human way of worrying over the future instead of the present.
My ongoing survival was a puzzle I couldn’t solve, no matter how hard I thought about it. The wolf had done what my cheetah hadn’t been able to do, taking my dying human form and forcing me to assume his shape. I don’t know how my cheetah had managed, but he had convinced my wolf I was worth the effort, and that he would pay any price, so long as I could be saved.
How would we live, three individuals sharing one body? Would they consume me, or would I wear away at the wildness of my beasts until they were nothing more than the shapes of animals with a human’s mind?
Idette seized the nape of my neck in her teeth, and I yipped and whined from the pain. With a growl and a shake of her head, she silenced me. My wolf’s terror surged, and my body curled up, my hind legs lifting as I tucked my tail in response to his fear.
I couldn’t hold the pose long before my flagging strength gave out, and I hung limp in Idette’s jaws.
Chapter Six
Idette carried me to the kayaks and dumped me at the water’s edge. In the sunrise light, she transformed from wolf to woman. In the past, when I shifted, it was a slow but relatively painless endeavor. The worst part was the moment when fur made way for flesh, leaving muscle exposed to the open air. During my shifts, that part of the process happened fast, but it lit every nerve on fire.
My wife’s bones broke with audible cracks, and while she made no noise, her body convulsed on the shore. As a wolf, I had no real sense of time. Unable to tear my gaze away, I watched as she shrank, her bones snapping and reforming to take on her human shape. Her fur fell from her flesh and dissolved before it had a chance to drift to the ground.
I should have run, but my body betrayed me. The one time I tried, I shook so hard I couldn’t get my paws under me. I panted, and every breath sent pain stabbing down the length of my spine.
When she was finished transforming, I learned she had the foresight to bring her clothes to her kayak. She dressed without a word, although she growled as she pulled her shirt over her head.
Turning to me, she stared down her nose, her eyes narrowing as she considered me. Her body moved with a wolf’s grace, and she knelt beside me, reaching out to touch my neck. I flinched, and when she lifted her hand, her fingers were stained red with my blood.
Working her arms beneath me, she picked me up. I yipped at the pain in my paw and throat, but she ignored my protests, dumping me in her kayak so she could pull the craft into the water.
The motion sent stabbing pain up my left foreleg, and I shuddered, adopting my feline instincts to keep quiet to hide my presence from other predators.
My wolf didn’t understand; he wanted a pack, and he identified Idette as one of us, one who obeyed the whims of the moon. The fury from my cheetah startled my wolf into silence, and all three of us worried about my wife’s plans.
They feared what Idette would do, although they feared for different reasons. I, on the other hand, had no idea how to return to human form; the way I knew no longer worked. Before, when I had borrowed my cheetah’s physical manifestation, it was a mutual parting, and all I had to do was concentrate a little and the shifting process would begin.
Pain hampered my concentration, but in the moments focus was possible, what should have worked failed, leaving me trapped in my wolf’s body.
Idette climbed in, kicking at my flanks and back until she worked her feet under me. Without a word, she left my kayak behind and headed towards the other side of the lake to the cabin. I considered making the effort to jump into the water and swim for it, but each time I tried to move, jolts of sharp pain coursed through my body, leaving me twitching and sprawled over my wife’s shins.
I longed to sink my teeth into her. My cheetah approved of my vicious desire while my wolf was puzzled by my
My ongoing survival was a puzzle I couldn’t solve, no matter how hard I thought about it. The wolf had done what my cheetah hadn’t been able to do, taking my dying human form and forcing me to assume his shape. I don’t know how my cheetah had managed, but he had convinced my wolf I was worth the effort, and that he would pay any price, so long as I could be saved.
How would we live, three individuals sharing one body? Would they consume me, or would I wear away at the wildness of my beasts until they were nothing more than the shapes of animals with a human’s mind?
Idette seized the nape of my neck in her teeth, and I yipped and whined from the pain. With a growl and a shake of her head, she silenced me. My wolf’s terror surged, and my body curled up, my hind legs lifting as I tucked my tail in response to his fear.
I couldn’t hold the pose long before my flagging strength gave out, and I hung limp in Idette’s jaws.
Chapter Six
Idette carried me to the kayaks and dumped me at the water’s edge. In the sunrise light, she transformed from wolf to woman. In the past, when I shifted, it was a slow but relatively painless endeavor. The worst part was the moment when fur made way for flesh, leaving muscle exposed to the open air. During my shifts, that part of the process happened fast, but it lit every nerve on fire.
My wife’s bones broke with audible cracks, and while she made no noise, her body convulsed on the shore. As a wolf, I had no real sense of time. Unable to tear my gaze away, I watched as she shrank, her bones snapping and reforming to take on her human shape. Her fur fell from her flesh and dissolved before it had a chance to drift to the ground.
I should have run, but my body betrayed me. The one time I tried, I shook so hard I couldn’t get my paws under me. I panted, and every breath sent pain stabbing down the length of my spine.
When she was finished transforming, I learned she had the foresight to bring her clothes to her kayak. She dressed without a word, although she growled as she pulled her shirt over her head.
Turning to me, she stared down her nose, her eyes narrowing as she considered me. Her body moved with a wolf’s grace, and she knelt beside me, reaching out to touch my neck. I flinched, and when she lifted her hand, her fingers were stained red with my blood.
Working her arms beneath me, she picked me up. I yipped at the pain in my paw and throat, but she ignored my protests, dumping me in her kayak so she could pull the craft into the water.
The motion sent stabbing pain up my left foreleg, and I shuddered, adopting my feline instincts to keep quiet to hide my presence from other predators.
My wolf didn’t understand; he wanted a pack, and he identified Idette as one of us, one who obeyed the whims of the moon. The fury from my cheetah startled my wolf into silence, and all three of us worried about my wife’s plans.
They feared what Idette would do, although they feared for different reasons. I, on the other hand, had no idea how to return to human form; the way I knew no longer worked. Before, when I had borrowed my cheetah’s physical manifestation, it was a mutual parting, and all I had to do was concentrate a little and the shifting process would begin.
Pain hampered my concentration, but in the moments focus was possible, what should have worked failed, leaving me trapped in my wolf’s body.
Idette climbed in, kicking at my flanks and back until she worked her feet under me. Without a word, she left my kayak behind and headed towards the other side of the lake to the cabin. I considered making the effort to jump into the water and swim for it, but each time I tried to move, jolts of sharp pain coursed through my body, leaving me twitching and sprawled over my wife’s shins.
I longed to sink my teeth into her. My cheetah approved of my vicious desire while my wolf was puzzled by my
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