Turning ✔️

Chapter 7. The Wolf Inside

It was now several hours after I had originally read the letter before hyperventilating and rereading it for a second, third and fourth time. I decided to take a shower to clear my head. My mind was like a thousand fireworks all erupting as thoughts inside my brain.

All of these dreams were all suddenly making more sense. And my reflection in the lake.

I felt like a switch in my body suddenly turned on and everything seemed different. I turned the shower on as hot it could go before jumping in. The water pounded my headed and cascaded down my body with steam rising steadily. I breathed the hot steam in through my nose in steady breaths, calming my mind. I allowed myself to remain in my zen for a while before getting out of the warm shower.

I toweled myself off and wrapped it around my waist before clearing the mirror of fog. My body felt extremely hot still from my shower. For a split moment, the wolf was there in the mirror and in a blink of an eye, gone again. I shook my head marching out of the bathroom and into the walk-in closet.

As I was looking through my clothes, I felt a sharp pain in my side. My hand snapped to my ribs as I felt another stab of pain, this time coming from my right calf and then my back. The pain continued and soon my whole body felt consumed solely by pain. My bones felt like they breaking, my nails seemed like they were exploding out of my fingertips and my skin was crawling.

Looking up my arms, I realized hair was starting to grow thickly before my very eyes. I screamed in pain as what felt like my body was shrinking and breaking all at the same time. I fell to the ground, my eyes going into tunnel vision before I swiftly lost consciousness.

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I woke up and was no longer in any pain. I looked down at my hands which were now paws instead, each with razor-sharp nails protruding out. I stood up on all fours and trotted over to the full-length mirror. I was flabbergasted at what blinked back at me in my reflection. A pure white wolf stood in my place and blinked it's tranquil ice blue eyes when I did. When I looked down, it also looked down. When I looked up, it did too.

I tried yelling for help but all that came out of my mouth was a loud howl.

This is all a dream. I'm going to wake up any second, right?

I scampered out of my closet and into my bedroom. I was very awkward running on my four legs and I kept losing my balance like a puppy would when it's first learning to walk. I quickly realized that I couldn't use the doorknob without any opposable thumbs. I jumped onto the door, clawing at the knob with two paws and managed to crack the door open.

I pushed my nose into the crack and pushed which opened the door to my delight. I zipped out of my room before peering cautiously down at the stairs. I took it slowly making sure to have all four of my paws on each step before continuing to the next one.

I finally reached the bottom of the staircase and used the same method to open up the front door to my house as my bedroom. I struggled a bit more with this door than mine, but I eventually prevailed and the door swung open. The cool breeze hit my fur, and the smells of the forest smacked my nose.

With my nose to the ground, I wandered into the woods surrounding my home. I could smell the pine off the trees and hear the rushing sound of cars on the nearby street and running water from the brook. I caught a whiff of something that really sparked my interest. It smelled delicious.

That's a rabbit.

A calm voice said in my head.

"Who's there?" I barked at the invader to my mind.

I am your inner wolf. I am here to help guide you on your journey as a werewolf. I have always been inside of you helping you deal with the many obstacles life has thrown your way.

"Do you have a name?"

I am you. As much as you are me. We are one and the same. Now let's go hunt down those rabbits.

Inner me didn't have to tell me twice. Without a moments notice, I lunged my nose to the leafy ground, catching the smell I now knew as a rabbit. I followed where the scent was strongest and soon discovered its den.

The rabbit squeaked when it saw me approaching and quickly buried itself in its home. I pounced, razor teeth barely missing the rabbit's puff tail as it squeezed its hindquarters into the hole.

Dig it out.

The voice hasn't led me wrong yet, so I dug, and before long I successfully captured the rabbit in my strong jaws. It let out a melancholy squeak as I chomped down, ending its life. I dropped the lifeless corpse to the ground before letting out a triumphant howl which echoed in the empty forest. Shortly after, I scarfed the rabbit down tearing the flesh from the bone with my teeth.

Successful first turn. Head back to your room and I will let you relax for a little while. No strenuous activities. We will need all of your energy. A new werewolf needs a lot of practice and training.

I did as the voice told me and went back to my bedroom and the wolf went silent. As my bones break and reformed back to my human form, the pain was intense. It was far less painful than the first time, and by what the voice told me I assumed that in no time it would barely even hurt.

I padded over to my closet as I wolfed out I was only wearing a towel. The towel was now in a shredded heap on the floor. I picked it up examining it for a moment, before dropping it down again.

I'll deal with that later.

I quickly threw on some clothes and headed out into my room. I grabbed my cell, wallet and my new car keys and left the room. I headed down and out the front door without a glance back.

I need to get out of the house. This is just too much at once for me to handle and properly process.

I needed a moment away from everything going on and decided to go grab a smoothie from a small cafe downtown. I put my car in reverse and backed out of my driveway. When I finally got to the cafe, I decided to get a strawberry banana smoothie and headed back to my car with it. I was sipping on it lightly, fiddling with the radio when I saw a familiar car pulling up beside me.