Page 72 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

“This one’s harder to track,” Max agreed. “I’ve heard children are slightly more likely to be magical. Getting a magical child becomes rapidly less likely the more generations away from the original witch or shifter. That’s a possible explanation, though, for why a shifter or witch will ‘spontaneously’ appear in a normal person’s family. But it’s not like we have studies to back any of this up. We’re a small population that’s in hiding to protect ourselves.”

Alex gave an audible sigh, even in bear form. That makes sense, unfortunately. They suddenly sat up straight, sounding alarmed. I can tell my mom, though, right?

“You can tell your mom,” Rory hastened to confirm. “There aren’t a lot of times where you’re permitted to tell people, but family is one of the exceptions. So if you chose a life mate, you’d be able to tell them. Normally, your family would already be aware, but there have been situations like yours before. We’ll tell your mother—and we can definitely do it together and start with my transformation before we show her yours. So what do you say we get you back to human form now?”

Yes, please.

Max stepped back a few steps, which was wise. The shift in mass could be disconcerting, plus Max probably didn’t want to wind up petting Alex in human form.

Rory smiled at them. “Like I already explained, you’re you no matter what. Sometimes you’re Alex shaped like a bear, and sometimes you’re Alex shaped like a human, but you’re always Alex. As a bear, you can choose to let your bear instincts take over more, but you’ve always got access to your human brain. And as silly as it sounds, you really just have to envision yourself being human again.”

What? That’s it? Alex demanded.

Rory nodded. “Basically. Your magic needs to be built to do it, which is why no witch is going to be able to will themselves into or out of human form. But this is exactly what your magic is made to do. If your magic is exhausted, you might not be able to shift in the moment, but you’ll regain the ability with food and rest. It’s why shifter magic is so awesome, even if most people don’t think of it as magic. Unlike witches who have to use spells, pure intent is what triggers your transformation. You need to think about the form you want to take; imagine the end state that you desire. Think about your human body and how much you want to be that shape again, and you will be.”

It wasn’t quite that straightforward, but that was essentially what happened, and there was no way Rory was getting into anything more complicated just yet. Alex had been through enough.

The basement grew silent except for their breathing… and then, quite suddenly, instead of a black bear, there was a human. Alex looked down at themself, then up and Rory and lurched forward to fling their arms around him. Rory caught them and hugged them back. Max came over and hugged them both.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Alex exclaimed. “Oh, my god, that was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me. Also the coolest, but it was so scary.”

They started to cry, and Rory just hugged them tighter. Max’s long arms wrapped around both of them, and it was perfect.

“It’s okay,” Rory soothed. “Let it all out. This was a lot, and it was really sudden, and your life is never going to be the same again.”

Alex sobbed for a few more minutes, but then they pulled back from the hug and started wiping at their face. Max produced a handkerchief, and Alex scrubbed at their skin.

“Thanks.” Sheepishly, they added, “Sorry about that.”

Before Rory could, Max said, “You definitely don’t have anything to apologize for. I knew about shifters, and I still panicked when I came down here and saw a bear. I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who knew nothing about that life and suddenly was a bear.”

Alex blew out a breath and managed a slightly shaky smile. “Yeah, it was kind of a lot. So you’re telling me that shifters and witches are real? What about vampires? Zombies?”

Max and Rory shook their heads.

“Nope,” Rory said.

“Shifters and witches are it, as far as we know,” Max confirmed. “Shifting into an animal form is as wild and exciting as it gets.”

“But you’re a witch so you can do magic?” Alex said, their eyebrows raised.

“Oh, yeah,” Max agreed with the ease of someone who’d known about witches and seen his parents cast spells all his life.

“Can I see something?” Alex asked, sounding intrigued.

“Sure,” Max agreed.

He thought for a moment, and then his gaze fell on the thoroughly broken table that had definitely lost in the battle against the startled bear. He sketched a spell in the air, and Alex sucked in a breath when Max infused it with his magic. The spell glowed for a moment, hovering in the air, before it dissipated—and the table mended itself.

Alex muttered a stunned curse as the table pulled itself back together like a video of it breaking played in reverse. A moment later, it looked just as it always had, as though it had never been broken.

Alex approached it cautiously, putting out a hand. When that resulted in touching a solid table, they gave it a bit of a push.

“Wow,” they breathed.

Max laughed, and Alex shot the two of them a grin. “You know, I’d be way more worried that I was having a psychotic episode except that you’re not nearly as good at hiding shit as you think you are. What’s in that back room? A whole bunch of magic stuff?”

Max shrugged, not looking all that apologetic. “Spellbooks, yeah.”