*Great, Thanks,* She replied easily. I motioned for her to go and she trotted off in the direction she had come from.
"How are you feeling now?" Alexis asked me.
"Tired. Her wolf fought me, she didn't want to surface. Forcing it to the surface took a lot more out of me than calling one that wanted to come."
"I find it that way too," Alexis replied, going to the rear of her SUV. She lifted the hatch, "Come over here a minute." She handed me a can of meal replacement shake she’d pulled out of an ice chest sitting in the cargo area, "Drink that and see how you feel." I shook the small can briskly before popping the top open and draining the can in one long drink. "Do you want another?" she asked.
"Probably should, just to be safe." She handed me a can and I drank this one more slowly, not feeling the aching hunger eating its way through me any longer.
"You ready to start again?"
"Yeah, we might as well," I dropped the empty cans in the trash bag she had sitting nearby for that purpose.
"All right, I'll get the next one," She went to the other end of the car while I sat on the bumper of the still open hatch for a couple minutes, letting my body absorb some of what I'd drank.
As the next volunteer rounded the front of the vehicle I stood again and prepared to continue.
I shifted four more of our volunteers, with a break after two for another drink, before I called a break. I needed to walk around some and I needed more food, but I was getting sick of the shakes.
I mingled with the remaining volunteers for a few minutes, getting to know some of the pack members a little better. When I started feeling a little better I approached Alexis to ask if she had thought to bring anything else I could eat, because I hadn't, but when I was almost to her Joe stopped me.
"I thought you could use something real to eat, so I've started the grill and I've got a stack of burgers ready to go on as soon as it's ready."
"Thank you," I said gratefully, "I was just headed to ask Alexis if she had anything but those shakes. They work great, but you can only stomach so many at a time."
"I haven't picked up any of those yet, though word's gone out that they're good, quick energy. I can imagine they'd get old real quick if you were using a lot of energy."
"They can." I confirmed.
"Give me about half an hour, and I'll have some meat ready for you to sink your teeth into."
"That sounds like heaven, thank you." He turned away and went back to cooking. I went ahead and spoke to Alexis, I told her what Joe had said and continued with "I think some real food will help."
"Good. I think a break will to us all good." She finished her conversation with another woman and turned back to me. "Are you feeling more comfortable in your ability to call animal forms yet?"
"Yeah, I do. I'm pretty sure I have it down. It's a lot more draining sometimes, and I can't figure out why sometimes it's like they don't want to shift, but I can do it."
"It feels like they're fighting you because they are. I asked several of the volunteers to resist shifting, so that you would get some practice calling reluctant animals. Sometimes medications or injury will make it difficult to call an animal form, this is a good way to practice it. I didn't tell you because I wanted to see if you could tell the difference, and how strong you are. Some of those resisting are pretty strong, but you're doing great."
"Thanks. It's good to know I'm doing a good job. I'd like to eat, then finish shifting the last few, and then head home. Do you think we can do that or will not shifting and joining the run be considered an insult?"
"Nah, Joe's pretty understanding. Plus, I warned him that you might want to just go back to town."
"Good. I don't want to upset anyone, but the longer I go the more tired I feel. Real food will go a long way, but after shifting the rest I'm gonna be tired again and I just want to get back before I'm totally drained."
"Not a problem. I'll let Caden know the game plan and then we'll see if Joe's got those burgers ready."
"Caden won't stay and run?"
"No, he'll go with us."
"I thought he was going to run."
"If we were running, he would, but since he's security, he stays with us, whatever we end up doing." I nodded, understanding.
We ate the burgers that Joe made for us and I shifted the remaining volunteers, including Joe before Alexis, Caden and I climbed back into Alexis' vehicle and headed back into town.
I was quiet most of the trip, enjoying the view I'd been too nervous to notice on the way out. I listened to the music that Alexis and Caden chose while I drank another of the shakes from the ice chest and listened to the two of them when they talked.
By the time we pulled into the parking lot at my apartment I was feeling better, I thanked Alexis for organizing the morning, and Caden for watching over us. I gathered my things and headed up to my apartment.
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