by Ann Mayburn
“So it’s only on the surface?”
“Yep. And all shifters and witches have it.” Her gaze went serious. “It’s essential to our survival, and I don’t mean that lightly. There are over fifty million shifters in the USA, and probably around thirty million witches. That may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t when you realize the population of the USA is 326 million people. Even though humans are weaker than us, they easily outbreed the magical races and their sheer numbers could wipe our people out if we aren’t careful. It’s like a nature film I once saw about dolphins killing a great white shark. One on one the shark would own them, but two dozen dolphins vs a great white equals one dead shark.”
“The dolphins killed the shark?”
“Yes, they rammed its gills over and over again and it drowned.” She waved her hands around. “Stop distracting me. Back on topic, magical species are born with the illusion cloaking us from the world, and it wasn’t until the invention of scientific testing that humans could definitively identify us. That’s why we came out of the cave, so to speak. We couldn’t hide from science.”
“That’s not true, I mean, look at me. I was tested and came up as perfectly human. When obviously,” I pointed to my eyes. “I’m not.”
She shrugged. “When it comes to magic, there are exceptions to almost every rule.”
“That’s not logical.”
“That’s magic.”
I had to resist the urge to wipe the smug smile from her pretty face. “So back to this illusion thing, do I have one?”
“Of course. To your mom and everyone human you look the same. Well, the same with a banging body! Seriously, how do you have such a big ass and tiny waist? And your big bewbs defy gravity. I’m totally jealous ‘cause I have to wear a serious push up bra to get my girls to stand so high and proud.”
For the first time today, I laughed. “You can have them. It’s weird carting around an extra ten pounds on your chest. Don’t laugh, but they made me so off balance my mom thought I was going to pass out the first time I stood up.”
“You look amazing, seriously. And you’re going to attract a lot of attention.”
“I know,” I said mournfully as I looked down at my breasts. “Everyone stares at them. I always thought it was a joke about guys talking to a busty woman’s chest, but it’s totally true.”
“Yeah, well, get used to it.” She fidgeted with her curls before continuing, “Which brings me to the subject of your allure. Now, don’t freak out, but as you mature and bond with your animal spirit, you’re going to start giving off a pheromone that is going to make you very alluring to mundane humans and shifters alike. It’s a biological thing.”
“I don’t get it.”
She huffed out a breath, her gaze scanning the room before returning to me. “It’s as if you give off a smell that makes people drawn to you. You are alluring, in the truest sense of the word. The raven’s Banríon has the allure as well, along with the bears and lions. Do you remember anything about that night? About the Rex and his wives? Or were you too human at the time to sense it?”
Thinking back, I rubbed my thumb over a tiny dry spot on my lower lip. “I think I understand what you mean. I didn’t really feel it as much, but I could see how people responded to him. They were falling all over themselves to kiss his ass, or staring at him like he was a movie star. Don’t get me wrong, he was good looking, but not to the point of having people fawn all over him.”
Nodding, Diana crossed her legs and leaned back on her arms on my hospital bed. “You have a natural immunity to other leader’s charm and allure. Most dominants do to some degree. It’s the less dominant members of the pack that can be swayed by a strong leader’s charisma.”
“Shifters are ranked by dominance, right?”
“Kind of. I mean, if we were only animals we would be, but we’re also half human and that human side has different views on social status. People tend to judge how powerful you are by how much money you have, and how much social influence. Shifter politics is very much a ‘who you know’ situation and they are big believers in passing down wealth and power to their descendants.”
Thinking back to my conversation with Joven about hyena shifters, I sat back among my pillows as I looked at Diana, still marveling at my enhanced sight. “Someone told me that hyena shifters were at the bottom of the social rankings.”
“Who said that?”
“Joven.”
“Joven Bissonette, right?” Diana got an odd look on her face. “She was here visiting you quite a bit while you were healing. I didn’t know you were friends with someone so famous.”
“Really, she visited me more than once? I barely know her. Dr. Literon said Joven and Ted were the ones that saved me, so maybe she felt responsible for me or something.”
“That might be it. Joven brought her head of security for the exhibit with her a couple times. I think her name was Nadia. She seemed equally worried about you. Then again, I haven’t seen them for a few weeks. After donating a bunch of artifacts to the shifter wing at the Smithsonian—”
“Wait, shifter wing? The museum has a shifter wing?”
“That’s right, you totally don’t know anything about—well, anything.” She smiled and excitement sparked through her gaze in little bursts of violet light. “I can’t wait to show it to you! It contains some of the most important pieces of magical history in the world and it’s so cool.”
“Wait, there’s a whole exhibit? Where?”
She gave me a smug look. “You know all those storage areas that are off limits? Well not all of them are storage. And there’s a whole underground wing you’ve probably never even heard of.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.” Grinning at me, she said in a rather good Yoda voice, “You have much to learn, young Jedi.”
For some reason, instead of laughing at her familiar nerd humor, I seemed to all at once feel the weight of the changes happening to me at light speed around me. “Diana, I’m scared.”
She stroked my hair back from my face, and my hyena enjoyed the touch. The feeling was odd, like an echo of my own emotions, but different. Sharing my body with another soul was going to take some getting used to. Most of the time my hyena was content to stay in the background, so I was surprised to feel her as strongly as I did around Diana.
“Sweetheart, don’t be afraid. I know it seems strange to you, but all of this is very natural.” She grabbed me in a hug and I inhaled her scent, a strange-musky smell that reminded me of a winter forest. “I mean, I get how overwhelming this has to be for you, but it’s not a bad thing.”
Squeezing her, I leaned back and let her go. “I’m going to make chicks grow dicks, Diana. How is that natural? How is that not bad? That’s fucking insane! How are they going to react when their lady parts fall off all because of me?”
“Goddess, you Rowley women are so dramatic,” Diana rolled her eyes. “You’re looking at this totally the wrong way. Your mates, whoever they are, were born knowing their body would change someday. They’ll have felt the pull to find you for as long as they can remember. You’ll start to feel the same pull as you grow into your bond with your spirit animal. Trust me, once you find them you’ll never be able to imagine your life without your mates in it.”
“How will I find them? I mean, the world is a pretty big place.”
“To you, your mates will have a certain scent that you’ll find very attractive, delicious even. They’ll appear female, but they’ll smell both male and female to you. It’s considered a great honor to be born destined to mate a Queen, and they’ve all been raised to serve you.”
“Serve me? Like a slave?”
“Maybe that’s not the best way of putting it. Okay, think of it like this. Being a hyena Queen is like being the CEO of a huge mega company. There is no way in hell you could run the whole thing by yourself, you’d need help. Loyal help. The best people for the position that you could trust without question, who would always have you
r best interest at heart. That’s what your mates are to you.”
“Employees?”
She swatted at me. “Stop being a smartass and listen. Your mates grew up knowing someday they’d meet you and start their own den, so they’ve been studying for the position they’ll someday hold. It’s like if you were born knowing you’d be a fireman, chances are your parents would start out early teaching you the skills you’d need in the future.”
I picked at a stray thread on the edge of my blanket. “Do you think they’ll be disappointed?”
“I don’t understand.”
“In me, do you think they’ll be disappointed that I’m their Queen? I know nothing about running a business, let alone an empire, and I sure as heck am the least majestic person I can imagine.”
“Stop that right now. No pity parties allowed, and certainly no putting yourself down. You are worthy, I promise you. And they’ll be thrilled they have such an amazing woman as their Queen. They’ve been waiting their whole lives for you to come and help them transform into their true bodies.”
“How does that whole transforming thing work? Do they just like…sniff me in line at the grocery store and bam, they have a magical dick?”
“You’re such a weirdo,” she said in exasperation and rolled her eyes. “It takes repeated exposure to you to trigger the transition, so don’t expect some kind of instant transformation and fireworks. I don’t know the details, the hyenas are pretty private about it, but the transformation usually takes a few days, and they’re extremely vulnerable during it. I also know it has something to do with the earth, just like the lion transformation revolves around fire. Either way, it’ll be you and your other husbands’ sacred duty to guard your mates during their transformation.”
“You make it sound so normal.”
“It is, totally normal. Look, your mates are like caterpillars, waiting to turn into butterflies, but only your pheromones can make their chrysalis.”
“Okay, that’s a weird analogy.”
“My point is, they want to become their final form. The animal spirit inside of them is male, and they are out of balance until your pheromones force the transition from caterpillar to butterfly. It will be an immense relief to your mates to finally be in the form that matches their spirit. Can you imagine? Being a male spirit trapped inside of a female’s body? How out of synch you would feel with the rest of the world? How out of place in yourself? You’re curing that, you’re helping them achieve who they were meant to be, regardless of how they were born.”
“Huh. When you put it that way it doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It really isn’t. In fact, I’m jealous. You’ll have three hunky men and a hermaphrodite Omega who will live to serve your every need. Not a bad gig.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Oh man, can we please not talk about my Omega.”
“Stop that. Fear comes from ignorance and the only way to defeat it is with knowledge and an open mind.”
“Did you read that in a fortune cookie?”
“You know, you’ve become kind of a bitch in more ways than one since you woke up.”
I winced and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m a little stressed out.
“There’s no need to stress. I had a friend send me some information about this.” She dug through her cute cherry red bag and pulled out her sparkly pink phone, scanning the screen before she said, “Okay, here’s the info she sent me. Yes, your Omega will have both male and female genitalia. Of a sort. Her clit will enlarge to probably around seven or eight inches, and her ovaries will turn into testicles, but her vaginal cavity will shrink to the perfect size for her Queen to penetrate with her enlarged clitoris.”
It suddenly became very hot in my room and my head began to spin. “What? My enlarged what?”
Still looking at the screen, Diana said, “Yeah, your clit is going to grow to be about four or five inches while erect. Plenty big enough to penetrate someone…damn…I think I’m jealous. Just imagine what it would feel like to have a tight pussy wrapped around your clit.”
I could only make a choking sound as I squeeze my legs tight and felt slightly ill.
Diana glanced up from her phone, her expression becoming alarmed as she took me in. “Syn? Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, totally fine. Evidently my clit is going to become big enough to fuck a hermaphrodite, who will also be my husband.” My giggle had a hysterical edge like broken glass as I began to cry. “I like my body. I like being a girl. I don’t want a-ah pen-penis.”
Diana rubbed my arms briskly. “Okay, this might be a little much to spring on you all at once.”
Grabbing the edge of the sheet, I attempted to wipe away my tears. “Ya’ think?”
Diana’s brow furrowed as she held my hand in her own. “I wanted you to be prepared. Your mates could walk through that door at any time, and I didn’t want you caught by surprise. You could inadvertently hurt their feelings. I mean, they open the door expecting you to be as thrilled to find them as they are to find you, and instead you freak out and inadvertently crush their hearts.”
Sucking in a deep breath through my nose, I nodded. “No, you’re right. I for sure wouldn’t want to make anyone think they’re weird or freaks. I just need to get it through my head that they’re normal, natural, and I’m the one with the abnormal reaction.”
“I know you, Syn. You’re smart, and you’re strong. This may all be a little shocking, but you’ll figure it out. And you’ll probably have a lot of time to get used to the idea. It may be years before your mates find you.”
“I don’t know if I like that thought any better. I mean, if we’re supposed to find our happiness together, I think I’d rather have it happen sooner than later.” I clasped my head between my hands, digging my fingers into my hair. “Ugh, I feel like I sound crazy. Do I sound crazy?”
“No, you sound like someone who’s had a lot of big changes thrown at them in a short amount of time. Mother’s flaming tits, I’d be in an insane asylum by now if I was raised human and later found out I was really a shifter.”
“Don’t get me wrong, part of me is having a meltdown, but another part of me is kind of resigned to the whole situation.” With a dramatic huff I fell back into the uncomfortable hospital bed. “I mean, if these changes are going to happen, and its fate or whatever, that means I can’t really fight it. It would be like telling my body to not go into puberty. It’s going to happen, it’ll probably suck and be totally awkward, but I don’t have a choice.”
“That’s a good way to put it.” Giving me a fake haughty expression, Diana said in her best professor voice, “As you go through the changes that all hyena Queens face, you may start to get hair in weird places and you may feel funny things in your lady garden. These are all perfectly normal things that all girls go through on the long and winding road to womanhood.”
Giggling, I swatted at her leg. “Shut up. I better not get hair in weird places.”
My mom came in, balancing a coffee cup carrier and a white paper bag. “I’m back, and I brought yummies.”
We chatted with my mom for a bit before I pleaded exhaustion and they left me alone to nap. Lying on the uncomfortable hospital bed, I stuffed the thin pillows beneath my head and wished I was home. The tears came slow at first, then faster as I cried for the loss of the woman I’d once been—both good and bad.
Chapter 4
Syn
Over a week later I was still waiting for my mates to ‘walk through the door at any minute’, as Diana had put it. I was back home and finally alone—well, alone other than my cats. My mom had stayed with me for the first few days, but I’d finally convinced her that I was okay. It hurt my heart to see her so worried, and I felt terrible for hiding the truth about my changed state from her. Someday I would let her know what was really going on, but for now, ignorance was keeping her alive and well.
According to Diana, my mother was a human so that made her off limits for ‘shifter crap’. As
long as I kept her ignorant, she was protected. That’s the reason Ted and Janet had never told my mom they were bear shifters. As long as they maintained the illusion, other magical creatures were bound to as well, which gave my human family safety. While I didn’t like that blissful ignorance was what was keeping my mom alive, I also wasn’t going to endanger her for selfish reasons.
I needed to keep my mom out of my shifter drama until I was strong enough to protect her. From everything I’d read over the past few days, that meant I had to find my mates, learn to fight, and either establish my own den in unoccupied territory, or take over some other hyena Queen’s den. For the first one I’d need a huge amount of money to not only fund the expense of building a den, but also building dens for my people.
See, as a hyena Queen I was directly responsible for my people’s lives. I provided a safe place for them to live, and they helped to support our den. Most hyena dens were set up with a big ‘main house’ that was the home of the hyena Queen and her family, then a grouping of homes and communal buildings around it for the den members. In many ways it reminded me how the feudal villages of Europe were set up, especially when I learned there were often massive walls encircling the ‘village’ part, along with lots of modern technology and spells to keep everyone safe. Safe from what, I wasn’t sure.
A few books made mention of the ancient hyena Queens defending their dens from the obscurité affamée, but I wasn’t sure what that was. According to an online translation site, it meant ‘hungry darkness’. Despite my searches, I hadn’t found any other mentions of it yet. Being that it was probably a magical term, and covered by the illusion, I wasn’t surprised by the lack of info. Unfortunately, books were the best and only way to pass on magical knowledge. To a mundane human they’d appear as boring prayer books, but magical people could see the real words. Nifty trick, and I didn’t have to worry about my mom picking up a book and wondering why the hell I’m reading about hyena shifter history.