The Girl Cried Wolf 32 Table Turning

"She is like us, Papa. Like you, and me, and Grandpa," Hunter said to his father.

Silverio blinked twice and smiled at his son. He returned to slicing his steak, as though he had heard something only vaguely interesting.

"Is she now?" Silverio asked without looking up from his plate.

"She is," Hunter answered. His own plate was still untouched. He continued to hold Ash's hand under the table.

Silverio chewed carefully on a piece of steak. He took a long sip of water. He set the gla.s.s down and placed both of his hands on the table, palms flat.

"And how is she the same as you, me, and your grandfather?" he asked his son. His voice had the ring of a challenge to it.

Hunter stood abruptly, dragging Ash to stand up with him. Ash stood from her seat. She felt Hunter's grip on her hand and squeezed back. She didn't know what was going on, but she sensed Hunter's energy and she readied herself. She felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck as her muscles tensed.

Without warning, Hunter slammed his fist on the table. The plates and the cutlery clattered, and his mother gasped in surprise. Staring angrily at his father, Hunter started to s.h.i.+ft at the table. As his eyes changed from blue to amber and his teeth sharpened inside his mouth, he tugged hard on Ash's hand. Ash felt an electric blue surge pa.s.s from Hunter's body and into her own.

Without thinking, she slammed her own fist on the table and gave a guttural yell as she felt a sharp pain at her tailbone. Her brown eyes turned golden yellow and her new teeth cut into her human lips. She felt a strange sensation go through her hands and she watched the fingers on her right hand grow into claws.

"Enough!" Silverio shouted, banging his fist against the table. The cutlery was really jumping tonight.

Ash snapped out of her daze and looked at Silverio. The older man was still seated at the head of the table. Hunter's mother had a hand to her chest and her eyes were wide, but she was still seated as well.

Hunter s.h.i.+fted back to human easily, but Ash stayed stuck. The world around her looked and smelled different and she didn't know what to do with the information her brain was receiving. She was around smaller animals, but these were the animals that she knew not to eat.

Suddenly a pair of hands were around her face and blue eyes were staring at her.

"Ash, baby, you need to come back now," the blue-eyed one said, looking into her face.

[Baby,] Ash thought. It had a ring to it.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened her eyes again, the world was dimmer and quieter. She felt very tired. She slumped down into the dining chair.

"Well," Silverio said, lacing his fingers together. "It seems you have brought home a mate."

Ash's breath was ragged. She looked at Silverio and then turned to Hunter.

Girlfriend? Mate? It seemed like these men were deciding for themselves who she was without even asking her. It was annoying.

"You know," she wheezed, "you really should give me a heads up about these things."

From dim, the world turned completely black, as Ash pa.s.sed out in the dining chair.