Page 30 of Sobek’s Joy

“Yes, I need an ambulance,” Rudy said into the phone. “My son, he’s four, he won’t wake up and he’s burning up, I think he’s having some kind of seizure…”

“No hospitals.”

Rudy’s head whipped around. Relief and fear warred across his face. “Sobek? What are you…” His gaze dropped to Sobek’s bare feet, then traveled up his body. Sobek had translocated wearing only sleep pants. “How did you get in?”

“That’s not important. The doctors can’t help him.” Sobek crossed the room in two strides, dropping to his knees beside the bed. “I can.”

“What?” Rudy clutched the phone tighter. “What do you mean they can’t help? Look at him. He needs a doctor.”

Sobek pressed his palm to Timothy’s forehead. The hatchling’s temperature was dangerously high, but he wasn’t sick. Tim didn’t have an illness - his body was trying to force his first full shift. For whatever reason his animal side wanted out, but Timothy was fighting it, likely because he didn’t know what was going on and also because he was terrified of scaring the man who was clutching his phone like a lifeline.

“Sir? Sir, are you still there?” The dispatcher’s voice crackled from the phone’s speaker.

“Rudy.” Sobek met his mate’s terrified blue eyes. “Please. Trust me. Let me take care of this.”

“How can you possibly…”

“Trust me, please.”

They stared at each other. Rudy’s chest was heaving and his curls were plastered to his forehead with sweat. His fingers trembled around the phone.

Then he pressed it back to his ear. “I’m sorry. False alarm. He’s waking up now. Yes, yes, I will take him to my regular doctor in the morning. Thank you.”

He ended the call before the dispatcher could respond and dropped the phone on the bed. “Don’t let this be a mistake, or I swear not only will I never speak to you again, but I’ll curse you from here to hell every day for eternity. If you can fix him, then do it. Quickly. Please.”

Placing both hands on Timothy’s chest, Sobek tuned into the frightened child - far easier to do with contact. The hatchling’s heartbeat raced beneath his palms, far too fast and totally irregular. It was fear and need all rolled into one, and yet the animal side of the young boy knew what needed to be done. He was just fighting with Tim, who didn’t want Rudy getting upset.

Easy, little one. I’ve got you. Sobek let his power flow. He’d always been a powerful god, known for the creation of the Nile and later worshipped as the protector of armies and pharaohs. But the other side of him - the crocodile side - had always been the protector of the innocent, and it was his nature to care for hatchlings, even shifter ones.

Timothy’s back arched, and scales erupted across his skin, spreading from his arms to his torso. His jaw elongated, his mouth filling with needle-sharp teeth.

“What’s happening?” Rudy’s voice cracked. “Sobek, what’s…”

“He’s shifting. His animal side is trying to come through.” Sobek kept his voice calm, steady, even as he poured more power into the hatchling. “He’s been suppressing it, I imagine, because he didn’t want to frighten you.”

“Frighten me? I don’t…” Rudy made a choked sound. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Watch.”

Timothy’s body rippled. Bones reformed, limbs shortened. His brown hair receded into scaled skin. Within seconds, a small crocodile lay on the bed where the boy had been. He was about three feet long, with dark green scales and bright amber eyes that blinked up at them.

Rudy fell backward onto his ass. “Holy fuck.”

The curse was so unexpected coming from Rudy that Sobek nearly smiled. But Timothy chirped - a baby crocodile’s distress call - and Sobek focused on soothing him through the bond. There you are. Good job. You’re safe now, and you’ll see, your Daddy will still love you. Rest for a while, and then I’ll help you shift back.

Timothy’s breathing steadied, his heart rate slowing to normal. He yawned, showing rows of tiny teeth, then settled his head on the pillow and closed his eyes even as footsteps pounded in the hallway.

“Daddy?” Jack’s voice, followed by Rose’s higher-pitched, “What’s wrong with Timothy?” Both children burst through the doorway and froze.

Sobek felt the surge of his power wash over them, and mentally winced. Rudy was about to learn that what he’d said the first time he’d retrieved Tim from his pond, that they were all shifter children, was true. He didn’t think that Jack or Rose were ready for a full shift just yet, but Jack’s arms sprouted thick brown fur, and his ears elongated into wolf points, and Sobek could see his wolf form behind Jack’s eyes. Rose’s fingernails extended into full panther claws, her pupils turning to vertical slits.

They stared at Timothy’s crocodile form. Then at Sobek. Then at Rudy, who was still kneeling on the floor, his mouth hanging open.

“Daddy?” Jack’s voice came out with a slight growl. “Why is Timothy a lizard?”

“He’s a crocodile, dummy,” Rose said. Her voice had a feline rasp. She padded forward on silent feet, claws clicking against the hardwood. “Can I pet him?”

“No, not this time.” Sobek caught her before she could climb onto the bed. “He’s sleeping. Shifting fully for the first time is really tiring, so you don’t want to wake him.”