I had always dreamed of being able to leave and be free, having felt trapped and chained down my entire life, and one night my wish came true.

There was an insistent knocking on my bedroom window, waking me from my sleep. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my forest green eyes as I peaked through the curtain over my window. "Who is it?", I asked groggily, "What do you want?" The shadowy figure snapped its clawed index finger and thumb together creating a small red flame, allowing me to see who was at my window. The red flame illuminated a scaly red, muscular male figure with slit gold eyes, causing me to stare in wide-eyed shock. "I've come here to grant your wish", quietly answered the unknown, clearly non-human, male, "As you can see, I am not human. I am a dragon. There are more of my kind and others, hidden in society. I am one of the few wish granters we have and I have long heard your calling since you were a small child. I had to wait until you were of age to grant your wish for I know what it is and could not allow a small child out in the world. Now, though, you can and must speak your wish for me to grant it."

I stared in disbelief for several long moments before letting out a short, shaky breath and thought about my wish. I grew up as an only child, alone for the most part, so I spent a lot of my time wishing I could be free to roam the world without needing constant permission. My parents didn't let me do much, afraid something would happen to their only child. I always felt chained down, unable to find myself and be an individual. Even now, at the age of eighteen, my family still oppressed me. I had always wondered what it would be like to be a wolf demon and be able to travel the world if I so pleased. I hummed to myself as I smiled and nodded my head at the humanoid dragon, having decided on my wish. Speaking in a respectful and calm tone, I voiced my wish, "Great Dragon, I wish to become a wolf demon so that I can find peace and freedom from my oppression."

With a smile and a nod of his head, the dragon answered wisely, "I shall grant your wish to become a wolf demon and I shall equip you with what you'll need to survive out in the world. You will become a member of our hidden society. You may pick what your demon form and your animal form will look like. Your demon form will be the form you hold among other members of our society. You will still have a human form that you will be able to use through one of three ways. You can use a talisman that you'll have to keep on you at all times, a chip which would be inserted somewhere in your body, or a spell that you will have to cast each time you want to appear human while in human society," taking a moment to breathe and to allow the information he just poured out to settle with me, he calmly asked, "Do you understand thus far, Ali?"

"Yes, I understand, Great Dragon," I nodded my head as I continued to speak, "I would prefer a talisman, but what are the different things I can use as a talisman?" "Hmm... That is a very good question," the dragon mused thoughtfully for a few moments before answering my question, "Well, you can use anything really, a watch, a bracelet, or a hair tie. Anything that you keep on your person always and almost never take off." "Thank you," I bowed my head briefly to emphasize my thanks before continuing curiously, "What about a tattoo? It is something that never comes off." He nodded in agreement while answering, "Yes, a tattoo could work as a talisman. Very clever, Ali, very clever indeed. Not many would think of that."

I smiled happily, "Then I shall ask my next question, could it be a marking on my demon form that moves to another place in my human form that appears as a tattoo? Say I have a marking on my forehead in my demon form but in my human form it looks like a tattoo on my shoulder?" The dragon thought about my questions for several minutes, figuring out the proper spell that would allow the slight complexity. Scratching his chin, he nodded his head yet again, "Once again, very clever and thought-invoking questions. You are very smart, young one. Yes, I believe we can make that work as part of the talisman since it's a concealment spell that is bound to the talisman."

"Nifty," I mused as I adjusted how I sat on my bed, "So what else is there for me to know? When I shift to my animal form, what happens to my clothes or anything I'm carrying with me? How do I tell if I've met another of our kind in disguise among humans? Do we ─" The dragon silenced my abundance of questions with a wave of his hand while chuckling and smiling at me, "Dear girl, there is plenty more for you to learn but not enough time tonight. All shall be answered soon, though. For now, take my hands and I shall grant your wish, just close your eyes and picture in your mind what you want to look like, and when I tell you too, open your eyes and you shall be as you wished."

I blushed in mild embarrassment for getting carried away with my questions and curiosity but did as he told me. I reached out of my window and took the dragon's hands, closing my eyes and imagining what I wanted to look like as a demon and as a wolf. Holding my hands firmly in his own, the dragon closed his eyes as well and muttered quietly in an ancient language, letting his power flow through me as he transformed me, seeing everything I pictured as he did. My skin tingled and felt warm as the dragon's power coursed through me, a quiet gasp escaping my lips as I felt my body change and a new power course through me as he continued to chant in an ancient language.

A/N: The characters in this story are my OC's. As explained in the summary, this story, though inspired by InuYasha, takes place in North America. Exploring what it's like for demons there to live. The story follows my main OC, Ali.