She ducked her head, shy being her resting state. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to snap. You're the only other shifter I've met other than Papa. We didn't really associate with his kind, if that makes sense."

A spot on her arm itched, and she scratched at it absently. "When I was about eight years old, I was playing with some of the other children in the common area outside. Lots of running and hiding, horsing around, carrying on. I guess it was just waiting for the exact wrong moment to happen, because I shifted into the Wolf when someone knocked me down. I can still remember how much it hurt."

Echo kicked restlessly at another piece of gravel. It went flying beneath a parked car. "I didn't even know I was different until then. I think Mama kept it from me, to protect me until I was older and able to understand it better. And sometimes I still don't understand it."