33 Table Turning

"She is like us, Papa. Like you, and me, and Grandpa," Hunter said to his father.

Silverio blinked twice and smiled at his son. He returned to slicing his steak, as though he had heard something only vaguely interesting.

"Is she now?" Silverio asked without looking up from his plate.

"She is," Hunter answered. His own plate was still untouched. He continued to hold Ash's hand under the table.

Silverio chewed carefully on a piece of steak. He took a sip of water. He set the glass down and placed both of his hands on the table, palms flat.

"And how is she the same as you, me, and your grandfather?" he asked his son.

Hunter stood abruptly, dragging Ash to stand up with him. Ash rose to her feet, unsteadilly. She felt Hunter's grip on her hand and squeezed back. She didn't know what was going on, but she sensed Hunter's energy and she readied herself. She felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck as her muscles tensed.

Without warning, Hunter slammed down his fist on the table. The plates and the cutlery clattered, and his mother gasped in surprise. Staring angrily at his father, Hunter started to shift at the table. As his eyes changed from blue to amber and his teeth sharpened inside his mouth, he tugged hard on Ash's hand. Ash felt an electric blue surge pass from Hunter's body and into her own.

Without thinking, she slammed her own fist on the table and gave a guttural yell as she felt a sharp pain trail down the length of her spine. Her brown eyes turned golden yellow and her grown sharp teeth cut into her human lips. She felt a strange sensation go through her hands and she watched as the fingers on her right hand grew into claws.

"Enough!" Silverio shouted, banging his fist on the table. The cutlery was really jumping tonight.

Ash snapped out of her daze and looked at Silverio. The older man was still seated at the head of the table. Hunter's mother had a hand to her chest and her eyes were wide, but she was still seated as well.

Hunter shifted back to full human form easily, but Ash stayed stuck at the first phase of transformation. The world around her looked and smelled different, and she didn't know what to do with the information her wolf brain was receiving. She was around smaller animals, but these were the animals that she knew not to eat.

Suddenly a pair of human hands were around her face and a set of blue eyes were staring at her.

"Ash, baby, you need to come back now,' the blue-eyed one said, looking into her face.

[Baby,] Ash thought. It had a nice ring to it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, the world was dimmer and quieter. She felt very tired. She slumped down into the dining chair.

"Well," Silverio said, lacing his fingers together. "It seems you have brought home a mate."

Girlfriend? Mate? These men were deciding among themselves who she was and they didn't even think to ask her about it. It was so annoying.

Ash's breath was ragged. She looked at Silverio and then turned to Hunter.

"You know," she wheezed, "you really should give me a heads up about these things."

From dim, the world turned completely black, as Ash passed out in the dining chair.