At that moment, I deeply regretted having spent so much time without transforming.
In our species, shapeshifting is voluntary and usually painless, but it must be practiced. The speed and ease with which it happens depend largely on hormones secreted by a special gland. Controlling it takes time, and adapting is not easy. Those hormones keep the biological machinery of transformation well lubricated and lessen the pain of the process. And when your blood is “clean,” the change becomes slower than normal—then it hurts. It hurts until your body’s mechanisms return to proper condition.
Andre came closer and curled up beside me, frightened. The smell of his fear was sour and sharp; I inhaled it like a puff of cigarette smoke blown straight into my face. I draped my arm—bulkier now beneath th
