One Plus Two Equals... - 52

"Julyan, stop pacing and concentrate."

"Cats pace."

Auden shook his head. "Technically, cats prowl, something you're more than welcome to do after you've shifted. Now, try it again. Concentrate on Xander and become him."

Julyan, naked at the moment to facilitate the shift, stopped where he was, a few feet away from one wall of the large, empty room in a non-descript warehouse in lower Manhattan. On paper the building belonged to a small shipping company. In fact it was one of the agency's many holdings, used exclusively for training shifters on how to control their animal halves.

"What if…?"

"Julyan," Auden growled before tempering his tone. "Stop worrying so much and just shift. Duane's already told you, several times, that when you were in your cat form, you obviously still knew what you were doing once the original rage had dissipated. You tried to clean his wounds and when he explained how to shift back you understood him and did."

"All right, I'll try…again."

Auden watched him carefully when he closed his eyes, obviously from the look on his face doing his best to make the shift happen. They had been at it for the best part of an hour with no results so far. Auden knew it was fear holding Julyan back, fear of not being able to control Xander.

Julyan's hands fisted and unfisted, his chest expanded as he took another deep breath. And kept expanding. Slowly the cat appeared, wavered, disappeared and then returned.

"Yes," Auden whispered when Xander finally held his form. His tawny fur was dotted with small darker spots, his shoulders and neck massively muscular, his hindquarters smaller and leaner in comparison.

Xander turned his head to look at Auden through pale golden eyes, distinctly different from Julyan's blue ones. There was intelligence in them well beyond what one might have expected and Auden knew it belonged to Julyan although the body was Xander's.

"Feel better about your ability now?" Auden asked, smiling.

Xander nodded his head slowly before he began to prowl the length and breadth of the large room as if testing how his body moved. Finally he came to a stop in front of Auden. His shoulders stood waist-high to Auden, his head when he brushed it against Auden easily touched his chest.

"You are one beautiful, if rather toothy, animal." Xander butted his head against Auden, almost knocking him off his feet. "Okay, okay, bad joke. Sorry. Now, unless you want to keep testing your body, shift back."

It took a few moments, then Julyan was standing in there instead of Xander. He looked both elated and relieved. "I did it! And Auden, I was in control, mostly. I could feel the animal part of him, the predatory urge to explore and maybe hunt, but I was able to curb it."

Auden chuckled. "Or I would have been dinner?"

Julyan shook his head. "He was never interested in you. It was more like he wanted to get out of the room and see what the world had in store for him."

"That part you had better rein in whenever you shift. I have a feeling people might panic if a saber-toothed cat started strolling down the street."

Julyan grinned. "You think, huh? Should I test that theory?"

"Umm, no. What you should do is get dressed again so we can get out of here."

"Or you can get undressed so we can celebrate my success."

"Julyan…"

"Okay, okay, getting dressed now. But when we get home…"

Auden laughed. "Maybe."

As Julyan dressed, his look turned pensive. Finally he turned to look at Auden. "Can I…no…may I come with you sometimes when you have to deal with… things?"

"I'll think about it. If I say yes it won't be until after you've done a lot more shifts and we both know for damned sure that you're always in control."

"All right, that makes sense. Now, let's get out of here."