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I felt Lexi shiver, as she was following right behind me. “I hate spiders,” she murmured.
“Don’t we all?” the older man chuckled, swinging a stick to the sides of the cave. “Up ahead, there will be an opening. Watch out for the avians. While we are going after them, they won’t be averse to protecting themselves and their young.”
I didn’t even nod. All my senses focused on the wisp of cool fresh air that brushed against my face. I wanted to change into my wolf. He longed to run free. But we had decided that we didn’t know this Universa, and we were going to be cautious, not showing him our true nature.
Rounding a corner, I halted, staring at the sudden ending of the tunnel. My sister ran into my back, almost sending me over the cliff's edge. She grabbed at my shirt, pulling me back, as Tamerin also reached over her to do the same.
The old man had to stretch around her, as Lexi was now closer to my height after a recent growth spurt. And Tamerin was of average height.
“Careful,” he stated softly.
“You should have told me the tunnel ended here.” I grumbled, responding to the chastisement in his voice.
“You are supposed to sense these things,” he replied, his eyes scanning around us.
Glancing over my shoulder at him, I once again wondered if he had figured out what we were. But he was peeking over our shoulders, his gaze alternating between the sky and the ground below.
He pointed up. “Those are protecting the nests. It would be great to grab some eggs, but something has spooked them. They are on edge, with more in the air than I would have thought. Let’s hold off on that for now.” He paused, looking down, before sighing. “Yes, something has hunted them in the last hour, give or take. I don’t think we should disturb them any more today.”
Lexi almost whined. “But I wanted poultry. I am so sick of cave fish and the long-ears.”
Pushing back against her, I felt wary. I could tell her mind was whirling with options. When my sister was like this, nothing good ever happen.
“Don’t, Lexi—” I started, but it was too late.
She shifted into her wolf form and darted over the cliff edge, picking her footholds with ease. She must have practiced traversing the cliffs outside of Artemis’ cave as she was having little trouble with the rolling rocks.
Sighing, I shook my head, shouting my annoyance even though I knew she was too far away to hear. “Lexi!”
Tamerin chuckled quietly, watching her dart over the boulders, heading right for one nest. “I guessed what you were almost from the beginning. Being geneticists, Malen taught us what signs to search for. You have two souls sharing one body, but they are so in alignment, it can sometimes appear like you only have one. The strands are… twisted.” He frowned for a second. “What to you call that one?”
Glancing at him, curiosity filling me, but I decided now was not the time, so I went back to monitoring my sister’s progress, ready to run and help her if she needed me. “Wolf. We are called lycanthropes on Earth, but that is just another way to say we are wolf shifters.”
Lexi stopped and dropped to her belly, her eyes intent on her target. She then darted forward and grabbed one of the enormous birds by its neck, snapping it quickly. She backed away with it, but the flock sounded the alarm and several of them dove from above to attack her.
“Better go after her, boy.” Tamerin chuckled. “They can be vicious when protecting their families.”
Nodding, I undressed before shifting into my fur coat. My wolf was slower to navigate the rocky terrain than Lexi’s had been, but I was bigger in this form than she was by far. I wished my raven self was real. It was faster and able to meet the other birds where they were, in the sky.
Imagining that part of me, I clung to the vision in my head as I traveled as a wolf. I recognized when my raven woke up, shaking its feathers as it looked out through my eyes.
My wolf leaped down from rock to rock. I needed to intercept my sister, who was zig-zagging through the nests, trying to duck away from the aerial attacks. She hadn’t given up her prize, though, so several sharp beaks had drawn blood on her head and back.
My mythical raven took off, flying straight for a male bird as it attacked my sister’s head. I growled, speeding up to reach her first, but I knew my wolf wouldn’t.
My raven hit it, mid-body, and the bird squawked, crashing into the cliff walls near the nest. Another was attacking Lexi, but it pulled up, looking around for the unexpected enemy.
Huh. I had no idea it would manifest this way. I yipped at my sister and she started back towards me, still dragging the carcass. My raven flew above her head, keeping the space near her clear of birds. It only had to clip one or two others before they kept higher in the sky or away from her.
The one bird in a nest called out, its tone distressed, and I realized Lexi had taken its partner. They must mate for life, or at least were monogamous. My anger at my sister sparked, but I pushed it down deep. Nothing I could do now, but I would speak to her later about this.
Lexi reached me and I picked up the bird’s feet in my mouth, carrying it between us as we went back up the cliff. It was much harder to climb up than it had been to get down, and Tamerin didn’t help us at all. He watched us with a sad smile on his lips.
Reaching the top, I dropped my end, causing my sister to topple onto the body with the sudden shift in weight. Being annoyed with her, I didn’t care. I went over to my pile of clothes, shifted and dressed. I stood for several minutes with my back to the others, taking in deep breaths of air.
Lexi stared at the shreds of cloth that had been her jeans and t-shirt and whined.
Turning, I glared at her. “If you had thought about this more, you would have undressed first before shifting. You can now wait until we return or you can travel back naked. I wouldn’t suggest the second option, though, because—you know—spiders.”
