by H. L. Graham
“Great, one down nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go. What’s next on today’s list?” I asked.
Gaven walked over to the refrigerator and pulled a piece of paper off the front. “Well, we have to go to the home improvement store so I can fix up the garage for you bad ass ladies to shift. I want to add a shower, a big doggie door, some clothing hooks and of course, a good lock on the door to keep me safe,” he read off his list.
“Ok, do you need both of us?” I asked. “We should do some planning for tonight.”
“No, you guys plan, I’ll take care of the garage upgrades. We’re going to need a bigger garage.”
I gave Gaven a confused look, “Why?”
“Well, I need a place to keep my new boat. I figure since I’m the most wonderful, understanding husband in history and you’re so grateful, a new boat will appear with a big red bow on it,” he grinned from ear to ear.
I hugged Gaven then looked into his big green eyes, “Alright smartass, how about we survive the next week and then we talk about a new boat?”
Gaven leaned down giving me his best porn style kiss. I melted into his body, which he keeps in very good shape. I held him around the waist kissing him back. Rebecca childishly groaned. “Get a room,” she joked.
Gaven pulled away from me, “It’s your fault, putting those pheromones into the air.” He grabbed his list and truck keys and danced out the door. Yeah, danced, I believe it was the electric slide.
Rebecca turned to me, “I found some more wolf info to share.”
I followed her into the dining room, where she had my father’s notes spread out over the table. “It’s good Leslie didn’t wander in here and see all this werewolf stuff,” I commented.
“It did occur to me to keep him in the kitchen. Maybe that’s why my pheromones went a little crazy?” she hypothesized.
Rebecca and I spent the next couple of hours doing wolf research. Trying to learn all there is to learn about werewolves, shapeshifting and lycanthropy. We read every web page we could find. We read classic werewolf legends, fiction, ‘scientific books,’ children’s tales of horror. We even read some vampire books on the off chance the author mentioned werewolves.
We continued our scientific experiments, mostly smell and hearing tests. We also learned the hard way that normal dogs really hated us. While on a break, we took a stroll past the neighbor’s house. Their jolly Golden Retriever, Luca, was in the front yard. Now Luca and I were previously on good terms because of my bacon sharing program, but as we approached he barked loudly, pissed himself and ran into the bushes.
Along with our increased strength we had a heightened immune system and could heal extremely fast. Screw you flu! No more flu shots. Yippee!
Rebecca mentioned her period was way overdue this month. She took five pregnancy tests, all negative. Coupled with the fact that she’s been celibate for the past six months, odds are against pregnancy. Once again, all this is probably wolf related, but always the therapist, I did suggest that stress could contribute to a missed period. I’m not due for another two weeks, so time will tell on that one. I do have a history of the worst PMS. I mean I can make Gaven’s life a living hell with only a few well-placed words. Eliminating my PMS monster could be a blessing in disguise except for the little problem of never having kids. That’s okay for now, but I had plans for the future. This little question remains unanswered. Rebecca has her theories about wolf procreation, but I didn’t want to think about it.
Rebecca and I had enough for the day. We went to check on Gaven’s progress in the garage. He was about done when we walked in. He had installed a shower stall in the corner by the Man Door. The Man Door was the side door that leads out of the garage without needing to open the big garage door. This is where most Floridians kept the garbage and since the men took out the garbage, well Man Door.
Gaven had hung several hooks for towels and clothing. It made sense to strip before changing so we wouldn’t ruin our clothes. The Hulk never bothered with stripping and that man ruined every piece of clothing he owned. He also installed a special doggie door that opened with an electronic touch pad. He made us practice getting down on hands and knees to touch our noses to the touch pad. So, when we were in wolf form, it would be instinct.
Gaven made sure to install a new deadbolt and secondary lock. He planned to keep us wild animals from breaking down the door. There were even two doggie beds set up with blankets and pillows. “In case you come home before I get up in the morning to unlock the door,” he explained.
Looking around, “Well, it looks like you’ve thought of everything,” I offered. Impressed Rebecca nodding her agreement.
She sat on one of the doggie beds, “Comfy.”
“Ok, so when do you want to do this?” I asked, starting to feel nervous.
“Tonight, after Gaven leaves to go fishing,” she answered.
I knew Rebecca had already shifted and survived, but I was getting frightened. I hadn’t figured out how to make myself change and then bring about Rebecca’s change.
“There’s just one more thing I need to do,” Gaven said.
I plopped down onto my doggie bed, “What’s that?”
“Well I would like to do a spell to protect you when you go out tonight. I’ve been thinking if you’re spotted running around the neighborhood, it could create some major problems. I remembered a spell that helps the user to go unnoticed as they move. It’s sort of an invisibility spell, but not totally,” he explained.
It was weird hearing Gaven talk about spell casting. I tensed initially, but began to relax as he spoke. Rebecca grinned ear to ear, obviously one hundred percent amenable to magic.
“Ok, so how does this spell work?” I asked, still a bit nervous.
“Stay here,” Gaven ran into the house and came back with what looked like a mayonnaise jar filled with water.
“You’re going to pour mayo on us?” I quipped.
Gaven eyed me seriously. I really gotta get better control of my sarcastic side. I shut my mouth, pretending to zip it shut and threw away the key. Welcome back to kindergarten, Hannah.
Gaven placed the jar on the floor of the garage and unscrewed the top, setting it off to the side. He stood behind the jar so it was between him and us. Gaven closed his eyes in concentration. He faced his palms toward the water in the jar and it began to ripple with small waves. The air became thick, salty and humid. Gaven murmured under his breath, too softly for even my new hearing powers. The water splashed out of the jar as if it rocked with the motion of the sea. The water rose out the jar and floated into the air forming a flat plane above our heads. Gaven’s eyes flashed open revealing the swirling colors I had seen the night before. I glanced over at Rebecca who sat enthralled by the spectacle before us.
Gaven’s murmuring grew louder along with the sea sounds, reminding me of the wind and waves at the beach on a wintry day. Gaven finally shouted upward, “Cloak them in fog as they run, by morning be undone.” The floating water vaporized into a puffy cloud. It washed over us, pulling the air from our lungs.
We both coughed. The cloud disappeared, the garage became silent, and Gaven had sunk to his knees with his head down.
No one moved or spoke for what felt like eternity. Gaven finally sat back onto the floor, looking up me.
“Are you alright?” I asked him.
He smiled, “Yeah, wow, that felt amazing. I’m great. I’d forgotten how good it could feel.”
Rebecca stood, “Gaven that was incredibly beautiful. Thank you for sharing your power and protecting us.”
Gaven stood to face Rebecca, “Your welcome.” He looked down at me and offered his hand to help me stand. “You okay?”
“Yup.” I took his hand, pulling myself from the floor.
“You’re both protected for tonight and the spell will fade away when the sun rises in the morning,” he explained taking me in his arms. “Be careful tonight. I love you Hannah.”
I l
ooked into his eyes, which were still glowing slightly with silvery phosphorescence. “I will, I love you too.”
Chapter 19
Rebecca and I stood in the garage wearing only towels. Gaven left two hours ago and we decided it was dark enough for our evening excursion. I was glad for Gaven’s cloaking magic. The whole town was on alert and I didn’t want to be shot.
“Rebecca, um what if someone shoots at us thinking we’re The Bitch?” I asked nervously. “Gaven said his spell was not one hundred percent foolproof.”
“I already thought of that. Last time I shifted, I found some unpopulated areas to run though. I looked at the local maps and we’re very close, so I thought we could head in that direction,” she answered self-assured.
“Anything else to consider.” I was trying to delay.
Rebecca gave me a supportive smile. “I know you’re nervous, but it’s not as bad as you think.”
“Listen I‘ve watched my fair share of werewolf movies and the changing process is always painful, ALWAYS!” I added that last always to emphasize my point and because I was feeling stubborn.
She smiled at me sympathetically, “It only hurts for a minute and it’s really not as bad as Hollywood makes it out to be.” She made a move to pull off her towel and mumbled, “I swear those movie idiots have given us all a bad name.”
I smirked, “You’re already mumbling under your breath like a crazy person, just like me, cousin.”
Her eyes grew to slivers in pretend anger. “Ok, let’s do this thing or make my day or whatever the line should be.”
“It’s Engage Number One.” We both laughed at my poorly done Star Trek reference.
“Ok,” I said after the giggles subsided and paused for a minute, “uh, Rebecca?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure how to get started,” I said.
“Oh, okay, give me a minute.” She paused looking upward. “Okay, from what I remember reading, you have to channel your wolf energy into your center and the change should begin. When you finish changing, you channel the same energy into my center and I should begin to change.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so earlier,” I snapped sarcastically. “Do I have to align my chakras and fill my chi with the moons healing flow,” I said quoting my yoga teacher.
She ignored my smart-ass remark answering simply, “Yes.”
I took a deep breath and attempted to get myself into yogi mode. I stood in Mountain pose with my hands in prayer position. I began to slow my breathing, focusing each breath into my center. I felt my body relax. I attempted to imagine the moon’s light pouring down my body and gathering in my stomach. Nothing happened for all of sixty seconds, but then I began to have painful contractions in my stomach. I thought about rushing to finding a toilet, but then the contractions radiated outward from my center into my whole body. I fell to my hands and knees gasping for air as my body carried waves of contractions from my center toward my limbs. I rolled on my side writhing from the pain. Tears trickled from my eyes. Not painful my ass!
Rebecca watched without moving, her face stoic, but interested. I believe she was preparing herself for the same. My body contorted and I felt my bones popping and shifting. My nails grew and my face began to lengthen. I shuttered again and a long auburn brown coat of fur appeared like the snap of a towel.
“Help me,” I thought at Rebecca, but she stood transfixed to that spot
I shuttered one last time, a large growl emanating from my throat. The pain ceased. Slowly I stood on my new legs wobbling slightly before finding my footing. I stretched, checking if my muscles still worked and found myself alive and ready for adventure.
Rebecca watched all this in silence, then spoke, “You have white tips on your ears.”
Wolf earrings, I thought. Wow, I could think, yeah. I was still me, but stuck inside a wolf body. I was shocked I could still think like a person. I guess I expected to be a wild crazed animal like Kristi, AKA the Bitch. I padded over to Rebecca and sniffed her legs. She smelled delicious. I tried to hold myself back from tasting her thigh. Maybe just a lick, I thought. She watched me pad over closer and gave me the bad dog look accompanied by shaking her pointer finger at my nose. I made what I thought to be a noise of complaint which sounded like a whine and backed away while I still could. Okay, so I could think like a human, but I had wolf senses and wolf instincts combined with some semblance of self-control. And my normal complaining sounded like wimpy whining. I had to work on that, I thought as my stomach grumbled.
I better turn her so we could go eat. I looked up toward Rebecca and opened my mouth to talk, “Your turn,” I said, but it came across as “Ggrrrrrr.” Ok Hannah, think. You just turned into a wolf, so you can’t talk like a human. Try something else.
I closed my wolf eyes and began to focus the moons energy through me, again this time directing the energy toward Rebecca. She watched silently.
Rebecca began to feel the contractions. I saw her face change. She was so calm and peaceful, I instantly felt jealous. She slowly laid herself on the garage floor allowing the contractions to wash over her. She breathed slowly in and out through her nose. A Zen meditation master compared to my violent change minutes ago. Note to self, ask Rebecca to teach me the Zen meditation technique for next time. Her coat appeared, similar to the way a troll dolls hair fluffs as you rotate it in your hands. It was golden with light brown highlights, shiny and extremely beautiful. She stood as tall as a large greyhound dog, but thicker and more muscled. She finished changing, stretched her legs, yawned and said, “See no big deal,” which I heard inside my head.
Yeah right, I thought. “Hey, I understood you. Cool.” I guess two wolves could communicate.
I pushed my nose through the doggie door Gaven had so kindly installed, “Let’s roll Scottie,” I threw in another Star Trek reference.
She snorted, feigned annoyance and followed me outside.
We trotted through my neighborhood staying in the shadows whenever possible. Within five minutes we had crossed a major highway and darted into a forest filled with oak trees, saw palmettos and mangroves. The air became thick with chlorophyll and decay from the mangroves in standing water. The night was a symphony of insects and small animals. Warmth and humidity caressed my new body. I ran like never before. On four legs I could cover more ground, exploring the night without fear or care. A newfound energy grew as it filled my body. We must have run several miles before we decided to walk and sniff out my new domain.
I could hear the wildlife around me buzzing and moving. Alligators sliding into their beds for the night, raccoons waking up to search for food, bugs everywhere. The other animals sensed our presence and decided to steer clear. It’s good to be the Queen. We explored the night, making our way to a large body of water. It must have been the harbor. I wound my way through mangroves and oyster beds as Rebecca followed. The tide was low as we padded out toward the water. Occasionally I could hear a fish jump and splash back down into its wet universe. As I passed through a small opening into the clearing, I noticed the moon was three quarters full. I felt a surge of anger to finish what The Bitch had started. I looked up at the moon, my full power washed over me. I began to howl, softly at first and then louder and louder. Rebecca joined in as we let the other animals know we were claiming this as our territory. As I howled, the human part of my brain was taking notes. “This power feels tremendous, no fear, just raw power.”
I growled at Rebecca, “Let’s run.”
She nodded following me. I dashed over puddles and jumped over palmetto bushes, testing my strength and agility. I was faster than speeding bullet, more powerful than a speeding locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. I pictured myself ‘Super Wolf’ with a big S on my chest and almost tripped from laughing. When I stopped to talk to Rebecca, I noticed my hunger grew and a desire to kill had built inside my body. My human mind both accepted and was excited for the next task of the night.
We began to hunt for racco
ons as we had decided earlier. I smelled the air, searching for a wet, wooly, musty garbage combination of stink identifying the raccoons. Within seconds, I caught the scent of several of them just half-a-mile from us. We stealthily made our way in the direction of the noxious odor.
Rebecca instinctively circled around in the other direction as we crept in closer. I saw a big raccoon walking toward a mangrove tree. I suspected his home was nearby. Rebecca and I crept in closer and closer until I could smell the blood rushing through the raccoon’s veins under his skin. As my adrenaline kicked in, my fight or flight instinct geared into fight mode, nearly drove me wild. I began to salivate at the thought of his hot flesh tearing under the strength of my teeth. I leapt at him, knocking him to the ground. He fought back, but it was too late. My sharp canines tore through his flesh and ripped out a bloody chunk of hot delicious meat. He was dead before he knew what hit him. I began to devour the bloody corpse while he was still warm. After a few minutes, my hunger waned. I licked my lips clean. I eased away from the mutilated raccoon, watching Rebecca slowly approach. She kept her eyes on me the whole time. She eased herself forward until she could sample the buffet I’d left for her.
As she chomped her meal, I began to think about everything I have ever learned about wolf packs and how they operate. I remembered hearing something about the Alphas eating first then the other animals would eat according to their rank. That was exactly how Rebecca was acting. She hung back, letting me make the kill and then she waited until I had eaten. She was also cautious while approaching the raccoon’s body making sure I approved of her actions.
As I contemplated this Alpha thing, it occurred to me the hunting and killing felt amazing. I could understand for the first time why people went hunting. I felt more alive when I was killing than I had ever felt before. I guess I could handle this wolf thing after all.
After Rebecca finished her meal, we headed back to civilization. The night had passed quickly and I could see dawn approaching.
We returned to my neighborhood easily finding my house. As we headed to the big doggie door, I noticed Gavens truck was still gone. Rebecca touched the pad with her nose and slipped through the door. I looked around the neighborhood thinking about my night. I caught a glimpse of the neighbor’s garbage cans knocked over, the garbage strewn all over the yard. I laughed knowing that after tonight I would never have this problem ever again. I scratched my back on my garbage can, marking my territory for the benefit of any stray raccoons that thought my garbage was a smorgasbord. Hey, it’s better than peeing on it!