“Okay, but how?”

John was incredulous. He had no idea where to even begin.

“What’s made you shift, or partially shift before?” Emily asked innocently and the gamer shook his head.

He spoke flatly, afraid of trying. “Not an option.”

The herbalist looked him over for a moment while John was preoccupied with reliving the experience of freaking out on Frank like that. “I’m guessing you were in danger?” she surmised, paused, and smiled softly before continuing. “Or someone else was.”

“Does it matter?” he asked, accusingly.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly, but if you don’t know how to shift on your own and if we can find out a way to trigger it, it might help.”

“I wasn’t exactly in control of myself,” John warned her, but Emily just smiled, pulling a dagger from her pocket.

“I can defend myself, John.” Her voice sounded different and the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. “The real question is,” a wry smile spread across her lips, “can you?”

A growl rumbled in his chest and his eyes zeroed in on her bad leg. “You don’t want to do this, Emily.”

“Oooh.” She straightened and quickly tucked the dagger back away. “That was a quick reaction!”

He was reeling, the sudden shifts in her demeanor leaving his nerves raw. “Not funny.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Emily placated, sounding genuine enough to his ears. “I just wanted to see how close you are to shifting if danger comes up.” She chewed on her lip and smiled apologetically. “I guess that wasn’t exactly fair to you, though.”

“No. Not really.” John was glowering at her, but her sheepish grin stayed on her lips.

“Want to try something calmer? That might still call your wolf out to the surface?”

“I, personally, would have suggested those first,” he mumbled, far too low for her to hear, looking out over the clover field.

The herbalist’s voice rose hopefully. “Is that a yeeesss?”

The gamer sighed, giving in with a nod. ’I want to know as bad as she does, might as well get it over with…’

Emily’s squeal of excitement made him crack a smile before he looked back at her and saw a tennis ball in her hand. “You’ve got to be joking. I’m not a damn golden retriever!”

She snorted and tossed the ball straight into the air. “Now, I know that, and you know that, but…” the giggle in her voice did little to make him think she was being serious, “does your wolf know that?”

The ball landed deftly in her hand and John rolled his eyes, exaggerating the motion. “I don’t think a wolf would be interested in playing fetch, Emily.”

“Would a stick be more appropriate?” she half-laughed the question.

’Okay, now I’m sure she’s joking,’ the gamer grumbled to himself before he leveled a glare at the excitable herbalist. “Maybe I should just go…”

“No!” Her eyes went wide again and the ball was suddenly gone. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll take this more seriously. I just got overexcited…” Emily bit her lip, deep in thought as John watched her.

’I wonder if all witches are this erratic…’

It barely took a second for her to break the brief silence. “I agree with you that fetch may not be the answer, but I do think that giving you something to chase might be a good trigger.”

He shrugged with a sigh. “Now we just need to find something to chase?”

“Or someone,” she offered, looking down at her side as Felix looked up at her from her shadow.

’Damn cats appearing out of nowhere.’ John glared at the little beast, fingers grazing over where the tiny scratch he’d received had fully healed.

“I don’t think he likes me much, so I doubt he’d play along.”

“That’s true,” she giggled. “It’s probably more likely he’d wind up chasing you.”

John barked a short laugh. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Emily’s answering smile was enchanting and she shooed the little cat away. His deep black fur seemed to melt into the shadows and suddenly he was gone.

“I think your predator instincts may be something we can tap into without putting either of us at risk like the ‘putting you in danger’ idea.” She air quoted with her fingers as she spoke. “So, I could call in a favor from a friend,” she paused slightly before turning the statement into a question, “if you’re interested?”

“It’s worth a shot.” The gamer shrugged yet again before a thought occurred to him. “Though why would a wolf want to chase your friend?”

Emily pulled a small bell from her pocket and rang it with a smirk. “I’ll explain in a bit. It’s much funnier if she hears me say it, and I want to see your face.” She turned, making her way towards the corner of the grounds with the decorative circle.

“Are you summoning her here?” John asked curiously, watching her set the bell on the outer ring.

“Mhmm,” came the simple response. “She’ll be here in a moment. I have to give her time to get ready, but it only takes longer than a couple minutes if she’s in the shower.”

“Sounds friendlier than a normal summoning they show on tv, I guess?”

The witch chuckled. “A bit, yeah. Don’t exactly want to **** a friend here whenever I want company.” A slow smile crept across Emily’s face and she looked up into his eyes. “Though I wouldn’t mind pulling her from a shower, either.”

The gamer’s cock twitched in his jeans and he cleared his throat. “I, uh, guess I can see the benefits of that…” His face grew hot and he couldn’t make eye contact with her anymore.

Emily laughed and the door from the store sprouted up from the center of the circle next to her, making John jump back a step, but the witch was unphased as it opened. “Back to what you were saying though, your wolf will want to chase my friend. Because Mary,” she paused, waiting for her friend to step through the doorway before she continued,