Page 35 of Brody
“Good?”Brody said.
“Delicious,” I replied, unable to stop myself from immediately taking another bite.
As we ate, the conversation shifted back to research logistics.For those moments, I could almost forget the history between us.Almost believe we were just two shifters collaborating on a breakthrough.But then his hand would accidentally brush mine reaching for the sugar, or his eyes would catch mine across the table, and years of suppressed need would flare between us.
“The existence of hot springs in Alaska, especially at the altitude of Black Forest Ridge, is considered impossible by scientific minds,” I said to get back to business.
“The Ridge is a magical vortex, so anything is possible here,” he replied, his voice dropping to an intimate tone that made my skin tingle.“Most residents access the regular hot spring from fountains throughout town, but there’s a hidden spring deep in a cave that only the Bane pack and Freya’s coven know about.”His eyes locked with mine, something primal and protective in his gaze.“Quinn’s great-grandfather called it the Mother Spring.The cave where it’s located is known as the Cradle of Life.”
I choked on my coffee before clearing my throat.My mind raced, connecting dots that had eluded me for years.The unique mineral markers in shifter blood samples.The evolutionary anomalies that had never fit neat taxonomic boxes.The strange genetic similarities across completely different species lines.
My cheetah stirred beneath my skin, suddenly alert in a way I’d never felt before.As if she recognized something ancient calling to her very DNA.
If this was true… If what he was suggesting was real… My entire understanding of shifter biology would be rewritten in an instant.Not scattered emergence points across continents as we’d always theorized.One singular birthplace.
I leaned forward and whispered, “Are you saying this is where shifter life on Earth first emerged?”
“Yes.”He nodded.“The geographic location of where shifter life originated.”
My eyes widened.“That’s impossible.”
“As impossible as a being that can shift at will into an animal with fur and teeth then back into its human form?”One eyebrow arched in challenge.
He’s right.Shifters were two sides of a coin—human on one side, animal on the other—and both had intelligence.
“But what’s the connection between Una’s journal, your tonic, and the Cradle of Life?”I asked.
“Grandma Una scribbledCOL wateron every single page of her journal,” Brody explained.
I sat forward as it clicked.“COL, as in Cradle of Life?”
He nodded.“Exactly.I believe Una never got her tonic to work properly because she couldn’t access water from the Cradle.”
“If that’s the case, why isn’t your tonic working?You have access to the COL water, don’t you?”
Brody sighed, running a hand through his hair.“When I found Una’s journal with notes about feral sickness and a tonic recipe, I was excited.But the handwriting is damaged, some ingredients I can’t read, and others I can’t find or don’t make sense.I’ve been improvising.”
“So she never got the tonic to work?”I asked.
“Not without the COL water,” he confirmed.“My version is passable.I’ve been tweaking it, but it’s not the cure we need.”
I pursed my lips, spinning my cup in a slow circle against the table.“Over the years, I’ve heard so many stories about the shifters’ Cradle of Life.All the tales seemed too fantastical, and no one knew its location.I thought it was just folklore.”
“Well, you and I both know that Others’ folklore is based on real events and real beings,” Brody said with a half smile.“I’ve visited the Cradle once,” he said.“I’ve stood where the first shifter transformation occurred, where the boundary between human and animal first blurred into something new.I’ve cupped my hands in waters that are alive with old magic.”
His eyes had taken on a distant quality, seeing beyond the coffee shop walls to something primal.For a moment, just a heartbeat, I glimpsed the boy he must have been, full of wonder and uncomplicated joy, before life carved its scars into him.
“Most elders swear it exists,” he continued, snapping back to the present, “but few know where it is.The journey there isn’t just physical; it’s as though the land itself tests those who seek it, revealing its secrets only to those deemed worthy.”
“This is fascinating,” I said, my mind racing.“A couple years ago, I attended a lecture about the Cradle of Life given by a famous witch named Hera.”
“Did she mention the location?”His question came quickly, tension in his voice.
“No.She said that knowledge was lost to time.”
“Thank goodness for that,” he replied, relief evident in his expression.“If all shifters knew its exact location, it would be exploited and desecrated.But did she explain its significance?”
“She said it was where the first shifter transformation occurred,” I replied.“Where the magic of changing forms was born.But scientifically, there’s no way.”I hesitated, feeling the familiar tug-of-war between the rational researcher I’d trained to be and the cheetah who lived beneath my skin.Something deeper than logic stirred at the memory of Hera’s words, a knowing that bypassed my intellect entirely.My mind demanded controlled experiments, peer-reviewed data, repeatable results, but my shifter nature recognized truths beyond laboratory parameters.
