He was too close. Something whimpered as my feet scrambled to get away. They slid this way and that as my feet, paws, or whatever, tried to find traction on the wood floor. The alpha reached out and gripped the back of my neck. His grip was firm enough to stop me yet gentle enough to not hurt.

With a soft tug, he lifted me to my feet and let me go. I scrambled to stay upright. I would have fallen except the big guy scooped me into his arms. One arm supported my butt while the upper half held me against him.

Secure and no longer at risk of falling, I relaxed against him. He smelled of trees and freshly turned dirt. While it wasn’t all that appealing, it was as refreshing as it was relaxing.

Before I knew it, my feet hit the ground as he set me down. The surface was rough enough that I was able to stand. Or at least try. Who knew that standing on four legs was harder than two? But eventually, I managed to do it.

I could feel my tail wagging as I looked up at the alpha. I was fairly sure that my canid grin was close to his in size. “There you go.” His voice was full of joy. “Do you think you are ready to try walking?”

My tail joined my grin as they dropped. It had been hard enough to stand up. How much harder would it be to walk? “Oh, sweet girl. Don’t be like that. I know that you can do it.” He soothed as he reached his hand out. I flinched at his touch but relaxed as his fingers found a hell of a spot behind my ear. No wonder dogs loved it when someone rubbed their ears.

Then he removed his hand. I let out a pitiful whine. It had been too soon for him to stop scratching the spot. My eyes narrowed as he scooted back a few feet. His hand lifted toward me as he spoke. “If you want more scratches you will need to come get them.” Yeah, I was going to do something to him as soon as I got the chance.

Still, those scratches were addicting. I couldn’t help but try to get closer to him. I tentatively lifted my front left paw. It didn’t go high as I waited to see if I could even keep my balance on three legs. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t have any issues and I didn’t have to even move or shift my other feet. If anything, my tail moved just enough to balance me.

Excited, I shifted the paw as far forward as I could and set it down before repeating the process with my other front paw. The alpha chuckled. “You might want to alternate front and back paws.” Ignoring his unsolicited advice, I set the paw down and felt a bit stretched. Of course, this didn’t bother me. I could fix it by simply moving my back feet next.

Yeah, the moment I lifted my back left paw I toppled to the side. Turns out, the more one is stretched, the less balance one has. I glared at him as he laughed. “What did I say? Alternate.”

Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t as hard to get to my feet as it was the first time. As soon as I was ready to try again, I did as he suggested. However, this time I only moved them a paw length as I tried to move forward. Front paw, back paw, front paw, back paw. While the distance was negligible, I managed to move forward without falling. That fact was enough to cause my tail to wag with joy. Then I saw just how far I still had to go. It would take me all night to cross the distance if I continued to take such small steps. I needed to take full steps.

Suddenly, something tickled my nose. I tried to hold in the building sneeze but it refused. My entire body shook, causing me to stagger to the side as I sneezed. The alpha’s hands caught me, preventing me from falling to the ground. As quickly as he had moved to help me, he slid back to where he had been.

I chuffed in annoyance but tried to take a longer step. It wasn’t hard. In fact, I found it easier than taking a small step. I extended each step out until, eventually, I was practically strutting up to the man. He smiled as both of his hands scratched at my ears.

I barely heard Brandi when she opened the door to check on us. “How is she…” Given the fact that she stopped fairly quickly, I had to assume she had caught sight of me. “Awww…” While I was too distracted by the scratches, I didn’t see her make her way to me. I didn’t even know she was upon me until another set of hands started to scratch down my back. “Her fur is beautiful and oh so soft.” While I wanted to nip at her for scratching me without asking, I couldn’t be bothered. Not while it felt so good.

One of their hands hit a spot near my neck that sent me crashing to the floor. They both took advantage of my helplessness to roll me onto my side and scratch my belly and I let them. Those hands reached spots that I didn’t know itched. I lost track of time as I relaxed.

Suddenly, they both stopped as someone else entered the room. “Are we going on the run or not?” The voice was from someone that sounded young. “Because if not then I would like to go hunting with my friends.”

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“We are.” The alpha sounded embarrassed. “Honey, why don’t you go outside and wait for us? We will be out there in a minute.” Honey? Just who was this girl and why did this big and brusk alpha seem embarrassed that she had caught him petting me?

They both stood up. I struggled to do the same. Getting up from my side was much harder than my belly. My damned legs were in the way of my attempts to roll to my belly. Neither of the fuckers helped me. Couldn’t they see that I was struggling? Finally, though, I managed to stand on my own. Annoyed, I strode past them and through the door.

I was surprised by what I could see. The darkness that vailed the door would have been impenetrable to my human eyes but I found that various shapes and hues broke up the darkness. Shadows merged and broke apart as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Within moments people, buildings, and trees became clear.

Well, not as clear as they would have in the day, but clear enough for me to understand what I was seeing. I expected to see black and white given what little I knew about night vision, but the faint light coming from various windows and doors was enough to allow color to bleed into the night.

Movement caught my eye – a leaf fluttered down from above. I watched in fascination as it flipped and twirled in the soft breeze. The sounds of the branches and trees swaying in the wind overwhelmed the murmurs around me. Then there were the smells.

Earth, cooked meat, musk, and a harsh chemical smell were the few scents I could identify. Yet they were just the tip of the scentburg assaulting my nose.

A sudden hushing caught my attention. “Members of the pack. People of our village. Visitors. I, Liam Armstrong, present the newest shifter to visit the city. Treat her well as you never know when something you say or do might come back to bite you.” The alpha spoke from above me. His tone and words had me wondering if this was some sort of ceremony.

“What is she?” Someone called. I looked for their face and realized just how big the group was. While I had been expecting one or two dozen people, I found that there were at least five times that. People of all ages packed the small clearing and even seemed to spill into the surrounding forest.

“A fox.” I let out a thankful sigh of relief at his answer.

“That doesn’t look like a normal fox coloring, no it doesn’t.” Came a soft voice with a very heavy southern twang.

“He’s right.” “Tell us the truth.” “Are we safe with her here?” “How long has she been a shifter?” “Is she dating anyone?” “She’s so FLUFFY! I want to pet her.” “No, I called dibs.” The place exploded with voices as people talked over each other.

Suddenly, they all stopped. “While I understand your concern, do you think I would let someone that wasn’t safe near my daughter? If it makes you feel better, my beta and I will keep a close eye on her. As for any other information, you will just have to ask her, LATER! For now, WE RUN!” Liam called. “Gabriella, you will lead us tonight.”

Everyone cheered. Most of them stripped off their clothes while others moved to the side. I was conflicted over which group to watch. While I wanted to see just what everyone was and how they changed, I was curious about the group that wasn’t shifting. Thankfully Brandi knelt down next to me. “The ones over there,” she gestured at the non-shifting group, “are not shifters. However, they are mated to one or the child they had before this game changed them. While most cannot keep up with us, that doesn’t mean they don’t try.”

My eyes left that group and tracked over the various bodies. Limbs flailed, twisted, and distorted. I quickly looked away from those whose bones visibly broke and shifted. Had I looked like those people as I changed or had I looked like those whose forms seemed to become a mirage? Then there were those whose bodies simply melted and solidified into their new form. Almost changing between one blink and the next.

Within ten minutes, the loud crunching of bones and other noises diminished to nothing. Animals of every shape and size had replaced the crowd of people. I saw at least one lion, maybe even a tiger. Of course, the bear was kind of hard to miss. But none of these creatures held a candle to the number of wolves. Sheesh. The sight made me want to find a stick and throw it.

There were yips and chirps as more than one group started to chase and tussle with each other. Soon enough, though, a soft howl filled the air. Others joined it. Happy yips intertwined with the call. Even the cats yowled while the other creatures screamed their joy into the night. The bear joined in with its bellow as the group greeted the moon high above.

While they continued to play around, the group, as one, charged out of the clearing. The mass flowed around the buildings as they made their way into the woods. As for me, I stayed still. Sure, I was supposed to join them but that didn’t mean I was welcome to do so. Part of me wanted to hang back, to keep my distance from all these people. Yet another part of me wanted to join in the fun. To feel the joy that they had.

A hand brushed through my fur. “Go, run, be free,” Liam spoke softly. “I will be along in a moment.” I took that as the sign that I needed to join everyone. Surely they wouldn’t mind given that their alpha had told me to join them.

My run was sloppy. The path I took probably looked more like a drunken stumble than a run as my feet kept getting tangled. Eventually, though, I figured the timing out and I took off.

The forest enveloped me. Enough moonlight filtered through the trees to illuminate my path. I jumped over various roots and ducked under logs as I raced to catch up to the group. But, while I could hear them, it seemed as though I was incapable of catching up to the group. If anything, my ears told me I was falling further and further behind.

Not that I cared. I felt more free than I had in a long time. My body felt light and agile. It did what I wanted without any effort on my part. At times my body moved before I knew how or what I needed it to do. No wonder everyone had been excited to go on a run. I almost felt like I could do this forever. The thought that I could just stay in this form forever occurred to me. Too bad the moment it did, a loud, menacing growl rippled over the area.