by Joe Fowler
“Don’t listen to that. Everything will be fine.” Seth had obviously heard it too. Kyle kept on with his opinions. Seth, apparently didn’t like it. “Stay with him, Alicia.”
Seth went to where Kyle was and basically told him to shut the fuck up. I felt like a tightly coiled spring about to release. I wanted to thank Alicia for her help and support but my mouth was not working properly. All that came out was a gargled mess.
“Don’t try to talk right now.” She was smiling when she continued, “Although that sounds funny as hell.”
We stood there for an eternity, well I guess it was really about five minutes. As if on cue, everyone started taking their clothes off. Alicia started undressing and motioned for me to do the same. I was fumbling and I ripped my shirt but I managed to get undressed. The pressure within me was so intense that the nudity didn’t seem to matter. I barely registered that the others had turned, except for Seth, when it hit home inside me.
Pain and exhilaration. It felt like every bone in my body broke. Things were shifting inside of me. The pain was so intense I thought I would go mad. Then the pain evened off and a wild thrill filled me like nothing I had ever imagined. I felt changes being made and fur being grown. I am not sure how long the change took, but I knew when it was over.
A lot of things happened in the next three seconds. I stood on my new legs, wondering why there were only two. There was a sense of power within me that was hard to describe. I saw that my fur was jet black and my hands ended in claws. A whole world of sound and smell overloaded my senses. Kyle attacked me.
When I turned toward him, he was in mid-leap his jaws open, headed for my throat. Without realizing I was even doing it, my hand swatted him away. Four other wolves took up the attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the reddish fur that could only be Carl as he launched himself and tackled one of my attackers. Alicia was fighting one of them just to my right. It was instantly clear she would lose. While holding the two wolves facing me at bay, I grabbed the wolf fighting Alicia and threw it into the path of the remaining wolves.
“STOP THIS NOW!” I heard this inside my head. The command was absolute. All fighting stopped instantly.
Seth walked through the pack. As he looked at a wolf or group of wolves they would go off on some silent command. Finally, it was down to Seth, Carl, Alicia, the four wolves that were attacking, an unconscious Kyle, and me. The four that had attacked huddled together and were watched closely by Carl. Seth and Alicia approached me.
“Josh, talk to me.” It was weird hearing inside your head instead of interpreting sounds made on the outside.
“Why did they attack me?” I wasn’t entirely sure how I knew, but I knew to think my words at Seth. Only the words you try to send are heard, and only the wolf you want to send those words to can hear them. I guess it was instinct.
“You are different. You don’t have the true wolf form. Do you feel like you in there? I know everything is different but are you the same person?”
“Yes. Like you said everything is different and I’m confused, but it is still me.”
“Good. Go with Alicia, she will help guide you in the woods.” He turned to Alicia for a moment before he went back to where Carl was watching the four who attacked me. Kyle was still unconscious.
“Come with me.” Alicia took off at a fast pace and I found myself running beside her easily, her on four legs, me on two. We headed into the woods and my head started spinning from the smells. I wanted to stop and investigate each new smell, but she kept running, so I followed. Running was fun. She finally stopped at a little stream.
“How do you focus? All these smells are so distracting.” I asked her between sniffs.
“You learn. I can’t say that you get used to it, because you don’t. Are you hungry?”
“No. “
“Good.” You could hear the relief in her tone, even if it was telepathic. I remembered then that she didn’t like to hunt, she liked running and exploring. “Take a big sniff and tell me what is most interesting.”
“I will, but first, will you tell me what I look like?” The thought that Kyle and those others would attack me just because of how I looked was bothering me.
“You look like an enormous furry human. There isn’t very much wolf-like in the way you look. You have red eyes that kind of glow a little. I hate to say it, but the eyes are spooky.”
“No wonder they attacked me. I am such a freak.”
“Don’t say that. Kyle is a thickheaded dumbass. He was convinced there was something wrong with you. Even if you looked like the rest of us, he still would have tried to pick a fight with you.”
I reached behind me to see if I had a tail, I did not. I was a werewolf that didn’t even have a tail. For some strange reason that bothered me more than the other differences. I walked over to the stream to see if I could see a reflection. I looked like a black bigfoot, a big red eyed black bigfoot. I squatted down and hung my head feeling like the world’s biggest freak.
“Hey, for all we know this might be a good thing.” She brushed her head against my shoulder. I knew she was trying to comfort me and cheer me up. After the week that I had gone through, this was disheartening. I didn’t think being cheered up was possible.
“Sorry, I’m spoiling your fun.” I stood up, resolved to try and make the most of it. “Now, what was it you wanted me to do? See what smelled most interesting?”
“Yes. Take a big sniff.” Even in her wolf form, she was adorable
I took a big sniff and was once again overwhelmed. I could smell everything. I didn’t understand how I was doing it, but my nose started filtering out the more common smells. The smell of leaves, pine straw, and the trees were the first to fade. There were so many smells I couldn’t identify and I wanted to know them all.
One smell that caught my attention was coming from above me. When I looked, I saw a squirrel. One down, one million to go. I was really interested in one scent and I followed it from the stream. I started moving faster and faster as I followed the trail of this scent. As I ran, I noticed that I had become stealthier, even at the great speeds I was going. The trail went down into a hole in the ground. I was sad that I couldn’t follow it more.
“It was a rabbit.” Alicia had followed me. She seemed to be smiling. “You were sad that you couldn’t follow, weren’t you.”
“Yes. If I know where it went, why did I get sad?”
“We don’t know why it’s like that or even why it is fun for us to follow the scents in the first place.” She said.
“A scent crossed this trail about fifty yards back. Do you know what that was?”
“A deer. There are a lot of them here.” Alicia was being a patient teacher. All of the explaining she had done, and clearly would have to do before the night was over, didn’t seem to dampen her amusement. She still seemed to be smiling.
“I want to follow it.” I was getting excited about a new trail, but didn’t get to do it. We were being approached by something large and fast. Without thinking about it I placed myself in between Alicia and whatever was coming our way.
“Easy Josh, relax.” It was Seth. “I usually go with everyone on their first night.”
“Could you guys include me in the conversation?” Alicia was pawing the ground like she was nervous. “I want to know what is going on, too.”
“That depends on Josh. Some of this is going to be personal.” Seth looked at me for the decision.
“Alicia has been very supportive and she’s been really nice. I don’t mind if she joins in.” I thought this out to both of them.
“Good.” Alicia came nearer to us and stretched out on her belly.
“Carl is my second in command. He and I spoke after you two left. We agree that this is not your fault Josh. We knew that there might be some differences with you. Your smell made that very clear.”
“I guess this confirms what I told you about my father.”
“What? What would your father have to do with thi
s?” Alicia was curious, I don’t blame her.
“That’s a story Josh can tell you if he is willing.” Seth looked to her as he said the first, then turned to me and said, “What you told me can stay between us if you choose.”
“Thanks, Seth. I will think about it Alicia, but I warn you, it might be better if you don’t find out.” I let that sit there for a second before I asked, “How is Kyle? I hope I didn’t hurt him.”
“Kyle will be fine. He woke up after you left. I have told him not to bother you again. Fighting between pack members will not be tolerated. You are different but he had no right to attack.”
“Damn right he didn’t. If I was bigger I would kick his ass myself.” That got us laughing a bit. Her wolf appeared huge to me the day of the cookout, but Alicia was by far the smallest of the pack.
“Now on to the fun stuff. How has he been doing? Followed any trails?”
“One. She said it was a rabbit, but all I found was the hole it went into.” I admitted.
“He did well though. He followed the trail and didn’t get sidetracked by a deer crossing. He seems to be really fast too.” Alicia sounded like she was proud of me.
“Let’s see just how fast. Alicia, you’ve been wanting another race with me anyway. Here’s your chance.”
“Finally!” She started to stretch out a little.
“We will race back to the house, but you have to follow the trail the two of you took to get here. No short cuts.” Seth took a second to stretch out too. I didn’t bother. “When I say go. One, two, three, go!”
Following the rabbit trail had been fun, but this was a whole new level of enjoyment. We shot away like three bullets. I don’t think my Challenger could have reached the speeds we did. Trees were flying by at an alarming rate. Alicia reached the stream where we had stopped first, but Seth and I were only a few feet behind her. I tried to go faster but I was maxed out. Seth was slowly catching her though. He pulled ahead just as they entered the clearing at the house. Alicia was still trying but couldn’t catch back up. Seth beat her by a body length. I came up the rear, about twenty feet behind.
“Nice try, Alicia. I think that’s the closest I’ve ever come to losing.” Seth beamed.
“I’m going to beat you one day.” It sounded like she had said that before.
“We’ll see.”
“That was awesome!” I don’t remember ever feeling so alive. “How can running make you feel so happy?”
“It’s part of who we are. When we run we enjoy the full release of part of the power we have. It makes us feel free.” Seth was glad to see that the run had affected me the same as it would one of the others. He didn’t say it, but I could sense it. “Now, you need to learn how to shift back and forth between looking human and this form.”
“It won’t hurt like before will it?” I never wanted to feel that pain again.
“No, it should be painless from now on.” Seth gathered himself while saying, “Try to feel yourself draw in. Visualize your human form in your mind and will yourself to become that form. You have to concentrate.” He closed his eyes and shimmered into his human form.
I was distracted by how short he seemed to be. He had been a little taller than me when we were both human. How tall was I now? It seemed like seven maybe eight feet tall. I shook my head to clear it and tried to do what he said. I could see my human form in my mind. Once I started trying to become that form a tickling sensation started in my stomach. Then I knew I had done it. I was human again.
“Very good. You are a natural.” Seth smiled and walked toward me. “How do you feel?”
“Empty. All that power, now I’m just me.” I took a step and flexed my arms to try to get the feeling of being human again. “I can feel that I am a lot stronger now than I was before the change, but it is nothing compared to what I was in that form.”
“That is almost exactly what I said my first night.” Alicia had turned human and joined us. I was almost used to her being nude, almost.
“I’ve heard it more times than I can count.” Seth was laughing. He seemed relieved. “I know the night didn’t start the way we wanted it to, and there’s your different form to think about, but all in all, I think everything will work out fine.”
“The rest of the pack will get used to the way you look. You will be just another part of the family.” Alicia put her hand on my arm and smiled. “You will be like the strange cousin.”
“Thanks, I think.” I was beginning to feel relieved. It looked like I was going to be accepted. “The night isn’t over is it? I lost all concept of time when I turned.”
“It’s still early. You still have the whole night ahead. The more you turn the easier it gets to judge the time.” Seth hesitated before he added, “I want to eat before I go back out though. If you’re hungry you can join me.”
“No, I’m fine.” Hunger was the last thing on my mind.
“If you want to you can come with me. We can find some more trails to follow.” Why Alicia would burden herself with a newbie and all the questions I would have, I couldn’t tell you.
“Sounds like fun to me.” I looked to Seth to make sure it was ok.
“Go. Have fun. Just make sure you have him back before dawn, Alicia. He still has school in the morning. He will need a little time to readjust.”
“You got it Alphy!” She smiled and turned into her wolf.
“I hate it when she calls me that.” He was smiling though. “Turning is just what you did before in reverse. Visualize the form that you turn into and feel yourself growing into it.”
I did what he said and it worked. I shimmered into the black red eyed hulk, easily. It was blissfully painless this time, just like they said. I was once again overwhelmed by the power and the even more heightened senses. I could really get used to this.
“Good. Like I said, you’re a natural. Now you two go and have fun.” Seth seemed pleased enough.
Alicia took off in a different direction this time. I shot after her. We ran fairly deep before we stopped. While running, I was looking around even at high speed and was marveling at how clearly I could see even tiny details. That’s when it dawned on me, it’s nighttime. I can see in the dark now!
“I just realized, I can see in the dark.” I said this after we stopped in a small clearing.
“Of course, stupid head. It really took you that long?” Alicia was laughing, which is really funny to watch a wolf do. “You have been doing so well and it took that long for the most obvious thing.”
“I never claimed to be smart.” Her laughter was contagious. I found myself joining in. My laughing came out as this weird sound that was both spooky and funny. That just made us laugh harder.
We were so busy laughing, the bear caught us by surprise. I happened to turn my head back toward Alicia and saw the bear charging at her. Instinct took over and I sprinted in her direction. It was then that she became aware that we had a problem. The bear was closer, but I was faster. I tackled the bear just before it could get her.
I ended up on top of the bear when we landed but didn’t stay there long. Claws were tearing flesh both ways. I fought my way to my feet and faced off with him. It became easy to dodge his attacks and to strike him before he could defend. I was going mostly on instinct but seemed to be doing well. It didn’t take long for the bear to realize he was going to lose. He took off running but my instincts were ruling me and I jumped on his back and raised my hand for the killing blow. I don’t know what stopped me, but I couldn’t make myself kill him. He didn’t deserve to die. I got off of him and let him go.
I watched the bear run away. I was feeling relieved and turned to make sure Alicia was ok. You can imagine my shock when I turned and saw eight werewolves instead of just her. After the initial shock wore off, I slowly walked over to where they were. They seemed silent, though I knew they could be talking to each other.
“We heard Alicia’s call and came running. As strong as we are, bears can still be dangerous.” Carl stepp
ed closer to me and continued speaking, “That was awesome, Josh. Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?”
“I’m not sure. I was fighting on instincts but when I had him there, I just couldn’t do it. I don’t think I’ve ever killed anything in my life.” I said this knowing how bad it might make me seem to a bunch of wolves. I have never been overly concerned with how others saw me though.
“How bad are you hurt?” Alicia stepped forward when she said it. She was a little shaken but she was ok.
“I’m not sure. Everything feels so different in this form. There’s pain but I can’t tell if it is serious.” I looked down at the cuts on my chest. There was a lot of blood but it was mostly dry now. I hoped that meant the bleeding had stopped.
“Change back so we can get a better look.” Alicia turned back human after she said it. I turned right after. Other wolves were still arriving.
In human form, the cuts across my chest and back hurt like hell. I took a deep breath trying to get the shock of the pain under control. Alicia inspected the cuts, first on my chest, then on my back. It didn’t look like she was happy about what she saw.
“If you weren’t a wolf you would need a hospital. It’s hard to tell for sure but they should be healed in two or three days. You’ve seen that all of us are a little different, some faster or stronger. That applies to healing too.”
“It definitely hurts worse in human form. Is the healing faster in one form or the other? Or does that matter?” As I said this, Seth came into the clearing and immediately took human form.
“It’s the same either way. Everything else becomes stronger when you turn, but the healing is the same. Now let me see how bad it is.” He inspected the cuts on my chest then my back carefully. “They aren’t too bad. You might hurt for a couple of days though.”
“Everyone wants the details of what happened.” Carl had reverted to human. “I saw the end, but we all want to hear about it from the beginning.”
“It was awesome!” Alicia seemed happy enough to tell the tale. “We were laughing at something and weren’t paying attention, when this huge fucking bear came charging at me. Josh saw it before I did and it’s a good thing he did. Josh was running at me from one side, the bear from the other side. Then, BAM!” She held her hands out imitating me and the bear running at each other so her hands clapped right as she said bam. “Josh tackled it just before it got me. They started fighting and Josh beat the shit out of the bear. The bear tried to run off and Josh took it to the ground and could have killed it if he had wanted, but he let the bear go. It was so fucking awesome, you guys should have seen it!”
