It was late when Nafarius let himself into Thomas’ office. He had hoped to arrive earlier but the late hour guaranteed privacy.
Thomas rose as Nafarius entered; after shaking hands he offered the pack leader a seat in the chair across from his desk. Weighed down with books and paper, the desk itself was buried and looked as if it might collapse at any moment. Nafarius wasn’t surprised however when Thomas was able to lay his hands on the very book he wanted. “What did you find?”
Thomas looked over his glasses at Nafarius. “I’m afraid the new isn’t good.”
Nafarius felt a cold fist of dread settle in the pit of his stomach. “Tell me.”
“When you first told me of your mates… ability… I was surprised.” Thomas gave a brief wave of his hand, “not of the ability itself but by the fact that I remember reading of it once before. When I first started my position here as a historian I sought to read the lycanthropes’ entire history. Not a small undertaking, mind you. I quickly realized that wasn’t possible, nor was it my primary function. As you know, the historians are here to observe and record all lycan history – not just the werewolves. Still, in those early days I came across some very old, very obscure text that referred to an extinct breed of lycanthrope. My curiosity was peaked but other responsibilities quickly took me away from any further research. Unfortunately, I never got back to it but it was something I never forgot.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with Sam.”
Thomas smiled, his excitement at what he found, overshadowing his earlier warning. “Ah, but it does. You see, it’s why they were rendered extinct that is so interesting. Apparently, several thousand years ago there was a race of lycans that wasn’t actually lycans – they were shape-shifters.”
Nafarius frowned, “what’s the difference?”
Thomas turned the book around and pointed to several sections. “As you know, lycanthrope originally referred to a werewolf. Eventually the term came to refer to a man or woman that could change into any animal form – not just that of a wolf. Werewolves are by far the most common of the lycans but they aren’t the only ones.” At Nafarius’ nod, he continued. “Shapeshifter, or just Shifters as they came to be known, could change into any animal.”
Nafarius stared down at the book. It was an ancient text and depicted several men and women changing into various exotic animals, a few of them had changed into some sort of hybrid with the head of one animal and the body of another. Looking up at Thomas, he said, “I still don’t see what this has to do with Sam.”
“I’m getting to that. Shifters considered themselves to be the elite of the species but not because of their ability to take on many forms but because of what they referred to as their “God like power” to control and prevent others from change.”
“Sam,” Nafarius whispered.
Thomas nodded. “It didn’t take long before the Shifters set themselves up as Gods. They used their powers to enslave lycans, mainly by preventing them from changing or forcing them to remain in animal form.”
Nafarius rested his elbows on his knees and stared down at the floor between his feet. It didn’t take much to figure out what happened. He couldn’t imagine anything worse then being cut off from either part of himself. To be forced to stay in human form, never able to touch the wolf would surely drive him mad. The same could be said for remaining in animal form. To never be able to take human form would slowly eat away at what self-awareness a lycan had while in animal form. Eventually, there would be very little of the human left. “What happened?”
Thomas shrugged, “what always happens when one race seeks to enslave another – the lycans revolted. A Shifter’s ability was not limitless; an individual Shifter could only control a few lycans at a time. Once the lycans realized this, they worked to gather their numbers and over powered the Shifters. Most of the Shifters fled but they were systematically hunted down and destroyed.”
Thomas closed the book and went to set it back on the shelf. “It wasn’t hard to do; Shifters feared that breeding with anyone other then another pure bred Shifter would dilute their race. In the end, there were very few of them and most of those were either very young or very old.”
“If they were hunted to extinction, how do you explain Sam’s ability? She can’t be a Shifter; she’s only ever changed into a wolf.” Nafarius couldn’t stop the shiver of fear that slid up his spin.
“You want my theory? Because that is all it is,” Thomas said. “I suspect that more then one Shifter escaped the slaughter and went into hiding. It would have been possible for them to pick one form as their animal and stick to it, blending into whatever pack they could find. I also suspect that, despite their fears, many of the Shifters took lycan lovers with pregnancy a likely result. Who’s to say that those offspring didn’t acquire the ability to control other lycans? As for your mate, I think that if you look back far enough you’ll find either a lycan or a descendant of a Shifter in her family tree.”
“So, when I infected her?” Nafarius asked.
“More then likely you didn’t infect her so much as wake up a dormant gene.” Thomas watched as the pack leader absorbed that bit of information. The chances of such a thing were astronomical yet here they sat. The history books had been clear, though it was hard to separate truth from fiction when something was so old. “Nafarius,” Thomas called softly. “I assume from your request that I keep your inquiry and my research private that you comprehend the seriousness of the situation.”
“I am well aware of what this could mean.” Nafarius said.
Thomas shook his head, “with all due respect, I don’t think you do. From everything I read, Shifters were not just feared, they were despised. They thought of themselves as the next step on the evolutionary chain while the rest of the lycans saw them as abominations.”
“Sam is not an abomination!” Nafarius snarled.
Thomas held up his hands, a gesture of peace. “Of course not,” he said. “Nafarius, we’ve known each other for a very long time. I consider myself lucky to call you a friend despite our differences.” Nafarius smiled at the reference to their animals. “But my position here is neutral, my job is to gather information and report it, without censor.”
“I know,” Nafarius said. “How long do I have?”
“My next report to the Archives isn’t for another six weeks. I can avoid adding this information to the public records here until right before I make my report. However, once the Archives have my report, the Council will see it. Even without the background history, your mate’s ability is something the Council will want investigated.”