formula for the squirrel, as Derek buttered his toast.
“Yes. A person becomes a Werewolf as a result of being exposed to the lycanthropy virus. Though there is some speculation that it’s more of a prion than a virus, due to its ability to actually alter DNA, but we’ll call it a virus for simplicity’s sake. That ’ s why silver is toxic to Weres , it kills the virus, but the virus is so much a part of the body that by killing the virus, you also kill the host.” Gabi could see Derek’s attention pique, but cut him off before he could ask questions. “I’m a little ignorant on the biochemistry side, so I won’t try to make sense of it for you. Jonathon would be able to answer most of your questions in that regard.”
She gently grabbed the little furball off the top of her head, cupped it in one hand, and set a tiny teat to its mouth, allowing it to begin suckling. Derek brought his cup and plate over to join her at the counter as she continued. “Shape-shifters are more like the Magi. They have a form of genetic mutation. It’s a congenital trait passed on from parent to child. Though the Shifter traits are genetically a bit hit and miss. Lord, I need a straw for my coffee,” she said, looking longingly at her coffee mug, but both her hands were occupied with feeding a content baby squirrel.
Derek grinned and reached over to lift her mug and hold it to her lips for a sip. Gabi found her eyes caught by the play of his muscles over his arms and chest. Again. She dragged her attention back to the squirrel, thinking that they were going to have to find a name for the little critter.
“What do you mean by hit and miss?” he asked her, tucking back into his peanut butter toast.
Gabi was relieved to see that, apart from the tiredness, he was looking and sounding more like himself today.
“Well, the rules are pretty straightforward with the Magi. Two Magi parents equals Magi-born children. Those children can become practising Magi when their powers show themselves at puberty, or they can ignore the powers and stay fully human.” She shrugged when she saw Derek’s disbelieving look. “Some kids don’t want to be the odd one out, puberty is a tough enough time without trying to develop and control some strange, inhuman power,” she said by way of explanation.
He helped her take another sip of coffee.
“The type and strength of the talents of Magi parents are usually prominent in the children. But Shifters don’t follow any set patterns. Two strong Shifters can produce children without an iota of ability, while a weak Shifter with a full human partner has, on occasion, produced an amazing Shifter child. Sometimes the ability skips two generations and then kicks back in in the third generation. As I said, very hit and miss.”
The squirrel had drunk its fill, and Gabi gave it a quick inspection and determined that the squirrel was a little female, then she handed it over to Razor for a wash, sure it would curl up with the cat and sleep for a few hours after that. It really was rather cute, and there was finally another girl in the house, she thought with a smile.
“There are different degrees of being a Shifter?” Derek asked as he got up to rinse his plate and mug and stack them in the dishwasher. Gabi downed the last of her coffee and pulled out a cereal bowl.
“I guess you could say that,” she agreed. “Most Shifters have one shape they’re really good at changing to, usually a largish animal, and then one or two others that they can Shift to with a bit more effort. Some of the strongest Shifters can change to almost any animal they can imagine, including some legendary ones. They’re only limited by size. There seems to be a minimum threshold at around the size of a medium-sized dog, and one of my fellow Hunters can shift to a Condor, though an unnaturally large one. On the other side of the scale, the biggest animal I’ve seen
“Yes. A person becomes a Werewolf as a result of being exposed to the lycanthropy virus. Though there is some speculation that it’s more of a prion than a virus, due to its ability to actually alter DNA, but we’ll call it a virus for simplicity’s sake. That ’ s why silver is toxic to Weres , it kills the virus, but the virus is so much a part of the body that by killing the virus, you also kill the host.” Gabi could see Derek’s attention pique, but cut him off before he could ask questions. “I’m a little ignorant on the biochemistry side, so I won’t try to make sense of it for you. Jonathon would be able to answer most of your questions in that regard.”
She gently grabbed the little furball off the top of her head, cupped it in one hand, and set a tiny teat to its mouth, allowing it to begin suckling. Derek brought his cup and plate over to join her at the counter as she continued. “Shape-shifters are more like the Magi. They have a form of genetic mutation. It’s a congenital trait passed on from parent to child. Though the Shifter traits are genetically a bit hit and miss. Lord, I need a straw for my coffee,” she said, looking longingly at her coffee mug, but both her hands were occupied with feeding a content baby squirrel.
Derek grinned and reached over to lift her mug and hold it to her lips for a sip. Gabi found her eyes caught by the play of his muscles over his arms and chest. Again. She dragged her attention back to the squirrel, thinking that they were going to have to find a name for the little critter.
“What do you mean by hit and miss?” he asked her, tucking back into his peanut butter toast.
Gabi was relieved to see that, apart from the tiredness, he was looking and sounding more like himself today.
“Well, the rules are pretty straightforward with the Magi. Two Magi parents equals Magi-born children. Those children can become practising Magi when their powers show themselves at puberty, or they can ignore the powers and stay fully human.” She shrugged when she saw Derek’s disbelieving look. “Some kids don’t want to be the odd one out, puberty is a tough enough time without trying to develop and control some strange, inhuman power,” she said by way of explanation.
He helped her take another sip of coffee.
“The type and strength of the talents of Magi parents are usually prominent in the children. But Shifters don’t follow any set patterns. Two strong Shifters can produce children without an iota of ability, while a weak Shifter with a full human partner has, on occasion, produced an amazing Shifter child. Sometimes the ability skips two generations and then kicks back in in the third generation. As I said, very hit and miss.”
The squirrel had drunk its fill, and Gabi gave it a quick inspection and determined that the squirrel was a little female, then she handed it over to Razor for a wash, sure it would curl up with the cat and sleep for a few hours after that. It really was rather cute, and there was finally another girl in the house, she thought with a smile.
“There are different degrees of being a Shifter?” Derek asked as he got up to rinse his plate and mug and stack them in the dishwasher. Gabi downed the last of her coffee and pulled out a cereal bowl.
“I guess you could say that,” she agreed. “Most Shifters have one shape they’re really good at changing to, usually a largish animal, and then one or two others that they can Shift to with a bit more effort. Some of the strongest Shifters can change to almost any animal they can imagine, including some legendary ones. They’re only limited by size. There seems to be a minimum threshold at around the size of a medium-sized dog, and one of my fellow Hunters can shift to a Condor, though an unnaturally large one. On the other side of the scale, the biggest animal I’ve seen
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