Page 31 of Partridge in a Bear Tree

"I think you're handling it really well, for what it's worth. And I'm really impressed you were able to get the dress back. I hope Maggie will be able to answer some of your questions." Ashley gave Penny a shy smile. "And I hope you might think about telling my family about all this sometime, too. It doesn't have to be right away, but…"

"But you want to be able to tell them you met your mate," Penny guessed. "That's got to be a big deal for shifters. I mean, real ones like you. Not that I'm not a real shifter, I guess, but you know what I mean!"

"It is a big deal for those of us who grew up knowing it was a possibility, yeah. But," Ashley emphasized, "Ialsoknow I have like eleven million cousins and they're all huge and overwhelming and if you want to wait threeyearsI'll understand that, too!"

Penny laughed. "Maybe three days, at least, while I get my feet under me. My…claws? Talons? I guess I mostly think of bird feet as 'feet,' though. That smells delicious," she added as her stomach growled audibly. "Am I allowed to eat like four eggs? And also is it cannibalism if I eat eggs now?"

Ashley's mouth fell open as she contemplated that question. "I never thought about it before. I don't think so? Maybe avoid partridge eggs, though."

"I've managed to do that so far in my life, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep on keeping on." Penny accepted a large plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, humming happily as she ate. "Those are really good scrambled eggs. They've got some kind of little twist to them I've never tasted before."

"I put Worcestershire sauce in them. Just a splash. A family friend did that once when I was over for breakfast and I loved it so I've always made them that way."

"No way. It's really good!"

"Thanks."

They lingered over breakfast, then hopped up guiltily when a knock sounded at the door, like they should have been doing—Ashley didn't know what, but apparently not giggling over toast crusts. Maggie Ross and Conri Lyell were at the door, as expected, and Ashley invited them in, slightly stunned at the wrestler's height. She'd been tall the night before, obviously, but Ashley had been in shoes then, and now with Maggie in heels and Ashley in bunny slippers, the athlete was about six inches taller than herself.

We could still swat her,her bear said consolingly.

The idea nearly made Ashley laugh, so she was smiling as she said, "Hey, hi, thank you for coming, I really appreciate it. Come in, please! You remember Penny?"

"Of course." Maggie spoke for the two of them, though Conri smiled and nodded as they came in. Penny stood up to greet them, and looked unbelievably tiny next to the tall wrestler. Even Conri, who was probably five ten, looked whip-slender and like a breeze would knock him over, beside Maggie. They were an interesting couple, with her tremendous pale height and his sallower wolfishness, and it was highlighted even more by Maggie's flowing hippie dress and coat compared to Conri's incredibly well-cut business suit. The only thing they obviously had in common was a fondness for long hair: Conri's was pulled back in a thin ponytail, and Maggie's thick white braid fell down her spine like a rope.

She looked absolutely delighted as she sat down across from Penny. "You figured it out. I can sense you now."

"You could before," Ashley said. "How? Can I get you some coffee? Water?"

"Coffee," Conri said. "Please. Can I help?"

Ashley smiled and shook her head. "No, the kitchen's only big enough for one. Thanks, though. Please, have a seat." She went into the kitchen with her bear craning its head toward Conri curiously.

We could swat him, but he is…strong,the bear said after a moment.For a wolf, he isverystrong.

Ashley shrugged.I suppose some must be.

I don't like it,the bear announced.It makes my fur itch.

Well, he won't be here long,Ashley promised.

Maggie was saying, "I couldn't sense it, exactly, but I could see you were a bird shifter. It's something about the bone structure, or the eyes, or something. I don't know. I could tell you didn't know it, though, or that you rarely shifted."

"I didn't know," Penny confirmed. "Until last night when Ashley showed me her bear and I shifted. She says that's really unusual, that I must be very strong-willed to have suppressed it. Do you know anybody else like me?"

Ashley looked over her shoulder to see Maggie and Conri exchanging glances. "No," Conri said after a moment. "I know that in our shifter line, there are people who could force a shifter to shift, or not to. But I've never met anybody who suppressed it themselves, besides you."

Penny said, "Yourshifter line?" at the same time Ashley's bear said,People likehim, with a growl. Ashley, without meaning to, said, "People like you?" out loud, and got a startled look from both the wolf shifter and the big swan at his side.

Conri, reluctantly, said, "Yes. It's a power in my family line. I foreswore it, but yes. I could force someone in our line to shift, or not," to all of them, and then to Penny, "Shifters come from all kinds of different provenances. Maggie's and my line might be the newest, the only one that really knows where it started. It began in the Roman arenas. But we developed all over the world, so we have to have come from different beginnings."

"Hnh. That makes sense. But you don't know anybody else like me. Oh my God!" Penny straightened. "Does that mean I'm a different kind of shifter than the rest of you? Because Icouldsuppress it?"

"I suppose it's possible," Conri said, startled. "I have no idea if that's a thing."

Maggie said, "Joash would know," and her husband gave her a flat look as Ashley brought coffee over and sat beside Penny.

"I'm not flying Joash all the way from Italy to answer questions, Maggie."

---