Free Linked by Hope Welsh

lighter, “I like the idea of you being close.”
    She sighed. Being alone wasn’t
big on her list of wants, and arguing was even lower. “Alright, I’ll stay.”
    “And you’re not sleeping on the
couch.”
     
    §§§
     
    Lana took a slice of pizza from
the box and set it on her paper plate as she sat down on the couch next to
Cole. The aroma of pepperoni and cheese filled the room. “This is so good,” she
said with a mouthful of pizza. “Thanks. So, start talking.” She wiped her mouth
with the napkin he’d handed her as she waited.
    She watched his face. He looked
as if he wanted to delay this talk a while longer. She thought he was going to
refuse or simply ignore her request, but then he finally spoke. “Do you know
anything about shapeshifters?”
    “Not really, just what I’ve seen
on television and in movies or books.”
    He grabbed his bottle of water
off the coffee table and took a sip. “Well, no one’s exactly sure where
they—we—come from or how we came to be. At least, my dad isn’t sure, and he’s
the one who taught me how to shift.”
    “Your dad is a shifter, too?”
    “Yes, he’s a cougar. Anyway, the
story I’m going to tell you isn’t to be taken as fact. This is the story that’s
been passed down the Thomas line for as long as anyone can remember. For all I
know, it could be some bullshit excuse to explain to their kids where
shapeshifters come from. Tooth fairy type stories.”
    She chuckled. “Gotcha.”
    Cole leaned back against the
couch. “The story that my dad told me was that certain families were blessed by
the Gods for their worship and offerings, by being able to shift into animals
to better track their food, get advanced warning of enemy attacks, know when
storms approached; that sort of thing. But, they placed limitations on it. The
Gods, trying to be fair, made it so they could only shift into one other form.
And because they didn’t want the world overrun with shifters, they made it so
only every third generation born can shift.”
    “So the only animal you can shift
into is the tiger?”
    “No.”
    “But you just said—” She opened
her mouth, closed it. “I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”
    “I’m the first, as far as we
know, who isn’t locked into one shape.”
    “Really? Why is that?”
    He shrugged. “No one knows.”
    “Have you met any others to see
if it’s happened in their family lines?”
    “I’ve only ever met a few
personally, and they weren’t exactly ‘do you mind if I ask you a few questions
regarding your lineage?’ conversations.” He paused for a long moment and
shifted to get more comfortable on the couch.
    “So you have no way of knowing if
you’re just, say, evolving?”
    He shook his head. “Nope. I’m not
one to question it, either. I am what I am, and I’m okay with it.”
    “That must be difficult. I mean,
even among your kind—” she stopped at the indignant look on his face. “Sorry, I
just meant that, even among shapeshifters, you’re different.”
    “Yeah. Imagine my dad’s surprise
when I shifted into a cat in his arms at three years old. He wasn’t expecting
it.”
    Lana leaned forward, frowned.
“How are you one?”
    He shrugged. “No one knows. It’s
another one of those unanswerable questions.”
    “That’s…got to suck, actually.
And I know this is probably another naïve question, but how did you know the
wolf was a shifter?”
    He eyed her appreciatively. She
was quick. He hadn’t expected her to remember or question that. “We can
generally sense one another.”
    “What? Like the guys from
Highlander?”
    He opened his mouth to laugh,
but…. “Actually, yeah, that’s probably close to it.”
    “And you can all do this? Except
for changing into more shapes, I mean.”
    “As far as I know, yes. My father
could, his great-great-grandfather could.”
    “What shapes have you tried?”
    “Only a few others that serve
what I do. A bird, a dog, and you’ve seen the white