Page 29 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

“Good boy. Let’s go show Sam what we can do.”

Ollie nodded and wiggled his way up onto Vaughn’s shoulders. They were all practically vibrating, an energy forming around them that even Sam could feel. Vaughn led them out the back door and to the open expanse of lawn between the house and the clinic.

They walked over to the small patch of trees on the other side of the yard with Ollie still balanced on Vaughn’s shoulders and the others hopping excitedly around him.

Sam trailed a little further behind, not really sure of what was about to happen but excited at the same time. What he hadn’t anticipated was for everyone to begin stripping. Vaughn helped Ollie down first, and the little guy was naked in thirty seconds flat. The other kids moved just as fast.

And Vaughn. Sweet mother of all that was holy in the universe. Vaughn pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the ground. He toed off his shoes and unsnapped his jeans. Sam couldn’t look away. He couldn’t. Absolutely one thousand million bazillion percent was unable to take his eyes away from Vaughn’s body.

When his jeans passed over his hips, revealing his firm, muscled ass, Sam actually made a little noise. He couldn’t help it. Perfection like that had to be admired. Vaughn smirked as he dropped his pants the rest of the way, bent over and tugged his legs free, and then stood again while turning to face Sam. Sam finally managed to force his attention elsewhere but he could feel his face burning like the fires of a thousand suns.

Vaughn barked out a laugh. “Sam.”

“Yeah?” The sky was a very nice color of blue. Not many clouds. But that one kind of looked like Vaughn’s… nope.

“Look at me.”

“Nope.”

Vaughn snickered again. “Sam.”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to watch. Please.”

Dammit. He had to be nice. How could Sam deny him anything? Sam turned back, and they were all standing there as naked as you please, smiling at him like he was the weird one. Well, everyone but Henry, who had mercy on him and walked over to hold his hand. “It’s okay, Sam. It doesn’t hurt.”

Vaughn made another noise, and Sam glared his way. Which meant he caught another glimpse of… Nope.

“I know, Henry. But thanks for staying with me.”

Henry smiled up at him. “Watch. It’s really neat.”

And it was.

Vaughn knelt, touching one knee to the ground and leaning on one hand. The kids took similar positions as their bodies began to shift. Fur appeared, legs extended, ears changed, and… they grew tails. “Holy crap,” Sam murmured.

“Yeah,” Henry said quietly.

“It really doesn’t hurt them?”

“Ben says it doesn’t, and I don’t think Ollie would always be asking to change if it hurt, you know? He’d probably not want to at all because he’s so little, right?”

Sam nodded. “Does it ever make you sad that you can’t shift?”

Henry shrugged instead of answering, but he knelt down before Sam could ask anything else. A gigantic bear lumbered over to Henry and stuck its head into Henry’s belly. Henry grinned and wrapped his arms around what Sam realized was Ben’s furry head. He was the size of a fully grown bear, easily several hundred pounds, and wasn’t that weird?

The teacher in Sam wanted to know. Ben didn’t weigh as much as the bear so how did he manage to turn into an animal larger than he was? And where exactly did the animal go when they were in their human forms?

And were they still human in their minds or were they animals with animal instincts which would mean that Henry shouldn’t have such a tight grip on the bear’s neck because that was dangerous and could be taken as a threat?

But Ben made a little grunt of happiness and Henry let him go with a beaming smile on his face. So it was clearly okay.

Then a tiny furball of a wolf jumped on Sam’s leg, and he knelt down. It had to be Ollie as he was significantly smaller than the others.

He leapt up into Sam’s arms and licked his face and neck. Sam couldn’t help but laugh. Then a tiny orange fox put its paws on his chest. “Oh, Natasha. Look at you, pretty girl.”

He held Ollie in one arm and ran his hand down the fox’s back with the other. Two more wolf cubs pounced on him next, and Sam went down in a pile of puppies so cute they should be illegal. He laughed as every available inch of his face was licked, and then he heard a sharp huff.