Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 1: Cha-Cha-Changes

Disclaimer: If you have not read Werewolves and Vampires or Wolf Moon, do not pass Go and do not collect $200. Head back over to Werewolves and Vamps or risk some minor confusion. 

I know everyone always says change was good for you, it was healthy, and it kept things interesting. But when they said that I didn't think they meant Changing from human to wolf and back again.

Because while it may be healthy, kept things interesting and was actually good for me...it wasn't entirely as wonderful as change was and normally should be.

It hurt like a bitch.

And why wouldn't it? My entire body had to change its skeletal and muscular form to that of a wolf; meaning bones and muscles gotta move, grow, shrink, fuse together, and all other sorts of unpleasant things I rather not think about . Not to mention I have to sprout fur everywhere.

The process of actually Changing took God knew how long but felt like forever.

However the actual time I was crouched naked on all fours in the snow was about thirty minutes before I finally got my mind set on actually Changing and it started happening. Fortunately my being a werewolf kept me from being chilled, but after half an hour naked in the cold, even being a human space heater didn't help.

So basically I was outside in the forest for about an hour, more than half of that time was just me trying to figure out how to actually start to Change, and the rest of the time was spent actually Changing.

Hopefully that was something that was improved on and got easier with practice. And considering this was only my second time Changing I thought I did rather well.

Once I was finally and completely changed I just lay there, chest heaving trying to regain energy and my breath for a moment before I hauled myself to my four legs. And for someone who wasn't used to having four legs and a tail it was incredibly...strange. Probably an understatement but there weren't really the words to describe this.

I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable, because frankly I felt better as a wolf than a human. It just wasn't something I was used too. I had to learn how to move and function with my new body and I had to learn quick in case any of my Pack mates decided to join me early in the land of wolves.

I shook myself out, snow flying off my thick beige, brown and white fur. My back, neck, shoulders, face and top of my tail were darker brown with small flecks of black and white and beige but gradually it lightened out as it went to my belly, underside of my throat, legs and base of my tail. I was quite tall; bigger than your average wolf by quite a bit, but if I was seen quickly people could just pass me off as a slighter larger than average wolf, maybe a smaller bear.

I flicked my tail, ears swivelling as I caught new sounds; twigs snapping, birds chirping, small animals moving around, and if I listened hard enough the faint sound of civilization outside of the forest borders. I could hear more than I ever thought possible, even things from quite far away. That was definitely cool.

Lifting my nose to the air, I sniffed carefully, getting a whole parade of smells of different animals and plant life. So many smells that left my head dizzy and made my mouth water.