Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
“You need to feel your mouse form, Julian,” Niels instructed, showing poor Julian the best techniques for him to embrace his shifted form.
I would hate to have that sort of attention on me from a teacher.
Niels seemed to zero in on the students who needed him the most, almost as if he had a fifth sense for it, sniffing out the students who had a strained relationship with their forms. I respected Niels for wanting to help them out.
Their forms were such a huge part of themselves so it couldn’t be healthy feeling so detached and annoyed at what was basically an extension of themselves.
“I’m trying!” Julian wailed, the intensity of Niels’ attention on him suddenly too much to bear. Julian ran out of the classroom, crying the whole time in despair.
“Oh, dear,” Niels mumbled, his eyes wide and surprised.
He did a quick glance at us other students with a sheepish smile.
“I guess he needs more time to process things…” Niels cleared his throat and walked with purpose towards a tiger shifter in the corner.
Her eyes widened with trepidation as he zeroed in on her, but soon her shoulders slumped in defeat. She knew better than to ignore Niels.
An hour later, I found myself doing some breathing exercises with Jamie, both of us trying our best to seem busy so Niels would leave us alone. We eyed the crying students with horror as Niels found his next victim. Who knew so many shifters weren’t content with their forms?
“Aha!” Niels exclaimed, now standing in front of Damon with a smile that made me fear for my friend’s life. “You truly need my guidance.”
Damon’s eyes widened with horror, his eyes searching the room frantically, likely seeking out his escape route. Why so many students feared facing their issues was confusing. Why wouldn’t they want to be content within themselves?
“Two forms, but the one most shifters would die to have, is the one that troubles you the most,” Niels said, walking in circles around a terrified Damon like he was assessing an art piece critically.
“Two forms?” I heard several students mutter, most now staring in awe and confusion at Damon. Jamie and I already knew one shifter who had two forms before mating, my father Xavi had both a wolf and an owl form.
“Fascinating,” Niels exclaimed, then grabbed Damon’s arm and walked out of the classroom with him, the door closing behind them.
“Um,” a girl said, a confused expression on her face. “Does this mean the class is over?”
We all stared at one another before shrugging and leaving the room. I prayed to The Magic that Damon would be fine.
“There you are!” Harpy’s happy voice exclaimed as he ran up next to me.
“Hi,” I smiled, tugging him in for a hug. “I was about to take a walk around the lake while you were in class. Want to join me?”
“Of course! My last class was cancelled. I think Niels might be sick because he never showed up.” Harpy laced our fingers as we began walking. The sun was bright today, the birds chirping happily as we enjoyed the peaceful moment together, my mate and I.
I laughed softly. “Niels isn’t sick, he simply found one student too tempting to ignore.”
Harpy shot me a confused look, so I elaborated. “Damon has two forms. I think Niels simply forgot about the rest of us students once he learned that little nugget of information.”
He shook his head, smiling. “Poor Damon. But cool for him, having two forms. I had no idea that was even possible outside of mating.”
“My father Xavi has two forms, but he’s the only one other than Damon I’d heard about,” I said.
“Hmm, makes sense that it’s a rare thing. You would need to be at peace with two separate parts of yourself. That can’t be easy.”
“I don’t think it’s different from the shifted forms you get while mated,” I said, thinking of my father Luka. “My father has four forms he got from mating and he never seemed to struggle with any of them.”
“Four?!” Harpy gasped.
I shrugged. “Well, father Xavi has two forms, then there’s my father Ray who has one and my father Tinus who’s a cat shifter like you.”
“I can’t believe you’ve got that many fathers.”
“It’s not common,” I winced, knowing I had to tell my mate who I truly was and this was the perfect opportunity. “I’m, um. I’m a prince.”
Harpy stopped walking, his eyes wide with surprise. “You’re what?!”
“I’m a prince,” I repeated, this time more seriously. “My father Luka is the King of Dule.”
“I’m mated to a fucking prince?!” Harpy shrieked.
I winced, then gave him a sheepish smile. “Yeah.”
“Gods! Will we live in a palace?!” Harpy’s tone was excited which calmed my nerves. He wasn’t angry or upset over this, thankfully.
“Yes, if we want to continue to live near my parents, which I wouldn’t be against. I have younger siblings that I adore and want to help my fathers with.”
“I wouldn’t mind living in a palace, and with our dragon forms we should be able to visit my family often, too.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “We can fly for hours at a time before we need rest once you’re better trained at flying.”
“Excuse you, it wasn’t my fault wings are hard to deal with.”
Laughing, I bumped into his side playfully. “My uncle Nox said it was instinctual, that he simply knew what to do once he got his dragon.”
“Yeah? But he wasn’t born a cat shifter, was he?” he snarked.
“No, he was a fox.”
“Damn,” Harpy muttered. “I will excel at this flying thing!”
“I know you will,” I grinned, kissing his temple.