Sleepwalker Wolf

Can Shift?

Travis

   I'm unsure of the time when I awaken to Valery shifting out of my arms. My eyes squeeze before blinking open just in time to see Valery roll off the bed and onto the floor with a thump.

   Scrambling and suddenly wide awake, I peek over the side of the bed to see something familiar, but bizarre. Valery's bones are shifting beneath her skin and fur is beginning to sprout down her neck and arms.

   It only takes a moment for the shift to complete and Val looks back up to me with familiar hazel eyes and sits up on her haunches. She yawns before standing, turning around, and scratching at the door.

   "Val?" I call out to her.

   Valery turns and flattens her ears before whining loudly. I know she wants outside. Or does her fur side do? Is this even Val? She seems conscious and even responded to her name. Is she even really asleep?

   Carefully, just in case she's completely wolf, I get up and pull on a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt. Val whines again before I reach for the door and pull it open.

   After rubbing her side against my legs, Val trots out the door and down the hall, her tail wagging softly. She turns down the stairs and heads to whine and scratch at the front door, her nails clicking on the hardwood floors.

I follow her and after a deep breath, open the front door to let her out. Val shoots off the porch like a bullet into the chilly night air. She runs in loops around the front yard until she stops and starts to roll in the damp grass.

Sitting on the porch steps, I watch Val sniff and investigate everything around the yard. I could only see her because of the full moon and the slight night vision because of the wolf genes.

Eventually, she trots back up to me and rests her head on my knees, tail spinning in fast circles. A line of black fur runs down her forehead, between her eyes, and down to her nose. Looking to her behind, I see it runs between her ears and all the way down her back. Her belly is white with a mix of gray and brown fur on the rest of her.

   "So you can shift," I muse, running my finger over the black on her snout. "Just not while you're conscious."

   Val huffs, blowing hot air on my face through her nose. Her tongue peeks out and licks my wrist. My nose scrunches, but I can't help smiling at how adorable she is.

   "Travis," a tired voice whispers from behind me. I turn to see my mother standing in the front doorway, wrapped in a fluffy blue robe, her bare toes curling up against the chilled wood of the porch. Her eyes are trained on Val over my shoulder. "Who...?"

   I turn back to Val and scratch behind her ears and watch as her eyes roll and she stretches her neck. "It's Valery. Apparently, she can shift in her sleep and doesn't remember any of it when she wakes up."

   Mom takes a seat beside me on the steps, her tired eyes puzzling out why this is happening. "Strange. She doesn't know who her birth parents are?"

   Shaking my head, I drop my hand when Val takes off running around the yard again. Looks like she's got a bad case of the zoomies.

   "Said she was dropped off at a hospital when she was a year old," I answer, stretching my legs out to rest my heels in the dirt. "We're going to try to get some imaging scheduled when we're in town tomorrow."