When I opened my eyes this morning, I felt very different. I looked up, only to be met by Alex's gaze looking back down at me.

“Good morning honey~” she said, before pulling me in close for a kiss.

“Oh eww! Get that morning breath out of here!” I said, waving the foul stench away from my face.

Alex cracked out laughing. “You’ll have to get used to it, I'm afraid!”

I laid down in defeat. “You know what, it’s not too bad.” Growing up on a farm shoveling dung all day has kind of numbed my nose from bad smells.

She pulled me close and released a lung-emptying puff right into my face.

“Jesus! I take it back!” I squirmed under her, trying to get out of the tent alive.

She burst out laughing yet again and fell off my chest, allowing me to escape.

“Aww but I wanted to cuddle more...” She said with a pout.

“Mabye we can cuddle after you go rinse that mouth of yours, woman!” I said, with some laughter in my voice. That’s one hell of a way to wake up.

Now, about the feeling I felt earlier. ‘Omen, do you know what this feeling is?’ I asked my wolf.

It means our body is now ready to transform into our wolf form. The feeling you’re describing is our wolf body being formed from our cells. Expect to feel very hungry for the entire day.

Hmm, that’s interesting. Now that I'm thinking about it, I do feel very hungry.

“Alex, what do you think about deer for breakfast?”

Alex decided to stay at our ‘camp’ and get a fire going. I began wandering into the woods, looking for any tracks in the dirt or other subtle things which could indicate game wandering in this area.

Suddenly I froze, my eyes landing on a singular hoofmark on the ground. The tracks were seemingly going to the left, but I couldn’t see any more tracks. It’s almost like the animal took a single step and then vanished.

Puzzled by this, I took a step to the left, intending to follow the ‘trail’.

No! Stop!

Omen’s abrupt warning made my body freeze in place.

This is a trap. Sharpen your ears.

I acknowledged my wolf’s words and focused on the ambient noise of the forest. It was almost entirely quiet, safe for a single bird singing a little morning tune.

Suddenly I heard a branch snap to my right.

I reflexively crouched down, and narrowly avoided a blade swishing above my head, but not quick enough. It slashed off the tips of my ear.

The attacker was struck down by my knife a single millisecond later, and they fell to the ground.

I clenched my ear. Werewolf ears must be more delicate than human ears, because they hurt like hell!

“Fuck you!” I yelled, before looking over at the corpse of my enemy.

It was no longer there.

I froze in place.

Vampire.

Time slowed down. I did a full 360 of the area and didn’t spot them. I needed to get out of the thicket of the forest to have any chance of survival.

I sharpened my eyes, and they fell upon a bright light in the distance.

That must be a clearing.

I booked it, snaking my way past the plethora of branches which were impeding my escape.

Luckily, I move faster in slowed time. I was able to dodge a few of the vampire’s attacks. They must be moving at supersonic speeds to even be able to attack me while slowed time is activated.

I saw glowing red eyes in front of me for a split second, before they vanished again. Just how quickly is this thing moving?

I jumped through a tight gap in the branches and hit the soft undergrowth and felt the sun on my skin. I had made it to the clearing.

The vampire, probably too entranced in its little chase, carelessly stepped out of the forest to follow me before realizing its mistake. It screeched, before being turned to dust under the sun’s rays.

Jesus.

I laid out on the grass, panting for breath.

If only we had access to our wolf form. I could have beaten it easily.

‘Sure you could.’

I cracked a little smile, before lifting myself off the ground.

‘So, omen, do you have any idea where we should go looking for prey?’ I asked my wolf.

Look up, idiot.

I did as he told me.

‘Okay, that’s just cruel.’ My eyes fell upon a grazing deer, stood perfectly still in the middle of the clearing.

It hasn’t noticed us yet. Just move quietly, and we can-

Omen’s words were cut short by the sound of a gunshot ringing throughout the forest.

‘You were saying?’

Don’t act all high and mighty. You just scared off every animal in a mile’s radius.

Jesus, I can’t win a single argument with this guy, can I?

You cannot. I could practically taste the smugness of his words.

Defeated, I went over and grabbed the animal by its feet.

When I got back to camp Alex was already busy with what looked like stew boiling merrily away over a cozy campfire.

“Ah you’re back! Just in time. Skin the animal and we can add it to the stew.” She said, stirring the pot.

“You did all this while I was gone?” I dropped the deer and went over to greet my wife.

Alice, noticing my hurt ears came over to me and tapped at my feet, asking for me to lift her up to my head. Of course, I let her sit on my shoulder and she began licking my ears. They began to grow back almost immediately.

“Well would you look at that! Alice can heal small wounds too!” Alex gave Alice a pet. “You’re really something special, huh?”

Alex then looked at me. “You said we could cuddle after I rinsed my mouth, right? I don’t think it’s ever been cleaner, just for you~” She pulled me close, kissing me.

I naturally reciprocated it, before pulling away. “We can cuddle when the meat is inside the soup, okay? It’d be a shame if it spoiled before we could even taste it, right?”

She reluctantly let go of me. “Yeah, you’re right. Let's get it into the stew.”

“Have you ever skinned a deer before?” I asked her, before kneeling down beside the ruminant.

“Yeah, a few times. Usually, I'd just eat it raw in wolf form, but seeing as you can't transform into yours yet, I guess we still need to cook it.”

I smiled at her comment, remembering that today is a full moon day.

You two love birds...

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Omen’s jealous of you, Dawn.” I laughed.

“Don’t worry omen, we’ll see each other soon enough.” Dawn said, now transformed into her wolf form.

“For the transformation process to be completed, all werewolves within a 50-meter radius capable of transforming need to do so in order to help those who cannot. Our wolf forms radiate energy, which is pretty similar to those of the full moon, only less intense.”

“How do you know all this? Have you transformed humans in the past?” I asked Dawn.

“I’ve heard stories.”

She’s bluffing. All wolves know of the energies we radiate, it’s burned into our memories from the moment we gain conscience.

All this information gave me a bit of a headache, so I just got up on all fours, in the position Dawn instructed me to take.

“I feel so silly standing like this.” I said, with a small laugh.

“The moon will show itself any moment now.” Dawn exclaimed.

There was an unnatural tingle on my skin.

Oh yes, I feel it coming! I get to be in control! Omen’s voice sounded like that of a child in a candy store.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked Dawn.

She nodded.

Ugh. I don’t feel so good.

Hang in there, Faron! Just a little more!

I looked up at the sky and saw the majesty of the full moon hanging proudly on the horizon. Its beams hitting my skin like soft feathers.

It got very difficult to keep my eyes open. I felt tired, almost like I was going to fall asleep.

I found myself standing in a pitch-black room. Upright on two feet, unlike how I'd been standing on all fours just a moment ago.

I looked around. It was all just black.

Well, now you know how it feels to not be in control. Omen’s voice rang out in my head.

“Omen? Where are you?”

The once black room slowly revealed an opening in the front, and it was almost like I was standing inside of an eyeball. I could see out of the eye, and what I saw made my jaw drop.

Omen was now in control of our body, and it had changed drastically.

Paws were touching the grass of the forest, and we had grown a long, menacing snout.

“Hello dawn. It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

Omen moved over to our mate and rubbed his nose against hers.

“What do you say we go for a run?”

Omen and Dawn had ran into the forest, and we’d eventually arrived at a small lake. He and Dawn were lying on top of a rock, basking in the moonlight.

‘Omen, could you give me control of our body again? I want to experience being in a wolf’s body.’

Sure thing, just take it slow. Your human mind might not be used to piloting something so... different.

I got the same feeling as previously of getting tired. I fell asleep, only to wake up, now inside the body of our wolf.

It felt mighty. I could feel my large leg muscles and the heightened sense of smell.

“So this is how it feels being a wolf. I could get used to this.” I told Dawn.

“Alex would like to be in control again, Faron. I’ll leave you two to it.”

The once yellow eyes of Dawn changed into that of Alex’s green ones, and she looked at me with a smile. It was hard to decipher it, what with wolf mouths being less expressive and all, but I could tell it was a heartfelt greeting.

“So, how do you feel?” She asked me.

“Big. And hungry.” I looked down at my mate, her body now being almost 2/3 of my size.

“You’re certainly on the larger size of wolves, I must say. It’s no surprise you’re hungry after needing to create all this mass. We should go hunting.”

Hmm, hunting you say? I wonder if I can still activate slowed time in this form.

“That sounds like a great idea.” I took a big sniff of the air, taking in all the different smells of the forest.

“I smell something.” Alex said.

I looked toward where she was looking. My gaze landed in the middle of the lake, and I spotted a few ripples in the water.

“So, fish is on the menu today?” I asked her.

“We could certainly use the vitamins.” She snickered. “We’ve eaten way too much red meat lately anyway.”

I agreed, and we both got off the ground. It felt weird standing on all fours, but at the same time it felt so right. I decided to attempt standing upright on two feet, but the protesting joints in my back knees made that virtually impossible.

Jesus! You’ll break something if you don’t stop that right this instant!

I didn’t argue. I dropped back down on my front feet again.

Alex was holding back tears of laughter. “Well, you’re probably not the first one to try THAT out!” She said, no longer able to stop herself from laughing. She dropped to the ground laughing, now literally rolling on the floor laughing.

My face was probably as red as a tomato. “Jesus you’re so childish...”

Once Alex recovered from her laughing fit, she dove into the water headfirst. Her elegant body didn’t even make a splash in the water. Once she resurfaced, I could see her having a little trouble staying afloat.

“With practice, even wolves can swim!” She yelled out.

Now well, this couldn’t be so hard? I took a few steps back to the far edge of the rock and took a deep breath.

Hey now, I won’t consent to you jumping right into swimming without even knowing how to run! Worst case scenario, we drown.

I stopped myself for a moment. He did have a point.

“Hey Alex, Omen doesn’t think swimming is a good idea. Maybe I should just stay on the dry ground for now?”

She looked up at me from the water.

“Dawn also agrees with Omen. You just stay there then, I'll go fish.” She said, before submerging herself entirely under the water.

I’d advise you to try and run around a little. Test how it feels to run on all fours.

‘Good idea.’

I looked off the side of the rock, and saw we were about three meters off the ground.

That’s not too bad. I carefully leapt off the rock and landed gracefully on all fours.

Very good. Just keep that up, and you’ll be able to hunt in no time.

I smiled at Omen’s compliment, before walking forward a little. It was hard to coordinate my legs at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. I gradually began to pick up speed, and before long I found myself running throughout the forest. I was going at blistering speeds, far faster than I'd ever be able to run as a human.

You’re learning very quickly. I’d like to see just how fast we can go, activate that time-slow ability of yours.

Thinking of the possibility made my skin tingle, and I did as my wolf told me. Things immediately went straight to 11, and I was shooting throughout the forest at unfathomable speeds. Somehow, I kept my footing and didn’t collide with any branches or other objects.

Deciding enough was enough, I dug my front paws into the ground, coming to a screeching halt.

“That felt amazing.” I said out loud, to no-one in particular.

We should get back to Alex.

Oh right, I forgot about her for a moment.

‘Did you keep track of our route, Omen? I’ve forgotten.’

He let out a sigh and asked me for control of our body.

Naturally I agreed, and watched from the spectator seat as Omen navigated the dense forest back to the rock I started at.

“There you are!” Alex exclaimed, with a mouthful of fish. “Dinner’s ready.”

“That smells delicious.” Omen exclaimed.

“Oh, I didn’t know it was you at first. It’s good to finally meet you, Omen.”

(I forgot to mention, but the wolves voices are a little rougher than their human counterparts, hence why Alex was able to know Omen was in control here. Not to mention, Omen’s eyes are purple unlike Faron’s blue eyes.)

Omen walked closer to Alex and bit a fish, bringing it into his mouth.

“So, what did you two do while I was fishing?” She asked Omen.

“Faron went for a run into the forest.” He stated. “He’s already skilled enough to squirm in-between obstacles. We didn’t hit a single branch the entire run.”

Alex looked at us with a look of pride. “I knew you could do it, honey.” She said and rubbed her nose on ours.

“I think we should begin thinking about the human settlement nearby. It’d be unsafe to be out in the open much longer, especially now that all our clothes are ruined.”

“I agree.” Alex replied. “Our safest bet would be to enter unseen and steal some clothes before returning to our human forms. People react better to seeing a person with wolf features than a huge wolf strolling through their town.”

Faron, you should get back in control. If things go south, you’re the more experienced in our human form.

We switched, and I was greeted by the taste of fish on my tongue. “I love salmon.”

Alex smiled. “We should do it while it’s still dark out. Our fur is better camouflage in the dark.”

Me and alex were now lying prone outside the city walls. Unlike the one I came from originally, this one had wood walls, meaning our claws would dig into them easier.

“If you go over to that guard tower there and eliminate them, I'll lay in waiting here until the coast is clear.”

The city was small, so they only had two guard towers standing parallel looking over the entrance of the city.

“Okay. I’ll signal when it’s clear.”

I walked silently over to the wall of the city, and dug my front paws into the wood. My claws caught grip, and I was able to ascend vertically up the tall city walls. Once at the top, I launched myself up in the air before landing on the catwalk without a sound.

The guards were too busy watching the front of the city to notice me coming up behind them. My knife flew over to the other guard, stabbing him In the throat. He let out a quiet gurgle as I bit his friend on the neck, before twisting. With a crack, he passed away.

I looked down from the catwalk and nodded at Alex to follow me up.

‘Omen, how do we change back to our human form?’

Stretch out your front paw and imagine your human hand in its place.

I did as he told me, and I found myself standing on two feet again, now back in my human body.

‘Well, that was easier than I'd thought.’

I got goosebumps, and I remembered I was completely naked.

“Let’s go get some clothes.” Alex said, now having returned to her human form as well.

We raided several stores, but we only found a single pair big enough to fit my new, much larger frame.

“Shopping with you will be a delight, I can already tell.” Alex exclaimed with a little chuckle.

After getting dressed in some proper attire, we looked around the city. There was not a single soul in sight. I’m guessing everyone was asleep at the time.

“Don’t you find it unusual that there isn’t even street nightguards?” Alex asked me.

“We should focus on trying to find a place to stay for the night.”

We walked around town for a while, until we came across a place calling itself 'The Sleepy Neco’.

I got a brief flashback of the alternate prologue, remembering the tiny cat girl.

“Alex, I got a bad feeling about this place.”

Oh god, what even is that? Yeah hell no. We are not sleeping in there tonight. Anywhere but.

I thought for a moment, trying to remember anywhere we’d been on our journey where we could seek refuge.

I suddenly thought back on our journey over Pillan, and I got a pretty mad idea.

“We could ask Ragnar for refuge. If nothing else, she’ll be able to keep us safe.”

… Are you thinking straight? Last time we saw that flying reptile she almost bit off your head. Why should she help us?

Alex looked in thought for a moment. “She never did actually threaten us... Worst case scenario, we need to walk down the mountain again. I say we do it.”