Shape-Shifter's Promise

Chapter 7

The next morning, i woke up to find Seth still sleeping. He had moved at some time in the night, closer to me. He was now sleeping on a make-shift bed on the floor beside me. I rolled onto my side and reached down to brush his,now messy, hair from his face. I sat up and slid down, careful not to wake him, and kissed his cheek. He stirred slightly and rolled a little, but otherwise, he stayed asleep. I went down stairs only to find Seth's mother sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter drinking coffee. She looked up at me and smiled.

“Good morning, dear.” she said.

“Good morning to you...um I'm afraid you know my name but I don't know yours.” I said.

“My name is Charsha Carter. But you can just call me Charsha.” she said happily.

“Then good morning Ms. Charsha.”

She laughed.

“Is he still asleep?” she asked.

“Yes,” I giggled. “He put a make-shift bed by the window seat I chose to sleep on last night and hasn't moved since.”

She laughed with me. My body was stiff with sleep so I decided to go out and run or something in a different form.

“May I be excused?” I asked.

“Of course, why do you need to be excused?”

“I forgot, I stretch every morning outside. I also want to run to the hotel to get my stuff.”

She nodded.

“I will be back in twenty minutes.” I said and she nodded again as I left.

When I was outside I jumped off the porch and exploded into my wolf self and shook out my fur when I landed. I took off into the woods beside the house and soon came to a stop at the edge of a river. I thought this was very strange, but I just leaned down and lapped at the water for a moment. The sun suddenly burst through the clouds and I shifted back to human. Then I leaned down to get another drink of water and gasped at my reflection. It was me, but it wasn't me. It was me as my normal wolf self. I touched the reflection and it didn't change. I was shocked.

“What magic is this.” I whispered to myself.

I suddenly noticed a sense of power rolling off the ripples in the water. I recalled some history that my parents taught me when I was young. They spoke of a river that showed your true self.

“This must be the River of Destiny.” I whispered in shock.

I immediately ran back to Ms. Charsha's house and when it came into view I created some bags full of clothes and changed my current outfit into something different. I didn't bother to look, I was in too much of a hurry to look at what I was wearing. I slowed to a walk and walked through the door to see Ms. Charsha staring wide eyed at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You...you were only gone five minutes.” she said.

“I am a fast runner and the hotel wasn't that far.”

She nodded and I went up the stairs to Seth's room. He wasn't there, so I went back down to Ms. Charsha.

“Where is Seth?” I asked.

“He's out back working on some things. Why?”

“I wanted to show him something I saw when I was running.”

“Okay.” she said.

I went out to the back yard to find Seth. I shifted to wolf to find him. I sniffed around the yard until I found him working in a shed. I changed back to human and walked to the door silently. I stood there for a few minutes leaning on the door frame and waited for him to finish what he was doing. He was standing over a table with some items I didn't recognize and worked on them. He needed something and turned around to get it. When he turned he saw me and jumped.