I climbed onto my bed, being careful not to stress the frame. I knew it wasn't designed for my weight, so I moved slowly. The moment my head hit the mattress, I was out.

  I remember feeling the warmth of the sun on my fur. Mossy grass beneath my pads. Then I was back on the mountain where I had first shifted. Jayce sat beside me. Then the sky darkened and thunder clapped. Men in black riot gear burst out of the bushes, grabbed Jayce. I shouted but no sound came out. I couldn't move. They took Jayce. Then he called to me.

  "Alex!"

  I snapped awake. Every muscle clenched. Wood snapped and I went weightless for an instant, then hit the ground.

  "What?"

  "Dude, you were having a nightmare. You were moaning and kicking. And… well…"

  I looked. I had snapped the frame in half. The mattress now sagged through the cross braces onto the floor.

  "Dang it," I said.

  "Bad dream?"

  "The worst."

  "Me too," he said.

  "Did it feature men in black uniforms taking your family away?"

  "Actually, no. I was at the mall. With you. Just bought you a new beanie. Then I saw fur on my arm, and I transformed right there. Huge. Way huger than I probably will be when I eventually… anyways, everybody was running and screaming. One lady tripped while she was running. I went to comfort her, but I… squished her."

  "Oh," I said.

  "Then I heard you freaking out and woke up."

  "Well," he said. "Let's get your bedframe out of the way so you can sleep."

  He worked, pulling the frame members apart by hand and stacking them against the wall. The mattress now sat directly on the floor. Jayce patted it with a grin. "At least this way you won't break anything."

  "Thanks," I said, settling down. "So, did he tell you?"

  "Yeah. He told me. About everything. I get it. Hate it, but I get it. Still feels like he should have told us."

  "Yeah he should have." I shifted my weight to look at Jayce a little better. "But he loves us."

  Jayce sighed. "Again, you're probably right." He shook his head. "I hate this. He always told me he didn't trust people in uniforms. Probably why he could never 'find' our social security numbers or birth certificates. We just don't have them."

  "He doesn't want those people to find us. All we know is they make shifters disappear. I don't know about you, but I really would prefer not to disappear," I said.

  "Me neither," Jayce said, resting his arm across his forehead.

  "I'm not sure what to do next," I said. "I can't live inside forever. I need some kind of life… you know… a normal life. How can any of that be possible now?"

  Jayce sighed. "I always saw myself with something resembling a normal life. But this? This is crazy. At least we're not alone."

  I nodded. "And John has experience. He'll teach us to run, hunt, how to properly kill a deer with our bare teeth."

  "Well," Jayce said, flopping onto his back. "First step is sleep. You can still do that without spontaneously destroying furniture, right?"

  "No promises. I still see a few things I can break."

  "Just not the lamp, please?"

  "Agreed. Good night, Jayce."

  The lamp turned off and Jayce rustled his covers in the dark. "Good night, bro."

  "Jayce?" I said.

  "Yeah?"

  "I love you."

  A small chuckle. "I love you too, bro."

  The next thing I remember was sunlight; faint traces of it peeking through the shades. The house was cold, but I didn't mind. Fur beats cold any time. Jayce slept with one arm over his eyes, drool oozing from his mouth. I slowly moved out of the room so I wouldn't wake him up. I pushed the door closed gently until I heard it click. I stretched a big catlike stretch, front paws as far forward, butt as high as I could, feeling the pull in my hind legs, tail straight up. I yawned and shook my head, feeling the fur flap back and forth against my ears. Waking up lion beat waking up human—paws down.

  John sat in his recliner watching me stretch with an amused smile. With one hand, he sipped coffee. With the other he held a newspaper.

  "Hey, Alex. It's good to see you like that."

  "Yeah," I chuckled. "I like it too. Say… you wanna, I don't know… maybe… hike way out into the woods and be real? For a while?"

  "So eager," John said. "That sounds great. But I need to work. Maybe soon."

  Soon. I knew that word. Knew what it meant. It did not mean soon. It meant never.

  "Hey," John started. "Now that you've graduated, I think it's time you start working. Both you and Jayce. It might help take your mind off things. Work has always helped me focus. Why don't you work shadow me today. See what it's all about."

  "Maybe. Let me talk with Jayce first. Give me a minute." I turned and padded to the bedroom where Jayce was still asleep. I rested my head on his stomach. A little too heavily. He made a soft 'oof' sound then opened his eyes. "What? Couldn't wait for me to wake up naturally?"

  I shook my head, which ended up shaking his entire body.

  "You're ridiculous." He stretched and yawned. "What couldn't wait?"

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "John wants us to get jobs," I muttered, still resting my head on his stomach.

  "You're doing a total cat thing right now, dude."

  "I am a total cat."

  "Doesn't mean you can wake me up before I want to."

  I chuffed. "I think it does."

  "It doesn't."

  "Did you hear me?" I asked.

  "Yes, I heard you. John. Jobs. Blah blah. He's wanted us to get jobs forever."

  "Yeah, but before we've always had good reasons not to."

  "Where?" he laughed. "At the mill? With all the other old farts in the town?"

  "Unless you can think of something else."

  Jayce's eyes wandered the room. "I've got nothing. Think John would let us borrow the car?"

  "So we could…"

  "Drive into town. Where the real jobs are?"

  "I mean… maybe? But isn't the mill—"

  "I hate the mill," Jayce said. His voice was cold, and I could feel him shake beneath the comforter.

  I pushed down on him, just a little more firmly with my chin. He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry," he said. His free hand rested on the back of my head, finding that spot between my ears again.

  "I told John we needed jobs together. You know, since you're watching me… and I'm watching you. You see me turning golden, you'll help. I see you turning orange, I'll help. Plus, I've heard mill workers are mean."

  "What the crap are you even talking about?"

  "I don't know. Just rambling now. But you're not moody anymore."

  "Am too."

  "No you aren't."

  "Oh geez. Make it stop."

  Jayce pushed my head away and rolled upright, wiping sleep from his eyes. "When did he suggest we undertake this glorious misadventure?"

  "He didn't say, but I think he wants today."

  "What do you want?" he asked.

  "I want to hike."

  Jayce nodded. "Then hike we shall. I'll go talk with dad," he said.

  The door closed and I heard muffled voices chattering beyond. Then the front door shut and footsteps approached. Jayce opened the door, then leaned against the frame looking way too pleased with himself.

  "I told dad we were hanging out at home today. That you needed space and didn't know how to ask for it."

  "Did he buy it?"

  "Enough to leave us alone," Jayce said. "You have a plan yet?"

  "Not really. Just go. Out. Somewhere high and far."

  "Somewhere high and far," Jayce said nodding. "And you're going like that?"

  I looked down at my paws. "Why not?"

  Jayce shook his head slowly. "We'll deal. Just be ready to hide if we run into anybody."

  Jayce left the house first, doing a quick scan of the trail before I made my appearance. Running into a hiker was a real possibility. One we both wanted to avoid. He returned to the house a moment later and waved me out.

  "The coast is clear. No hikers."

  "Great," I said, stepping through the threshold. The moment sunlight hit my fur, I breathed deep and filled my lungs with that fresh mountain air.

  "Dude," Jayce said. "You look so much happier."

  "I am so much happier," I said. "Don't really feel like I belong indoors. Not like this, at least."

  We walked together up the trail. I sniffed and felt for movement as best as I could. Jayce listened, but his hearing was no match for mine. We needed to be careful. As we moved uphill, I remembered this hike as a human. The burn in my muscles. The breathlessness in my chest. But today, like this, no burn. No fatigue. My legs felt eager; like my body weighed less, which I knew wasn't possible.

  Jayce slouched as he walked. He smiled, trying to be positive, but I knew him well enough to know he wasn't okay. Then I had an idea.

  "You wanna ride?"

  "Ride? Ride what?"

  "Me. On my back. I'm strong enough."

  "You actually want to do that?"

  "Could be fun. Besides, anything is better than you in this funk."

  I stopped and lowered my body to the ground. Jayce just stared at me.

  "Get on," I said, growing impatient.

  "Dude. This is weird. Like super weird."

  "It's me, Jayce. I've given you piggy back rides before."

  Jayce scratched his forehead. "Not like this, you haven't."

  "Just try it, bro. If you don't like it, we'll stop."

  He chewed his lip for another moment before he said, "Alright, alright. Just… stay still." I felt his boot slide from my spine down my left side. Then his heels clunked against my ribs. "Do you have to kick me?" I asked.

  "Just testing my footing."

  I knew he was probably just kicking me for the heck of it. It didn't hurt, but at that moment I felt like I was part horse. I stood, lifting him off the ground like he weighed nothing.

  "Woah," he said, yanking against my fur. I stood still, letting him settle. "Not gonna lie. This is the weirdest thing we've ever done together. How did you talk me into this again?"

  "Because I care."

  "Yeah, yeah." Jayce sighed. Then his hand patted my back.

  "Ready?" I asked.

  "Ready as ever, dude. Just don't throw me off. You're hard to hold on to."

  I took a few steps up the trail, feeling his weight rock back and forth near my shoulders.

  "You stable up there?" I asked. I couldn't tell how far off the ground he was, but I could tell a fall would hurt.

  "Yeah. Feels fine. Dang, that's weird to say."

  Over the next half-mile, he slowly relaxed his grip on my mane. The sun shone through the trees, bathing patches of the trail in gold. I relished those. He could tell, since I slowed every time the light hit my fur, or the dirt warmed my pads.

  "Dude, you really like the sun, don't you?"

  "Yeah. I totally see why cats do the whole sunbathing thing."

  "Where are you taking us?"

  I shrugged and felt him grip tighter for a second. "Up. Away from people. That's as far as I got with my plan."

  "There's a lake over that ridge." He pointed toward one of the ridgelines running between two peaks ahead. "But it'll take forever to get there."

  "Forever?" I laughed. "Challenge accepted. You got a good grip?"

  "Yeah, wh—"

  I bolted. He held tight to clumps of fur as we moved like a blur through the forest. The wind whistled through my whiskers. The trail split to the left and I took it. I scanned the path, placing my steps where I wouldn't cut my pads on jagged rocks. I kept my claws retracted while running. Sometimes, my footfalls would cause them to extend, catching on something. But I'd just yank them free and keep running.

  The trail curved back and forth up the hillside. I ignored the switchbacks made for humans without stamina and sprinted between trees and fallen branches. Jayce's grip tightened. The muscles in his hands trembled. I didn't know if it was from exhaustion or adrenaline, but I knew he wouldn't be able to hang on much longer. Thankfully, he wouldn't need to. We reached the ridgeline and I slowed to a walk. Only then did I realize Jayce had been hugging my neck for dear life.

  "You okay?" I said, laughing.

  "I will be. Once I stop shaking," Jayce said as he cautiously released his grip.

  "Was it fun? I hope I didn't scare you into a change of pants. For both our sakes," I laughed.

  Jayce's voice shook. "I'm fine. My pants are fine. Barely. It was just a little… scary. At times. Basically from when I got on until now." He eased his grip slightly. "Where did we end up? I had my eyes closed."

  "At the ridge," I said.

  Jayce was silent for a moment. "Bro, that ridge was like a two-hour hike. That took you what? Five minutes?"

  "Well, they say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line."

  "Nerd," he said.

  "Lion-nerd, thank you very much," I said.

  We paused for a moment to look around. Behind us, the valley opened wide. A slight blue haze hung in the air. Ahead was the most beautiful alpine lake we'd ever seen. It took me roughly two seconds before my eyes locked onto a massive, flat rock on the shore of the lake bathed in direct, warm sunlight. I salivated. For a rock.

  "I know where I'm going."

  "Where?"

  I nodded toward the rock. Jayce laughed. "You're such a cat."

  I smirked. "Yes, I am."

  I took us toward the rock. It was even better up close; a large slab of granite that looked like it had landed in the lake eons ago.

  "You might want to get off for this next part," I said. "Don't wanna crush your legs."

  Jayce scampered down and stood beside me, giving my neck a pat. Then he scratched behind my ears.

  "I'm not complaining, but why do you keep doing that?"

  "Because you're a very good kitty."

  "Bro," I said flatly.

  He laughed. "You have fun with your rock. I'm gonna go climb that tree."

  Jayce walked toward the tree he'd spotted while I settled down onto the rock; first front paws, then back legs, then I rolled onto my side and let the sun's gentle caresses take me away. The rock was already hot from hours of sunlight. The radiant heat warmed my left side while the sunshine baked my right. Both halves of my body were very, very happy.

  I yawned and stretched—paws over my head, legs kicked out as far as I could reach them. My tail wagged back and forth. I extended my claws to their full length, slicing through the air as my eyelids fluttered shut. I was nearly asleep when I heard it: a faint, mechanical click. Definitely not natural. I opened my eyes and lifted my head. My ears rotated in semicircles trying to track the noise.

  Then I saw him.

  Other side of the lake, wearing khaki shorts and knee-length socks. A middle-aged man with an orange cap stood at the water's edge. He had something in his hands. My eyes focused, and a cold fear gripped my chest.

  A camera. He had a camera. And it was raised—pointed straight at me.