Knowing that pain was coming wasn’t encouraging, but the lioness soothed her. Everything would be fine.
A strange sucking noise got Anessa’s attention. She opened one eye and noted that Amelia was having lunch.
“Does it bother you?”
“No. If she is hungry, she needs to eat.”
Anessa continued her focus on her body, but her body began to tell her that it was hungry. It was that basic need that set things in motion.
She shook her head, but the shaking became more violent and her hands took on a golden, blurry cast.
Anessa watched her limbs get longer, and she felt the snap of the fabric that covered her. Her tendons stretched and the pain was definitely coming.
Her scream turned into a yowl, and a roar echoed through the room.
The baby stopped suckling and cried.
Her mother soothed her, and when she was settled in the pillows, Lee got to her feet.
Anessa was having a problem standing. Four feet was strange. She wanted to put all her weight on her back legs, and her lioness was getting irritated.
“Listen to her and let her be in control of the body while you ride along. I will join you.”
Lee shifted easily into an impressive lioness who nuzzled her daughter before walking over to Anessa and helping her to her feet.
Being on all fours was odd, but soon, Anessa was able to pace the length of the room without having her tail pulling her off balance.
Lee waited for her, sitting like a sphinx. Anessa stood in the centre of the room, and little Amelia crawled to her at speed. The little one pulled at her whiskers and put her fingers in Anessa’s jaws. She moved her head away and picked the baby up by the back of her onesie, carrying her to her mother. Amelia shrieked and giggled.
The baby thought it was an amazing game. She crawled a fair distance from her mother and then turned and waited for Anessa.
Sighing, her lioness went and retrieved the bald cub and brought her back to her mother.
They played the game until the baby leaned against her mother to sleep.
Anessa sat and mimicked Lee’s pose. It was comfortable and relaxing. With the baby’s small breaths making an even cadence, Anessa shifted back into a naked human.
Lee followed suit, and she was completely right, the nudity was no longer something Anessa was concerned with.
“So, how did that feel for your first time?” Lee smiled and gathered Amelia up, heading to the corner where a diaper bag was waiting.
“I am actually a lion. It is weird.”
Lee changed the diaper, and Amelia clutched her toes and laughed. Her mother lifted her in her arms. “Come and visit Aunty Anessa.”
“Will she be a lion one day?” Anessa took the child expertly and tucked her on one hip.
“That or a tiger. Her father and I have command of both forms but that is due to some very specific spellcasting administered at the Crossroads.”
Anessa was bobbing gently up and down as Amelia leaned against her for naptime. “What is the Crossroads?”
Lee smiled and gathered her clothing. “The Crossroads is a place where shifters who can’t find a match go to meet others in the same situation.”
“What stops them from finding a match?”
“Lack of population of the opposite sex, lack of social connections or family tradition. Some are just unmatchable. Their energies and beasts just refuse to find someone local.”
“How do lions usually find a match?” She said it low because the baby was passed out in her arms.
Lee finished getting dressed and held out her hands. Anessa handed the little one over to her momma.
“Their pride usually arranges a sort of barn dance that lets members of other prides come and hunt for a mate. My family was a bit different in that regard, and so, I got my ass to the Crossroads as fast as I could. I met Jim and lived at the Crossroads for a while until this little one came along. It isn’t really the place for babies.”
Anessa got her clothes and got dressed. It felt weird to hide her body now that she could feel every cell, but it was what she needed to do if she was going to leave this room.
“Ystine will have some food for us. You look like you could use it.” Lee grinned, grabbed the diaper bag and unlatched the room.
Her instructor took her through the house and out onto the open veranda that overlooked a carefully manicured garden butting onto a large forest. Ystine was sitting at a table set for three, and she smiled brightly when they appeared.
“Everything went well, I assume?”
“It did. She’s a natural. A few more sessions and we will have her sprinting through the forest at full speed.” Lee smiled and handed Amelia over to the older woman.
Amelia settled in happily and played with the silvered blonde hair that cascaded over Ystine’s shoulder.
Ystine smiled and offered them the other two seats. “So, Anessa, how did you enjoy your other form?”
Anessa flexed her hands. “It was different. She was very glad to get out, though she did want to hunt.”
Lee reached for the platters and filled a small plate with sandwiches, setting it in front of Anessa. “Here. Eat. I was going to feed you as a lion, but your instincts are not quite aligned yet. You did well with Amelia. She had a lot of fun with you.”
“She was very determined to make me play.” Anessa picked up a sandwich and tried to stop herself from biting her own fingers. She was ravenous.
Lee chuckled. “She gets that from her father. He was in charge of the bar at the Crossroads, and once he realised what I was, he was determined that I play with him.”
Ystine chortled and pried her hair out of Amelia’s pudgy hand. “It is a solid match, Lee.”
Lee grinned. “I know that better than most. Amelia is happy to be exposed to both our communities, so it has worked out.”
“Lions and tigers. That sounds...sensible?” Anessa didn’t know what to say.
Lee snickered. “It is something that the Crossroads enforces. The families and communities have to accept the blended families.”
“How is it enforced?”
Lee wrinkled her nose. “All clans, guilds, prides, herds and families involved agree to enforce the connection. If your family gives you any attitude, you can simply go to the Shifter’s Guild, and they will send in reinforcements to remind your people of their obligation.”
Anessa blinked. “There is an actual guild?”
“Guild, Council, it depends on what you need.”
Ystine shifted Amelia in her arms. “And now the fey are involved.”
Anessa jolted and hoped they didn’t notice. “They are?”
Lee smiled and filled a plate for herself. “They are. From what the council members have said, the fey have weighed their loss of population with their loss of life, and they engaged in a strange manoeuver that got them permission to offer a few of their folk to the shifters at the Crossroads. It has been going quite well.”
Anessa asked, “What about the contact shock?”
Lee raised her brows and smiled. “You have felt it?”
“Yes, over a year ago. It was not something that would be conducive to more intimate contact.”
Lee nodded. “You would be right there. The mages have come up with a spell that can balance the two magics. James and I were part of an older version of the ceremony. Balancing shifters is easy, balancing shifters and fey is a specialization. As far as I know, the only person trained to manage it is currently at the Crossroads.”
Anessa nodded. “Right. Now, you mentioned additional sessions?”
Lee grinned, and they discussed the next few days and whether Anessa would be able to make it to the house again in order to master her feline form.
She agreed to make the necessary arrangements. She wanted to know what she was capable of.
Chapter Three
Evan was only too happy to give her time off. He didn’t ask her what she was, he just told her to enjoy hersel
f.
When she talked with the zoo, her heart sank. They had volunteers and students lined up to work with the big cats, and they could not hold her spot. She tried to negotiate some time with them, but they told her that if she didn’t turn up on the following day, she was off the roster.
She hung up and rubbed at her forehead, looking around her tiny apartment. The companies she worked with had handed her their weeks’ worth of receipts, and she had processed them in the software and forwarded it to update their systems.
Being removed from the volunteer roster hurt. For six years, she had spent every single day with the beasts, and they had come when she fed them. It was a bit of a betrayal to be cast off.
She sighed and went to bed, setting her alarm for first thing in the morning. It was a long bus ride followed by a long cab ride to the Prime Alpha’s home. Six hours of travel per day were going to make her create a new schedule. Hopefully, her training would complete sooner rather than later.
Lee sat across from her, and they breathed calmly in unison. They were in a cabana near the pool with fabric blowing gently on three sides. Today, Anessa decided to skip the clothing entirely.
They relaxed, and Anessa felt her lioness creep forward to inhabit her. The shift was slow and wasn’t as painful as the day before. Today, it was simply like the burn of muscles the day after a hard workout. She felt the heat running through her limbs, and the fur sprang out, her fingers shortened, claws appeared and the soles of her hands thickened. It all took under a minute.
She got up and left the cabana at Lee’s side. Lee led her toward the woods. The burst of speed caught Anessa by surprise, but her beast knew what to do. For the first time in her life, her lioness ran in the real world and not just her imagination.
They wove in and out of the trees until a scent caught Anessa’s attention. She growled and followed the scent, looking for the key to identify it. It smelled like food.
Eventually, she saw the source of the smell. A steak was hanging seven feet above the forest floor.
She wondered if it was a trap. She walked carefully under the steak, testing the ground. It was solid, and an examination of the rope that the steak was attached to showed that it was a simple string with no other attachment.
Lee watched her from the shadows but didn’t interfere.
To Anessa’s surprise, she was just an inch away from the steak when she went up on her hind legs and swiped with her paw. She did it again, hopping and using both paws to grip the meat, with her claws extended. The steak came down with her body weight on the string.
Her first tracked meal tasted delicious. Lee moved toward her, and Anessa growled at her, keeping her meal to herself.
Lee swatted at her, and Anessa’s beast fought for what was hers.
* * * *
Ystine held Amelia and watched the two females limping out of the woods. Neither was subject to the other, which was good to see. The pride needed all the alpha females it could get.
“Do you see your mommy and your Aunt Anessa? She is going to become part of our family, Amelia. She doesn’t have a family of her own, so we need to be extra friendly and love her.” Ystine tickled the newest pride member aside from Anessa.
Amelia looked at her mother in feline form and reached out, her small hands opening and closing to take hold of the fur.
“I think we will go and see if the ladies are all right. They look a little the worse for wear.”
Ystine looked down, and the baby was still reaching for her mother. It was good enough for her.
* * * *
Anessa flopped on her side and looked over at Lee. The other feline was lying as well, panting gently.
The fight had been tremendous, but it had proven a point. Anessa’s beast was surprisingly strong and very determined not to be pushed aside by another female.
Ystine came in with Amelia and set her down next to her mother.
The baby kissed her mama’s face, and Lee rubbed her head against her little one.
Anessa watched Amelia turn her head, and then, the baby scrambled over toward her on hands and knees. Anessa licked the side of the baby’s face, and she giggled. When the baby grabbed her tail and pulled at it, Anessa sighed and got up. She lifted Amelia by the back of her little outfit and carefully returned her to her mother.
When Amelia was back with Lee, Anessa returned to human form.
Ystine handed her a robe. “You will be sore for a few hours, but your wounds are healed.”
Lee shifted and put her own robe on. “Well, you give as good as you get, so that is comforting.”
She scooped up her baby, took a seat and exposed her breast to feed her.
Anessa took the glass of water that Ystine extended. “So, that was a test?”
Lee grinned, winced and nodded. “It was a test to see if you could hunt and what you would do with your kill. I admire that you looked for traps. It was well done of you. Most of the time, our intellect dims when we get hungry in our beast forms.”
“So the fight was planned?”
“I didn’t plan to fight to a draw. Your beast has some moves on her.”
Anessa snorted.
“No, really. I fight dirty and still didn’t manage to get the upper hand.”
Ystine chortled. “You didn’t pull out your tiger, so you weren’t fighting that dirty. At least, she has instincts and is willing to use them.”
Lee chuckled and rocked back and forth slightly while Amelia fed.
With her second day of shifting under her belt, Anessa felt marginally better about losing her position at the zoo. At least she had gotten up close and personal with a big cat.
* * * *
Day three was speed drills across the gardens and running an agility course. Lee remained human, and Amelia cheered her on with high-pitched shrieks.
After her third hour in her four-footed body was over, she noted a shadowy figure standing on the hill near the house.
The wind blew, and she knew what she was sensing. There was an elf on that hill.
Anessa crouched and bounded toward the man on the hill. She reached him, and he disappeared. She knew his scent and circled the area looking for more traces of him. Leroc had been watching her, and she couldn’t find where he had gone.
Ystine came up to her and asked, “What are you sensing, Anessa?”
She shifted back to human. “There was a man here. An elf and he was watching me.”
“Leroc Alberthswitch. He was the one who contacted us in regards to you. I imagine he wanted to know what kind of big cat you are.” Ystine was completely calm that an elf had intruded on her territory.
“Right. So, you knew he would be here?” Anessa didn’t wait for an answer. She stroked her hand through the grass where Leroc had been standing and rubbed the fine powder left behind through her fingers. Her instincts told her not to inhale.
She got up and headed down into the lower garden while Ystine followed her. Anessa got her bag and scraped the powder off her fingers and into an envelope.
Ystine cocked her head. “What is that?”
“Residue. He leaves it where he transports. I have seen it once before. I want to take it and find out what it is.”
A noise snapped her head around. Two men were at the top of the staircase and on their way into the garden.
Amelia shrieked with delight, and her little arms and legs were running toward them with Lee holding her in the air. The younger of the two men laughed, his dark hair falling over one eye. Lee walked over to greet them, and he swept both her and her daughter into an embrace that was just this side of decent.
Ystine kissed her husband with more restraint, but the affection was still there.
Lee smiled and made the introductions. “Anessa, this is my husband, James, and this is the Master Alpha, Norman Exeter. If we could find your family ties, you would be under his responsibility, as it stands, you can become a full member of the pride if you wish to, but you have to apply to the pride.”
She turned and shifted, running through the course until she had completed the circuits.
When she was done, she trotted over to the cabana and got dressed. She headed back to the veranda where the gathering was having a snack. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and smiled. “Thank you for the training session, Lee. What else do I need to know?”
Lee blinked. “Um, that is it. Your instincts are sound, you can control your shift under duress and shift on the fly. You are physically trained to be a competent lioness.”
Anessa reached out and let Amelia take two fingers in her little hand. “Nice meeting you, little miss.”
Ystine frowned. “Don’t you wish to know about the pride and how to join?”
Anessa inclined her head politely. “I have never been one to join something just because I should. I don’t feel drawn to the idea and that is enough for me. Even my beast is indifferent to the idea. Please excuse me, but if I don’t get to the bus station on time, it will be a four-hour wait for my next one.”
She turned to the guys. “It was nice meeting you, James, Norman.” She inclined her head and left.
She heard a hiss, and Lee’s husband caught up with her.
“Call me Jim. James sounds so formal. I will give you a lift to the bus station.”
She blinked. “Oh, all right. Thank you.”
His car was practical and a charming shade of blue with a baby seat in the back.
After a few minutes driving, he asked her, “So, you don’t wish to be a member of the pride?”
She shook her head. “No. I have never been a joiner. I appreciate what Lee has taught me, but I am content to use it on my own.”
“Did she discuss going into heat?” He was very blunt.
“Uh, no. If you mean my personal cycle, I kind of have a handle on that already.”
Roar of Magic Page 2
