I ran. I ran because I was scared of my past. I ran because I was scared of what lay ahead. I ran because it was all I knew how to do.
But this time, I mostly ran because I was terrified of getting eaten.
I had never been a fighter. Even as a young boy, when others might stand up to their parents, I would obey. When confronted with a new situation, I would hide. When my classmates teased me, they knew they could get away with it, because I was small and didn't know how to fight back.
Although to be fair, I doubt many people would have been able to fight off that horrible beast chasing me through the night. Still, I could have attempted to defend myself with the small multi-tool I carried. Instead, I bolted toward safety, despite knowing in my bones it was impossible to make it in time.
I raced over the unpaved trail, stumbling over rocks and roots and somehow managing to stay upright. Up ahead, I knew safety awaited me, i just didn't know how far. It's almost magical, how different everything seems at night. The same peaceful forest, full of wildlife and serenity, perfect for a vacation, can become a nightmarish scene, where every tree seems like something out of a nightmare, every sound seems like something trying to eat you and every turn seems like the wrong one.
As I careened around a bend in the path, I once again felt like I was going in circles. The illogical side of my brain considered stopping to orient myself, but the thought of my pursuer, who eerily made too little noise for me to tell if he was far behind, kept me moving in a hurried frenzy. Or the best frenzy that my disappointing lack of athleticism could manage, anyway.
I reached the top of a small hill, and caught a glimpse of the porch light - signifying that my destination was still within reach. I cried out in exertion and pushed myself even harder, motivated by the promise of safety. I leaped over the last bit of dirt and landed in the gravel driveway, before continuing without pause. The sickening crunch of paws sinking into gravel, far too soon after my own landing, notified me of my imminent doom. Heart sinking further, I dashed for the front steps, hoping that by some miracle the gravel would slow him down just enough for me to make my escape, but as I slammed into the door, he soared up the steps in one leap and landed menacingly at the edge of the porch. I scrambled for my keys, whimpering in fear as he approached, auburn eyes far too human, too malicious. The thing was far too large to be a wolf, but too lithe to be a bear. His fur rippled with power, hinting at the muscular figure underneath. His ears were sharp and focused, twitching at the slightest sound. His tail swished behind him calmly, he knew he was in control of the situation. But those eyes drew me in. They had something about them...
I ripped the door open just as he pounced, falling flat on my ass into the cabin and kicking with all my might. He rolled backwards, returning to the edge of the deck, but recovering with superhuman speed and launching himself at me again when WHAM! I shut the door in the nick of time, latch barely holding it shut as his massive frame cannonballed against the wood. It felt like an earthquake struck as he tore into the wood, trying to break through to the inside, to me. Then, all fell quiet. I was alone again. Finally. My heart beat aggressively in my ears, struggling to recover from the most intense exercise I had ever experienced. With the adrenaline still coursing through my veins, I was acutely aware of every detail, every slight draft, every grain in the hardwood floor, every miniscule sound from outside. Even my breathing seemed like a thunderous avalanche of air, cascading in and out in quick cadence. I paused and took a few deep breaths, still slouched against the door, and attempted to reorient myself.
The cabin looked just like it had when I last visited, years ago. Perhaps a bit dustier. It was my uncle's place - he built it himself in his youth - and was small, but homey. It had gone mostly unused lately, ever since my uncle died, but I was welcomed to use it after expressing my desire to get away from the bustle of everyday life for a time. And look at how fucking "relaxing" it has been.
The dark hallway beckoned ominously ahead, sending chills down my spine. Still wary, I stood, and the light flickered to life as I hit the switch. I hesitantly crept into motion, turning on lights, shutting blinds, locking windows, just trying anything to dispell the darkness of night and the horrors that lay within. I lit the fire as a final touch and crouched near it, appreciating the solace of its warmth. As I slowly calmed down, my panic dimming to a faint paranoia, I felt a throbbing pain suddenly emerge into my awareness. I looked down to find my foot coated in blood, and still seeping fluid out onto the carpet. "Shit" I muttered, regretting using my foot as a weapon against the animal. I carefully got to my feet and stepped toward the bathroom, futility attempting not to get blood on the floor while testing my weight on the injured foot. Oddly, it seemed to be completely numb despite the gruesome wound. I favored it anyway, hobbling to the bathroom and opening up the medicine cabinet and patching myself up.
I stared at the mirror as my haggard form came into view on the closing cabinet door. "Holy fuck," I said, remarking on my sunken eyes and wild hair. I had even developed a shade of unruly stubble, surprisingly. Usually I couldn't grow facial hair for the life of me. I tore my attention away from the mirror and hurriedly undressed, eagerly getting ready for much-anticipated rest. After a quick shower I hopped into bed, lights still illuminating the whole cabin in the dim way that old lights do, providing a soothing glow to ease me into a restless sleep.
The next morning I awoke with a jolt - cold sweats tormenting me as my nightmares from the night before separated into reality and imagination, the latter swiftly fading into distant memory while the former remained all too sharp.
I threw on the first suitable clothes I could find and stalked out into the hallway in search of a weapon. "Somewhere here.. " I muttered, scouring old memories of things people had said that my uncle had said to them about the cabin for any mention of a gun. I threw open another door, letting that closets contents spill put onto the hallway and quickly rifling through them. "Aha!" I exclaimed, coming across a dusty old gun box and dragging it over to the kitchen table. I coughed as the case opened, likely for the first time in at least a decade, and released a pale cloud. I hefted its weight in my hand and immediately felt safer. I leveled it at the wall, testing out the feeling when suddenly - BAM - it fired through the wall, leaving behind a small new window and a shower of woodchips. "I guess it's loaded" I chuckled to myself, breathing heavily as the last of the woodchips clattered to the floor.
'It's fine,' I thought, 'I'm not coming back here anyway.' I had come to the decision that it was a huge fucking mistake staying at some rickety cabin in the woods, and I should probably find a place in town.
I flung the door open, wearing a tough pair of boots i borrowed, not wanting to put on my bloodied shoes, and holding the gun out, quivering with fear almost imperceptively. Once I was sure nothing had been waiting on the porch all night to eat me, I walked down the steps and out toward the long driveway between me and my car. "Fuck this cabin," I muttered, "Fuck this long-ass driveway, and FUCK MY DUMB CAR FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO DRIVE UP IT!" I screamed into the woods, and then immediately felt silly as a bird flew away above the treetops, startled. Then, immediately felt scared again and resumed cautiously trekking to my vehicle, gun held tightly within my hands.
_--_--_--
THE DAY WAS SPENT setting up in a motel in town. I sure as hell wasn't going back to that cabin. It was a small town, too small to even call it a 'town', really, but too modern to call a 'village'. The perfect place for escaping the grind of everyday life. Simple, with one store, one gas station, one sleepy motel, and a smattering of houses, with most people living in cabins like my Uncle's outside of town.
As the sun went down, I flopped over on the smoke-scented sheets of my motel bed. The room was paid for, the door was locked, food had been aquired; I was finally at ease. I sighed in relief and turned over, ready for the sweet release of unconsciousness to take hold, but it wouldn't come. I tossed myself back around to the other side, feeling strangely warm despite setting the thermostat at a comfortable 69°. I tossed my blanket to the side, annoyed, and hoped that would fix the problem. Despite finally feeling at rest for the first time in almost 24 hours, I couldn't seem to find actual rest. "Ughhhh" I groaned, venting a long and frustrated indication of my troubles at the ceiling.
I rolled out of bed and sulked over to the bathroom, freeing myself of my pajamas, which suddenly felt like they were smothering me. I turned on the faucet, hungry at the sound of the cold, clear water flowing at my command. I ran my hands under it, letting my blood spread the cold feeling throughout my body before splashing it over my face. I moaned, relishing the feeling as it dripped down my face, getting caught in the short beard that had apparently-
"-what the fuck??" I exclaimed, staring at my face in the mirror. My rugged stubble from the night before had somehow lengthened, despite my inability, or rather, former inability, to grow facial hair. The shocking discovery distracted me for a moment, as I got out my razor, unable to stand unkempt appearance. With that taken care of, I rushed back to bed, trying to get some rest before the relief of the cold water wore off. I slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep, trying not to think about how off-put I was by the sudden change in status quo.
--_--_
I opened my eyes. I couldn't move- wait, no - I was moving, but it wasn't me in control. I paced along a dirt path, low to the ground, moving with practiced deliberation. I could tell it was dark, but I wasn't sure how: everything was brightly lit. I... smelled something strong. Something... delicious, from up ahead. I quickened my pace and caught a glimpse of it - a lanky man, walking along, carrying a bright, almost blinding, light. I moved off the path into the bushes, and traversed in front of him, hidden off to the side. I prepared for the final strike when... I made eye contact. With myself.
In that moment I couldn't tell if I was looking into a vicious, surprised set of reflective honey-colored eyes, or my own eyes, which seemed small and scared.
He took off, running from me in fear, and it took me a moment to recover from the pre-attack endorphins and shift to a full-sprint chase. Those few seconds were crucial, earning him a huge head start, but his unathletic form was no match for my primal power, and I quickly gained ground. I felt a groan of disappointment in my head as a small cabin came into view, singular porch light glaring in my eyes until they adjusted. My catch was about to get away. Luckily, he stumbled like a fool into the door, allowing me to pause and taunt him, play with him, make him scared before I...
I screamed myself awake, sweating in bed for the second night in a row. This time they were not cold sweats however, oh god, they were not cold at all. I stumbled out of bed and fell to the floor, yelping in pain as I put weight on my injured foot - the one with the bite. It felt like it was on fire - sending jolts of pain throughout my body, but it was almost hard to feel considering the rest of my body was on fire as well. I arched my back, dripping sweat into the dirty carpet as another wave of pain flooded my senses.
As it subsided I tore off the gauze and looked at my foot, the source of the pulsing, and yelled, this time in shock as much as pain. Illuminated brightly by the full moon, my wound gyrated slowly, seeming to breathe. A single glistening bead of sweat seeped out of it and dripped down my foot, following the subtle curve of my veins and resting beneath my ankle before falling to the carpet below. I saw my toenails subtly lengthen and became sharper. The newly aquired hair around the open hole in my foot stood on end, and seemed to seed, releasing smaller hairs which anchored nearby. Small black hairs curled around my toes, empjasizing the creases and folds in my skin, which seemed to darken slightly. They pulsed with energy, responding to every movement, feeling every slight breeze, synchronizing with the grotesque hole that birthed them. The gaping wound widened in preparation, and contracted quickly, releasing another intense wave of heat. I couldn't look - i gritted my teeth against the pain, but yelled again, unable to help myself.
I clawed my way over to the console table on the other side of the room where I had left my phone, hoping to promote good sleep by eliminating distractions. I dragged myself along the carpet, feeling every itch, every bit of dirt, every fiber of the threat pressing against my bare body. Arriving at the table, I desperately reached toward the top, trying anything to contact help. Another wave of pain struck. My fingers dug into the fake wood top as I fell, catching on the lip before succumbing to the fire in my blood as I curled up on the floor. A dull thud near my head caught my attention - my phone - which had fallen off the table top. I reached for it, extatic, but was interrupted by excruciating pain in my side as the table fell on top of me. It felt like I was being stabbed and crushed at the same time. I roared in pain, and would have marveled at the fact that no one had heard me yet, if I had been able to focus on anything other than heaving the flimsy thing off of me. It was not difficult. The table seemed remarkably light, especially to have caused such pain, and I flung it forcefully at the wall. It broke into pieces, legs coming off and falling to the ground, one even breaking in half. Still nearby, I used it to brace myself against the next fiery tsunami that afflicted me. Suddenly, I remembered my phone, lying in the carpet. I reached for it in a panic, but it was no use. The violent destruction of the table had caused shrapnel to destroy the screen, leaving it unusable. I futily attempted to navigate through the broken glass anyway, relying on one remaining strip of screen at the far left to see. I only succeeded in breaking that too, and cutting myself with shards of cracked screen. I wept - a combination of despair over my hopeless situation and the fierce pain of the glass buried in my skin. I tenderly lifted myself off the floor, relying heavily on the wall and the broken table for support. As soon as I straightened out, or as close to 'straight' as I could get while in that much pain, another attack struck me. I fell back against the wall, wailing as I slammed into a mirror that hung there, and barely staying upright. The mirror broke as well, and a shower of glittering shards fell to the floor around me, luckily not large enough to do more than tickle, but the sheer impact of the wall was enough to elicit a yell anyway. I leaped away from it, stumbling on my hurt foot, again somehow maintaining my balance. I looked back at the wall, searching for what had so offended my shoulder: the mirror, whose cold touch i had felt just before. It now reflected my own face back at me, lit by the moon, coated in a stubble far too long for shaving just a couple of hours earlier. Hundreds of desperate images stared into my soul, mocking me. Hundreds of pinpricks of fireflies taunted my struggles. ...No, not fireflies...
I selected one of the larger pieces and stared carefully at my face, struggling to focus through the intense heat. Indeed, deep within, my eyes seemed to be glowing a pale yellow. Or, perhaps, reflecting the moonlight.
Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. Someone was outside the room. "Not now-" I complained through shut teeth. I turned toward the door, wanting to go over and see who it was but another pulse sent fiery vengeance flowing through my blood. But this time felt... different. I became numb to the pain of the pulse, enough to maintain focus, at least, and felt how it heightened my senses as it washed over me - filled me with adrenaline. It was powerful, sure, but that power was mine. I embraced the change, let it come, and it embraced me back. I immediately felt more alive, and saw the little light in my eyes grow just a little bit brighter. The surges became more frequent, letting me see, letting me smell, letting me feel my body being torn apart and reformed.
For the first time, I became acutely aware of the changes ravaging my body. In moments, I forgot my fear of death, my confusion at the intense process. The transformation gleefully accepted my openness, accelerating further, rapid pulses blending together to form a pure, harmonious frequency. I reveled in its power, feeling it break me down in order to build me back up. Every muscle in my body was on fire with hypertrophy. Every joint ached. Every bone was sore with growing pains.
It radiated from my foot, spreading from there up my leg and to my heart, which pumped pure power out to every inch of my vessels. I felt it take hold of my musculature first. I would need every ounce of strength to endure the grueling process. My muscles contracted instinctually, and I had to slouch against the wall to avoid falling down. They rippled and churned under my skin, preparing themselves for drastic alteration. Another knock sounded out from the door, but I ignored it. I looked down and saw my arms suddenly begin to swell, veins popping out as they delivered development straight to the muscle. My once delicate hands became grisled and manly, as if from years of hard labor. Fine blond hairs popped into existence where before there had been none, speading from my fingers across the back of my hand, thickening the patchy dusting across my arm and shoulder where they landed on my chest. That, I could feel developing as well as my thin pecs, once so small that my ribs were nearly visible underneath, grew into thick slabs of meat. Even my neck thickened and bulged as the transformation continued. My traps surged upward, pushing against my neck with such strength that a moan was squeezed out of my trachea. I continued the sound as my throat adapted to the increased pressure, beginning to grunt with effort.
My stomach, once flat and smooth, burst with hills and valleys as a rock hard set of abs materialized from nothing. I ran my hands over them, tracing the now-distinct lines that separated each of the muscles of my torso. The cliff where my pec dropped off to become my torso. The hard line deliniating the center of my body. Each of the lines connecting one side of my torso to the other. Such things I had never experienced before this moment, always having been skinny, lacking any sort of muscular definition. "With a physique like this, I could be anything" I thought slowly, finding it difficult to draw my attention away from caressing my new muscles. My focus was quickly drawn away from caressing and daydreaming as the transformation took hold of my legs. My thighs swelled to the size of my head, then larger, and my calves tensed, expanding two, threefold. Even my feet became larger and more rugged, much like my hands, but telling tales of running for hours through the forest rather than hard labor.
The hair took hold there as well, chasing the muscular transformation down my spine, leaving seeds of a great forest behind as it went. It washed over the great hills of my once flat ass and down the back of my legs, wrapping around them in a fuzzy embrace. My leg hair thickened from a wispy fuzz to a proper coating, and darkened to a warm brown. It moved up and circled my belly button, settling into complex, swirling grain patterns as it danced across my skin. It bounced over my newfound abs, prompting a short but thick coat of hair to appear, and landed firmly on my chest, spreading out in a stardust pattern from my solar plexus. I moaned ecstatically at it's grasp, voice deeper than before, feeling its warmth as a coating appeared there as well. The pelt of short hair was completed, stretching from my shoulders to my toes, leaving only one area untouched. My face.
The knocking at the door continued to no avail. I was far too preoccupied to care, or hardly even notice as the hair growth hopped over my neck, leaving only a peppering as it reached for my jaw. The stubble there exploded into motion, growing more of a beard than I had ever even dreamed of having. It thickened, and blended into my sideburns, forming a thick cushion on my chin. The hair on my upper lip twitched as the growth reached toward it as well. It pickled and burst out, completely covering my lip with a magnificent stache. I hesitantly reached out and pet the furry beast that had laid to rest on my face. At an inch, inch and a half long maybe it wasn't finished yet, but already was a rich, luscious beard, more than I thought was possible. I ran my hand through it, feeling the long hairs between my fingers. It stretched high on my face, thinning out just below my cheekbones and right above my Adam's apple, which had grown much more prominent. I couldn't help but release another groan of pleasure, reveling in a level of manliness I had only dreamed of, amplified by the deep, rumbling sound of my new voice.
I instinctively reached down and tore off my underwear, incredibly turned on. As my hand grasped myself, the transformation grasped on as well, sensing my intentions. With every stroke I seemed to grow longer and thicker. My wrist rubbed against my new forest, arm hair wrapping around it and tangling together. I reached 7 inches as i continued to pump, feeling my muscles tense and release in perfect synchronization. I became thicker, almost unable to wrap my fingers all the way around, despite my new large, powerful hands. The ecstasy only enhanced the transformation. I could feel everything. Sense everything. I moved my hand back to my face, my beard, wrapping my thick paw around the entirety of my lower face. I brought my splayed fingers together, feeling how the hairs flowed around my fingertips. I twisted them between my pointer finger and thumb, feeling how they played of each other, coming together, wrapping around each other, and then gracefully coming apart. 8, 9 inches as I moved my hand down the length of my thick neck, feeling the spike of my Adam's apple, and coming to rest on the forested plateaus of my chest. I moved my hand in a circular motion, admiring how the soft pelt laid down at my command, then sprung back into position once my hand passed by. 10, 11 inches as I passed over my abs again, enjoying how the hair contoured the deep grooves of my six pack. The feeling of the furry cluster brought me closer and closer, and my fingers were apart, forcing my other hand to help contain the 12-inch monster. I arched my back as I finished the ritual off, digging my toes into the carpet and feeling every poweful muscle in my back contract, and then release. Power burst from me in strong pulses. I howled, dropping my arms and pushing hard against the wall above me, cracking the drywall. I dropped to the floor, spent, feeling the pulses slow down again. My muscles felt incredible, like they were about to burst with power, and my skin stuggled to contain them.
However, the transformation was only just beginning. I heard another round of knocking and lept up, admiring my powerful new body with pride and excitement. I strode toward the door, ignorant of my state of nakedness, simply excited to embody my new form. However, I was interrupted by another wave of pain, pulsing through my bones instead of my muscles. This time, it was even worse, but my powerful body was better equipped to handle the pain so it didn't incapacitate me nearly as much. Still, I fell to the floor in pain, catching myself on my thick arms. Pinned helplessly by the abrupt pain, a crushing stretch seized me from within. My spine bowed violently, vertebrae cracking in a slow, thunderous sequence, each break reverberating through my chest and into the ground beneath me. I cried out as my legs extended, heels scraping uselessly across the floor while femurs ground longer, joints tearing apart and reforming with sickening precision. Muscle surged further to fill the new length—calves swelling, thighs thickening—dragging my body outward inch by inch. Heat flooded every fiber as dense strength knitted itself together, muscles sliding and bunching with heavy, intoxicating weight.
My ribcage spread next, ribs prying themselves wider as my chest lifted off the floor in ragged gasps, lungs expanding to match my growing frame. The world seemed to shrink around me as I grew against it. When the stretching finally ceased, I lay there longer, broader, unmistakably taller, still suspended in the air by my muscular arms. I stared at my hands and, much like my infected foot, the nails lengthened, but this time the transformation was taken even further. I cried out as the bones in my hand broke, all at once, and began to move. I fell to my side, arms no longer able to support my weight, and tried to grasp my wrist in shock, but was unable. I watched as muscle and bone writhed beneath the skin, shifting and reforming. The short, pale hair that had grown on the back of my hand suddenly thickened and grew darker, connecting with the hair on my fingers to form a continuous pelt. This effect then shifted to my arms, hair growing even thicker and longer before, transforming from a coat of light fuzz to a thick jungle of fur in just a few short moments. I turned my eyes away from the gruesome sight, no longer as sure about my decision to embrace the change, and noticed a similar transition affecting my feet and legs. As I watched, a thick pelt burst into existence across my feet, curling over my toes, now topped with sharp nails, and beginning to climb up my legs. Then, every bone in my legs broke at once. I howled in pain, even my heightened constitution and physical strength couldn't protect me from the feeling. I writhed, but the reaction only made the pain worse so I desperately tried to stay still, watching in horror as the transformation continued. The pain slowly dulled as I started to go into shock, nerves and endorphins highly overworked.
A rap at the door. Again. "Not a good time.." I growled, staring at my mangled legs, unable to move.
Bone grated against bone as my body reshaped itself, each brutal shift sending sharp lightning through my nerves. I howled again, the sound raw and feral—until the surge finally crested. Heat flooded my veins, endorphins dulling the agony, turning pain into something distant, almost indulgent. What moments ago had been unbearable now felt right. The strange crawl of fur along my skin no longer alarmed me. The change wasn’t an enemy anymore. It was an invitation.
My cry softened, warping from anguish into pleasure as the transformation deepened. I watched in breathless fascination as my joints rolled and re-seated themselves, legs bending backward into a powerful new geometry. Muscle bunched and stretched beneath my skin, re-engineered for speed and strength. Coarse hair burst through my flesh, racing upward—over calves, past knees—until my thighs vanished beneath a thickening pelt.
A tight, unfamiliar pressure gathered between my hips as the transformation reached lower. My nethers prickled as coarse fur pushed through, spreading outward in a dense, protective growth that crept across my inner thighs and slowly climbed up my limb. As the growth spread down the length of it, I grew, extending its journey by almost 6 inches. The fur thickened until every movement brushed against it, a constant reminder of the change. What had once been exposed and delicate now felt shielded, insulated, and undeniably bestial, fully claimed by the same blanket of fur that had wrapped the rest of my body.
Then came a new, aching pressure at the base of my spine. Something pulled there, deep and insistent, vertebrae loosening as if unbuttoning themselves. I gasped as bone after bone slid outward, extending me inch by inch. Nerves flared as the new limb emerged, hypersensitive, alive. When it finally cleared my body, a heavy, furred tail spilled free, swaying experimentally behind me. I felt it move—not as something attached, but as something wholly mine. Each slow flick sent shivers through my back, through my hips, grounding me in this new balance, this new shape.
The fur continued its relentless ascent, swallowing my torso in warmth. Defined abs disappeared beneath a dense, insulating coat; my chest broadened, pecs thickening and vanishing into a forest of dark hair. It flowed up my arms, tracing every contour of my strength—over bulging biceps, across rounded shoulders—until it met at my neck in a seamless mantle of fur.
My face burned next. My nose dampened, stretching forward as the bones beneath it cracked and reformed. I yelped at the sharpness of it, then laughed—low and breathy—as sensation exploded outward. My skull pushed forward into a powerful muzzle, quickly cloaked in soft, sensitive fur. Whiskers twitched as the world came into sharper focus. My beard surged, crawling higher, threading over my cheekbones and curling around my eyes like a living crown. Last were my ears. They slid upward with a wet, unsettling sensation, sharpening as they rose to the top of my head. Sound rushed in all at once—the whisper of air, the thrum of my own heartbeat, distant scents unfolding into rich, intoxicating layers.
I heard another patient knock at the door. "Who the fuck is that" I tried to say, wanting to admire the recently deepened sound of my voice, but all that came out was a low growl, which i enjoyed nonetheless. I stood up, slowly, watching my body the whole time. If I could even call it my body, with such drastic changes. But it felt familiar, natural, even. Like it was always part of me and I had just never known it. I admired the glistening fur as I moved, rippling like waves, rich, deep color faded, but beautiful in the moonlight. I gazed at my muscles, so large they were still visible and defined under the thick fur. I hesitantly turned back to the broken mirror, flexing a massive bicep.
The sight instantly made me excited. My 12 inches, now covered in fur, stood straight out. I desperately wanted to reach down, but as I grasped onto the thick extra limb I was reminded of its residual sensitivity, and had to restrain myself.
Anpther knock reminded me of the guest at the door, and I turned and walked over, power coursing through my veins, feeling as though I could face anything. I hesitated, imagining how intimidating I might now be to a normal person, but I sensed something from whoever was out there - encouraging me, luring me in - so I continued. I reached the door and threw it open, still getting used to my own strength and was greeted by a familiar pair of eyes. They struck fear into my heart at first, as I recognized them and my residual instincts took over, but they were quickly banished by my intrigue. Those auburn eyes... No longer frightening, still just as enchanting. They drew me in. Welcomed me. I knew it even before the transformation: there was something different about him. He was just as i had seen him the night before, but now my mind was unloaded by fear. He stood on two legs now, even taller than me. His muscles, like mine, bulged beneath a gorgeous coat of black fur. His bulge - almost obscured by rich fur - soft, but likely even larger than mine when fully extended. The strange wolf, expression playful and proud, stared back for a moment before turning silently, nodding his head and beckoning me to follow. My heart pounded at the thought of him. I imagined where he might be taking me, what we might do. He bounded off into the night and I gladly followed, not bothering to hide my excitement.
