Love and Lycanthropy - Chapter 2
It had been four weeks since Elias disappeared on me. It was
the worst time of my life. I'd never had such a difficult time
getting through the days. The short, fantastic weekend I'd had
with him had shown me just how empty and meaningless my life really
was before. He was what I'd been missing all along.I tried to
look at things objectively. It just made no sense that I could
meet someone and fall deeply in love in just one weekend. I
couldn't deny the way I felt though. I'd never been in love
before. Maybe this was how it happened for most people. It
was all new to me.I
had no idea that love could be the source
of so much pain though. Not knowing where Elias was drove me
nuts. I didn't know if he was OK. I didn't know if he was
even thinking of me. What if he really didn't care and wasn't
planning on coming back? What if he'd been doing to me what I'd
done to so many men in the past, toying with me for a while as I tried
to reel him in and then slipping off the hook and swimming away?
He certainly had no roots so what if he'd moved on to another
city?
What if I would never see him again? I wished I'd thought
to buy him a cell phone so he could at least call me once in a while and
let me know he was OK.I
even felt physically sick from it. I had developed a sharp pain
in the left side of my abdomen slightly forward. I think it might
be an ulcer starting to build in my stomach or something from the
stress. I was not sleeping well and I wasn't focusing well at
work either and it was starting to show as I screwed up things I would
normally have no trouble with. I felt drained and tired all the
time but I kept driving myself on through the days, trying to get them
over with.I'd taken to riding trains at random on my lunch
breaks going through as many stations as I could, looking for
someone in a hoodie collecting cans and bottles. I had no luck.
I'd started riding my bike down on the river valley trails every
free moment I had as long as there was light enough to see. My
house is less than five minutes' bike ride from the start of the trail
system at one end of the city so I could be out on them within minutes
of getting home. I was
hoping to get a glimpse of him somewhere since he'd given me the
impression that he lived down there. Again, I had no luck.
He'd
warned me that he wouldn't be anywhere that I could find him but I had
to do something. I couldn't focus on anything else really, so
spending time searching for him was the best way I could think of to
pass the time away.It had been four weeks since I first met
Elias
and it was Friday again and I was riding home on the train.
Someone had left a newspaper behind on the seat so I picked it up
and
looked over the headlines. I'd been so out of it for the last
month that I was really out of touch with what was happening in the
world. There was an odd story about animal carcasses that had
been found along the river valley. I remembered people mentioning
something about it at work while they were chatting at the water
cooler. The
river has a very wide and deep wooded valley that cuts right through
the city and curves partially around the downtown core and our
office building is right next to the river valley. We would
sometimes go for walks down on the trails on our lunch or coffee breaks
and there had been warnings
to be on the lookout for aggressive animals.It's
quite common
for deer to be seen along the valley. Over the last few months a
total of four carcasses had been found that had been taken down by some
sort of predator and mostly consumed. The most recent had been
found a couple of days ago. That's news simply because
while deer are common, there are no large predators around. The
article suggested an unusually large wolf had done the job but there
were certainly no wolves around here normally. We did sometimes
get
coyotes but that was about the largest carnivore around and they
normally couldn't take down a deer, especially not just one coyote.
Even one large wolf would usually not be successful in a hunt by
itself. They hunt in packs. The evidence showed only one
animal was responsible for the carcasses and that it had an unusually
large bite pattern, so it was a real mystery.I
realized I might have had an encounter with this predator a couple of
weeks ago. I'd been out riding on the trails looking for Elias
and it was getting really late, but as I turned to head back home I ran over
something on the trail and got a puncture in my front tire. I had
used my spare tube a couple of months ago and completely forgot to
replace it. I always carry a patch kit and tools in a small bag
under the saddle where I normally have the spare tube, and I have a hand pump attached to the frame.
It was a pain to fix a tube but it would be a lot better than
walking all the way back which would take hours. It was getting
pretty dark so I had to
use the light on the front of my bike to work. It took me a good
forty minutes to get the tube out and locate the leak and patch it and
put it back and fill the tire with air.It
had already been
starting to get dark when I'd started to change the tube and now it was
really dark by the time I was riding again. I still had quite a ways
to go following the trails back the way I'd come from. I was
getting
close to the point where I normally turn onto a trail that goes up the
side of the valley switching back and forth until it comes out at the
top onto a street. From there it would only be a few minutes
of riding along the streets before I'd get back home. As
I went to turn I saw the flash of two eyes reflecting my light back at
me from the bushes off to the side. I stopped and shone my light
back in that direction and I was sure I saw the shape of a huge dog
with light and dark brown fur turn and move back into the trees.
Really it looked
much too large to be a dog. In hindsight I think it looked too
large to be a wolf even, so at the time I thought the darkness must have
been playing tricks
with my perception. If what this article was saying is true, it
may have been a big wolf. It might be the one responsible for the animal carcasses. There haven't been any real wolf
populations in my state in close to sixty years, though in very recent
years they had suddenly started to make a comeback encroaching a bit
from the north. Still, there were absolutely none around my city.The weird thing was that I kept hearing
sounds in the bushes on that side of the trail and behind me as I
continued to ride.
It was almost like the animal was following me at pace even
though I was riding pretty fast. It took me
about fifteen more minutes to go up the trail to the top of the valley and
the exit that would take me to the street and I heard the sounds all
the way. Just as I got to the top I turned the bike around
sharply and stopped. Sure enough I saw the two eyes
reflecting the light back at me again. I stayed still and they
moved side to side a bit but didn't go away. The spacing of them
and their height above the ground and the amount that they swiveled side to side suggested a very large animal.There
was something strange about the eyes that made me feel oddly
comfortable. For some
reason I wasn't the least bit afraid. As I stared at the eyes I
felt a strange connection or familiarity. I saw intelligence and
wariness in them, but no real threat. It was like they were simply studying me. God knows the animal
could have taken me down at any time as I rode the switchbacks up the
side of the valley, yet it had simply followed right behind and
beside me instead. I slowly began to
move toward the eyes to try to get a closer look but I heard what
sounded
sort of like a low mournful whine and then they turned and vanished.
There was the sound of something large moving quickly away though
the brush and back
down into the valley.It had spooked me a little but didn't really scare me and I hadn't really thought
of it much more until now. Maybe there really was a large carnivore
hanging out down there. It certainly hadn't seemed to be threatening to me but I'd need to be careful in future. I
don't know why it would have been following me but it probably wasn't
too safe to go back there at night again.I had bought a
replacement tube the next day so I'd be able to fix a puncture more
quickly. I wasn't going to let that incident deter me from
looking for Elias. I returned to the valley every evening after
that but didn't hang around until it got dark. I'd seen no other
signs of the animal.My station was announced and I got off the
train and rushed to my truck. I always raced home now while praying
that when I got there Elias would be waiting for me, sitting at the kitchen table and
smiling. He said he'd be a few weeks and it was now just shy of
four since I'd last seen him so I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see him again.I got home and rushed in, but the
house was empty. My heart sank and I went up to my bedroom to
change into my cycling clothes. There was nothing else to do but
go for a ride and look for him again. I wasn't eating very well
but I barely had any appetite and it was actually a chore to stuff food
down. I nuked a couple of pizza pockets just to give myself
energy for the ride and then I headed out.It was another
fruitless search and I came back as the sun was setting to a house that
was still empty.Saturday
was a complete bust as well. I'd
started early and ridden slowly for the whole day. There's close
to a hundred miles of paved trails in a complex network that ran along
the river valley and crisscrossed the river in several places on
long pedestrian bridges. I'd bought lunch and supper at vendors
in the parks and
ate snacks to keep me energized. It was a long haul and I was
completely exhausted by the time I got home at sunset.Once
again the house was empty. I showered quickly and went straight
to bed. I was so tired I was out seconds after I turned out the
light, and I slept like I was in a coma.The next morning when I woke, I didn't quite feel ready to get out of bed, so I cuddled in closer to Elias.
I was spooned against him and it was so comfortable and he felt so warm and good in my arms that I just didn't
want to get up yet. I was still in that state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, when dreams seem like reality.As the fuzziness of sleep left me my mind suddenly came into focus and I
realized Elias really was right there in my bed! My heart started to hammer
in my chest. I froze and didn't know what to do for a moment.I didn't want to freak him out but I sure wanted to
shake him awake and ask him where the hell he'd been and what the hell he'd put me through that for.I
tried to calm down and stayed very still. I needed to get control
of my emotions. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him and
make him want to get the hell out again. I stayed in bed and held
onto him for a while longer. He was sleeping like a log. I
don't know what time he'd got in. I was so tired myself I hadn't
woken up when he came into the bed.I
nuzzled the back of his
neck and breathed the wonderful scent of him. I caressed his soft
brown hair. I softly touched my lips to the side of his neck and felt his
warm pulse there. I held my hand to his chest and felt his heart
beating
and the rise and fall of every breath. He was really here.
He was home and I would get to be with him again. I felt
tears welling up in my eyes I was so happy to have him back. I
spooned for a long while holding his warm body against me until finally
my
bladder forced me up and out of bed.I got out as carefully as I
could so as not to wake him. I looked at the clock and saw it was
nearly 9 AM. I went in to the bathroom to relieve myself, then
threw on some sweats and a t-shirt and went down to the kitchen to make
us some breakfast. If he didn't get up I'd bring some up to him
and serve it to him in bed.I was in the middle of frying up
some bacon and making toast when he came up behind me and put his arms around my waist
from behind and rested the side of his face against my upper back. I turned and took him
into my arms and hugged him tightly. There were tears in my eyes
again when I pulled back and looked at his beautiful, smiling face.
I was so happy he came back I'd forgotten how upset I was with
him for taking off. I didn't want to even broach the subject.
I just wanted to be with him and not think about it but he was
the one who brought it up."I'm really sorry I took off on you, Jake," he said, "I feel so bad. I missed you so much it was driving me crazy."I saw tears welling in his eyes. He really was sorry."Why did you go, Elias? Where did you go?""It's
complicated. I don't know if I should tell you. I think I
love you, Jake, and I'm a bit confused about what to do.""I
love
you too. I have no doubt about that now. I haven't
been
able to think about anything but you since you left. I haven't
had a
proper appetite. I've been feeling physically sick. I've
been fucking up at work I was so distracted. I know you told me
not to bother
looking for you but I couldn't think of anything better to do. I
searched all the train stations hoping to find you there.""I
know you were looking for me. You even rode all over the river
valley looking. I'm so sorry. I love you too, Jake. I
really do. I don't
really doubt it either. I've been thinking of nothing but
you too since I left. I shouldn't have taken off without talking
to you before. I shouldn't have put you through that. I
think I can trust you with the truth but I was scared what would happen
if you knew. We really need to
talk about this but I have to think about how I'm gonna say it.
It's gonna be hard and I don't want to upset you or lose you over
it," he said."I can't imagine anything you would tell me that would ever change my feelings for you. Let's
talk about it after breakfast. I'm just so happy you're back I
don't want to get into too heavy a conversation right now. Let's
just be together again for a while, OK?" I asked.He smiled and slipped
back into my arms and we hugged a bit more, then I gave him a kiss and
asked him to get us some orange juice out of the fridge while I
finished up cooking our breakfast.I
could barely take my eyes off him as we sat at the table and ate.
We finished our breakfast in silence as we both just kept looking
at each other and smiling.I wasn't sure how long it would be before
I would get over the fear that he might just vanish on me again.
I thought maybe we should actually have that heavy conversation
sooner rather than later so I would know what was going on with him and
why he had to disappear for so long. It might be the only way to
appease this fear I had that if I left him in a room alone I might come
back and find him gone again. The first thing we'd need to do is arrange to keep him in touch."Elias, would it be OK with you if I bought you your own phone so you could contact me if you need to?" I asked."Sure,
if you want. That would be good. I didn't go away to get
away from you. I missed you every minute. I just wasn't
ready to tell you the truth about me. I thought if I did I'd lose
you forever and never be able to be with you again. I should have
told you everything. I think it would have been
a lot easier if I had. It just might be hard for you to accept at
first, but I can definitely show you it's true," he said.What
the hell could possibly be going on with him? This was really
starting to make me feel uneasy. I hoped whatever it was I could
help him get over it and clear the road for us to stay together.
It was time to find out what it was."Are you ready to tell me now? I'm definitely ready to hear," I said."Yeah,
I'm ready. I'm scared that if I tell you you'll throw me out and
it will be over, but if there's any chance of me seeing you more you
have to know. You're gonna think I'm crazy or having fun with you,
but we can talk about that after I get it all out. Just sit and
listen for now and don't say anything until I'm done. I'll start
with how I got to be homeless..."I never had a dad that I knew
and my mom died when I was
just eight years old and I was moved between foster homes for a while
after that.
I hated the world and I had a hard time getting along with
people. When I started to get older I got bored
easy and I ended up getting myself into trouble a lot, so I'd be shipped
off to another home and never really got attached to anyone. One
summer I was sent to a camp for troubled kids to try to teach me some
discipline and respect. I hated it and I ran away one day.
I had only turned fourteen a couple of weeks before but I
decided I was old enough to be on my own. I figured it couldn't
be any worse than what I had. I bundled up my clothes and slipped
away from the camp when everyone had gone to bed and I ran for
a long time through the woods. I didn't really know where I was
going and hadn't planned it out well, but I was just gonna keep going
until I reached the highway. It started to get darker and while I
was running I heard a
horrible sound, like someone was being hurt really bad or something.
I snuck over to see what it was and I couldn't believe my eyes..."There
was a man who was totally naked. He had his clothes all folded
up nice and neat over to the side and he was standing and breathing
really hard. He was yelling out and hunching over and then
straightening out like his
whole body was wracked with pain. He fell to his hands and knees
and screamed long and loud and I almost ran away right then, but I
decided to stay hidden behind a tree and try to see what was wrong with
him. I heard some sickening sounds like bones breaking or
something and he actually started to change right in front of my eyes.
I thought I was going insane but I couldn't peel my eyes away.
I saw a long tail start to grow out of his tail bone. It
got
long and thick and looked like a rat's tail. I saw his feet
stretch and change shape like they were becoming a long bone and his
toes at the end started to widen out into big paws and his thighs
actually seemed to get a bit shorter and narrower."His head got
wider and longer and his mouth and nose stretched out into a great
big muzzle. His ears went up more to the top of his head and got
big and turned to face forward and got sort of triangle shaped like a
wolf's ears. His chest got narrower and deeper. His hands
changed just like his feet with the hands stretching out from his
wrists and his fingers and thumbs changing shape into big paws.
He looked like he was changing into a giant hairless rat at first
but he just kept changing. He was getting thicker and longer and heavier and
bigger and he was screaming and yelling and crying like it hurt like
hell. I started to notice him getting darker and then I saw he
was starting to get furry. His tail curled up more and got really
bushy and he got a longer thicker coat all along his body that was
sort of grey and black fur. His screaming started to change more
to a sort of howling and roars of rage and he started to look less like a
rat and more like a wolf. He was so huge though. I've never
seen a wolf up close but I don't think they'd be as big as him.
It was like he almost doubled in size by the time he was done
growing."I finally decided I'd better get the hell out of there
but I didn't even take two steps back before I snapped a twig on the
ground and he growled and looked over and saw me. I yelled and
turned to run and I heard him snarl and launch himself after me.
He knocked me down and I felt heat at the back of my neck.
I rolled and tried to push him off of me but he tore into my
belly like he was in a rage. It hurt like hell and I screamed
out. That seemed to do something and he suddenly stopped
attacking and shook his head. He growled and it almost sounded
like he was trying to say something. He backed up and whined and
then took off into the woods. I was pretty torn up. The
back of my neck was bleeding bad. I think he'd grabbed me there
with his jaws to pull me down. There was a long tear at my belly
and there was tons of blood coming out and I saw what looked like my
guts trying to fall out of the gash. I was pretty sure I was
gonna die. I got up and held my hand against my belly to keep
things in and staggered back toward the camp to try to get help
but it was a long way and there was no way I could make it."Then
I started to feel funny. My whole body started to feel like it
was on fire. I figured I must be dying. I fell over and
lay on my side and waited for it to end. It got a lot worse.
I started to feel like I was being pulled apart. Like I was
on some sort of rack and every bone and joint in my body was being
stretched past the limit. It felt like my blood was literally
boiling and I was on fire and I felt like I was expanding like I was in
a microwave and was gonna explode.
The pain got worse and I started to lose my sight and hearing and
I sort of started to lose my ability to think from all of the pain.
I have no idea
exactly how long I was like that. I don't really have a memory of
that part other than seeing red and being in the worst pain imaginable
and being really angry at the whole world. That's how it happens
every time. It's like while my brain is being bent and twisted
and reshaped I can't make memories and I can't think at all and I sort
of lose control and
don't remember what happens while I change. I started to come
back after a while and the pain was horrible, but instead of getting
worse it was getting better fast. When I was able to think again
I
felt completely different. I felt sort of stronger and healthier
and more alive than ever before."It was a completely dark night
but I could see really well, lots better than before. I could
hear all sorts of sounds I wouldn't have picked up before and I could
get their exact direction. I could smell things I never would
have before. I caught the sent of my old self and knew somehow
that it was different than what I had become. I could smell the
other wolf that had attacked me. I could smell other animals and
their droppings and all sorts of things around me. Somehow some
of those animals smelled like food. It was like smell became as
important to me as hearing or seeing and I knew everything that was
going on around me in the pitch dark night better than I would have
known before even if it was the middle of the day. I looked back
at myself and I was covered in fur. I had no hands and no feet
but paws instead. I couldn't talk but I could think clearly and
knew who I had been before. All of my memories were there.
I was a wolf with the memories of a boy."Needless
to say
as I sat and listened to Elias' story I started out thinking he was
having fun with me. Then I noticed the emotion behind his voice
as he relived the events in his head
and I realized he was actually remembering something real. I
started to try to rationalize how that could be. Obviously he
wasn't some sort of werewolf. That would be ridiculous.
Something must have happened to him in those woods that
caused him to create false memories. His brain built this fantasy
to try to cover up something worse. Maybe he really did run into
a naked man in the woods but something entirely different happened
after that. I felt so bad but I had no
idea what to say or do. I'm no psychologist and I didn't know how
to approach this."You don't believe me do you?" he asked, "It's
OK if you don't. I can prove it so you'll know it's true
eventually. I wish you would trust me though and believe me.
I'm not making it up.""I think you really believe it
Elias. I do trust you and I don't think you're lying to me, but it
just can't be true. That shit is in the movies or stories. It's not real. You must know that. I think something
happened to you back then that your brain is trying to hide away to
protect you.""No, it's real. I change all the time now. Almost all the time that is.""Wait,
you said this happened to you one summer when you just turned fourteen.
It's summer right now and you're fourteen so how the hell can
that be?" I asked."It
happened three years ago. I'm
seventeen now even though I don't look like it. Something weird
happens when I change back into a person again. It's not like
hitting the rewind button and playing the change backwards until I'm
back the way I was. It's more like I get re-grown inside myself
following whatever plan my body would have done from a baby to the time
that I changed, but I only grow to the exact point I was at the first
time I got bit. That means everything that happened to my body before
was undone and any damage was fixed, and any aging that would have
happened after never really happens. When I changed back to
myself after that first time as a wolf, the gash on my belly was gone
and the
back of my neck was fine because I sort of regrew from scratch. I used
to have scars here and there
from wipeouts on my skateboard and stuff but they
disappeared after the first time I changed. I never used to take
good care of my teeth and they were a bit yellow and had
fillings, but my teeth are all white and perfect now like they're
freshly grown and the fillings are gone. They probably got left
behind in the dirt that first time I changed. I lost my
baby toe on my left foot after an accident when I was little but now I
have it back. I think whatever damage your body had disappears
when you change back like you were grown new. I don't seem to be
getting any older anymore either like I said. It's like every time I
change
back the aging that happened to me since the first time I changed is
repaired too. I don't know why it's that way but it is. I'm
stuck the way I am with the body of a boy who just turned fourteen."As
he spoke, I remembered how odd I'd found it that his teeth were so
perfect and white when he's homeless and doesn't even have a
toothbrush,
and how he had no scars or blemishes of any kind anywhere on his body.
At his age he should at least have quite a few pimples but his
skin was smooth and beautifully perfect. He had no scratches, no
warts, no corns, no hangnails, no rough patches on his toes or heels or
elbows, absolutely none of the types of things most people accumulate
naturally. His body was almost supernaturally perfect almost as
if it had only been released from some sort of science fiction cloning
vat that morning or something. I remembered how he seemed so
extremely well connected to his body like he'd lived with it for years,
instead of being clumsy and awkward like most fast growing boys would
be, given their brain has not had time to adjust to their changing body
yet.Could he really be telling the truth? Was this really
something that was happening to him and not just something his brain
tricked him into believing? I tried to think of some other explanation but I was coming up empty."It sounds crazy, doesn't it?
Here's something that might help you believe it though. Do
you remember a couple of weeks ago when you were riding your bike in
the river valley after dark? I saw you and you saw me," he said.My
heart started to beat considerably faster now as I remembered the
strange encounter with the unusually large animal. I also
remembered the story in the paper about the deer carcasses that had
been taken down by an unusually large carnivore."While
I'm changing I'm
out of control and I don't remember any of it, but after I change I'm a
wolf but I'm still me. It's almost like I'm riding inside a real
wolf and controlling it. The wolf knows how to be a wolf and how
to work its body and how to kill and eat and it shares all of that with
me while I sort of tell it which way to go and what to do when I want
to, and it does it. I'm the wolf but I'm more the boy even when
I'm that shape. It's hard to explain. I smelled something
familiar that night
and I started to follow the trail of it. It got stronger as I
went and it made me feel really good and happy so I kept following the
scent. It smelled like home and love and happiness and I couldn't
stop following it as it got stronger because the closer I got to it the
better I felt. Then you appeared on the trail in front of me and
I knew it was you I'd smelled."I love you, Jake, and that's why
the scent I was following made me feel so good. I stayed hidden and followed you up
the trail until you got to the street. You stopped and turned
around and you saw me there again. I stayed still. I didn't
want to turn away I was so glad to see you. I had no way of
talking with you to let you know it was me, and I knew you'd freak if
you saw what I really looked like and think I was a wolf, so I stayed in
the dark. Then you
started to move toward me and I knew I just had to get out so I turned
and ran. Now I know your scent perfectly as a wolf and I could
track you a long way. Every night since then I spent my time as a
wolf running
around the trails following all the places you'd ridden that day.
I knew you must be out looking for me to be covering so much
ground every single day and it made me love you more.
It let me know how much you missed me and wanted me back and it
made me feel like I was near you. I loved it, but it made
me so sad at the same time because it wasn't you, it was just the
world's memory of you. I missed you so much."That was
all
it took to convince me. There was no way he could have known
about my run in with that creature or the fact that I'd been riding the
trails every single day looking for him. I saw those eyes that
night. I saw the
intelligence behind them and I felt that strange familiarity and
connection. I saw the shape of that large creature too and it
wasn't a boy. Even if it had been Elias the boy, I was on a bike
and riding fast and there was no way he could have kept up with me all
the way to the top of the valley trail so he wouldn't be able to tell
me exactly what had happened at both the bottom and the top. It
was true. It was absolutely insane and impossible but somehow it
was completely
true."Is that why you had to leave? You were scared you'd kill me when you changed?" I asked.He
nodded and continued, "I was afraid to tell you how I was or I might
lose you. Even if you accepted it, I was scared that I
might get so comfortable with you that I would fall asleep or something
and change while you were there with me. While I'm changing I
can't think and I have no identity and I wouldn't know you. I
think that's why the guy attacked
me in the first place. He wasn't done changing and he still
wasn't himself in a wolf's body. He was just a wolf in a hell of
a lot of pain and he was in a rage. I'm the same way when I'm
changing. I know it because something really bad happened once.
I killed a homeless guy. I didn't do it on purpose and I
don't even remember doing it. I remember he came out of the woods
near me after I'd taken my clothes off because I knew I was about to
change. He saw me and got a weird look on his face when he saw my
naked body. He grinned and came at me fast and hit me hard on the
head
and knocked me down and started tearing off his own clothes to rape me
but I had already started to change. I can't really remember what
happened next but when I finally came back into focus as a wolf I saw
his body. He was torn to shreds and his guts were all over the
place. I could taste his blood and guts in my mouth."Like I said I have no memory of doing it but what was
left of him was such a mess that I must have been in a complete rage.
I don't even feel guilty about it since he was trying to rape me
anyhow. I think I would have killed him even if he hadn't tried
to rape me though and that's what really scares me. It's like I'm
a mindless monster somewhere between being a boy and a wolf. The
monster is the one who feels the worst of the pain during the change
and gets mad at the whole world for it. He would attack and kill
anything that moved around him I think. That's why I had to leave
you Jake. I have no control during the change and I'd probably
tear you to bits. That guy who bit me and made me this way would
have killed me too if he'd seen me any sooner, before he started to
come back to himself. I think the only reason I'm still alive is
because enough of his mind had come back to know not to kill me, and to feel
for me when I yelled out in pain. His pain was probably
almost gone by then because the change was almost done. Chances are he doesn't even remember biting
me and doesn't know what he did to me."I
was blown away by all
this. For the last four weeks I had tried to think of any
possible reason he might have had to vanish on me for so long.
Given
the rest of my life to think about it I never would have come up with
this
reason. Everything fit and it seemed like it must be true but it
was still going to be hard to fully accept until I saw it with my own
eyes. It should be pretty easy to prove."So, if you have full control when you're done changing and you're a wolf then I should be safe with you, right?" I asked.He
smiled and said, "Exactly right, that's what I meant before when
I said even if you didn't believe me I could prove it to you.
You'd be perfectly safe. I don't become some sort of movie
monster werewolf, just a real big normal wolf. Even right away after I
changed for the first time three years ago I had complete control over
the wolf. I would come across a deer or a rabbit or something out
in the forest and the wolf wanted to kill and eat but I wasn't ready
for that, so I just turned away. It wasn't until later that I
decided I had to eat and this seemed like an easy way to get food, so I
went ahead and let the wolf take down a deer. It was the best
meal I ever had in my life. It was so fresh and warm and good and
there was so much and I ate for a long time and didn't have to eat for
days after, even when I changed back to a boy."I
finally settled into a pattern of eating a big kill once in a while as
the wolf and eating human food on a regular basis too when I can and it
seems to work fine. If I eat a lot as a boy I don't need to eat as a wolf. It means I don't have to clear the woods of
every living thing and bring a lot of attention to the wolf. I
probably shouldn't even kill at all when I'm near the city but I would
need to eat a lot more as a boy to avoid that. I guess now that I
have you I won't have to worry about ever killing again as the wolf if
I don't want to. The main thing is I have complete control over
the wolf and his instincts. We
can meet up on the trails down by the river one night after I've
changed and you can see for yourself. I'd love for you to see me
that way, Jake.""I'd love to see it too. We need to
arrange that as soon as possible. I'd like to bring a camera too
if that's OK so I could take pictures and videos of you. I bet
you've never got a really good look at yourself when you're like that,"
I suggested.His face split into a huge grin."What an
awesome idea! I never even thought of that! It would be so
cool to see what I look like. Thanks, Jake!""It would be pretty awesome for me too. So I imagine you'd be dangerous when you change back too, right?""Yeah,
as long as I'm close to the shape of the wolf with all that strength
and those teeth and in that much pain but with no mind behind it to try
to control myself, I could do a lot of damage. The change in
either direction is dangerous and I can't remember anything that
happens during it," he agreed."So how does it work? Is it
the old full moon thing? That doesn't make sense because you
wouldn't have to go away for so long. Is it any moonlight at all
that causes it?""Sort of, but not exactly. All I know for sure is that the sun needs to be down and the moon needs to be
up. Nothing happens when even a sliver of the sun is up over the
horizon and nothing happens when there's still no sliver of a moon
coming up over the horizon at night. Once the sun goes below the
horizon and the moon even just begins to come up it happens, even if the sky is still really light. I
don't know why that is. It makes no sense to me but neither does
changing into a wolf in the first place I guess. The fact is, even
the moonlight doesn't matter. I've tried crawling way back a mile
into a storm sewer that opens up into the river on a really cloudy night. I was way the
hell underground and had gone around a lot of corners and there was no
way any moonlight could possibly reach me but as soon as the moon rose
I changed anyhow."I
don't get it but that's the way it is.
For some reason during the new moon, when the moon is rising at
the same time as the sun and setting at the same time, I'm fine and I
don't change at all. There's three nights each month when I'm
safe and that's what happened when you met me. It was the night
before the new moon so I was OK for that night and the next and I was
still good for one more night after that, but I had to disappear on
Monday. When we meet up it will need to be right around the full
moon preferably. That's when the moon comes up as the sun is
setting and goes down as it's rising. That way I'll change while
it's still really light out and you'll be able to see me really well
but I won't change back for a long time so you'll be safe for a long
while. I'm a wolf and in complete
control for the whole night during the full moon until the sun comes up
over the horizon in the morning and I change back. It was full
moon when you saw
me on the trail that night.""Interesting, so you're a wolf at
different times for a different length of time through the month as the
moon shifts through its phases," I said."Yup,
the first
time I change after the new moon I'm a wolf for just a half hour or so
right after sunset because the moon sets just after the sun. It
gets longer and longer up until the middle of the cycle at the full
moon when I'm a wolf from sunset to sunrise. Then I'm a wolf for
less and less time on the run up to the next new moon when I change for
just a half hour or so before sunrise the last time before the new moon
keeps me from changing. I've become a real expert on the phases
of the moon over the years. They don't follow the months exactly
so the days don't line up the same way.
A full cycle takes twenty nine and a half days so we won't always
have a
full weekend or anything. It could be three days in the middle of
the week sometimes. Today is Sunday and tomorrow night is new
moon. I'm good
for tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday night. I changed for a half
hour before the sun came up this morning, and then I came here as quick
as I could and snuck into bed with you. I need to be gone by
Wednesday before sunset because I'll change for a half hour just after
the sun goes down," he said."No,
you don't really need to be gone anymore. I know
your secret now, so you don't need to hide from me. I love
you, Elias, and I want you to stay right here. Obviously you can't
be here while you're changing but you're good during the day.
Like you
said even right after the new moon you're only a wolf for a half hour
so you'd only need to be gone for a couple hours tops each night for
the first week and
you could come right back. We could find some way to make sure
I'm never around when you change, couldn't we? Maybe we could set
up a room here that you could lock yourself into to change. You
can't think when you're changing so you wouldn't be able to get out.
Once you've changed you'd be smart enough to open a lock if we
made something special that you could work as a wolf so you could let
yourself out. Electronics is a major hobby for me and I don't
think I'd have any trouble at all designing a lock that would work," I
said."I don't
think that would be safe, Jake. I've lived with this long enough
to know. Shit happens and one of these days we'd fall asleep and
the change would start without either of us knowing or being ready for it. I'd kill
you in seconds without thinking. We can't possibly take that chance," he said.I
realized he was right. No matter how careful we were, at some
point we'd become complacent and slip and I would be dead. There
had to be some solution, some way to have him around but keep me
safe. I loved him so much I couldn't live with having him with me
for only three days out of every month. What would happen if both
of us were werewolves I wonder?"What
if you bit me, Elias? What if I became like you? Would we be
able to stay together all the time then? I could still keep my
job since I only need to work during the daytime. We'd have the
house and a source of income. We could be just your average,
everyday, ordinary, run of the mill, neighborhood werewolf gay couple."He looked at me like I was nuts."Are
you crazy? Why would you even ask that? I'm not gonna make
you like me! Besides, something else happened to me a while ago
that I don't want to tell you about just yet, but it showed me it
wouldn't be so easy. I bit someone after I changed and they ended
up losing a lot of blood and going to the hospital and getting a lot of
stitches and a run of painful rabies shots and stuff but they never
changed. It's like there's nothing special about me when I'm a
boy, and nothing special even when I'm a wolf. I don't have any
magical ability or anything. If you cut me bad right now or even
when I'm a wolf I wouldn't magically heal, I'd just bleed to death.
It's only right when the change is happening that there's
something special about me."I
think when I bite you as a wolf you get a wolf bite and nothing more.
If I bit you right now you'd get a boy bite and nothing more.
I'd have to bite while I'm changing to make you change, and since
I'm out of control you'd have a massive wolf-like monster trying to
tear you to pieces. It was a total fluke that that guy didn't
kill me. If he'd torn out my throat or bit into my heart or hit a
major artery and all of my blood had drained out I'd just be dead and
that's that. He caught me just at the end of his change so he
snapped out of it in time to run away before he finished me off.
I think that's why in all these years I've never met another
werewolf that i know of. It would be really unusual for someone
to survive the attack or we could be biting people left and right and
building up a community of our own."I don't think you'd want to
be like me anyhow and I sure wouldn't want it for you. You have
no idea what it's like. The pain of changing is worse than
anything you could imagine but there's more than that. I'm not a
wolf and I'm not a person. I flip back and forth and I can't
really fit in to either. It's like I have no race or species and
I'm truly alone all the time. I can never really bond with
anyone. Wolves are just dumb animals and I have no interest in
them, but I tried to get close to some once and even they're scared of
me. They seem to know I'm not really a wolf and they snarl and
growl and threaten to attack and then run away. I'm too dangerous
for people so I have to stay away from
them too. I probably should have never agreed to come home with
you, but I was so lonely and you were so nice and I knew I had three
days to pretend I was normal, so I did it."I fell in love with you and that
was a stupid mistake. I love you, Jake, and I could be the one that
kills you. I can't live with that. Even if you were like me
I don't know how that works. We'd probably try to tear each other
apart when we both start to change at the exact same time, and you're a
lot bigger than me so I'd probably be the loser in that fight. I
tried to find that guy that changed me. When I was the wolf I
tried to track him but he was bigger and faster and I couldn't keep up
with him and eventually lost his trail completely. I'm not even
sure if he knows he changed me. I wanted to have him explain it
all to me but I had to figure it out on my own instead," he said."We'll
have to give this some more thought," I said, "What you described about
not fitting in is a lot like my life has been too, but for a different
reason obviously. I've been lonely all the time too because I
could never find anyone that I felt I wanted to be with on a permanent
basis, and everyone just bored me. It's like I was living outside
of society even though I was wandering among them, just like you.
Now I have you and I'm pretty sure you're all I would ever need
so even if I did change it wouldn't matter to me one bit, because I'd
still be with you and that's all that matters to me anymore. I
love you, Elias, and I can't
be with you for only three days each month. As long as I'm
breathing you will never need to feel alone again, and as long as I have
you I would never feel alone again either. We just need
to figure out some way to keep me breathing even if we keep you here."At the very least,
we'll have to figure out ways to spend time with each other during the
daylight. As long as we keep ourselves in places and situations
where we never could fall asleep we'll be in complete control.
There must be some way I can protect myself from you if you did
start to change and attack. Maybe some bear spray or a taser or a
heavy duty tranquilizer might work. I could carry those just in
case. We'll go ahead and get you that phone too so we can even
stay in touch at night when you're you, before or after you're the
wolf. You can always come right back here after you change back
too. You'd be safe to come back and sleep here as long as you
left before the next evening. We can work this out somehow."It suddenly struck me how bizarre this conversation was. Here's
a phone for you honey, don't forget to give me a call before you turn
into a wolf, and be sure and come straight back home after you change
into a boy again, you hear me? And don't you dare start morphing
in front of me and trying to tear me apart and eat me mister, or I'll have to tase and tranq you!I'd woken up this morning with the surprise of finding the love of
my life back in my bed with me, and now I'm trying to figure out how I
can be around him without him ripping my entrails out. Something
tells me the days of boredom are behind me. Maybe Elias really
was what I needed in my life. Not just because I love him but
because he'll make sure life is never boring again. I felt so
relieved that I finally knew why he'd disappeared that it didn't even
really bother me that it was because he was a mythical creature.
So long as it was not because he didn't want to be with me I was
perfectly fine with it. How weird is that? My boyfriend is
a werewolf and I'm just OK with that so long as he loves me back.I shook my head and chuckled."This
is so bizarre, Elias. I feel so fucking happy to know why it is
you left me and that it wasn't because you didn't love me.
Somehow the fact that you're a bloodthirsty werewolf is just a
minor obstacle to overcome so long as I get to be with you from now
on. It seems like I should be upset or sad about all this but
somehow I only feel happy and thrilled and excited. I think you
are exactly what I've needed to shake my life up and make it
meaningful. I'm so glad I found you."He grinned a wide
grin and tears slipped down his cheeks as he got up from his chair and
came and straddled mine and settled into my lap and hugged me tight."I
love you so much! I can't believe my luck," he said, "I've been so lonely
for years. I thought I'd never have anyone to be with and now I finally have someone and he's the best
person I could have possibly found. Thank you for understanding
all of this and not freaking out, Jake."I hugged him tighter into me."There's
nothing for me to understand. You're you and I love you, Elias.
I doubt you could go through what you have for the last few
years without it defining who you are. I love who you are and
that means I have to love the other side too because it's part of what
made you the person who's in my lap and who I'm holding onto right
now," I said.The tears started for real now and he held on tightly and cried softly into my neck for a while
and I just held him quietly and rubbed his back. I was the first
person he'd ever shared his secret with. I was the first one he'd
unloaded his burden on and I hadn't run away from him. It had to
be a pretty emotional thing to finally share that with someone and be
accepted and loved. He had every right to cry, a lot.It
took a little while but he finally started to settle again and he
pulled back and smiled at me. I kissed him and smiled right back.
He looked really tired and spent, but happy."Did you get any sleep last night or just this morning after you got here?" I asked.He
shook his head and said, "I was so worked up thinking about coming back
to you I got no sleep at all last night. I changed to a wolf for
a half hour and only got a few hours sleep this morning after I slid
into bed with you.""Let's go back up then, OK? I'll help you get to sleep and then you can get caught up on your rest," I suggested.He smiled and nodded and got up off me to head up to the bedroom.I
cleared away the dishes quickly and put everything in the dishwasher
and started it up. I went to the bathroom and then went upstairs
to the bedroom.I found Elias sprawled out naked on the bed waiting for me with a huge smile on his face."I've been looking forward to this for a month so I might not be too gentle with you," he said, smiling.He
had a raging hard-on already. He looked a little flushed and I
could see his pulse in the big vein in his neck his heart was beating
so hard. It made my own blood start to boil and I stripped down
as quickly as I could and climbed onto the bed with him. He
growled and pushed me over onto my back and climbed onto me and jammed
his tongue into my mouth. He settled down onto me and started
grinding his hard cock against me while he sucked at my tongue.
He pulled his tongue out and started licking at my face and then
he closed his teeth gently on my lower lip and pulled at it and then
gently bit my chin and scraped his teeth along it. It was like he
still had a bit of the wolf left in him from having changed back such a
short time ago.He moved down and sucked hard at my neck to feel
the warmth of my blood on his tongue and then he moved further down and
started nibbling at my nipples. He tugged at them and sucked at
them and it sent jolts of electricity straight to my groin as I moaned
in pleasure. He was in some sort of frenzy and he just kept going
from one place to the other with his mouth. He sucked and nipped
at both nipples some more then moved to my pits and licked at them and
pulled at the hair with his lips and even bit at them, lightly rubbing
his teeth against them. He moved all the way down and buried his
nose in my pubic hair and then snuffled down along the side of my big
balls and I swear I heard him snort or growl. He licked at my
balls and sucked each one in and worked it with his tongue. He
even turned his head and gently bit at the insides of my thighs a few
times like he wanted to eat me up. He moved up again, nipping and
kissing at my cock shaft as he worked his way up to my big cock
head and he put his mouth over it and sucked it right in. He was
able to take most of my cock in and he sucked at it greedily.One
of his hands came up under my balls and I could feel his finger probing
at my anus. I spread my legs a little and tried to maneuver so he
could get at it better and to let him know I wanted more action there.
He brought his head up and looked at me with a fierce grin on his
face."I want to fuck you Jake. Get on your hands and knees and let me be your wolf and take you from behind," he growled."Fuck yeah," I said and rolled over to get in position.No
sooner was I on my hands and knees then he was plunging his face in and
started biting at my ass cheeks. He licked all over my ass and
gently bit here and there and then his tongue pressed right onto my
asshole and started to lick at it furiously. He worked his tongue
all over, licking my ass crack and then probing hard at my pucker and I
relaxed to let him in. He moaned as he pushed his tongue in as
far as it would go and wiggled it around to get a good taste of me.
His hand came up and started working my balls and I moaned at the
sensation. He pulled his tongue out and moved his nose down to
snuffle at the base of my balls and he started licking at them from
behind while he started to finger my asshole hard to start loosening me
up more. I'm pretty experienced getting fucked in the ass so I
was ready to go already and I think he sensed it.He spat at my
hole a few times and pushed a bit in. He then spat on his fingers
and rubbed a bit on his cock head. He worked his knees and lined
himself up behind me and pressed his cock against me and pushed firmly.
His cock popped right in and it felt great. He smoothly ran
the full length of it in and the sensation was amazing as his thick
young cock rubbed against my anus and his cock head bumped against my
prostate and ran just past it.He leaned onto me and grabbed me
around my middle and held on tight as he started to buck hard against
me like a dog. He increased the rhythm and the length of the
stroke and he really started to lay into me. I can't remember
ever getting fucked with so much energy and it was incredible. My
balls were swinging hard from the force of being slammed forward
repeatedly and my cock was bouncing and leaking precum like mad.
I could feel Elias's hot breath on my back and it almost sounded
like he was panting as he fucked me with all his might. I started
to feel a tingling at the base of my balls and knew my orgasm was about
to hit me hard.I reached up with my right hand and started
working my cock. It took no time at all and the sensation of his
thick cock rubbing at the myriad of nerve endings in my anus, and his
cock head whacking my prostate repeatedly combined with my own hand on
my cock, brought me to the edge and pushed me over. My big balls
tightened up and I grunted and moaned as his cock pushed into me
and hit my prostate again and my pelvic muscle squeezed hard and I shot
a jet of cum out onto the bed. Every time he slammed into me
another shot of cum spurted from my dick head and I was moaning in
ecstasy at the powerful rush of orgasm that was blasting through me.The
sensation of my anus clamping down hard on his cock and my own moaning
must have pushed Elias over the brink too, and he suddenly shouted
"Awwww, fuck!" and slammed into me once hard. I felt his cock
head expand in me and he shot a massive spurt of his hot seed into my
ass. He held it briefly than bucked hard again and shot another
jet and then he started the rhythm up again but a bit slower now as he
repeatedly shot his spunk into me until his balls were empty. He
slowed to a stop and then pushed firmly into me and just stayed that
way for a while breathing heavily and holding me tight as his cock
leaked out the last of its load into me.He kissed the middle of my upper back and nuzzled me a bit."I
love you so much, Jake. I've never wanted anyone so bad before.
I wish we could just fuck like this all day every day," he
whispered.My heart swelled thinking about how much he wanted
me. None of the other guys I'd ever been with mattered enough to
me to even think about how much they might want me. It didn't
matter. With Elias I wanted him so bad it meant everything to me
to know he wanted me too, and I was over the moon. I've never felt
this happy in my life. As if by magic, the one and only person I
might ever be able to truly love somehow found his way into my life, and
had his spent cock buried deep inside me while he told me how much he
loved and wanted me. Life could not get better than this.He finally pulled out of me and moved off the bed and pulled up the covers and slid underneath and smiled at me.I
did the same and joined him under the covers and we held each other
quietly. I was on my back and he snuggled up against me on his
side and put his leg and arm over me and his head on my chest.He
drifted off to sleep almost immediately and I just lay there, stroking
his back and thinking about how much I loved him and wanted him with me
for the rest of my life.I started to think about what we should
try to get done before the new moon phase ended. We needed to get
him a phone first thing. I remembered that the article I'd read
about the predator on the loose had mentioned that bear spray was legal
to carry in our state. Even tasers are legal to carry though they
are not legal to use against a human unless you can prove self defense.
Legal to carry was all I cared about since the intent was never
to use them against a human. I should try to get my hands on
those first since they'd be easiest. I wasn't sure if any of that
would be effective against an enraged monster but it wouldn't hurt to
have them around just in case. On second thought, bear spray might
not be such a good idea. It's meant to cause pain and since the
monster is attacking because it's in a blind rage brought about by pain
the spray might just make things worse. I should look into how I
could get some sort of tranquilizer that I could inject. Maybe a
tranquilizer gun or something. I don't think I needed to worry
about hurting Elias at all. Any damage would be repaired by the
change itself. I just had to worry about him hurting me.I
started to give some thought to building a solid-walled lockable room
in the house. He could have a place to go if we did slip and he
suddenly felt the change coming. I could lock myself in there if
the change happened and I needed to get away from him. It
shouldn't be too hard to make something with metal walls. Maybe I
could simply contract someone to build a panic room in the house.
That would probably be the best approach. I could modify it
after to make it work best for us. I should start placing some
calls and getting estimates right away.I got another pang in my
side from whatever the stress was doing to my innards. Even
having Elias here with me didn't quite make it go away. I guess I
might be stressed out for a while until we could figure out a system
that would let us stay together as much as possible and I could calm
down and feel that he was really in my life to stay.As
I lay
there listening to his deep rhythmic breathing, I marveled at how
precious he'd become to me so quickly. Now I understood what love
was all about and I felt I could definitely get used to this feeling.
He was so beautiful to me as a boy, but I couldn't wait to see him in
his other form.I
became hypnotized by his soft snoring combined with the wonderful
warmth of his body and the afterglow of our love making
session and I drifted off to sleep.