Shifters

Chapter 13

He supposed he should have told her that her kids were here.  He couldn’t chance leaving them.  He had pulled her files that had come in the day after they brought her in.  Large family, mother and father still alive but not together.  Two other siblings, all with families and children. He scanned over the files. She had a huge family.  But nothing in here showed that she was very close with any of them.  Holidays, birthdays, all the normal stuff but she rarely visited any, other than her mother, very often.

She’d been alone for almost 4 years. Not divorced yet, as far as he could see she was just making ends meat. Paying bills and doing what she could to get her kids what they wanted.  Pitiful child support as well.  He assumed she got more since there were three kids involved. Their father made decent money.

Their father. He snorted, if you cared to call that thing a father.  Jared sneered, how could someone not want to take care of their own children?  She did everything on her own it seemed.  With some minimal help from her family, she had just barely managed to get by.

Actually now that he thought about it, in all the reports and files. From family, outside sources, old employers. She never really had any reactions to anything.  Even one lady he talked to that was close to her for a time.

“Lydia always seemed withdrawn, sort of sad.  I loved her to death, she was such a strong woman. But always when someone got too close she just, well shut down.”

He remembered the woman’s words. He also noted that with everyone he spoke to they all noticed a sort of anger. She was always quick to turn or laugh it off. But it was always there, just under the surface.

He knew all too well the rage and anger he felt for so long. Uncontrollable emotions. As far as the research had shown, Shifters were emotional creatures. And it was the ones who had anger and rage issues that had to be monitored carefully.

She was an exceptional person. Somehow she had managed to control all that rage boiling under the surface for a long time. All while dealing with life, kids, money, bills and a man she was better off without. 

But how had she controlled the shifting for so long? That was the confusing part. From what he has seen and witnessed over the years, shifting was just about the only thing that couldn’t be controlled at first. In time, yes. Once one understood and knew how the shifting worked. How it affected the body, what it did and how it was a part of one’s self.  It was easy to control. It was also very painful for most still.  Which was why the Shifters that worked with the government shifted before missions start.

There also weren’t many female Shifters. Mostly men. Any female Shifters he had ever come across weren’t really fighters. Actually most were happy not ever shifting.

Jared sighed. It seemed he was doing that a lot lately. Her kids were wild. Not bad kids but, god probably some of the most energetic kids he had ever met.  He had never really gotten along with kids very well. He just didn’t know how to deal with them. 

God he could barely deal with adults. And most of those were worse than children. He supposed he should check in to see how they were doing.

Standing up he put all her files away. He walked out of his office, checked for any messages and started over to where they were being held.

When he reached the barracks, he noticed screeching. He ran in and saw that the man he left on charge of them was just about at wits end. He stared open mouthed, the sergeant never lost his nerve. And here he was chasing the littlest around, while she giggled and hid yet again under another one of the bunks.  The other, he guessed she was about 6 or 7, was coloring on the walls with a marker. The oldest he saw nowhere.