Later that day, as the shadows grew longer and the sunlight grew weaker, June stepped through the back door of her house. Revenge had been so sweet…until she struggled to control herself. Michael would never know how close she had come to ripping him open. And now there was the stomach pain to deal with. The aching had started about halfway home, and Shifting back to human form hadn’t lessened the agony. June brushed a few leaf crumbs from her shirt; a remnant from where she’d hid her clothes before hunting down Michael.

The air in the house smelled of garlic and raw chicken, and her insides rumbled. She found Cordelia in the kitchen. Her mom’s eyes had deep black bags under them, and she was staring into the distance blankly, muttering to herself about genomes while chopping wildly with a large knife, not even looking at where she was cutting. Sure enough, on the grey speckled kitchen countertop were numerous vegetables, seasonings, and chicken breasts.

June hobbled to the pantry and slid open the door, one hand clutching her stomach. A box of protein shakes looked like the best option within the constraints of her diet, so she downed one in just a few gulps. It felt like squirting a small water gun on a large campfire—the pain was hardly affected. She couldn’t be suffering hunger pangs, as those drinks usually helped her feel full for at least several hours afterward. And she had eaten her normal breakfast, and a decent lunch. Chasing Michael hadn’t been demanding either—she only had to walk slowly to keep up with him. A cramp made her double over. She couldn’t afford to have another protein shake; they were relatively healthy, but still full of calories too.

“Mom?”

Cordelia didn’t even raise her eyes to June. Still a zombie then.

“I need help,” June said more loudly.

Silence. June’s stomach heaved again. After the wave passed, anger began to simmer. Was the Shifting causing the stomach pain? And was Cordelia really not going to help her?

“Why is my stomach hurting so much?” It was almost a shout.

Cordelia continued chopping and muttering.

June glared at her and clenched her jaw. Cordelia should have prepared her for this. But instead, for the last two years, whenever June asked Cordelia about Shifting, Cordelia always gave her the same response:

“How do you do it?” June would ask.

“It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen to you.”

“How does it feel?” June would ask.

“It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen to you.”

“How do you control it?” June would ask.

“It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen to you.”

“Do you…kill when you’re like that?” June had eventually worked up the courage to ask.

“It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen to you.”

Staring at Cordelia now, June felt the anger building up like someone shaking a soda can. “I need you to help me understand why my stomach feels like acid!” she shouted. “Is this from Shifting?”

“It doesn’t matter because it won’t happen to you,” Cordelia replied coolly as she continued chopping.

For an instant, June’s jaw almost hit the floor. Then she exploded. Her cheeks twitched. All she could see was red. She stomped up to Cordelia and swung her arms over the counter, sweeping everything to the floor. Then June Shifted. Her monstrous form exploded out of her normal body, and in the blink of an eye she was at least thirteen feet tall and a several thousand pounds of coiled muscle and black fur, crouching so she didn’t put a hole in the ceiling. “It did happen to me!” June roared so forcefully that Cordelia’s hair flew straight back.

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Cordelia’s face twisted as she staggered backward, fury and confusion in her eyes. The knife rang like a dull bell as it hit the floor. Her Shifted body exploded out of her. It was like watching something with wings and feathers come tearing out of a human being, and in a few heartbeats an owl the size of a polar bear stood in front of June, wings outstretched, eyes menacing, one taloned foot held up threateningly. Her feathers were a mixture of tan and brown, her eyes an almost neon orange. Her beak was long and curved, black, and wickedly jagged at the end. The sight of her still flooded June with awe, even in the midst of her agony. Cordelia was a massive Eurasian Eagle Owl—and one wearing a necklace with an amethyst pendant, no less. The chain was wide and long enough to not be destroyed when Cordelia Shifted. Her clothes, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well.

“Help me!” June roared.

Cordelia stretched her wings, hitting the dark blue cabinets on one side of the room and the kitchen table six feet away on the other, never making a sound. Her head tilted sideways, and her orange eyes went from narrow and menacing to wide and dismayed. She lowered her talon. Her body exploded in upon itself, and in a few seconds she was back to normal Cordelia. Her eyes were wet with tears. “Oh June, I’m so sorry.”

The tears in Cordelia’s eyes extinguished some of June’s anger. Tattered clothing lay on the floor all around them, so the awkwardness of seeing her mother naked too care of the rest of June’s anger. “Gross, go get dressed, Mom.”

Cordelia walked from the room and returned in a purple robe, a gray one in her hand for June. June Shifted back to human form and bent over in pain before she could take it from Cordelia.

Concern creased Cordelia’s forehead. “Have you eaten?”

“Just a protein shake,” June croaked.

“What were you thinking? You need to eat.” Cordelia rushed to the pantry and returned with two hands full of protein bars. “Eat. These will have to do as I don’t think you’re ready just yet for raw meat.”

June frowned at the mention of raw meat and downed one of the bars in a few bites. She paused, but her stomach still roared like a coal furnace, so she shrugged, grabbed another two bars from Cordelia, and those disappeared just as quickly. The pain in her stomach began to subside. She put on the robe, then grabbed a fourth bar and wolfed it down for good measure. Finally, a fifth left her feeling satisfied. Studying one of the empty labels, her eyes bulged when she realized how many calories she had consumed in the last few minutes. She would need to double or triple her exercise time over the next week.

“Why did my stomach hurt so badly?” June asked.

“Because you hadn’t eaten anything.” Cordelia shook her head. That was more like normal Cordelia. “Think about it,” she continued, “the drain on your body to Shift and move around as, well, what you are now. The energy required is enormous.”

“I’ll have to eat more? Why don’t you have to eat huge amounts of food?”

“I'm not nearly as large as you are. You are unusually massive for a Shifter, and you need to eat enough to support your Shifted body. Get used to hunting when you’re Shifted and eating like that. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get the protein you need, and nothing else will satisfy you like live prey. That’s where a lot of my nutrition comes from.”

A lump formed in June’s throat. “I need to eat animals?”

“Yes. Don’t act so shocked. In your human body—”

“Don’t act so shocked?” June interrupted. “Excuse me if I have no idea what I’m doing. You never told me anything!”

“Yes, yes, in hindsight that was a regrettable choice.” Cordelia clasped her hands together. “We’ll have to make up for lost time.”

June swallowed hard. She needed to eat enough to support her Shifted body? That body was enormous, and eating enough to satisfy an enormous body meant…June suddenly felt like a pile of bricks had been dumped on her shoulders. “But won’t all of this eating while Shifted affect my normal body?”

“Of course it will, you just experienced stomach pains because you hadn’t eaten and then Shifted in the house.”

“I Shifted more than that—” June cut herself off as Cordelia’s eyes went wide. “What I mean is will I, uh, gain weight from all this eating, even when I’m Shifted?”

“Oh honey, you have bigger things to worry about now than your weight.”

Cordelia may not have meant it to be insulting (though June could never quite tell), but the comment hit her like a slap. She balled her hands into fists. “You have been worrying about my weight all my life. You have taught me to worry about it too. What should I be worried about then?” Tears ran down her cheeks. The daily stream of insults June received played in her mind like a painful highlight reel, until she reminded herself she didn’t care what other people thought. Other people were stupid.

Cordelia froze and looked like she might step away. But, after a brief pause, she approached June and gave her an awkward hug.

“Why am I not an owl?” June sobbed into her shoulder.

“I’ve got some theories, but let’s not talk about that now. You are what you are, and it’s time I taught you more about Shifting.” Cordelia eyed the mess on the ground. “Sit while I salvage what I can to make dinner. You could have just tapped me on the shoulder.”

June let out a sarcastic laugh. “If only.”