained as ruthlessly as any pride lioness and is just as vicious and bloodthirsty. She simply has better control over her animal spirit than most shifters. It’s something you’ll have to deal with as well, your spirit animal’s tendency is to attack first and ask questions later. And you’ll naturally want to prove your dominance. Get ready to find yourself staring strange shifters down until your hyena is satisfied that they’re submissive to her. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself constantly getting in fights. Sometimes fights to the death with other dominant shifters.”
“Great, so I’m going to be some psycho bitch going around giving people crazy eyes then killing them?”
“Not if you keep your hyena happy with a steady diet of violence and sex.”
“Yeah, I’m not a very violent person and…well, I—I don’t get aroused.”
“No, you used to not get aroused. That is a typical latent trait. While you were in a coma your body went through some…changes. The whole second puberty thing that latents experience isn’t only internal. Take a look at yourself. A good look.”
I glanced down as she pulled back the hospital blanket and sucked in a huge breath. And I mean huge. My formerly modest breasts had grown to a super perky double, maybe triple D cups and I had thick hips and thighs. My waist was still small, but seemed even tinier with my new curves. Shocked, I grabbed my breasts and gave them a squeeze. Yep, they were mine, but I didn’t know this body, so even though I was touching myself I felt like I was fondling a stranger. I mean I knew my breasts were attached to me, but I didn’t look like the me I’d known every day of my life.
Dr. Literon watched me grope myself with a small smile. “I suspect you will begin to feel arousal s
oon as well. Once your husbands find you and you transform them—”
“Transform them?”
Her cheeks flushed red. “This is a very awkward conversation to have with a shifter who was not raised among us. You see, the hyenas, and the lions, have different mating habits than the ravens, and bears. As a hyena Queen you will have four mates. They will be the perfect mates for you, but they will be…different than what humans are used to. Not only is it important that you find them because they are your soulmates, but also because no hyena Queen is recognized by the other dens unless she has her fully transitioned pack.”
“My soulmates, as in more than one? Is that even possible? I thought it was one soul, one mate.”
“With magic, anything is possible.” Ticking off her fingers one by one she said, “Your mates all have a position within your pack. In order of dominance; Alpha, Beta, Enforcer, and Omega. Each has a role, and each was born to fulfill it. You were fated to be together.”
“Let me get this right. I’m a hyena Queen, fated to be together with my four—count ’em, four, soulmates? How does that even work? Do I have like five separate houses? Do we all live together? How will I even know who they are?”
“Those are all valid questions, but there is something you need to know first. Please, keep an open mind and remember that though this may sound strange to you, it is perfectly normal and natural to the hyena shifters’ culture. A hyena should be explaining this to you, but Ted forbid them from visiting right now.”
“Why would he do that?”
“You need to ease into this world, so he’s buying you time to adjust. Once you officially meet with the hyenas, and they verify you as a potential Queen, your life will get infinitely more complicated. It would be best if you found your mates and they transitioned as quickly as possible. Your mates will protect you, and they’ll keep you safe from the often bloody side of shifter politics.”
“You keep saying transform them. What do you mean?”
She was so red now I was afraid she was going to have a stroke. “You see, as a Queen you have different pheromones, special ones that will change your mates on a fundamental level. You see—ah, well, your mates will start out as male spirits trapped in female bodies and your pheromones will turn them male. To certain degrees. For your Alpha and Beta mates the change will make them fully male with high testosterone—”
“Wait,” I squeaked and held up a shaky hand. “My pheromones are going to do what?”
“Physically transition your mates from female to male.”
“I’m going to turn a girl into a guy.”
“Yes, your pheromones and magic will cause their clits to grow into fully functioning penises. Their ovaries will drop and transform into testicles, and their bodies will grow in both size and mass-along with the usual changes that testosterone brings to a person. I can tell by your expression this troubles you, but I promise you, transforming your mates is a good thing. A blessing. How can I explain this to someone recently human…you see, your mates have always thought as men, felt like men, but in a woman’s body. It’s actually a great relief to them to awaken from the transition as male. They’ve been waiting their whole lives to find you.”
“You’re joking, right? Pranking the new shifter?” I pleaded.
“I’m afraid I’m not.”
“I don’t even know how to process this.” Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes. “Maybe I’m still in a coma.”
With a gentle touch, she brushed my hair back from my forehead. “I know, it’s a little much to take in, but I assure you it’s perfectly normal. And I’m probably getting some of the finer points wrong since bear shifters don’t have harems.”
“What do you have?”
“Ah—I—you should probably shouldn’t ask that question. Not unless you want to know about Ted and Janet’s sex life.”
I winced. “No thanks. Don’t need to open that Pandora’s Box.”
A noise came from across the room as the door opened, and another doctor joined us.
“We’ll continue this later,” Dr. Literon whispered. “Ah, Dr. James, our patient is awake and doing well.”
As they asked me questions and made notes, I tried to come to terms with everything Dr. Literon had just laid out to me. Like the fact I was going to change some woman into a man. How was that even physically possible? And this man was going to be my mate? One of four? Did they even want to be changed? I mean, I was pretty happy being female and I couldn’t imagine how I’d react if one morning I woke up as a guy. Mother’s mercy, I woke up with tits and hips and could barely handle the changes that had happened to me. How the would I feel if I woke up one morning with a dick?
My agitation must have shown, because Dr. James said, “We’ll leave you to get some rest. I’m very glad you’re back among the living, Synthia.”
I gave them a weak smile as my mom entered the room and reclaimed her spot at my side. “Me too.”
The next morning I was feeling a little more alive, and aware of my new body. My mother said the doctors told her that the knock to my head kick-started my dormant hormones, which resulted in the big breasts, hips, and butt. She said they also had me on some kind of high calorie nutritional supplement they fed me through a feeding tube. Evidently my throat was sore because they had me intubated for a couple weeks.
That was a scary thought.
I had scars all over my torso and right arm from the broken display case, but even I could tell they weren’t as bad as they should be. Scars tend to be darker on my body against my normally tawny brown skin tone, and they took forever to fade. These were still slightly raised, but they appeared to be months old, instead of weeks. Once again, the doctors had explained this away with some experimental treatment bullshit.
Dr. Literon hadn’t come back yet today, and I was overflowing with questions for her. Mainly, I wanted to know more about this whole transformation thing. My scientific mind just couldn’t understand how it happened, which is often the case when dealing with magic. Maybe that’s why I’d avoided magical things most of my life; they didn’t fit in with how my logical mind operated. My phone wasn’t charged, and I didn’t want to use my mom’s to do internet searches on hyena shifters turning from female to male.
Boy howdy would that lead to an uncomfortable conversation.
After they took the IV out, with my mom’s help, I was able to take a shower and felt eons better after I got out. It was wonderful to be clean, and I’d been kinda icked out by the amount of armpit hair that had grown while I was in a coma. My muscles were shaky, and I was tired by the time I was done, but it was worth it.
I was especially glad I’d taken the time to wash up when a knock came from the door later that day, followed by a familiar, cheery voice, “Hello sleeping beauty!”
Standing slowly, I turned to find Diana rushing towards me with a huge bouquet of yellow roses and white daisies. She wore a 1950s-style black halter dress with red chili peppers all over it, and a pair of cute as heck platform shoes. Her hair was done in sausage curls, and a pair of red framed cat eye sunglasses completed her look.
When she hit me I let out a grunt and teetered back onto the bed.
“Careful,” my mom scolded with a laugh. “Don’t knock her out again, we just got her back.”
Squeezing me tight, Diana sobbed, “I’m just so happy to see you awake. Watching you when you were in a coma was horrible. You were so…empty. I prayed and prayed that you’d wake up.”
Her tears made me cry, and my mom patted my shoulder as she passed. “I’m going to run down and grab something from the coffee shop. I’ll give you girls a chance to talk.”
Still hugging Diana, I smiled over her shoulder. “Thanks, Mom.”
The door clicked shut behind her and Diana finally released her death grip on me. She set the flowers down on a small shelf near the window, took off her sunglasses, then turned to face me. When my teary gaze met hers, I gasped.
“No fucking way,” I brea
thed as I stared at the swirling eddies of purple sparks against her dark blue eyes.
“Surprise!” she said in a tight voice as she threw her arms out in a dramatic fashion. “I’m a raven shifter.”
Slumping back onto the bed, I held my head between my hands. “No fucking way. First Ted, now you? How could I not see it?”
“Well-duh, you were human, of course you couldn’t see spirit sparks. And Ted and I are really good at blending in with humans.”
“I’ll say,” I muttered and shook my head. “How many other people do I know at the museum that are shifters?”
“Oh, there’s a few,” she gave me a mischievous grin. “But I won’t spoil their fun by telling you.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t want to ruin their surprise,” I squinted my eyes and leaned closer. “You look different now. Better.”
She fluffed her curls and gave me a saucy wink. “Thanks, I think?”
“No, it’s just that I can see more detail now. And you’re all…glowy. Like glowing with good health. Am I making any sense?”
Understanding dawned on her, and she smiled.
I noticed for the first time her canines were sharper than I recalled.
“Yeah, you can see through the illusion. What you’re seeing is the magic that runs through the veins of every shifter. It manifests mostly in our eyes, but it also adds a faint radiance to our skin. The illusion dulls it down, otherwise we’d look like fireflies walking among the ordinary humans.” She must have seen my confused look because she took a seat next to me, then gestured to the TV that was on, but muted. “The illusion is this giant spell that the witches and shifters made like thousands of years ago. It allows us, everyone magical that is, to walk around without drawing attention from the humans.”
“Wait, every human on Earth is under some kind of spell not to see magic?”
“No, no, that’s not it at all.” She pursed her ruby red lips, then pointed to the TV playing in the corner of the ceiling. “It’s like the makeup that chick is wearing. Eye shadow, foundation, highlighter, low lighter-you get the picture. Put a lot of it on her, and makeup can change her into someone unrecognizable. At least on the surface. Beneath she’s still the same tired blonde who has been in and out of rehab for years. Our illusion does the reverse. It’s like a natural camouflage that makes us blend in.”
