“I think that’s enough for today,” aunt June pronounced.

“Just one more time,” I pleaded, feeling tired but eager to continue.

It was nearly time to go in for dinner and I’d spent the entire day learning magic with aunt June. Though I was disappointed that the attempt to turn me back into a guy had failed this morning, the rest of the day had been great. Aunt June had shown me how to read some of the diagrams that were used to make spell circles and I’d practiced making one myself, making it a half dozen times before she’d even let me try casting the spell. That had taken a few tries before I got it right and was able to cast my first spell. I’d then cast it two more times since then and was ready to do so yet again.

“You might be able to keep going,” aunt June told me with an amused look. “But I’m tired.”

“I just never though it would take so much work just to light a candle,” I told her, proud that I’d managed to accomplish something so simple. Of course, doing it with magic had been a lot more complicated than doing it with a lighter.

“That’s usually one of the first spells any sorcerer learns,” aunt June told me, not for the first time. “It’s one of the easiest to perform.” Then she continued the lecture as we walked back to the house. “Elemental spells and talents are pretty primal. They tend to be some of the simplest and easiest to learn, but they can also be some of the most powerful.”

I nodded at that and asked, “What about the spell to turn me back into a boy?”

Aunt June hesitated a moment before answering. “Transformation spells are a bit more difficult. Their patterns are a lot more complicated and they tend to use a lot more magical energy.”

“Oh,” I responded with a sigh of disappointment.

“You’ll get up to that level eventually,” she assured me. But for some reason, I had a feeling that there was something she wasn’t saying.

Dad met us at the door as we went back into the house. “How did it go,” he asked me with a smile. Of course, he’d already come out and checked up on us every hour or so and he’d even watched me cast the spell one of the times.

“Pretty good,” I told dad with a grin. “I actually got to do a magic spell…”

“Just a very basic one,” aunt June assured him. “We’ll get to more complicated ones at the Academy. They have a lot more resources there for us to train with.”

Then as aunt June walked away, dad gave me a hug and said, “I’m proud of you Aaron…” He pulled away a moment later, looking self-conscious. He gave me an odd look and told me, “This is a little difficult to get used to…”

“You have a difficult time getting used to it?” I responded with a snort. “I have frakking boobs.”

Dad gave a weak chuckle at that. “I guess it is a lot more difficult for you.” Then he gave me an odd look before saying, “I know you’re excited to be using magic and learning to be a sorcerer…sorceress…” He paused at that, suddenly uncertain of the right gender to use for me. “I’m happy that you found something good about your situation and I’m proud of you. But I want you to remember that you’re not just Touched. You’re also a Were.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “I know.”

“I just don’t want you to neglect that part of yourself,” dad told me. “You’re a Were…a mythic. You should be proud of that.”

“But it’s…embarrassing,” I said, thinking of my other form.

“Maybe so,” dad responded with a weak chuckle. “But it is a part of who you are now. You’ll need to get used to it and learn to accept it.”

“It’s weird enough learning to be a normal girl,” I told him with a shudder.

“A lot of Weres have difficulty accepting their other form at first,” dad admitted. “Sometimes they think it makes them less human, or they’re self-conscious about becoming something less than glamorous. But your other form is going to be with you for the rest of your life so you’ll need to come to terms with it.” Then he gave me another hug and said, “You should be proud of it.”

“I’ll try,” I promised with a sigh. It was easier to like the idea of being a mythic when I thought it would be something like a dragon or pegasus, not when it was something I wouldn’t dare admit to anyone else.

“Good,” dad said with a grin, putting a hand on my shoulder and saying, “Now, your mom got home from work early to start preparing dinner…and she’s going all out.”

My eyes lit up at that and I began to drool, knowing that I could expect some great eating tonight. When mom went all out, it was like eating at a high end restaurant. And though my mom wasn’t a pastry chef, she certainly wasn’t a slouch in the dessert department either.

Dinner proved to be just as good as I’d expected, if not even better. Mom had fixed several of my favorites, including a toffee chocolate mousse for dessert. Of course, this was meant to be my farewell dinner to celebrate my leaving for the Academy. In a way, it also felt as though it was my last meal.

Though I was excited about the idea of learning magic and becoming a sorcerer, I was actually scared about leaving my home and family to go to a strange place where I didn’t know anyone. It was only the knowledge that aunt June would be showing up quite often that kept me from changing my mind and refusing to go. Of course, I was a bit embarrassed about my fears and didn’t say anything.

“Oh, Vivian called me,” dad said while we ate. “She’d been asking around about Weres who’ve been stuck…”

“Yeah?” I asked, taking a bite of my meal but not taking my eyes from dad.

“There have been a few Weres who didn’t change back,” dad told me. “Or who kept some of their animal traits. But almost every time, it was a result of an encounter with some Touched.”

“Magic interfering with the Were transformation,” aunt June mused. “I’m guessing most of those times were due to curses.”

Dad nodded at that. “So Vivian said. But she did have one exception. There was a man who turned into a panda, and for some reason, he had the power to change during the day as well as at night.”

“That’s unusual,” mom commented.

“According to Vivian,” dad continued, “she looked into it a little more and found out that he wasn’t just a Were. He was a hybrid.”

“Then being able to change during the day might have been his talent,” aunt June said with a look of realization. She glanced to me and said, “His talent was derived from his Were form…just as yours seems to be.”

“So I’m not the first one to be both,” I said, feeling a little relieved at that.

“Apparently not,” dad agreed.

“There may have been more,” aunt June mused. “I imagine some might not want to stand out so might hide their Were nature or their Touched nature, pretending to be just one or the other rather than both.”

“It could be,” dad agreed. “But right now, it’s only a theory.”

After that, dad and aunt June continued talking about this for the rest of the meal while mom and I just listened and ate. It was nice to know that I wasn’t a complete freak, there had been other hybrids who were both Were and Touched and had the gifts of both. Unfortunately, it didn’t do me much good since I couldn’t talk to anyone else like me.

Once dinner was over and the sun had set, dad patted his stomach and told mom, “Great dinner honey.” Then he made a bit of a show of stretching and announced, “I’m going to go get some fresh air.”

I watched dad go out the back door, knowing fully well that ‘going to go get some fresh air’ was a euphemism for saying he was going to turn into a bear and wander around in the back field. He did this at least once a week, though I always thought it was an excuse to avoid doing dishes.

As I thought about dad going out to wander about as a bear, I remembered what he’d told me earlier about needing to get in touch with my Were side. I frowned at that, not liking the idea of turning into a succubus again with other people around to see, but admitting that he had a point. I wouldn’t have as many opportunities to explore that other form once I left for the Academy either, which meant tonight would probably be my last chance for awhile.

Without saying a word, I got up and went to my bedroom and locked the door behind me. Once I’d done that, I muttered, “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” and reached for my Were side. It was like flipping a mental switch, very similar to how I used my talent in some ways. It was only then that I realized that I’d forgotten to change out of my clothes first.

My body immediately began to transform again and my clothes, which were just the right size for my plain female form, quickly became too tight and began pinch painfully. My quickly swell breasts strained my shirt to the breaking point and then beyond as the garment burst at the seams. I let out a faint gasp of relief at that even as my pants began to tear as well.

“Frell,” I hissed out in disgust.

I’d just gotten those clothes a couple days ago and I’d really liked that shirt. Still, the damage had already been done so I used my newly grown claws to tear off the remains of my clothes so that I could free myself. A moment later, I stretched out my burgeoning wings so they could finish growing.

When I finished transforming, I stood up and stretched, marveling at how good my body felt. I’d almost forgotten that from the first time. It wasn’t just the vague horniness I felt. It was something more.

I stared at my black clawed hands and then down at my massive breasts. I resisted the temptation to play with them, knowing that it would only drive my vague horniness into a burning fever.

With that, I turned my attention to covering up my impressive assets. Fortunately, mom had thought ahead and made sure I had at least a few pieces of clothing that would fit me in this form. To cover my monstrous breasts, I had something that I was hesitant to call a shirt. It was more like a large bandanna with strings on it to tie around my neck and back so it would stay in place and look something like a shirt from the front. It was black with a white skull, which I thought was appropriate for my current form. And to go with that, I had a black skirt with a slit cut into it for my tail.

“This should do,” I mused, looking myself over and knowing even without a mirror that I was absolutely hot looking. Of course, that was all part of being a succubus.

With that, I left my room and walked into the living room where mom and aunt June stared at me. This was only the second time I’d transformed into this form so this was the first time that aunt June had seen me like this.

“I’m going out for some fresh air,” I said, knowing that my voice was low, husky, and very sexy. I hadn’t really noticed that the first time I’d transformed, though mom had pointed it out to me afterwards.

“Wow,” aunt June said, still staring at me in amazement. “That’s…impressive.” Then she stuck her tongue out at me.

I stuck my tongue out at her as well, but to my surprise, my tongue stuck out a full foot from my mouth, looking something like a black tentacle. I quickly pulled it back in and then turned to go out the back door before I did anything else embarrassing.

“Damn,” aunt June exclaimed to my mom as I walked away. “That was weird.”