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this kind of treatment?”
    “No. Most of them grow up in shifter communities and know what they are at a young age. A few slip through the cracks like you and me. Changing for the first time outside of a community can be dangerous for the humans who witness the change and also the new shifter. Occasionally someone dies. The other supes try to remain hidden as well.”
    “Supes? Like in supernatural creatures? Jeez, this is so messed up.” I groaned and leaned my back against the wall. “Vampires?  Werewolves?  Really? I feel like a character in a graphic novel. I don’t want to run into any other supes, if it’s all the same to you.
    ” I stretched my arms over my head to relieve the stiffness in my back just as Ethan walked through the door having changed back into his adorable human form, sweatpants twisted and his hair a crazy mess.
    He watched me stretch for a moment and then sighed. “Time for a shower.” This time I giggled when he passed me and winked.
     
    Chapter Seven
    Rob gave me orange juice to drink and told me to rest up for a little while. In an hour or so he was going to give me several physical ag ility and endurance tests. I laid down in Ethan’s spot on the couch, and caught a whiff of eucalyptus, Ethan’s signature scent, kind of an outdoorsy spicy odor. I picked up the book that he’d been reading and read the synopses on the back cover. It was a mystery about a park ranger who works to solve a murder in one of the US national parks. Ethan was definitely a guy who liked his outdoor drama. I laughed to myself and started to read.
    The next thing I knew, Ethan was sitting on the edge of the couch poking me gently in the stomach and saying, “Wake up, Speedy. You have to get tested.” I yawned and started to stretch, thought better of it, and stood up. He'd already run out the door to the front yard and so I followed him. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still soggy.
    Rob put me through my paces all right. He timed me running, although I didn’t run as fast as I could, no reason to give everything away, and measured the distance and height of my jumps. He had me doing sit ups, pull ups and running in place for what seemed like hours. Ethan lounged on the porch grinning and laughing. I wanted to drop kick the annoying asshole over the cabin roof.
    Finally Rob pointed to the right indicating an enormous oak tree and told me to climb it. Now here’s something I may not have mentioned. I really don’t like heights. When I was around eight years old, one of the other foster kids pushed me off the top of a tall slide in the playground. I broke my wrist and never climbed up another slide. From then on, I've freaked when I was up high and too close to an edge.
    “Uh, sorry, but heights aren’t really my thing.“
    ‘You can do it; just push yourself past the fear.” He looked at me confidently.
    I shook my head. “I said that I don’t like heights…ever. How about asking me to climb it when I’m a jaguar or whatever it is I’m going to be? Maybe it won’t be frightening when I’m an animal.” I shrugged and started to turn away.
    “Your human fears will affect your abilities in animal form. You need to get over this one fast.” His voice had taken on a sterner quality and I felt beads of sweat form along my hairline. Just thinking about climbing that tree was making my throat dry up.
    “Oh , c’mon, Jackie,” Ethan chimed in pushing me toward the tree, “This is easy!” He started climbing. He was like a freaking machine, pulling himself up smoothly branch by branch, until at last he sat smugly near the top, maybe 100 feet in the air, grinning down at me.
    My eyes narrowed as I looked up at him. What an arrogant ass. He 'd heard me say that I don’t like heights and he pulls this move in front of Rob. I looked up. He was actually waving at me.
    "C'mon up." I f anything was going to get me up that tree, it was Ethan sitting there taunting me with his no-fear-of-heights