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was maybe eight or ten. I wanted to take it away, out in the desert somewhere, and run wild with it. We lived in Phoenix at the time and my folks were scared of snakes and stuff so we never went out much, but the wilderness called me sometimes. Especially when I saw that cat. Of course, I was sneezing like crazy, so Mom got scared I'd have an asthma attack, and we left. I cried all the way home." He stopped. "I'd forgotten that until just now. Weird."
    Carl looked at the shifter then, or maybe the other shifter was more accurate. He stumbled into Zyl's embrace. "Will you stay with me tonight? I'm not scared exactly, just kind of shook up, I guess. I mean, it was a pretty major thing. I'm still trying to sort it all out and find my balance again."
    Zyl smiled and hugged him. "Sure. I wouldn't leave you now unless you wanted me to. I had my parents and other relatives with me at my first shift, when I was about twelve years old. We always knew when it was time. It was a rite of passage for coming of age. The old tales about the full moon triggering are bullshit, but we did honor the moon and often made that first shift at a full moon. It was cool. Afterward, you weren't a cub anymore, but an adult, a man or a woman of the Were-kind. It hurt some. Not too bad, though. The longer you wait, the harder it is because your bones are solid and set and your whole body is pressed into a form."
    Carl looked at him. "Can you shift, right now? I want to see if you'll make me sneeze now."
    Zyl laughed. "Sure." He seemed just to flicker, shimmer and change in a smooth, fast transition, going misty and then clearing as a cat instead of a man.
    Carl reached and stroked the cheetah's smooth fur, rubbed along his neck and down the spine to his hips. Amazed, he looked at his hand--no rash, no itch, no stinging nettle sensation. He pressed his face into the plush softness of Zyl's side, rubbed his nose and lips against the fur. Then he straightened. No sneezes, no itch, no watery eyes!
    "Okay, you can change back."
    Another shimmer and shift and the man called Zyl stood in front of him again. Carl felt the smile stretch his face.
    "I'm not quite sure yet, but it's starting to look like my allergies are way better if not really gone. That's amazing!"
    "Good. I was hoping it would work. I thought it was just your body's reaction to the feline within who was struggling to get out and have its freedom. Even if you still have some problems, it should be a lot better, maybe in time go away completely."
    "Just that relief makes the pain worthwhile. I'll want you with me for a few more times until I learn how to control it and change, smooth and easy like you do, but I won't be afraid next time. Even the pain goes in a few seconds. In time, will I be like you, able to do it almost like changing clothes?"
    Zyl gave a slight, fluid shrug. "I think so. Maybe never quite as easy, almost without thought, since you've had a late start. Still, it'll get easier each time and the pain will fade, I'm sure."
    Carl gave a huge yawn then before he could even begin to muffle it. "Oh man, I'm tired! Can you sleep at night in your human form?"
    "Of course. There are times I stay in one form or the other for days on end. Whatever I need to be to do what I'm tasked to do--except most Were-kind try not to stay in the animal form too long. Eventually, some of your humanity does fade and the beast takes over, bit by bit. Not that animals are not civilized in their own ways, but the human ways are not the same, maybe less natural and you can lose part of that."
    "I'd almost like that, but then maybe not. We have responsibilities and duties, and that's why we're this way, isn't it?"
    Zyl nodded, his face going somber. "Yes, that's true. I've heard rumors of some of the extreme animal rights groups planning attacks on several zoos, trying to break the animals out. That would be a disaster, for the animals and for the cities. If that threat becomes imminent, Were-kind may have to