Shifting Novels & Stories

It's hard to believe that the rumors are true, but people don't know the half of it. Ambrose is sitting in his usual spot, eating his breakfast absently as I come in. "Morning," I say, taking my seat beside him. He grins at me. "You're feeling better?" "So is your thing," I say gesturing to him. "Is it like a full moon thing? You can only shift under the full moon?" Ambrose laughs and the sound lifts my heart higher. "No. I can shift whenever I choose. The need to shift is stronger with the changes of the moon, but they aren't linked together."

Tyee I let Dakota take over the shift, and he immediately stretched his stretched his paws. “It’s about time you let me shift.” Dakota smirked. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Alright old man, let’s get going, eh?” Dakota snickered as he got down on his belly for Jennie to climb on. Jennie carefully ran her fingers down our back. “I almost forgot how big you are” She whispered. Dakota nodded his head at Jennie for her to climb on. I felt her fingers grab on to Dakota’s fur, and as soon as she leaned forward, Dakota took off.

Even in wolf form he’s bigger than me. Where’s the justice in that ? He nudges me with his nose and I know he wants me to shift. I take a few breaths and prepare for the pain. Shifting is painful for anyone but you eventually build up a tolerance to it the more you shift and it becomes quicker and easier. Unless of course you are someone like me who only shifts when I absolutely have to. Then it’s slow and painful. “Nala, it’s time” I call to her here. I feel her running in my mind , quick to want to take over. She reaches forward and pain slams into me as the shift begins.

To have a full moon for your first shift means the Moon Goddess is looking out for you. While it was painful and not something I ever want to go through again, my first shift went faster than I thought. Your body is not used to shifting, and the first one is always the worst. Every bone in your body breaks; fur grows out of your skin, and it can take thirty minutes to an hour to shift. Once you’ve done it, shifting becomes easier. Not that it still not painful, but less. And Atlas shared that it will take seconds for me to shift with time.

“Allow me to put you in your place!” Alpha Nox chuckles. “Foolish girl!” He growls slowly shifting into his wolf with ease. Shifting gets to a level where you don’t hear bones snap as you shift. At that point you would have become so in tune with your wolf that shifting will be as easy and fluid as regular joint movement. Alpha Nox is almost at that level from what I can tell. The number of snaps I heard were less than fifteen. The odds are stacking higher against Eldora who hasn’t shifted yet.

Uncle Alban covers a snort at the foot of the table with his napkin. I plow ahead with talking point number four. “Shifters are cooperative by nature, so we’re able to implement change quickly. We pivot quickly, too.” “Pivoting” is high value in the current marketplace according to my Human Business Jargon instructor. Alban exhales gustily, blowing out his jowly cheeks. Mr. Shah glances his way. I grit my back teeth. I guess we’re going to have the usual family debate in front of our human guests.

But it seems her parents never taught her about shifting. “It’s your first shift,” I said softly through the mindlink. “It’s normal. Your body isn’t used to it yet.” “My bones still hurt,” she whimpered. “Lance… I don’t know how to make it stop.” First shifts were always like this, but it was less painful because we were always taught on how shifting works, but it seems was never taught which made hers seem painful. “It will pass,” I told her gently. “But you need to breathe… focus… picture yourself turning back to your human form.”

“I said stop the car.” Humans believed that shifters could sense liars because they could hear the unevenness of a deceitful heartbeat or pick out the sour scent of adrenaline and nervous sweat, and while these were true the real reason was a shifter’s ability to identify a disconnect between visible behaviour and internal functions. There were many reasons why someone might be nervous, or sweaty, or have a heart that flutters at odd intervals. However, an inborn instinct told all shifters when there was something off, and Marcus had always found the niggling division extremely uncomfortable. It seemed they had both reached their breaking points.