Dean chuckled as he drank more of his beer. "The shifter community keeps tabs on them. We help them during the full moon - make sure they're safe and contained so they can't hurt anyone, including themselves."
"So werewolves are real, but different? Different from shifters, I mean?" Mandy asked, her voice steadier now as curiosity began to override her initial shock.
"Completely different," Lena confirmed, settling back against the couch cushions. "Shifters are born, not made. They choose when to change, and they keep their human intellect, their sense of self, when they do. Werewolves..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "They're created through infection, and the change isn't voluntary. During the full moon, they lose all control."
Mandy took a long swallow of her beer as her mind reeled. The movies had actually gotten something right? A nervous laugh bubbled up in her throat.
"So, it's really just like in the movies then?" She pictured poor Professor Lupin from Harry Potter, locked away during full moons, suffering through his transformations alone. "The whole losing control, dangerous transformation thing?"
Dean's massive shoulders shifted as he nodded, his expression growing serious. "Not too far off, actually. Though Hollywood gets plenty wrong, they weren't completely off base with werewolves."
"But there's good news," he added, his deep voice gentle despite its natural boom. "There aren't many left now. The magical community really stepped up - we take care of the existing ones, make sure they're safe during full moons. And most importantly, we've pretty much stopped new infections from happening, because they're not running around biting people, making more."
Mandy sipped her beer again, trying to process this latest piece of information. Her free hand absently stroked Bach, who had wandered over to settle in her lap. The familiar weight of her cat helped ground her as her mind spun with questions.
So many questions. About werewolves, about shifters, about the entire magical community she'd suddenly found herself part of. Where should she even begin? What should she ask first?
She took another steadying drink of beer, organizing her thoughts. The existence of an entire hidden magical world was overwhelming enough - finding out there were different categories of shape-changing beings was making her head spin.
Mandy turned to Lena, curiosity sparking in her eyes. "Are you a shifter too?" Remorse assailed her. "Is that rude to ask?"
"No, and no," Lena laughed, shaking her head. "I'm human, just like you." She reached over and squeezed Dean's massivehand, their fingers intertwining naturally. The love between them radiated like a tangible force as they exchanged warm glances.
"Finding out about shifters was quite the shock," Lena continued, her brown eyes twinkling with remembered amusement. "It was about as dramatic as your introduction to the magical world."
Dean's deep chuckle rumbled through the room. "Tell her how you found out, honey. It's a good story."
Lena's cheeks flushed pink as she settled more comfortably on the couch. "Well, I was working as a librarian at the time. Dean came in regularly to check out books on wilderness survival and camping."
"I was trying to impress her with my outdoorsy knowledge," Dean interjected, his green eyes dancing with mirth. "Didn't want her knowing I could just sniff out the best fishing spots and berry patches."
"Anyway," Lena continued, playfully swatting his arm, "we started dating, and one weekend he invited me camping. Everything was perfect - beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery. Until I woke up in the middle of the night to find a massive grizzly bear rummaging through our cooler!"
Mandy's hand flew to her mouth, but Lena was already giggling.
"I screamed bloody murder," Lena admitted. "And there's this enormous bear, frozen in place, holding my Tupperware container of potato salad, with this absolutely mortified look on its face. Then he drops the container, raises both paws like he's surrendering, and starts backing away while making these apologetic whuffling noises! I mean, he actually looked guilty, if that's possible for a bear."
Dean's booming laugh filled the room. "I panicked! I'd planned this whole romantic way to tell her, but there I was, caught red-handed stealing her potato salad. In bear form!"
"The best part," Lena wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, "was when he shifted back right there, stark naked, stammering apologies about how good my potato salad smelled and how he just couldn't resist sampling it!"
Mandy couldn't help laughing at the mental image of a guilty-looking bear with a Tupperware container.
"I thought I was hallucinating," Lena said, shaking her head. "One moment there's this enormous grizzly bear with his paws in my potato salad, and the next - poof! - there's Dean, completely naked and stammering apologies. I actually rubbed my eyes like they do in cartoons!"
Dean's deep chuckle vibrated through the room. "She stood there staring at me with her mouth open."
"Well, what else was I going to do?" Lena protested, her cheeks pink. "I mean, my brain was trying to process what I'd just seen. Bears don't turn into people! Except apparently they do, and this one had turned into my boyfriend."
"The worst part was," Lena continued, giggling, "I couldn't stop thinking about my potato salad. Of all the things to focus on! Here's this incredible, impossible thing happening - my boyfriend is a shapeshifter who can turn into a bear - and he's standing there naked as the day he was born - and all I could think was 'He ate my potato salad!'"
Dean reached over and squeezed her hand. "To be fair, it was really good potato salad."
"I actually told him, that was supposed to be tomorrow's lunch," Lena admitted, covering her face with her free hand. "Like that was the important part of what had just happened!"
Mandy found herself laughing along with them. There was something wonderfully ordinary about Lena's reaction to suchan extraordinary revelation. It made her feel better about her own struggles to process all these magical revelations.
She took another swig of her beer. The comfortable atmosphere Dean and Lena had created made her feel safe sharing her own bizarre introduction to the magical world.
