The Change

I make a final leap with my back legs and my arms are out to grab. I notice too late a shimmering yellow light in the air, inches away from the thing. As I pass through the field, I feel an intense burn. I land on the thing's right arm and hear it snap. My muscles are bulging and brown hair is flowing over my body. I can see my nose in front of my face as I bite into where its chest should be. I rip cloth and only find a ribcage with a globe of that green light hovering behind bones. I think I was trying to tear through whatever stomach the thing might've had. I rip its arm off with barely a tug and part of its shoulder comes with it.

The thing is making a wailing sound as if it's yelling into a fierce wind from the bottom of a canyon - "Uohhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The sound stops suddenly and the green light in its chest winks out.

Sarah has broken through the skeleton's spine and severed the head. She howls next to me and I join in. It's not a howl of triumph - it's a howl of rage that there's no flesh to rend or entrails to eat. Out of anger we break the thing into pieces.

We're both still on all fours. Our claws have scratched lines in the marble floor and there's a small crack where I landed on the thing's arm.

I nuzzle my head against Sarah. She licks me back. We're half-way to being fully changed and only now does the fact that we're in a public place dawn on me. I don't care yet - I'm staring at Sarah and she's staring back at me.

She's ripped the front of the t-shirt I loaned her as her breasts grow into the change. I can see a patch of fur between her breasts that runs down to her crotch. The line of fur thickens and spreads out just above the mound of her vagina. I can see the start of her tail pushing out through the tops of her pants.

We stand at the same time and I shove her against the wall closest to us. We don't have full muzzles so kissing is inconvenient but we're able to make it happen. I grab her tit and squeeze hard. The padding on my palm is rough against her soft, furry breasts.

Her legs wrap around me and the bulge in my pants is rubbing against her cunt. My cock is out of my pants and growing larger. A line of skin is attaching it to my stomach. It's not a full sheath but it's partway there. I rub my dick bulge against her pussy furiously and she's pulling on my hair and yelling for me to fuck her cunt numb. I can't suck on her tit because of the way my mouth is so I'm licking her nipple and biting her breast. Sometimes I bite through flesh and she bleeds but the mark heals almost instantly. The blood excites us.

The tip of my cock is four inches out of my pants and she brings one hand down to grab it. She's yanking and pulling and begging me to put it deep inside her. The palm of her hand is scratches my naked dick because of the rough padding on her hands but it feels good.

I hear someone loudly clap once behind me and Sarah yells at them to "Fuck the hell off!" It comes out strange because of her mouth but you can still tell what she's saying. I'm trying to take my pants off with one hand when I feel a strange calmness fall over me. It's slow but it's distracting me. I growl and keep dry humping Sarah but I turn my head to look behind me. Sarah screams wordlessly and then yells at me not to stop. However, whatever this calmness is, it's affecting her too.

I set Sarah down. We're breathing hard and the changes are withdrawing slowly. My heart is trying to slam its way out of my chest. Amelia is standing behind us and has her eyes averted slightly.

Now it's my turn to hold Sarah back as she lunges for the other woman. I have to use two hands and plant my feet against her strength. "You fucking cunt!" Sarah screams. "If you ever do that shit again I will rip your goddamned throat out and eat your fucking heart! I will fuck my man when I want to fuck him!" I don't talk to Sarah or try to calm her down. I'm nearly as pissed as she is but I'm not sure killing this woman is a good thing.

Amelia is making placating gestures with her hands. "I know, I know. I apologize but I had no choice. If either of you had changed too far I would not have been able to stop you at all. I'm really very sorry. The legends say the wolves were always hardest to restrain. Too much passion. Too many raw emotions. Peace, girl. This is for the best." At the word "girl", Sarah howls and pulls harder against me. I don't think she appreciated that.

The woman Amelia is holding a piece of the creature's cloak in one hand, rubbing it between her fingers. "I have to go." She says. "You can think about killing me later but I have to follow this trail before it grows too cold. If I do not die before I am done, I will find you this weekend. Hurry, I've shielded us from curious onlookers but it won't last long." She kicks gently at our JC Penny bag near her feet. "I've brought your clothes back for you."

Amelia makes a fist with her right hand and closes her eyes. Then, her fist opens and she's gone.

CHAPTER 10

Sarah's cursing Amelia under her breath but I hear her clearly. Thankfully we're close to one of the exits so we're out in no time. I follow her as she stalks off to the car, still pissed. The anger rolls off of her and it's affecting me, too. Below that is the scent of her need but she's too pissed to do anything about it. We have to walk around the parking lot to get back to our car since we're on the wrong side.

"You know, that shirt you're wearing doesn't actually cover anything." I tell her. Sarah just glares at me. Thankfully, nobody is looking our way and we're walking between cars. Her shirt is torn badly and only barely covers her left tit.

"You're talking to me about this? You're not even wearing a shirt, or didn't you notice?" She asks.

Damn. She's right, I didn't notice. My nakedness doesn't bother me and I can barely tell the difference between clothed and not.

I try again. "So, what the hell was that?"

"I needed some dick, what the fuck do you think?! That fucking whore!" She yells.

"No, no." I say. "The thing. The... skeleton... thing."

She keeps walking while she talks. "It was death. A dead thing. As soon as I saw it and saw what it was doing to that guy, I wanted to destroy it." She frowns for moment. "Actually, now that I think back to what I can remember, I don't think I cared at all about the man dying. All I knew was there was this unnatural thing that shouldn't exist and it smelled like shit. Huh. Is it sad that all I thought of that guy was that he was meat? Dying, weak meat? I saw that fucking woman there too but all I knew was that thing was there and it shouldn't be real. Everything went red and I only remember bits and pieces after that."

She shivers and I pull her close to me. "The way it's neck felt in my mouth. I was burning up. I needed to kill something. I thought, 'neck' and 'vulnerable' and that was it. When it was broken and gone I was more awake but still burning hot and you were there with me. You don't know what it's like. Or maybe you do... You're unlike anything else. You were huge and strong and on the ground with me, killing that thing. I wanted to lick your muscles. I wanted to suck your cock dry. I wanted you to mount me like your bitch and pin me to the ground. You're powerful. I wanted all of that. I went from killing to wanting you in me hard and fast and that fucking bitch ruined it." Her lips are pulled back and her eyes are dangerous. "Whatever we did last night bonded us and changed us, I know that now. I still want to kill something. I still taste blood in my mouth. I want to be fucked."

We get to the car and are almost inside before we both stop to face back to the mall. Our nostrils are flaring and we're both catching the scent of something bad. There's a darkness on the corner of the roof about 100 feet away. The sun is out but there's a wavering oval shape of pure black that's rippling in the wind. It smells like the thing in the mall but slightly different and much stronger. It smells like a chemical plant from hell.

I've taken two steps towards it. I'm standing next to the back of the car with my hand on the frame between the door and back window.

Suddenly, something shoots out from the void, lightning fast. Time slows for me again but the bolt is moving so fast - straight for Sarah. I grip the car frame for purchase and it crumples like paper. All of the back windows shatter and I launch myself over the trunk towards Sarah. The car heaves and the rear driver tire explodes.

The bolt burns through a small tree (setting it on fire and breaking it in half) and is almost touching Sarah by the time I slam into her. The blackness was aimed for her heart but she moved slightly at the last possible second and I reached her just in time to push her a little more. Whatever it is goes through her side and then burns a deep groove through the concrete parking lot. Sarah is down and I'm lying on top of her. She's screaming and jerking. I'm trying to move her hands from her side to see how bad it is. It's grazed her ribcage. I see melted bones and blackened muscle through her skin. It looks like whatever that thing was has cauterized the wound on the way through.

I roar in anger and pain for her. My feet burst through my shoes and the claws dig into the ground. I feel fur flowing in waves down my body and my face is already a muzzle. My pants simple fall apart as my thigh and leg muscles push against the fabric.

I crouch and spring at the thing on the roof. I can feel my tail making minute adjustments as I'm in the air. It moves left and then right and then back and forth a little more as I aim for the roof of a car in front of me. I don't even have to think about it -- the tail automatically adjusts for me. I clear over fifteen feet before landing on someone's car. The roof collapses, windows shatter and the axles buckle under me. The car alarm shrieks in my ears. I barely pause -- I crouch into the landing, tense, feel the claws on my feet ripping through metal and then jump again. My feet tear a hole in the roof of the car as I go airborne and the black padding on the bottom of my feet protect me from jagged metal edges.

I jump again and again and again. I leave four crushed cars behind before I finally reach the roof. I have to claw my way up part of the wall. Chunks of concrete fall to the sidewalk below me.

The thing is gone but the scent remains. I'm crouched. My feet are long and the toes support my weight as I lie down nearly flat. The muscles on my arm are thick and I feel them vibrating, waiting to be used. The claws on my hands dig into the floor below me. Dark brown fur lines my body and my sheath is holding my dick close to me. My tail is held low to the ground and steady. It's an extra weight on my spine but it's comforting and gives me extra balance that I didn't think I needed.

My ears twitch, looking for signs of something moving. I'm drawing in the scent through my muzzle and tasting the air with each deep breath. There's nothing other than the smell and a round black spot burned into the ground where the thing hovered. I memorize its scent and I know I can track it if it ever shows up again.

Sarah's not screaming anymore. I see from here that she's pulled herself into the car and has the seat back. I can hear her breathing fast but she doesn't sound panicked. With a last look I turn and walk on all fours to the edge. One family is just now getting out of their car and heading into the mall. They aren't close to us but they're too close for me to move. I wait for them to go inside and then give them a few moments before grabbing the side of the building and leaping.

At this height I clear nearly fifty feet before landing. The cement cracks around me and I crouch into the landing, skidding on my hands and feet. My arm and leg joints yell at me in pain for a second before adrenalin or my fast healing takes over. The thick padding on my feet and hands rub off slightly on the ragged ground but they're tough and I dig my claws in to stop. I put a dent in the side of a hummer as I come to a complete stop. If I had kept jumping or running then this wouldn't be a problem but I need to be careful in the open.

I only now realize that my tongue is out and I'm panting. I laugh at myself but it comes out as "grufaw" because of the muzzle. Between waiting for people I slowly make my way to our car. I stay crouched on all fours to keep a lower profile. I'd be huge if I stood straight up. Someone's noticed the other cars and is wondering whether they should call the police but his girlfriend tells him not to get involved.

Sarah reaches over and opens the back door of our car when I get close. It's tight and I have to push my way in. I try to ask if she's okay but it comes out as a strange whine that ends in a question mark. She's taking deep breaths and has her eyes closed but guesses what I'm asking.

"Fuck how I'm doing. Did you kill it?" I growl in frustration and she sighs. "It's not there anymore, is it? I can't smell it as strongly. Fuck, this hurts. Did you see what it did to the parking lot? Fucking thing."

She turns her head around and looks at me with one eye. "Hey," she says. "Thank you. You saved my life. "

I get my head around and nuzzle her neck, licking her. My tongue is long and rasps on her skin. It seems to soothe her and she makes a satisfied noise. "Of course," she continues. "I was already moving out of the way and your retarded tackle probably didn't actually help that much. Other than breaking your car, of course."

I bark a laugh (that actually comes out as a bark) and bite her shoulder. She squeals at me and pushes at my muzzle. "Get off me! You're attacking a dying woman. Mad dog! Mad dog!" She dissolves into laughter that trails off into giggles. I grin through the muzzle and it feels funny. It probably looks like I want to eat something rather than smiling.

CHAPTER 11

I lick Sarah's shoulder, neck and ear before settling back into the car. My change back is slow but happens when I calm down. It's itchy but not painful. I find myself wondering where it all goes as I wait to go back to normal. Then I start wondering how the hell I'm going to get back home without any clothes. Sarah calls me a moron and tells me she'll just run in and buy something for me to wear.

I have her show me the wound. It's partially healed but it's ugly. If it's healing at all any more then it's going really slowly. The skin around the edge of the wound is black and I can still see the muscle and bone. She says it doesn't hurt but I can smell that she's lying. We use the ripped t-shirt and a roll of Gorilla tape from the car's trunk to patch her up temporarily. It takes some creativity to get the tape under her breasts and still allow her to breathe but we do it.

She strips to changes into her new clothes before getting out and her hand strays to her side occasionally. She winces when she gets out of the car but stands straight and tall. I admire her strength.

She whines about her new bra making her side hurt but I tell her that if she doesn't wear it, I'll have to follow her naked and beat the men off of her. She laughs and tussles my hair.

I grab her wrist before she leaves. "If I smell anything like those things then I am going in there, naked or not, changed or not. You come back to me if you see them. Don't fight them alone." She taps her lip with a finger and watches me for a second. "Deal." she says and I'm a little surprised she agrees so easily.

I sift through conversations around the parking lot while I wait for her to come back. It sounds like two people finally called the police. Mall security is looking at one of the cars but have no idea what happened. A younger guard asks about hail and there's a pause before an older guard calls him an idiot.

I smell Sarah even before she opens the glass doors to come back outside. A tightness in my chest relaxes a little and I smile at her when she shoves a bag through the window.

It takes several different positions before I find one that lets me stretch my legs to get the pants on. She bought a pair of dark blue jeans that are slightly bigger than I need but I appreciate the extra size. A black polo shirt goes with it. She tells me she had to go to three different stores to find shoes that fit my new feet size.

My cell phone is still amazingly intact in the glove compartment. I call my insurance company and tell them some freak accident happened in the parking lot. They're skeptical but I tell them about the other cars so they call out for a tow truck to haul it off for inspection. We wait just long enough to make sure the tow truck loads up the right car and then we find the right combination of buses that get us home.

Sarah's tired on the ride home and mostly leans against me. Her head fits nicely against my shoulder. I hold her close, careful of her side. She clenches her teeth on some of the bumps.

Back at the house I order three large pizzas and we settle in for the evening. Sarah's appetite is good but she's sweating and I can smell something different about her. There's a stench coming from her wound and it's mingling with her smell.

She finally looks at me and says, "What? You've been itching to say something and you're worried about me. My nose doesn't lie. Apparently. Now, anyway." She tries to grin but it comes out as a grimace.

"You need to be in bed." I tell her. She tries to wave me away but I press on. "No, seriously. You look like shit. You're sweating and I see you shaking every so often. My nose is just as good as yours and that thing in your side smells like rotten meat."

"Oh, thanks, ass. I'm fine. It's healing and..." She stops and clutches her side. I barely have time to react before she pukes up half of what she's had for dinner. I see and smell blood in the mess. "I'm f...fine. Fuck off. I'll be fine."

I stare at her and then simply pick her up. She struggles but it's half-hearted. She's in pain and weak. I bring her to the bedroom and lay her down on some clean sheets.

I've never really taken care of anyone beyond the standard cold or flu but I know the basics. I'm able to get her clothes off and she only makes a meager attempt at sexual humor. Now I know she must be sick. She feels hotter than normal so I bring her a thermometer. Decades of living as a normal human cause me to freak out when it reads 135 degrees. Thankfully, I remember our higher body temperatures and stop myself from calling 911. She's lucid and seems mostly okay otherwise so I think that's just our new fever temperature. I could've lived without learning that.

I bring wet towels for her neck and forehead and I clean out her wound as best as I can. She only bites me once in pain and then contents herself with shredding the rest of our mattress. I call her a baby several times but I'm a little worried. There are black and green bits in the wound. I vaguely remember high school biology and there's nothing about green tinges to muscles that I can remember.

It takes her throwing up three more times before there's no more blood in the vomit. She's sweating profusely and keeps her eyes closed. I towel her off the best I can

The green coloring is finally fading and the black parts are flaking off inside her. My heart comes down from my throat when her breathing becomes steady and relaxed. She's even able to keep down some Gatorade after a while.

I don't know what time it is when I finally strip down and settle next to her in bed. We're both too hot for sheets or blankets so I just lie next to her. She whimpers in her sleep and it's a half animal sound. It makes me grind my teeth and feel useless. The wolf in me feels like a failure. I should be keeping her safe. We watch each other and protect each other. Failure! If she had died... I don't know how to finish the thought. I'm snarling and my blood is racing. My anger makes Sarah thrash against me in her sleep so I force myself to calm down for her sake. Stupid. Stupid mistake.