Chapter 25
A few days after the marathon shifting session Bill called me. It was early, before I’d made it into work yet.
"Nickie, I have news." He said as soon as I answered the phone.
"Tell me it's good news." I was hopeful.
"Well, good news and bad news. I've talked Alexis and several others around the country. No one has ever heard of anyone ever trying to force the animal form of a non-shifter in the way you’re wanting."
"And that means?"
"That means that no one I've talked to knows if it can be done, most think it can't, but some think it may be possible."
"Well, I guess that's something." I said. "I still think I can do it. I want to try."
"I'd like to see if you can too. But we still have to see if Devon even wants to."
"I'll take care of that, with your permission."
"You have it." We wrapped up the conversation and disconnected. I went to work trying to figure out what I would say to Devon.
I'd decided that I wanted to approach the topic to Devon on my own. I thought I could ease into it, not influence him, and let him make the decision for himself. I was afraid that a having Bill or more present when the topic was approached would only push him into doing something that he may regret in the future, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
That evening I made a point to seek out Devon on my way in from work. I invited him to come up to my place for a quick dinner, I told him I had something that I wanted to talk about with him if he didn't mind.
Forty-five minutes later we sat down to a dinner of salad and grilled steaks.
"Dev, you're aware I have several talents, right?" I cut several bites off my steak as I asked.
"Yeah, what about them?" He took a bite of the salad.
"One of my talents is that I sense powers in others."
"I know, I heard you talking about it with Hank."
"Well, the thing is, I can sense a wolf in you." That caught his attention and he set his fork down and blinked at me a moment before he said anything more.
"But I'm not a shifter." He protested.
"You’ve never been able to shift before, I know. I noticed this some time ago, but it took me a while to realize what it was. I can't sense anything similar in humans, I've tried. I'm certain that I'm feeling your wolf." I saw confusion in his eyes and continued, "Have you ever thought about what you might do if someone gave you the option, the possibility, of being a shifter?"
He was silent, picking his fork back up and eating for several minutes before he responded, "You know, I honestly don't know. When I was younger I resented not being able to shift, I was convinced that there was something wrong with me because I couldn't shift. But now I've come to terms with it, I realize that it's just the way I am."
"I understand that, and really, I'm not going to push one way or the other. I am raising a possibility. If you were given the option of having someone try to bring your wolf, and it worked, it made you into a shifting Kitsune, would you?" He remained silent, unsure what to say, "You don't have to answer now, think about it a while. Let me know what you think."
"I'll think about it. It's never been suggested so I didn't think it was possible."
"It may not be." I warned, "I'm the only one we know of who can sense your wolf, but I’m also the only person in the pack who can sense powers and call animal forms both. It may simply be that the two skills in combination are what it will take. Or it may not work at all."
"So even if I decide to try, I could end up unchanged? Still a non-shifter?"
"I'm afraid so. It's something only you can decide if you want to try."
"I'll consider it. Who all have you talked asked about this, if it was possible and all?"
"I've only talked to you and Bill. I didn't want to mention it to you if we knew it wasn't possible, so I asked Bill. He's talked to several people, though I doubt he used names, trying to find out if it's ever been done."
"I see. Can you give me a while to think about it."
"That's not a problem, I know this is pretty sudden and it's not a decision I'd expect you to make in an instant."
"Thanks. Can we keep it between us? I don't want a bunch of people hounding me for a decision."
"Sure, I hadn't planned on telling anyone anyway. It's nobody's business but yours."
"Thanks for that," We were quite most of the rest of dinner, but it was a comfortable silence. After dinner Devon thanked me for the meal and excused himself, siting that he had to get up early the next morning. I knew I'd given him a lot to about.
A couple of days later while I was on my way to the clinic my PCD rang. I glanced at the screen where the device was attached to the dash and saw it was Raine. I wondered what he wanted so early in the morning.
"Hey, Raine. What's up?" I asked after hitting the button that sent the call through the car’s stereo system.
"To know if you have plans for this evening."
I thought for a second before replying. "Nope, what's up?"
"Come to my place for dinner. We should talk."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing wrong. Just come over, I'll feed you, we'll talk."
"You going to tell me what you want to talk about?"
"No, just come."
"Mysterious ass." He laughed on the other end of the line. "What time you want me to show up?" I asked.
"Come by about six."
"Want me to bring anything?"
"Just you."
"All right, I'll see you then."
I ended the call, parked the car and went into the clinic, wondering what Raine wanted to talk about.