The Change

I reach my arm around her and gently pull her close. Sarah automatically turns on her good side and settles in against me. Her head rests on the front of my shoulder and she rubs her cheek and nose against me before settling down again.

The warmth and weight of her body is reassuring. My right arm is under her neck, supporting her and I feel her thick pubic hair against my thigh. I tell her "shhh... shh...." occasionally when she twists in her sleep.

She still whimpers occasionally but it's less and as the hours drag on I can feel her temperature coming down.

I spend the time thinking about things. This whole situation is surreal. It's not just a matter of my life being completely different. Werewolves exist. The creatures at the mall exist. Magic or something like it exists. The whole world is turned on its edge. I should be having a panic attack or doing the whole "pinch me, I'm in a dream" thing but I'm not. This is real.

I put my arm straight up and open and close my hands a few times. This is raw power. Muscles bulge and flex. When I change I don't even think about it. It just happens and it feels natural. Natural and damn good. A part of me wishes I could stay like that. It's hard to tell if it's me or the wolf that wants it to happen.

And Sarah... I do love her. You always hear philosophers debate on the topic of what love is but I know what it is. I would die for her. If someone held her hostage and told me to chop of my own hands or she would die, I'd do it. Well, I'd think hard on whether I could kill the other people first but if it came to it, I'd do anything for her. The thought of any hurt, disrespect or trouble happening to her makes my hackles rise and makes me want to hurt something. She'd do the exact same things that I would. She's my equal in all things. And above all of that, we can laugh with each other and it feels natural. To me, that's love. It was sudden and I know part (a large part?) is because of the change but so be it. I don't regret it.

I finally pass out after hours of lying with Sarah but a small 'tink' sound in the house wakes me instantly. There's light coming in through the window and I'd guess it's just after 8 in the morning. Sarah is sleeping against me and making lip smacking noises for some reason. I file away a mental note to tease her about it later and then slowly extract myself from her. She makes a drawn out groan sound but stays asleep.

This house is old and the floors creak but I try to be as quiet as I can. I seem to walk more on my toes now and that cuts the noise down quite a lot. I make my way to the front of the house without hearing any more noise. I don't smell anything, either.

I feel foolish so I just walk into the kitchen and there she is - Amelia. She's sitting at our little table and has a tea cup full of plain water sitting in front of her.

She's startled to see me and her eyes get big before she turns her head and covers them. "Well, well. Ahem. I've heard some people get bigger because of the change and I guess I never assumed they meant there, too." She's actually blushing. It shows up quite clearly against her pale skin.

CHAPTER 12

"Amelia." I say. "What the hell are you doing in my house and how the hell did you find us?" I hear Sarah stir and then a loud crash. I can only imagine what that was. "Talk quick because Sarah just woke up."

Sarah is not quiet about her entrance. Like me, she's completely nude when she walks in. I do my best not to stare at her. "Honey," she begins in her sweetest voice and now I know someone is in trouble. "What is this trash doing in our house?"

Amelia peeks through her fingers and seems to turn even redder. "Ah. Well, that is. I thought you might like to talk. And as to how I found you two, I simply asked. You'd be amazed at what some animals pick up around them. I don't suppose either of you would mind putting on some clothes and joining me at the table?"

Sarah walks over and sits down hard at the table. Her chair groans alarmingly but holds. Her voice is full of contempt as she speaks to Amelia. "I do mind. We didn't invite you here."

I walk over and take the other chair. "She's right. We don't know anything about you. Sarah could've died because of you." Ah, there's something not quite so great about all of these new muscles -- hard wooden chairs are completely uncomfortable now. I shift around to try and find a better position.

Amelia cocks her eyebrow and looks from Sarah to me. "What happened? When I left, you two were fine. Aroused... but fine."

Sarah growls in her throat and I try to change the subject. "What happened was that something attacked us as we were leaving. It smelled like that thing in the mall."

This gets Amelia's full attention. "What kind of thing? What did it look like? Did it hurt either of you?"

Sarah is staring daggers at Amelia so I answer. "It was a blackness. It didn't look like anything except darkness. It shot something at Sarah and only barely missed taking out her heart."

Amelia hisses and makes a sign in the air that I don't recognize. Now her face is pure white again. "Did it touch her? Sarah, did it touch you?"

Rather than answer her, Sarah stands and shows her the side with the wound. It's healed but there's a pink scar in its place. The scar seems smaller than the hole was originally so I guess that will go away, too. Amelia stands and steps closer. Sarah bares he teeth but lets her do it.

Amelia traces her finger along the scar. She presses her hand against it and closes her eyes in concentration. Frowning, she pulls a small piece of clear paper from a hidden pocket on the side of her dress. From the same pocket she takes a charcoal pencil. She draws a large circle in the middle of the paper and then a smaller circle inside the larger one. She takes the salt tin from the table and pinches a few grains between her fingers. She licks her fingers and then rubs the salt in the middle of the small circle.

Sarah and I watch quietly. We've seen what she's done before. We know she's not normal and we only assume she's got some new trick up her sleeve. She goes to place the paper on Sarah's side but my hand reaches out lightning-quick and grabs her wrist. I keep the growl out of my voice when I ask her what she's doing.

She grits her teeth and talks through them. "Please let up a fraction; you're going to break my wrist. I'm simply trying to see how badly she's hurt." I still smell nothing from her but she seems sincere so I let her go.

She shakes her wrist and glares at me. Sarah smiles and places her hand at the back of my neck. Amelia presses the paper against Sarah's side with the small circle roughly in the middle of where the wound was. We wait for a moment and then the grains of salt on the paper burn small black holes in the paper. Nothing else happens.

Amelia shakes her head in wonder. "Incredible. You should be dead right now. The merest touch of that monstrosity is enough to kill over time. I've heard the wolves healed quickly but this is unprecedented. Your blood runs hot and strong, miss." She sighs. "I've watched close friends die from the same kind of wounds before I could help them and they were very strong indeed. You will heal completely from this. A strong alpha, indeed."

Sarah brushes her side and sits again. "So, what was the thing in the mall?"

"A demon's spawn." Amelia answers. "Or near enough. Something that only knows how to destroy life. When I left you yesterday I was trying to find that creature's master. Perhaps it knew that and waited for me to leave in order to kill you. Or perhaps the thing that attacked you wasn't the master. I will destroy it when I find it." She says the last with utter conviction and I feel there's something she's not telling me.

"Or I will." I tell her. "It almost killed my... it almost killed Sarah."

Amelia covers her small cup with her right hand and the water inside boils. She takes a tiny pouch from her pocket and picks out little twigs. These go in the cup and she stirs the mix with her finger, apparently not bothered by boiling water.

"Your mate. You can say it, you know. That's the real reason I'm here this morning. You killed the creature in the mall so I owe you a small favor. I was set to destroy it but since you both took care of it, I was able to save that man's life. He'll die young because of what that thing did but he didn't die yesterday so that's a small victory." Her face is sad when she tells us about the choking man. "That aside, I have some time this morning and I wanted to pay you back for yesterday."

Sarah looks at me and then back at Amelia. "Fine. Questions. Okay. What are we?"

"Berserkers." Amelia answers immediately. "In the past, the wolves were the elite soldiers and mercenaries - nearly unstoppable once their blood was up. I've heard stories of them but never have I seen one in person. You two are the first and for all I know perhaps the only ones."

Now I'm really curious. "What happened to them?"

Amelia shrugs. "War. There was a war at one time." Her eyes focus inward. "A long time ago. We were losing. The call went out to fall back and gather our strength but the wolves wouldn't leave. They refused to give up."

Small tears well up in the corner of her eyes and she clears her throat before continuing. "The enemy killed all of their young. The demons and their allies killed the caretakers and then killed the pups while the parents were away. They hoped it would cause the wolves to quit the campaign against them. In that they were... very wrong. By the time we were able to rally forth again, the enemy had scattered and the wolves were almost all dead. They only found the alpha of one group still alive. Everything below her waist was gone and one arm was missing. She had torn out the throat of a bull troll and was holding it down with her other arm until it died." Tears roll down her cheeks. "She wouldn't let anyone near her to try to help. She howled and died and that was the last one. The reports were very clear that there was nothing they could for her do in any case."

Sarah has a grip on my leg and it's painful. There's a killing anger coming from her and the short hairs on the back of her neck are up. I lean over to nuzzle her neck and she rubs back against me. It helps her to calm down but she is drawing blood on my leg with her fist. I cover her hand with my own and squeeze her gently.

Amelia watches sympathetically. "I've been chasing one of their lieutenants for a long time. That may have been the thing on the roof or it may not. If it knows what you both are then it will kill you as soon as it can. Their defeat instilled a terror in them when it comes to the wolves."

"What are we? You said we're berserkers but that doesn't tell me shit. Why me? Why us?" Sarah demands.

Amelia shrugs uncomfortably. "The wolves were a close-knit group so most of what we know are guesses or information gathered by the other weres. We think the Change is passed down by an infection of some kind. But, not easily. A simple bite won't do it. Something else is involved but we have no idea what it is. Some wolves were... intimate with non-weres and they never Changed." She's looking down at the table and she's blushing again.

"I have absolutely no idea how it could just manifest itself in someone. It is always passed down by the parents but we would have known before now if there were wolves still alive and active." Amelia looks at Sarah for a moment. "It's too coincidental that it could've happened to both of you at the same time. Was it you, first?" Sarah nods curtly.

Amelia looks down at the table again. "May I ask how he changed?"

Sarah glares and her nose twitches. "We fucked. I was changing and we fucked. He changed while we were fucking." She emphasizes the word 'fuck' every time she says it and Amelia seems to shrink into herself each time. She sips her tea to hide how uncomfortable she is. "Yes, well. I can only assume that something had a hand in this. Were you attracted to him before this?"

Sarah looks at me before answering. "Yeah, I was. I was waiting for him to ask me out. I kept dropping hints in the past few weeks but he's blind as well as dumb."

I stare back at her. "Wait, what? When?"

She sighs in exasperation. "Seriously? You didn't think me leaning over your shoulder and brushing against you was a clue? Or asking what you were doing on the weekend and telling you I had nothing going on and no plans? Fuckin' men." She thinks to herself. "Huh. Yeah. About a month ago something changed. I thought he was cute before but that was it. Then I started having dreams about him." She grins. "Wet dreams. They were nice. And, when I got close to him he smelled good."

Amelia is nodding her head. "I'd heard something like this before. You picked your mate and then the Change happened. It must've been waiting for you to make your decision. How you came to have it is a mystery but it was waiting for a moment like that. For someone like him. That's why he changed with you so easily." She looks at both of us again. "You do realize that it's for life, correct? The wolves always mated for life. In the records we have, none of them mentions a break between the alpha male and alpha female. Other pack mates may come and go but the alphas never left each other. Even pack members rarely left. "

She frowns. "The alphas die together when it's by old age. One seems to follow the other into death naturally. But, if one falls in a fight, the other will wipe everything out until his or her death. Passionate. Far too passionate. A surviving alpha never lives long. They search for death." She glances up at the clock and I can tell she's getting ready to leave.

That completes my thought from last night. If Sarah had died, I would never give up the hunt for that thing. Job, money, happiness... nothing would have mattered. If it had allies, they would be next. I wouldn't be able to stop. I feel my anger coming back and have to choke it down.

I pull Sarah over to me and kiss her temple. "I understand. I wouldn't have it any other way. I would never give this back even if it meant that I die today. It may sound like a trashy romance movie but there's this large hole in me that only she fills. I would die for her."

Amelia frowns slightly and sighs. "I know. Thus has it always been."

"So now what?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "Stay away from humans. You can imagine what they would do to you if they knew. Unlike me, you cannot hide your true selves."

Huh. Yeah. Humans. I'm not one of them any more. Neither of us are -- not even in this shape.

I shake my head. "That's not what I meant. I mean how are you going to help me find the thing that attacked... my mate?" Something about the way I say 'mate' makes Sarah wet and she opens her legs wide under the table and growls contentedly.

Amelia's eyes widen. "Far too dangerous! By a mere glancing blow it can kill! You have no idea..."

But I'm up and leaning in to face her. I've pulled my lips back and I'm pretty sure she can read my intentions in my eyes. "You. Don't. Understand." My voice rumbles and my muscles tense in response. "He hurt her. I will kill him. Whatever it takes. You're looking for him so you can help me find him." It's strange. A lot has happened in the past two days and I should be freaking out about a lot of things but my overriding thought is of Sarah down with a hole in her.

I can see Amelia struggling with herself. It takes her a long time to talk again. "You two have no idea how precious you are. It's not easy for wolves to conceive pups but it happens! And if you are here there may be more like you. The wolves could return again! If you throw your lives away now then who knows how long it could take next time!" She's yelling at me but I'm not moving. The table is shaking under me and probably about to break. I don't care.

Amelia closes her eyes. "You won't change your mind. I don't even know why I bothered." She takes a breath and continues. "As berserkers the wolves were uncontainable. When you're full into the Change it's extremely hard to stop you. It was supremely difficult to calm the both of you back at the mall and that only worked at all because neither of you were all the way Changed." Sarah mutters "fucking whore" at this but Amelia ignores her and continues. "You both naturally heal incredibly fast and now you're aging slowly. At the mall you felt what happened when you were close to that demon spawn. If a normal human approached the creature, they would've died. Instantly. It barely slowed either of you down and you weren't even fully Changed. I was straining to hold it back while trying to dissolve it. You both just..."

Amelia takes a breath before continuing. "Each animal has their own unique personality types. The wolves were loyal to their deaths and raw. Sex, killing, hunting. It was all mixed together. One thing blended to the next easily for them. Uncontrollable raw power. It's a wonder you can both control yourselves right now. Emotions and sexual appetite were especially intense immediately following the initial Change."

She looks down at her hands. "I'm powerful -- more so than many like me but I don't know how much damage I could do to either of you if your blood were up. I suspect I wouldn't last long at all even with all of my abilities."

I sit back down and stare at her. "So?"

Amelia sighs. "So I'll visit again tomorrow night. My enemy is not without his own abilities. He's scattered his trail since yesterday but they cannot stand to be near humans unless they're hunting and that narrows it down. I'll know for certain tonight."

Amelia stands to go. We simply watch her. In another age and under other circumstances I might have stood when she did. Her teacup is gone and I don't remember seeing her do anything with it. The acrid smell of her tea still lingers so it was at least real.

"Hey, you mentioned 'other weres' earlier. Are there more of us?" I ask Amelia.

"No. Not any more wolves that I know about. But other kinds, yes." She's gathering herself to leave but I'm still curious.

"Where are they? Will they talk to us? Should we talk to them?" I wonder what kind they are. Cats? Birds? What kind of animals do we have around here? Deer? A were-deer? Not exactly something to inspire terror.

Amelia looks at me for a moment before answering. "I... I wouldn't approach them if you ever found them. According to the records, the wolves had a strong reputation. Some of them may know about it and will fear you both. And these other groups are not always on the best of terms. The wisest decision would be to wait and see."

"But..." I start.

Amelia doesn't give me a chance to continue. "I thank you both for your hospitality and I swear I will not go alone to face this demon." She walks to the door, opens it and then pauses. The light from outside highlights her slim figure and her hair glows reddish-gold. "I..." she starts. She's looking outside and not at us. "I wasn't sure I could face him alone. The wolves were legendary in their time. I'm grateful for your help as much as it pains me to require it." And then, she's gone.

CHAPTER 13

I'm so hungry but Sarah is sitting next to me naked and still wet from me calling her my mate. The smell is rich and thick and fills my nose. We haven't fucked properly since yesterday. My sudden hard-on slams into the bottom of the table. I grab Sarah and stand with her. She immediately wraps herself around me and we kiss and bite each other. She reaches down and grabs my cock. Furniture shakes when I push her hard against the wall.

"Fuck me. Do it. Do it. I want you in me. Ohhhhhh..." She's got her legs around my ass. She's trying to reach for my dick but she can't get her hands between us. I've got her crushed against me. My dick is rubbing against her clit while we're moving and it slides around her sopping wet crotch. She flexes her stomach and now I'm rubbing against her pussy lips. "Jesus! Yes! Fuuuck! Call me your mate again! Oh, fuck! Call me your bitch!"