“Yes, Annabelle. Sometimes animals run in the family, but that’s not always the case. My parents both have the transmutation mark, and my wolf is different from theirs. They have a snake and rat,” he tells her. She giggles and smiles at him. Why does he know her first name? I swallow down the bitter jealously I feel, deciding I just don’t like the girl and keep listening as Mr. Daniels carries on talking.
“Some animals, like bears for example, are great for combat and others, like mice, are good for escaping. Either way, this class will teach you how to shift safely and still be in control. No matter the size of your animal, losing control and letting their instinct take over is easy. It’s much harder to remember that you’re human and not animal. That’s something to think on when you shift, try to remember who you are. One more thing before we start. The first shift is difficult, painful even,” he tells us and pauses as people start whispering. He flat out avoids looking at me as he carries on speaking. “So, we will take shifting one by one, and I will command you to shift back for the first time. I assume everyone read the message and understands about the protection mark?” he asks, everyone says yes, and I try to think back to what my dad said about the protection mark and shifting. I can’t remember, and I’m sure it can’t be that important anyway. “Those of you who do not have the protection mark will go last, we have a separate practice in place for you. Easton, Jacob, Skye, and Marcel, you are the only ones without protection here, correct?” he asks.
“I don’t either, sir,” another guy says. Mr. Daniels nods.
“Mr. Dawn please step forward,” Mr. Daniels asks, and another guy with bright-ginger hair and a spotty face steps forward. “Please call your mark,” Mr. Daniels suggests, and we all go quiet as we watch him shift. It takes a few minutes, but his body starts to glimmer. When the glimmering stops, there’s a small ginger cat sitting on the ground. The cat shakily takes a step forward and then stops, looking up at Mr. Daniels before rolling on the floor and showing his belly. I wouldn’t be able to tell that’s anything other than a normal cat at one glance. I wonder how many marked shift into normal animals and just walk around?
“Shift,” Mr. Daniels says with such power in his voice that it makes me want to cower from him. His voice is deep, dark almost, and reminds me just how powerful he is. I have a feeling that Mr. Daniels is constantly holding back with his power, and could do much more than most. The cat glimmers once more, and the guy is back, kneeling and he shakes a little as he stands.
“Brilliant first shift. Well done, Mr. Dawn,” Mr. Daniels says and claps. We clap, too as the guy blushes and takes a step back. Two more people shift while we wait, one into a large horse and another into a lion. Mr. Daniels congratulates them both, and I whisper to East,
“What do you shift into?”
“A hawk,” he whispers back, moving closer and placing his hand on the middle of my back. That must be a sight to see, and it kind of suits him.
“Miss Crowe, if you would leave your boyfriend for a second and come here? I have called you twice,” Mr. Daniels says, and there’s an awkward silence as I look back at him. He isn’t looking at me, no, he is glaring at East. What is his problem?
“Sure,” I say stepping forward.
“Please call your mark, Miss Crowe,” he tells me as I stop in the middle of the circle. I call the mark into my mind, imagining the circle with dozens of lines in the middle of it and they all cross over. The first thing I feel is a slight pain in my hip where the mark is, and then it spreads, causing me to close my eyes and hold in the urge to scream. The pain washes over my body like a wave, feeling like it hits every part of me before it stops. I blink open my eyes, feeling how different my body feels straight away. I stretch slightly, seeing large paws instead of arms in front of me and somehow it doesn’t freak me out. My fur is white and everything seems a little more in focus than I’ve ever seen it. I can see the white flecks of dust in the air, and when I take a deep breath, the strong smells of the people around me. I look up, as a deep voice speaks,
“Shift, Miss Crowe,” I hear, and I shake my head, knocking off the urge to do as he said. I don’t want to. I go to tell him no, and a loud growl comes out, instead. I must be a wolf or a dog. I look over at Mr. Daniels, seeing that I’m about half the size of him, so a large animal definitely.
“Come back, Mackenzie,” another voice says next to me as I hear steps on the grass and look up into East’s worried face as he crouches down a few steps away from me. East, I remember East.
“Shift,” the deep voice says again, and all I hear is the demand, the challenge in his deep voice. I turn to look at Mr. Daniels, and no part of me stops as I jump at him. He catches me mid-air as I snap my teeth at him, wanting to challenge him back. We land on the floor with a smack, and I hear him groan in pain, my teeth inches away from his neck. The jolt shocks me out of whatever that was, and I remember who he is, who I am. I push the mark away in my mind, begging for my normal body back. When a slight bite of pain starts at my hip and spreads across my body, I welcome it and close my eyes. When I start to feel normal again, I smile down at Mr. Daniels and see a paw turn into a hand on his shoulder. My hair falls down my body, my very naked body. Shit.
“Kenz . . .,” East’s horrified voice comes from behind me, and the chilly air hits my back. I’m naked on top of Mr. Daniels.
“Everyone look away before I make you,” East threatens as I try to keep very still on top of Mr. Daniels as I feel every part of him against me. Gods, this is not how I wanted to get naked with Mr. Daniels, not one little bit.
“Get her a jacket, now,” Mr. Daniels says as I stand up, and he keeps his eyes off my body. I try to cover myself up as East comes over, shirtless, and hands me his shirt. I slip it over my head, and it, thankfully, falls to my knees. I pull my hair out of the shirt and look over at the shredded pile of clothes where I must have shifted. Thankfully my phone and shoes seem to have made it, but nothing else. I walk over and slip them on, picking up my phone and looking back at Mr. Daniels who runs his hands over his face.
“Go back to your room, Miss Crowe. We will speak about how to use the protection mark to keep your clothes on later. Easton, go with her,” Mr. Daniels tells him, and I’m shocked enough to glance at East who shakes his head at me. Shit, that’s what the protection ward was for. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing a note on my phone last night about reading up on the protection ward for the class. Whoops.
“The rest of you, get back into the circle. Please remember to use the protection ward,” he says, and I hear a few snickers around me. Great. It won’t be long until this gets around the school, too, I bet. I walk away towards Mr. Daniels cabin, which is thankfully not far. I wonder if any of my classes are going to go normally?
Chapter 21
Kenzie