"What... what the h.e.l.l are you?" He asks with an edge to his voice. I smirk at him as I say "Hmm... your end?" Queen Cara's laughter surprises everyone, including myself. I honestly forgot she was still here.

Kian runs over and puts himself between the two of us as he pushes the other elf back and says "Leave! I'll deal with you later." He quickly turns around and grabs both sides of my face, surprising me yet again.

He looks my face over before asking "Are you hurt?" I blink at him in surprise and feel myself calm. I blink again as my eyes and everything else slowly returns to normal. I try to pull away from him but he doesn't release me as he demands "Are you hurt!?"

I awkwardly shake my head no and say "Let me go" He hesitates for a moment before slowly releasing me but he doesn't move away. Instead, we both glare at Queen Cara. She stands to the side watching everything with excitement.

"Was that the s.h.i.+fter thing you were talking about?" She asks like a little child, full of wonder. I feel a ma.s.sive headache coming on as I say "Yes" She then begins her chin tapping thing again as she says "I apologize. Maybe I've gone about this all wrong. You're clearly different so your magic must also be different. Can you s.h.i.+ft into your other form?"

I look at her with a perplexed look before asking "Now?" She eagerly nods her head as she says "Yes. I think it'll help me better understand you." I want to tell her to go to h.e.l.l but she does have a point.

I call my other half and with just a thought, I'm on all fours. Kian sucks in as Queen Cara's eyes light up with wonder. She steps forward and asks "Can you still understand me in this form?" I huff out in annoyance and nod my leopard head as my long tail swishes back and forth in irritation.

She stops right before me and raises her hand out asking "Can I touch you?" I want to bare my teeth at her but instead, I roll my eyes and lean my head over to her. Her excitement grows as she gently touches my soft fur, stroking it gently as she says "s.h.i.+fters... what a wonderful thing..."

She suddenly asks "Are you in this form a lot?" I shake my head no as she quickly says "I want you to stay in this form until I tell you to s.h.i.+ft back." This time I do bare my teeth at her as she looks into my eyes and says "Trust me"

I stare at her for a moment before huffing out and nodding my head in agreement. She looks like her mind is racing with thoughts as she says "I want you to eat, sleep and really live in this form. I always felt a disconnect within you and it's so much stronger in this form. They're both you. You need to embrace this side of you so that you can become stronger."

She stands up and starts walking around me as she looks at me from every angle saying "Once you're in balance with both sides, your magic will flow freely. Like it's supposed to. Hmmm... I need to go to my library. If you two need me, you know where to find me."

She doesn't say another word as she suddenly disappears, leaving me and Kian standing in awkward silence. He looks over to me and steps closer as he asks "Can I touch you?" At this point, I give up.

I lean my head over and let him pet me as I think about what the Queen said. When she said to eat and sleep in this form... did she mean for me to... to hunt!? I've never hunted before... Can I even hunt?

When I feel my hungry clawing at me I think back to my coffee and cookies with a broken heart. "Are you hungry?" Kian asks with worry when he hears my stomach rumbling. I nod my head with a sigh making him frown.

He slowly stands up and says "Avoid the Enchanted forest to the East. On the other side of the palace, there's another forest with normal animals. You should be able to hunt there." I slowly look in the direction he's pointing in with despair.

When he sees the look, he frowns a little and asks "Do you know how to hunt?" I hang my head in shame and slowly shake my head. I can hear the smile in his voice as he says "Then we'll go together. I'll teach you how to hunt."

My head whips up to look at him in surprise and almost turn him down but when I think about how hungry I am... I give in. He smiles at me as he says "I just need to arrange a few things. I'll meet you at the forest's edge."

I give him one last look before walking away. When I finally walk outside, I cut through the garden. While walking through the garden, I hear a woman scream so loud that I instantly jump and fluff up in fear. My nails dig into the ground as I look around for danger when the female elf screams "A Beast!!"

I look around for a split second before wanting to slap myself. My fur is currently three times its size as I turn and keep walking. She makes it sound like she saw a monster... Hasn't she ever seen a large cat? That's basically what I am... a large house cat that can't even hunt. As I walk further away, I hear what sounds like guards making their way over to the woman.

I decide to pick up the pace and quickly leave the garden. When I reach the forest, I pause and stare at it with a nervous twitch to my tail. I shouldn't be scared, right? Right... I look back behind me and decide to wait for Kian inside the forest. I won't go too far in but if I stand right on the outside, those guards may try and put an arrow in my a.s.s.