I lay down next to Lillie, doubting I can do anything to help except wait patiently. I watch her sleep, just like when Vivitina shifted, and think about the new information Charlotte told us.

“Well, I can’t say everything is okay, but it’s not as bad as we thought.” Charlotte says, stepping over the door again before moving it out of the way.

What happened?

“Well, I caught up to her and asked what she saw. Thankfully, she had just walked in and didn’t see either of you shift. She was too afraid to come in sooner when she heard you growling, so she called animal control. I tried to convince her that she only saw two large cats, but she wasn’t having that.”

So, she doesn’t know it’s us?

“No, I don’t think so. We need to get you guys out of here before animal control arrives.” I nod in agreement. If animal control were to catch us, we’d be lucky if they just take us to a tiger sanctuary or zoo. We can’t escape from the back either, since Tina lives in a suburb-type area with houses lined up behind her as well as in front. I can even hear children playing outside.

Let me shift back and we can carry Lillie to the car. If I drive her home, Dad and I will help Lillie shift back.

That sounds good. I’ll deal with animal control. Let’s hope there are some stray cats that look like large tigers around here.”

I shift back and grab an outfit out of Lillie’s closet. I wrap Lillie in a blanket so she’s less conspicuous and try picking her up. She starts to stir so I put her down and we repeat this a couple more times.

“Dang. It would be better for her if she could wake up on her own.” She pauses for a moment. “Let me go get Tina’s yoga mat.”

She runs off and grabs the mat. We quickly transfer Lillie over before carrying her down and loading her into Charlotte’s back seat. I get in to drive just as the animal control truck pulls up to the curve. 

“Are you going to be okay?” I ask.

“I’ll be fine. Get going and I’ll follow after I deal with this.” I nod before shutting the door, backing out.

I pull into the drive and am a little surprised to see Viv sitting on the front porch.

 “Hey, what’re you doing out here?” I ask as I get out of the car.

“Waiting for you. Dad told me about Charlotte and said you went over to help calm down Lillie.” She gets up and starts walking toward me.

“Yeah. Can you help me move her into the house?” I ask, opening the back door. Vivitina nods, with a confused look on her face.

“What happened? Dad only said she was freaking out.” Viv grabs the end of the yoga mat and I carefully slide her out, grabbing the other side.

“I guess she was just that scared. She was already in the middle of shifting when we got there, but she fought the shift and almost didn’t make it.” Viv stills halfway up the yard, with a sharp and concerned look. 

“You’re not saying she almost died, are you?” I couldn’t bring myself to say it, so I just nodded. Viv closes her eyes as her nose scrunches from bringing her eyebrows together. She takes a deep breath before relaxing her face and continuing up the yard. When we get to the door, Viv uses her elbow to ring the doorbell.

“Coming, girls!” Dad yells, coming down the stairs.

“Is Mom still at work?” I ask. Viv nods as the door opens. Dad raises an eyebrow before standing out of the way. We bring Lillie in and I notice they had put the coffee table back, blocking any space to put her down.

“Dad, can you move the coffee table again?” He does and we put Lillie down. She stirs when she hits the floor and we hold our breath.

Slowly, her eyes open and she lays there for a moment, not fully awake. She raises her head and looks around, confused. I sit down beside her.

“We had to bring you here because Tina heard me growling and called animal control.” I answer her unasked question.

“Did she see you or Lillie shift? And where is Charlotte?” Dad asks.

“No, but she did walk in right afterwards. Animal control arrived as I left, so Charlotte is dealing with them.” I tell them.

Lillie makes a series of chuffing and growling sounds like she is trying to talk.

“Oh, try to imagine saying what you want to say to us without actually talking.” I realize I haven’t had the time to tell her about our telepathy but she picks it up quickly.

Mother Tina knows?

“Well, she doesn’t know the tigers in your room were us.” I repeat.

“And she can’t. Apparently, there is some counsel that goes after normal people who know unnecessarily. So the less people we tell, the better,” Viv says, matter-of-factly.

What about you, Mr. Wyatt? And Mother Charlotte.

“I think that’s a better conversation to have when Charlotte gets here.” Dad says, looking at his phone. “For now, are you ready to shift back?”

Lillie shakes her head, tail moving side to side and her ears move down. Knowing her, she’s scared of the pain.

“You’re going to have to shift back eventually.” Vivitina tells her, reading her body language the same way.

“And the more you shift, the easier it is. I don’t even feel pain anymore.” I chime in. Lillie is quiet for a moment before coming up with an excuse.

But won't I sleep for a long time afterwards? I want to be awake when Mother Charlotte gets back.

“That would be okay, but Tina went and told Emma about seeing y'all and now she’s on her way home. We won’t be able to continue this until she leaves again and she needs to see you’re okay if we want to avoid a missing person problem. I promise you’ll be a part of the conversation, okay?”

“Imagine yourself as a human, and don’t fight the pain. Just let it ride this time.” I tell her. She shakes her head.

I’ll just hide in my room here.

“And when Tina goes looking for you? Or should she continue believing a tiger ate you, like she probably does now?” Viv retorts. Lillie growls at her.

“Well then, it’s best if our mom sees you’re safe and sound here, even if you are just sleeping.” I reinforce. She looks between the three of us, flicking her tail. I grab her paw. “We’ll be right here the entire time.”

A strangled sound comes out and one of her claws nicks my wrist as she finally initiates the shift. This time, she passes out almost immediately.