Pauline slumped back. “I love that man,” she said to the empty room.
***
“When do I get to shift?” Troy asked, halfway between petulant and excited. He was bouncing on his toes, clearly torn between running off to explore the woods and waiting to watch everyone change forms.
“When you’re older,” Pauline said patiently. “When you’re a teenager like Drew is.”
Troy sighed. “That’s forever.”
She held back a laugh. “I know it seems like forever. But for now, you get to run with us. Maybe if you’re good, Carlos will let you ride on his back for a little while. You want to ride a tiger?”
Troy lit up. “Yeah!”
“Okay, then no whining.”
He zipped his lips. “No whining.”
Val toddled over, arms out. “Fly!” she shouted.
“You want me to fly?”
“Fly!”
Pauline grinned at her, then crouched and shifted. Both of the kids watched her with wide eyes as she circled up into the air, then dived back down, pulling up at the last second. She alit on the ground in front of them and walked her slow bird-walk over to Troy.
He reached out and touched her feathers. “
Careful with her,” Carlos cautioned from where he was standing behind them both. “Pauline’s other form is a lot more fragile than Drew’s or mine.”
“I’m careful,” Troy said, offended at the suggestion. “I wouldn’t hurt Pauline!”
He stroked his small hand softly over the feathers on her head, and Pauline leaned into it. Her owl preened at the attention.
Then Val wanted a turn. Drew came forward and held her little hand in his, petting Pauline’s feathers together. “Soft,” Drew told her.
“Soft,” she repeated, patting Pauline’s head carefully.
Pauline wished she could smile sappily in bird form. As it was, she waited until Val was done petting, and then she shifted back. “You guys run first,” she told Carlos and Drew. “I’ll watch the kids, and then we can swap.”
“Thanks,” Carlos said. “You’ll be all right?”
“We’ll have fun.” Pauline smiled.
Carlos turned to Drew. “Ready? I bet I can beat you to that cliff up there.”
Drew had been looking a little hesitant—he was still a bit unsure with Carlos, not used to a father figure and always half-expecting something to go wrong—but the challenge firmed him up. “No way. I grew up here, I know the terrain better than you.”
“I guess we’ll see.” Carlos blurred and shifted into his gorgeously powerful tiger form. Pauline still caught her breath every time she saw it, and she hoped she’d never stop.
Drew shifted too—he was starting to fill out in his wolf form just like he was as a human, looking more and more like an adult instead of a gangly youth. Pauline watched them eye each other, mock-wary, and then at the exact same moment—though she hadn’t noticed any signal—take off into the woods.
“I wanna run!” Troy yelled as they disappeared. “I wanna run with them!”
“Let’s run here!” Pauline redirected. Troy was still staring yearningly off into the woods, so she added, “Can you catch that rabbit?”
“Where?” he asked, immediately looking around.
Pauline came up next to him and pointed; she’d noticed the animal hiding in the brush while in her owl form. “See, over there?”