Page 15 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“Those were exactly not the words I wanted to hear come out of your mouth,” I said. “Before you tell me the bad news, is there any good news coming?”

“Well, sort of,” Mae said. “It depends on how you look at it.”

“Trina, didn’t give you some werewolf turning potion,” Hilda pointed out.

“That’s good,” I nodded.

“It does mean there is no cure,” Hilda explained. “There’s no antidote you can take to turn you into something else or turn you back into what you were.”

“What are all those then?” I asked, motioning to the potions strewn on my kitchen island.

“These are just tonics to help smooth the transition.”

“What transition?”

“You’re transitioning into being a werewolf,” Hilda said, as if it was an obvious fact I had already accepted.

“I did not agree to transition into a werewolf,” I argued. “I did not agree to it at all. You guys did this. Turn me back.”

“We can’t.” Mae sat on a stool at the kitchen table.

“You have to be able to turn me back. You turned me into this.” My voice rose in pitch as my anxiety bubbled over. I couldn’t actually be a werewolf.

“Well, we didn’t quite do that,” Hilda spoke calmly, clearly trying to settle me down.

“Well, Trina did,” I insisted.

“In fact, she didn’t,” Mae shook her head.

“Well, then who did?” I asked in confusion.

“Trina gave you a tonic.” Mae put the kettle on as she spoke. “But it wasn’t a tonic to turn you into a werewolf.”

“That’s what it did though,” I pointed out.

“It was a tonic to bring out your latent supernatural powers.”

“Latent?” I asked.

“You’ve been a werewolf all along. You just were never transforming into the wolf.” Hilda clarified succinctly.

“What are you talking about?” I said. “If I was a werewolf, I would know about it.”

“Well, you know about it now,” Hilda chuckled, measuring different concoctions into a tea pot.

“I didn’t agree to know about it now. I didn’t agree to be a werewolf.”

“There have been shifters in these parts for probably a thousand years,” Hilda said. “They were the first people here. You just have some shifter blood in you. There’s different types of animals, you just happen to be a wolf.”

“Does that mean all my family are wolves?” I asked. “My son?”

“We’ll have to see if he shifts,” Hilda said, “but there’s a good chance he has the gene too. For some reason, it does skip generations, but it must’ve been laying dormant in your bloodline for a long time if you’ve never heard anything of it or never been chased out of town.”

“Well, we did come here unexpectedly. That’s the story we were always told. My grandfather got a DUI and lost his driver’s license and couldn’t get to work in Iowa, so him and my grandmother had to come out to California where he could live walking distance from work. He worked at the gas station, just there.” I pointed northeast of the cottage.

“Well, your grandfather was probably a werewolf. They often hide it, like a disease.”

“So, I guess that’s good news. Grandpa wasn’t an alcoholic he was a werewolf,” I said, shaking my head. My bones started to ache. “If I’m a werewolf, where is my pack?”

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