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This is the first part of a novel I'm writing. The novel is dedicated to my friends on Alt.Horror.Werewolves (AHWW), the newsgroup who has helped me define who and what I am, as well as my pack advisor, Timberwolf, and everyone else that has helped out.
If you have comments or suggestions, please feel free to email them to swordmaiden@hotmail.com. I will be adding more as more is written; and before anyone gets touchy about my descriptions, some are based on personal experience. Howls, and enjoy, Swordmaiden.
I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes beginning to change.
"Oh shit," I breathed. "Not again!"
The color was no longer the green and gold that had become my regular color over the last few months. It was the clearest gold, and I knew what that meant. The wolf was upon me again.
Bracing myself, I howled in agony as the first wave of pain hit. The howl quickly became a thing no longer unnatural, but natural, as the transformation took hold.
I looked down at my arms and saw they were changing color, darkening as if something was trying to break out from under the skin. My nails, usually bitten to the quick, were growing longer, becoming claws. I clenched my fists, digging the newly-formed claws into my palms. I looked down when I felt the blood running down my fingers, hissing at the pain, angry with the beast that was taking over my body.
I threw back my head and screamed, feeling the loss of control acutely as the scream changed into a howl again. I growled and shook my head, fighting to disperse the thoughts running through my mind, or maybe merge them with my own, I didn't know.
These things (were they called clothes? flashed through the still-human part of my mind) were suffocating me. I tried to fight the urge to get out of them immediately, then growled again and ripped them off.
Naked, I dropped to my knees, then to all fours. My nostrils flared as I picked up the scent of the cleaning solution I'd used when I scrubbed the floor, what was it, a month ago? I could feel the energy in the air as though it was a tangible thing, which for me, right here right now, it was. The pain continued to increase until I could concentrate on nothing else. It signalled yet another aspect of the change - I both felt and saw the fur when it finally burst free of the constraints of my skin.
The dirty white fur covered my body, covering my back and legs. My fingers were shortening, my hands lengthening, to form paws. I felt my jaw shift, my face extend, until I had a muzzle. I howled again when the nub of a tail shot out and grew longer and furrier.
The pain stopped as suddenly as it began...the last full memory I have of that night.
I awoke suddenly in my own bed. That was an intense dream, I thought, then threw back the sheets to get ready for class. I caught a flash of red, and noticed that blood caked my hands. I started to shake, tried to scream, tried to do anything but remember. The night before came back to me in flashes, the change, the pain, running outside to howl at the moon, chasing a few rabbits...but mostly the running. The memory of the freedom was enough to stop my trembling for a few moments, but it wasn't enough to completely reduce my fear.
"What am I?" I whispered to the air.
