Pearl looked very confused. "Mama is not a shifter."
"That is right Pearl. She is a vampire."
"But she shifted." I could hear them talking behind Paddy as he carried me back to our quarters.
"Yes I know. Only we can make Mama shift."
"We can?"
"You can only do it when Papa is with you because you can hurt Mama very badly."
"Oh yes I do not want to hurt Mama." I glanced at her as they followed us.
Paddy put me down and helped me to chair. Pearl snuggled into me. "Mama what were those creatures you turned into?"
"We were dragons." I said softly caressing her hair.
"Dragons. They are very beautiful."
"Yes they are."
Pearl fell asleep beside me Paddy was sitting on the other side of me. "She is so curious."
"All our children are. It is nice to see things through their eyes."
"Yes. It makes everything new again." Paddy said.
"That it does Dad." Quinn said.
The next day after Pearl woke up Paddy found her trying to shift into a dragon.
"Papa I can not do it." She said frustrated.
"Do what?" He asked.
"I want to become a dragon like you and Mama."
"Give your self time Pearl. You are just learning how to do the small animals. It takes time to learn how to do the bigger ones."
"Did it take you long time Papa?"
"Yes it did."
"Oh all right." She sighed.
"Do not worry you will be a dragon soon."
"If you say so." She sighed again.
"Pearl you have only been shifting for two months. Cassie has been doing it for four hundred years so has Quinn. John for two hundred years. I have been shifting for a thousand years. We have had a lot of practice. Do not be so hard on yourself."
"All right Papa." She hugged him.
"That is my girl." He combed her long brown hair with white tips.
"Lunch is ready." I said from the kitchen.
They came and sat at the table, I served them their food. Pearl did not say anything until she was finished eating.
"Mama when you were a dragon were you hungry for food?"
"No I do not remember being hungry for food." I told her.
"Oh?" She said confused.
"It is different for your mother Pearl. She will still desire blood no matter what animal I shift her into." Paddy told her.
"Interesting," she nodded, "when can I try shifting Mama?"
"That will be a while yet. You still have to learn how to control your own shifting first." Paddy told her, "But I will teach you when you are ready." She brighten at this.
Wilbert's son, Pedro returned to the cave at the end of May. He told everyone who was going to Great Britain to be ready in the next few days. He has a shipment going there.
We had quite a lot of people going our entire family, Councilman Antonio was a little homesick, Athos was going with Arthur, Councilwoman Anna was expecting another child. She did not want to risk the baby. Hugo and Curtis were eager to see if any of our kind had any run-ins with the creature tracker.
