Trope Bingo: au-werewolf (choice from au-were/vamp/supernatural)

As with Fireside Café, I wasn't aware this was a thing. It was this or vampires. There was a brief temptation to make Phineas sparkle and watch Isabella while she slept, but I got better.

This feels like the first chapter of a long, drawn-out saga to me, filled with angst and the monster within.

"I think he went this way," Isabella said, her flashlight picking out the signs of passage through the forest. Ferb nodded and followed the teenage girl through the patches of light cast by the full moon through the treetops.

From ahead, they heard a howling sound - not the noise of an unintelligent animal, but the despairing howl of someone who feels they've lost themselves. Isabella said, "Sounds like we're getting close," and nervously loosened her sword in its scabbard. Ferb smiled and rested his hand on the pommel of the sword at his own side. Not far now. I hope we don't need these.

They came to the edge of a clearing, and saw the wolf-creature in the middle of it. It was covered in reddish fur that shone in the moonlight, and the tattered remains of a pair of blue jeans attempted to cover its lower half as it stalked around the clearing. It paused again to howl at the moon, showing its long canine snout and vicious teeth. Isabella stepped forward, Ferb following closely behind.

"Phineas," she said.

The creature turned toward them, and Ferb could see the despair in its eyes - still his brother's eyes, even if the rest of him had changed. "You shouldn't have come. Neither of you should have come. I might hurt you. I don't have the control I need."

Isabella walked up to Phineas. "I know you won't hurt me. I trust you."

"I'm not the Phineas you knew, Isabella. The attack from that creature changed me."

"The Phineas I know is still in there," she said, touching his arm. He flinched, but did not pull away. "The Phineas that I love."

This time, he did pull his arm away. "How can you love this...monster?" He showed her his claws, sharp and vicious.

"Because it's you. Come back with us. Ferb says he has a lead on a cure."

Phineas turned away. "Then work on it some more. But for now...just go. I don't want you getting hurt."

From across the clearing, a guttural voice said, "Yes, little girl. Run away. He's one of us now."

Four more wolf-like creatures stood at the edge of the clearing: two covered in black fur, one in dark brown, and the leader, in silver, who spoke again. "Unless you wish to have him bite you. We could use another female in the pack. And you," he said, looking at Ferb, "would certainly be an...interesting addition. I wonder if the green fur would carry over."

Ferb stepped forward, between Phineas and the intruders. "He's not yours. He's ours."

"And how do you intend to stop me, boy? I chose him. I changed him. And now I claim him."

Ferb drew out his sword, its silvered edge glistening in the moonlight. Isabella stepped beside him, her own silvery sword crossing Ferb's.

The leader stepped back, his eyes on the silver that was one of the few things he feared. "Clever. But not enough. You may keep him for now - for another moon or two, even - but eventually, the call of the pack will beckon him. And then he will be mine."

Phineas, listening, came forward and rested his claws on the shoulders of his girlfriend and brother. "I have heard the call of the pack. My pack. And I no longer see a need to deal with yours. We will go now."

The silver wolf's eyes narrowed. "The prophecies have said that you will be mine, redfur. Perhaps not today. But rest assured, you will be mine. And perhaps your mate and the greenfur will join us too."

I have no idea where I'd want to go with this, to be honest.