Page 77 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

So they lost a bit in explaining that her child was a shifter who could turn into a bear, they just couldn’t do it right now. On the other hand, Natalie was a nurse, and she always wanted her child to be safe and happy. When they laid out the importance of not shifting too often and how the first shift was an extra strain because the body had never done it before, she was certainly not about to insist that Alex shift right now to prove that what they were saying was true.

Rory was an excellent shifter and had even done it while holding her hand as a human and then winding up perched in that hand on his little bird feet as Red. That was some precision shifting right there. But it made it pretty much impossible for her to think that they were somehow using really clever sleight of hand and illusions to make her only think that he was changing into a bird.

Max explained, “Although children don’t display magic until sometime in puberty, they’re usually raised with either shifters or witches or both and taught all of this growing up so that it’s less of a shock when they change or use magic for the first time. But this is hardly an isolated event. Especially with human-witch or human-shifter unions, there’s a chance that information doesn’t get passed on. Sometimes, children are orphaned, and so on.” He hesitated for a moment. “Did you have any idea about Alex’s father? It’s not one hundred percent certain that he was a bear shifter, but it’s highly likely.”

Natalie looked overwhelmed. “I’m going to have to think about everything you’ve said. Kevin was a big guy, but lots of men are.”

“Oh, definitely,” Rory agreed. “There can be a correlation between the size of a shifter animal and the size of a shifter human, but there isn’t necessarily. The big shifters are often big humans, but it’s not like there aren’t lots of big humans who aren’t shifters.”

Natalie said, “We met when I was twenty and just finishing up my BSN. He was twenty-four and working as a nature photographer.” She hesitated. “You think he was really off being a bear?”

“Was he taking photographs?” Max asked practically.

She nodded. “Yeah, I still have a lot of his work. He took beautiful photographs.”

“Then it’s unlikely he was being a bear, or at least not all of the time. Bear paws aren’t great for taking photos.”

She blinked at him. Max hoped his response hadn’t come across as too flippant.

“It’s possible that he enjoyed being out in nature in part because of his animal shifter side, yes,” he explained further. “There are shifters who have nine to five desk jobs, but probably proportionally, there are more who find some way to spend more time outdoors. Again, there’s no hard and fast rule.”

“But it wouldn’t surprise you to learn that he was a shifter with that job,” Natalie prompted.

“No,” Max agreed.

Rory shook his head as well and added, “I have the benefit of being able to shift into a small form just about anywhere. I can shift inside and fly around, and while it’s not the same as being out in nature, it’s nearly as good. A bear shifter would find it harder to shift inside. He may have chosen a job that gave him reasons to get outside as often as possible.”

Natalie sniffed. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”

Max and Rory exchanged glances. Max was usually pretty blunt, but he didn’t want to be the one to tell this woman that her partner could have told her but hadn’t. They’d already clarified why it was okay for her to know now that Alex had shifted, so maybe she’d figured it out. It seemed better not to mention it.

Gently, Rory said, “Sometimes, people worry about how someone will react to shocking news. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to tell you or that they don’t trust you. He probably thought he had a lot more time.”

Natalie blew out a breath, her dark eyes bright and a little bit glassy.

“He did always act like he had all the time in the world,” Natalie said in a slightly thick voice. “And now you’re telling me that shifters live longer than humans. So he probably would have lived decades longer than me.”

Max didn’t want to tackle that one, and thankfully, Rory stepped into the awkward moment once again.

“He might have, but instead, you’ve lived years past him. Life expectancy isn’t a guarantee. Unfortunately, humans are mortal, and you can’t tell how long anyone will be with us.”

She sighed, and some of the tension went out of her shoulders. “No, I suppose not.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes. “We see that at the hospital every day. Improbable accidents and unexpected illnesses and all the ways that people can be taken from us too soon. They said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot. Do you think a hunter got him?”

Rory answered carefully, “If he was in his human form when he died, and I assume he was given that you learned of his death, then I don’t think it terribly likely. My understanding is that shifters usually stay in the form they were in upon death. It takes energy and concentration to shift, and that’s a hard thing to do as you’re dying. Not impossible, but not very likely.”

Natalie swiped at her eyes, and Alex awkwardly gave their mom a hug. She hugged them back, hard.

“It doesn’t really matter, I suppose,” she said, sniffing and sounding annoyed with herself. “He’s still dead, and he’d be dead whether he was killed for being a shifter or not. We just, uh, never got good answers about what happened, and it suddenly seems like there’s a lot of questions I didn’t know to ask.”

“Did he always work on his own?” Rory asked.

Shaking her head, Natalie said, “No, he had a friend he worked with sometimes. We lost touch after… after. But Kev did that last photo shoot solo. Quill wasn’t available or something, and Kev said it was an opportunity he couldn’t miss. He was always chasing the next great shot.”

“I’m sorry you lost him,” Max told her, feeling that twinge in his chest at all the memories that he’d buried. “It’s never easy to lose family we care about.”

She nodded, scrubbing at her face and looking like she was trying to pull herself back together. “Thank you. It wasn’t easy. But we’ve done okay, haven’t we?”

She looked at Alex, who nodded fiercely. “Of course we’ve done okay.”