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Run. That was all I could think of. The cool breeze tickled my beard as I ran through the forest. The moon’s silver rays breaking through the canopy every now and again. Providing barely enough light to see the pines and aspens and the other assorted plant life that could possibly trip me. The heavy breathing of the beast chasing me was loud in my ears. I knew I was done for. The beast was too close. It’s scent like a wet, musky dog was burning my nose hairs it was so close.

I found a clearing and ran to the far side before removing a hunting knife from the sheath on my belt. It would wound it, but unless I got extremely lucky, not kill it. I stopped abruptly and ducked under the lunge that I had a feeling was coming. As the beast sailed over me I saw that it was indeed a wolf of some sort. The schlomp sound its jaws made as they snapped close on empty air made a shiver run down my spine. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The average gray wolf was around thirty inches at the shoulder, this beast had to be well past fifty, sixty inches. It was huge. I stared for a second, then as it turned toward me and snarled I regripped the knife so that its blade was pointing away from my body and along my forearm.

The beast snarled its yellowed fangs glinting in the silver moonlight. The beast wasn’t wary of me, in fact its facial expression let me know that it wanted me for dinner. Ugh. Not good. “Well? Come at me, you filthy dog!”

The beast growled menacingly and jumped at me. This time I had no time to duck or dodge and the beast bowled me over on my back. I held its snapping jaws back with the flat of my knife, but I knew I couldn’t keep it up for long. My arm was already feeling tired from mere seconds of holding the beast back. I attempted to turn my knife blade, so I could slash across its throat and end this fight. As I turned the blade, though, the beast lunged and I felt its teeth scrape across the front of my skull. I screamed. And slashed without thinking. The beast’s growls faded into gurgles as it chocked on its own blood and died. The beasts body collapsed on top of me. I was drenched in a mixture of my own and the beasts blood.

As the adrenaline fled my system so too did my ability to stay among the waking world. I faded into oblivion as my world went black.

***

When next I awoke, the world around me appeared sharper as if someone had switched the feed from 480p to 1080p on my eyes. It was crazy how sharp the image was. That wasn’t all that had changed, though. My nose was alight with so many scents that I could practically taste them. I could smell the dried blood and the rotting corpse of the person on top of me. Person?

I abruptly sat up. I looked down at the corpse on top of me. Instead of the giant wolf I’d ran from last night a skinny young lad lay upon my lap. The slit across his throat, though? That was glaringly still there. A werewolf? It couldn’t be. And then I remembered the beast’s fangs scraping the bones in my face the night before and brought my hands up to feel for my wound. The wound was there alright. But it had closed. Shit.

Weres had been known about for quite some time. The more “politically correct” of us called them shifters. And about a dozen years ago they’d come out of hiding, due to their antagonists, the hunters, gaining more and more power. Though it pained me to admit. I knew that I’d been turned. Against my will. Last night.

It was weird though, I was told that Weres were completely cognizant of their actions in their animal forms. The wolf last night, not so much. He seemed completely feral. I felt my pocket for my phone. Thank heavens. It was still there. I unlocked it and thumbed the number for the local Paranormal Affairs office. “Paranormal Affairs, we’re there when things go bump in the night. How may I help you today?”

“Hi. Uhm…I was attacked by a werewolf last night. It bit me. I think I’ve become one. What do I do?”

“First things first stay calm. Can you describe the beast form of the shifter who attacked you?”

“Sort of. It was dark, but it was definitely a canid. About fifty to sixty inches at the shoulder. Dark fur. Most likely black. Golden eyes. It was acting feral. Almost rabid. Does that happen?”

“Are you a biologist, sir? I don’t know many--outside of biologists--who’d use the term ‘canid’.”

“Yes. I am. You didn’t answer my question.”

“Ah right. The phenomenon you described is actually common among newly turned wolves on their first change if they don’t have a competent alpha to rein them in. The next step I’m going to ask for you to do, is call on your wolf and howl. Any alpha in the area should respond immediately.”

I didn’t know what she meant. I looked inside myself and called out. “Hello?”

A low growl answered me. And in my mind’s eye a beautiful white wolf walked into the light from the shadows. “The fuck do you want?” The beautiful creature asked.

“We need to howl?”

“Then howl.” The irate creature seemed to chuckle at my idiocy.

I tried to howl. But it sounded more like a dying cat.

“No like this” the beast threw back its head in my mind’s eye and I threw back my head in the physical realm. I let out the most haunting, blood-curdling sound I’d heard in my entire life. It was a wolf’s howl alright. I waited for a couple of seconds before I heard an answering howl which seemed to implore me to stay where I was. So, I did.

“They’re coming?” I asked the wolf in my mind.

“They’re coming,” it replied.

***

I stayed with the body in the clearing for about an hour. It was about noon when the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen bounced into the clearing. It was a wolf just as large as the one who’d attacked me, but its coat was as white as snow. Its eyes were an icy blue and the fur on its ears was frosted with a light gray. Its nose was kissed with pink but was mostly black.

I watched as the creature seemed to curl in on itself. And the most uproariously loud series of cracks and snaps rang through the clearing as the wolf in front of me seemed to shrink before my eyes. In its place after a good thirty seconds was a very nude, very beautiful man with platinum blond hair which was worn long. It reached the middle of his back. When he got up I noticed that his eyes held the same blue as the wolf who’d arrived on the scene. I scented the air. And the wolf in my mind’s eye stood up and looked extremely attentive. His focus on the shifter in front of me. “Mate!” It said.

“Mate?”

It nodded. “Mate.”

The first words out of the man’s mouth caught me off guard. “Shift.”

“Uh…”

Power entered his voice and he reiterated, “Shift.”

And shift I did. The series of cracks and snaps rang out throughout the clearing again and this time it was from me. The pain was unimaginable. Imagine having every single bone in your body broken, instantly healed, and then broken again. That’s basically what I was going through. The man came up to me and started rubbing my back, “It hurts…” I puffed out between clenched teeth.

“Easy…I’m here. I’ll guide you through this. You’re going through your first shift. I forced it on you, because we can’t wait for full moon. That’s why he,” the man pointed at the body laying prone on the ground, “attacked you. He hadn’t yet shifted.”

By the time that he’d finished talking I’d finished my first transformation. I was a wolf. Or rather I was my wolf. The scents that I was picking up were even more pronounced than in my human form. The colors more muted and sounds more pronounced as well. I looked at the man and then lowered my gaze. I dropped to the ground and rolled onto my back. Exposing my belly. I whined.

“Whew!” the man sighed, “that was easier than I thought. Your wolf already knows who’s boss. Good. My name’s Rickard. Most call me Rick. You’ll refer to me as Alpha Michaels until I tell you otherwise. Understand?”

I gave a little bark. He chuckled.

“Now, I can smell that you are my mate. And based on the pink I see peeking out of your sheath I’d say your wolf knows too. I’ll explain that too. Right now, I need you to shift back and come with me.”