The Change

"We need a bigger house. I can find another one to rent and we can pool our money together to do it. I mean... damn. What do you two think? We should be working this out together rather than me just telling you what to do." I want them to stay with me. I want to live with both of them. I don't want them to go. The wolf in me wants me to tell them that they're moving in and that's that whether they like it or not but I'm still human. Partly.

Sarah leans back and smacks me with the back of her head. "Don't fucking ask me. You know what I'm going to do. I already planned on giving my notice at my old place this week. I'd break your legs if you tried to keep me away. Well, I'd try to, anyway." Melodie rubs her head on my leg and I take that as a 'yes', too.

"Good, then we..." I stop. Melodie has picked her head up and her ear tips are trembling. She pushes herself to her hands and feet and she's growling dangerously at the door.

Seconds later I smell blood and I remember the scene in the mall. "Amelia." Sarah says as she stands. Mixed with the smell of blood is the same smell as the creature on the roof of the wall. My hackles are up immediately and I'm growling as well.

We find her lying outside a few feet from our door. A quick look and listen tells me nobody is around so I dart out (still naked) to grab her. She has blood caked on her arm and she's missing the ring finger on her left hand. The skin on the two fingers next to the stump is blackened. Her eyelids are fluttering and her chest is heaving. Her heartbeat is jumping all over the place.

"I..." she starts. Her eyes roll back into her head. I bring her inside and her eyes open again. She's not focusing on anything and I think she's in shock. "I found him. I lost... I lost... " She gasps. And then she's out again.

CHAPTER 21

I don't have to guess who "him" is - I can smell it on her. Melodie is backed up and the fur along her spine is spiked.

"Melodie, be calm." I tell her. "We've got this." She backs up and her tail wilts a little but she's still growling quietly.

Amelia is wearing tan cargo pants and a loose black shirt. It looks incongruous on her, like a character from the 1800s wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. Her face is covered with soot.

My cellphone suddenly rings and Melodie roars at the sudden sound. She's up on her toes in the blink of an eye and her claws are out. When she realizes what it was she shakes her head and shoulders and settles down again. A blip from the phone tells me I have a message.

Amelia's breathing is rasping and she's broken out in a cold sweat. Sarah brings wet wash cloths and I towel her off the best I can. Melodie pads over, looks at me for a moment and then licks Amelia to help. She cleans off everything except the blood on Amelia's arm. She wrinkles her nose at that and leaves me to wipe it off. We try to get some water down her throat but she sputters and chokes on it. Not knowing what else to do we just lay her on the couch and keep her cool.

I can't smell any other wounds on her except for the finger. I notice small pieces of bone stuck in the fingers of her left hand so I pick them out as gently as I can and set them on a small plate. There are small bits of silver metal around the stump, too. I pull on them but it tugs the skin and Amelia groans and twists in her sleep.

Sarah leaves to get dressed and then takes a turn watching Amelia while I find some clothes. Melodie watches us walk back and forth but mainly keeps her eyes on Amelia. She's kneeling in the corner with her feet pressed against the wall, her knees on the floor and her hands on her thighs in front of her. She's tensed, as if ready to push off of the wall and pounce on something.

Whatever is pissing off Melodie is keeping her changed. I think it might be the smell of the creature coming from Amelia. None of us talk much while we wait.

It takes over an hour before Amelia finally opens her eyes again. She looks around but she's not really seeing anything. "Wh..." she tries and her throat is so dry. I grab a glass of water from and end table nearby and tip it to her mouth. She sips it and her eyes focus slowly. "I'm..." She makes a fist with her left hand and her body tenses. She arches her back in pain. I push her down again, gently. "You're hurt. Be careful."

She looks at me then. "I had him. I found him. I was going to come back for you two but I made a mistake. He..." she trails off coughing so I give her more water. "He felt me. I was in his domain and he's so strong. Ohhhhh..." Amelia closes her eyes again. "I lost my ring. My ring." She flexes her left hand gently over and over. "I barely survived and I lost my ring. I was so stupid." She covers her eyes with an arm and I sit back.

I look at Sarah and then Melodie. Melodie stands and walks over to us. She growls a question. I frown. "Where is it, Amelia? If you know where that thing is, tell me. I smell it on you. You promised you'd wait for us. You'd promise I would kill it."

She's shaking her head over and over. "You can't. You can't. You can't. No, you can't. It's... He's in his own domain. He's stronger there. He's made it his own. You couldn't..." She hacks and we let her finish the water.

"I told you, Amelia. I told you I would and you promised. He hurt Sarah. My mate. He hurt her and almost killed her." When I remind Amelia what the thing did to Sarah, Melodie growls and gnashes her teeth. The rough fur on the back of her neck is standing on edge and she's making fists over and over.

Amelia is crying silently. I watch the tears roll down her checks. "Amelia!" I growl at her. "Pull it together. What if it's gone? We don't have time for this." My voice is rough around the edges. Melodie picks up my anger and her own growl becomes louder. Sarah is baring her teeth and unconsciously touching her right side.

She pulls her arm from her eyes. "Help me up. Help me sit up." I pull her up into a sitting position and she leans heavily on the arm of the couch. She takes some deep breaths with her eyes closed. She opens her eyes to look at me but then her eyes dart to Melodie and she bites back a shriek. "What! Wh...!" Melodie growls even louder but I rest my hand on her hip and she calms slightly.

"This is Melodie Pierce." I tell her. "We found her yesterday. She smelled... she smelled a little like us. She changed with ... a little encouragement." Sarah snorts at me and Melodie turns her body so that my hand rests on her ass. Her tail wags slightly.

"You found another." Her eyes are wide. "What are the chances...? What are the chances you'd find another so soon...?" She struggles to stand but can't. She extends a hand to Melodie and Melodie's own hand envelopes it. "Melodie Pierce. I'm Amelia. I would stand to greet you but my legs aren't working. It is a pleasure to meet you." She looks at all of us. "To meet you all. The first wolves in over 500 years and the beginning of a pack already. I never thought... I never imagined... they would return..." She's crying again and her chest heaves with each shaky breath.

Melodie takes her hand back and shifts her legs uncomfortably. I rub her hip to comfort her. Her muscles are rock hard but the black fur is thick and soft. She gently pushes back at me.

"Where, Amelia?" I ask her again.

"A farm. An abandoned farm about 48 kilometers south of here. I don't know how long he's been there but it's been long enough to lay a taint on the land." She seems stronger. Sarah refills her glass and Amelia thanks her. "Normal people would drive past it and not even remember it was there. I don't think he's been there a long time but he's already gathering a force. If he's strong enough he could wipe out a small town and nobody would even remember a town existing there or question why it was empty. I was able to get away but I lost my ring."

"What's so special about this ring you keep talking about? You've got four more." I point at her other fingers.

"They're charmed." She bites the inside of her mouth and then continues. "I have my own abilities but sometimes if you find the right... thing, you can put a part of yourself in it and it boosts your strengths. It took me eleven years to find the stone I needed for that ring." She sighs heavily. "It was a simple looking rock on a random beach and if I had been two feet further away from it I wouldn't have noticed. That hurts more than the loss of my finger."

All of us must look confused because she holds out her right hand.

"I'm right handed so I carry three rings here." She points at each ringed finger in turn. "My index finger, the elements. My ring finger, displacement. My little finger, healing." The ring on her index finger is a small dark red stone that refracts light blindingly. The stone on the ring finger is nearly completely transparent but takes up the entire top of the ring. There's a minute crack at the edge of the stone. The pinky finger ring is an average sized dull pink stone.

Amelia puts her right hand down and holds up her left in the same manner. She winces as she brings it up. "The index finger, force. The..." she hesitates pointing at the stump of her ring finger. "The ring finger, defensive. I barely had time to shield myself. He shattered it. I panicked and Moved without having a clear destination in mind." She looks at the ring finger on her right hand. "I'm afraid this one won't last much longer. It was almost too much stress for it. All my fault."

I sympathize but she's alive and she'll heal. "All right. So now what? You can't stop me from going."

She's still looking at her right hand. She studies the rings over and over. "You're right. There isn't much time left."

CHAPTER 22

I print out some online maps and we mark out the farm. Google Maps won't zoom into it very well. You can see vague building shapes but any closer and the maps blur.

After an Interstate exit, there's a small dirt road that winds for 5 miles before stopping in a dead-end at the farm. The farm itself extends to the base of some large hills and sits on 20 acres of land.

We're not an assault team. We don't have any fancy tactics. It'll be head-on. The wolf stirs in me and growls in anticipation. Head-on is fine for it.

Melodie is starting the change back and excuses herself to the bedroom while she does. I think she has a problem doing it in front of Amelia. She comes out dressed in some of my old clothes but they hang loose on her smaller frame. She comes over, boldly kisses Sarah on the mouth and then sits next to me on the couch with her arm slung around my waist. I feel the swell of her large soft breast press against my side and it's distracting. Her fat nipples are poking small mountains through the shirt.

"Away with you, woman! You and your devilish charms!" I tell her. She laughs and bites my neck playful while I shoo her away. After a moment she heads out to buy some food and coffee for herself. I don't think she even notices that she's barefoot again.

My cell phone voicemail is from my boss and he sounds worried. I call in and give him my best "sick" voice and he tells me to rest up. Sarah calls an hour later to tell him she's visiting her mom at the hospital. Work feels like a million miles away from me right now.

Melodie comes back with hands full of large grocery bags. I tell her she's my best friend ever. Sarah coughs "suck up" into her hand. Then, both of us laugh hard and long when we see that it's almost all steak. Melodie shuffles her feet and looks down. "I just thought... well, isn't that what we're supposed to be eating all the time now?" Sarah and I are positively choking on laughter.

Melodie bristles. "And, anyway, I wanted steak. So... so, there!" I kiss her on the cheek and disappear into the kitchen. I know the basics and steak isn't hard to cook. I leave the planning to wiser heads.

I do not eat all the steaks raw as soon as I got them out of the package. They smell good and I can feel myself starting to drool slightly but the idea of cooking them is much more appealing. Right now, at least.

I call everyone in when I'm finished. Sarah, Melodie and I pile the meat on our plate while Amelia contents herself with her strange tea. She has the small bag in a side pocket of her pants.

"God Damn!" Sarah's eyes are lit up and she's devouring her steaks. "Girl, you called it on this. This is, hands down, the most delicious thing I've ever had in my life. It's steak every fucking day now!" She's joking but she's right, too. After a while I'm not even cutting the steak up. I just pick it up with a fork and bite through the thick slabs. My teeth cut better than the knife anyway. So, yeah, I think I could actually live with steak every day. The texture... the taste... I feel the animal in me stir. I can't believe I was living off of pizza and sandwiches before.

Melodie is more delicate than either of us but just barely. She also isn't eating as much. When I raise an eyebrow at her she just shrugs and tells me she's not as big as Sarah or me. I lose count somewhere but I think I put down five pounds of previously living cow. Sarah quit sometime before me but all of the steak is gone and I cooked twelve pounds.

I'm full but I don't feel the sleepiness that usually comes with a huge meal. I feel energized. Sarah is pacing the small living room and Melodie has decided to do some stretches in the corner. She complains that her tits keep getting in her way and I slap her hard on the ass. I thought she'd squeal and laugh but she moans and is suddenly wet instead. I do believe Sarah and I found us a closet masochist.

I have to turn away to stop from fucking her right there. Amelia saves me by clearing her throat and reminding us she's still around. Sarah walks over, nibbles on Melodie's ear and whispers what we're going to do to her later. She has particular fun explaining the headboard. At that, Melodie excuses herself to the bathroom and we all pretend we don't hear her masturbating. Amelia blushes furiously the entire time. Melodie is not quiet about it and you don't need wolf ears to hear her. We have a hard time trying to hold a normal conversation while she does it so we just wait for her to finish and come back out. For her part she pretends that everything is completely normal.

"Do we wait for night time?" I ask Amelia.

She shrugs. "It makes no difference. Night or dark has no sway over these creatures."

Sarah doesn't even ask. "I'm ready." She says. She's got an old faded pair of my blue jeans on. There's a hole in the left knee with white threads trying to hold it together. She's bulky in the legs but the waist fits her just fine. She's got one of my plain white t-shirts on and I can see the dark of her nipples and aureole through the material. Her breasts pull up on the shirt and her belly is exposed. She has a small patch of pubic hair showing above the buttons of the jeans. She crosses her arms under her breasts and the shirt pulls up more. Her abdominal muscles are spectacular.

Melodie rolls her shoulders. "I've been ready." She looks from me to Sarah. "I can smell what both of you are thinking. No, you're not going to leave me behind. I'm not just here for the sex and snuggles." She comes over to me and rubs her face against my shoulder. "To the end." She says. She walks over to Sarah and does the same. "To the end."

Sarah holds the back of her head and kisses the top of her hair. "To the end, little sister."

I walk over and kiss them both. "To the end."

CHAPTER 23

Our fearsome team piles into Sarah's little car. I tell her I'm driving and she doesn't argue about it. Yes, it's probably chauvinistic but I can't help it. I blame the wolf. Amelia sits in front with me. She has her pockets full of different things but Sarah, Melodie and I just bring our clothes. The three of us have given up on shoes for now and they tell me to suck it up when I whine about them wearing my clothes again. I know what will happen to them.

Amelia points out my turns for me but otherwise we're quiet. The girls are in the back giggling with each other and comparing notes on life. Sarah spends ten solid minutes loudly telling Melodie how awesome my dick is and how good it feels and how much she likes sucking on it. Apparently she hasn't forgiven Amelia yet. Melodie plays a good wingman and alternates between faked incredulity and adding in bits that Sarah forgets about. She goes on for a while about how great it felt when I clawed her back because she's always just had plain vanilla sex. Amelia looks like she wants to jump out of the car. She stares straight ahead and tries to ignore everything.

The drive is boring and the other drivers piss me off. I'm tense from what's about to happen and that translates to me growling every time someone gets too close to me or doesn't drive fast enough. Its early afternoon when we finally hit the start of the dirt road.

Amelia has us park the car off the road and next to a tree. I smelled the wrongness of this area miles before. It's bad. I can't smell anything other than the smell of dead wood, maggots, diseased flesh and cesspools. There are no animal sounds even at this distance.

There's a newer model silver BMW M3 in the ditch about 200 feet down the dirt road. I can't hear anything from it except for the engine making ticking noises from cooling off. Whoever owns it was just here.

Melodie stumbles out of the car on her hands and knees to vomits. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and her lips are pulled back. Her teeth are already lengthening and they shine so bright against her beautiful black skin.

I'm having a hard time controlling myself as well. I smell the creature's scent shifting around through all of the other smells. The hairs on my neck are at attention.

Amelia steps out of the car and looks at us briefly before talking. "Please, don't hold back on my account. I assure you there is no living thing around for miles. Anyway, I'm surprised none of you have changed yet, with the smell this strong even I smell it."

I still try to hold it back but the wolf and hatred are too strong. I fall to my knees and lean forward with my hands on the ground. Amelia walks to the tree and looks away from us. Right now I don't give a damn about privacy and even Melodie doesn't seem to care. I watch her as my own change takes places.

Melodie's trying to undo the button on her pants but her fingers are bulking up and lengthening. They shake too much to get a grip. She's grunting from the effort of trying to keep her hands steady through the changes. She gives up in frustration and tries to take her shirt off, instead. Her muscles are rippling down her arms as she crosses them to pull the shirt up. I watch as the padding on her palms and bottoms of her fingers bubbles out from her hand and turn black. She hooks the bottom of the shirt just in time and pulls up. Her thick, black claws cut into her torso and draws blood-red lines from her waist to her shoulders. The lines heal over almost as fast as they open up but drops of blood remain.

A line of jet black fur races the shirt from her cunt to neck, dividing her breasts in half. She flings the shirt away from her and leans her head back and howls. Spit flies from her mouth and veins stand out on her neck. As she howls her nose turns an even darker black and flattens against her face. The line of new black skin draws down to her lips and traces a line around her mouth. There are too many teeth in her mouth and ropes of spit and drool fall from them.

She roars out and beats her palms on the ground. The ground shakes around her. With her hands on the ground she points her face forward and the cracking noises tell me what my eyes can see - her muzzle pushes out from her face. Complete, she makes a "Ruhhhh... ruhhhhh...." sound as the line of fur makes it to her chin and black hair sprouts on her face. It's slightly weird seeing the muzzle without fur but it doesn't take long before her face is covered.