"Ah!"
Temple jumped out.
"Stop that!" My heart, having leaped to my throat, struggled to beat normally again.
“Why?” Chase fought a grin. “You reacting to surprise is strongest and most natural.”
“Come on, what about at snack time?” The last time I participated in snack time had to be second grade. “I selected the banana pretty fast.”
“And a psychologist could have a field day with that.” Even Chase’s eyes were smirking. “But this is what we need.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, Chase lobbed another stress ball at me. Reaching out to pick up the fallen object and retaliate by hurling it full force at Chase, I froze for a moment when spying Temple in the periphery.
Darting back felt weak and silly, though less so when it turned out I’d been right and another ball went sailing over my head. I peeked out to survey the battlefield before deciding it safe to venture from my hiding spot.
"Do you realize the responses you keep repeating since we started this whole exercise?" Temple wondered. “You favor considering every question we pose carefully, retreating and analyzing a situation, and you focus on the whole objective instead of any given activity.”
"I hate this," I informed them instead of answering. “Almost as much as camping. Is this really necessary?”
"It’s all a demonstration,” Chase said. “Everything we do involves our body and brain talking to us, giving us information and urging us to act a certain way. Sometimes we obey automatically and sometimes we don’t. For this, it’s going to be easiest if you get into the habit of listening to the messages. That will help when calling forth your inner fox."
"For now, let’s take a break." Temple ended the session.
I let out a breath I hadn’t been aware of holding in.
That I analyzed everything and preferred acting cautiously was hardly new information…even if it had been a while since I trusted myself and my instincts.
What I thought was a mental breakdown was actually heightened senses trying to assert themselves. Essentially I was at war with myself, the human, fox, and magical elements all battling for dominance.
Hopefully I was strong enough to win the war.
~
Lucas
"Alright, let’s try this again.” Chase clapped me on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Hey, relax. We’re getting to the good stuff now.”
“Yay.” Summoning excitement wasn’t easy.
This still seemed so impossible to master, let alone what actually accessing a hidden fox side meant for me personally.
“Searching for your fox comes first,” Chase said. “Then we’ll call it forward and unleash it.”
“Calling it?” I questioned doubtfully. “Out loud? Like a dog?”Here foxy, come to Lucas.How you’d call a pet.
“Not exactl—”
“You have a point.” Seeing my hesitation, Temple stepped forward. “This method seems suited to calling a wolf shifter. More direct.” He nodded to Chase. “If you’re both here, there’s nothing left to do but step forward and get everything out in the open, right?"
"Yeah, that’s the point." His tone sounded pointed as if Temple forgot. “Undoing the suppression and allowing his shifter abilities the chance to manifest.”
"Lucas approaches situations with more caution than jumping in blindly."
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"It’s not bad. I’m a trained agent and experienced fox, but I still don’t rush into battle. I like gathering info and preparing first."
I glanced to Chase, uncertain.
