I wake to the late afternoon sun pouring through my windows. "Thanks, Mina," I whisper. I can hear Ahna and Mina laughing in the living room, even with one ear squished into the pillow. They're watching…it's a Disney channel show… an old one… That's so Raven. I smile. I always liked that show. I stretch and my hand brushes something furry. Thinking it's the kittens, I reach above me with tickling fingers and giggle. I grab at the furry pile and realize it's not kitten shaped. I roll over on my back and feel something digging into my backside. Now I'm worried. I bolt out of bed and dash to the mirror where I find two triangular shaped ears on my head. My eyes grow wide as I realize they are wolf ears. I have giant wolf ears on top of my head! I reach up to touch one. It tickles! There's a loud bump from the living room and both ears rotate toward the sound. I stifle a giggle! I have wolf ears! How did this happen?! I check to see if my human ears are still intact. They are, but I don't seem to be hearing anything out of them. I'm only sensing from the wolf ears. I gasp staring at them in the mirror. They are quite large, with an equilateral triangular shape. The backs have dark reddish fur and the inside has blonde, longer fur, but it all blends perfectly into my real hair, which is so thick and full it almost overwhelms me. "There's no way I'm getting a brush through that!" I think as my gaze follows it down to about mid-thigh. A sudden movement at the bottom gives me pause and I tilt to one side, gathering my hair. I reach around to my bum and feel something else furry. I turn sideways and there, a thick, lush wolf's tail has sprung from where my tailbone is! Right in the spot that has been itching me for days! I sink to the floor with a cry. "Noooooo!" I curl into a ball to cry but no tears come. Ahna said wolves don't cry.

I hear Mina and Ahna stirring in the living room. I hope they didn't hear me. I hug myself tighter, my tail tucks itself between my legs as I try to become as small as possible. I hear the two women stomping towards my room. Well they probably aren't stomping, but that's what it sounds like to me. "Alyx?" Mina gives a faint knock. "Are you alright? I heard something." The door creaks open. I hear the tiniest of inhales from them both.

"Alyx." Ahna coos moving toward me. "Alyx, it's going to be alright. I know it seems bad right now." She gently touches my shoulder. I recoil away. "Alyx. Sweetie. It's okay." She runs her fingers up my back to slowly rub the tips of my new ears. It somehow lets me relax. I uncurl myself and move to a crouching position. My tail unfurls. I hear another small gasp from Mina.

I look at Ahna. "Why does that feel so good?" I lean into her without even realizing it.

Knocking her over, she laughs. "It's a trick I learned early on." She looks up at me. "Worked didn't it?"

I sit on my haunches tail wagging. "Looks like it!" I turn toward Mina and stand up completely. "Hey, Mina." My gold eyes search her face and I can see she is crying. I hesitate not knowing whether to rush to her or not.

Instead, she rushes to me, throwing her arms around me. "Oh, Alyx!" she sniffles. "Why do these things keep happening to you? It's cuz of your blood, isn't it? We have to find out what is in it!"

I hold on her tightly. Her smell is comforting. "You're not freaked out about my new appendages?" I ask lightly.

"It wouldn't matter what you looked like; I'd still love you. You know that." She answers. Stepping back, she closes her eyes, concentrating. "Well, I can't hear you anymore, but your aura is still as bright as when I first saw you. You're still part human at least." Mina comments somewhat relieved.

"Any other wolfy surprises we need to know about?" Ahna pipes in.

"You know I haven't looked yet. The ears and tail were all I could handle at the moment." I told them. "What else could there be?"

"Lift up your shirt." Ahna answers. I do the head tilt again and look at her strangely but do as she asks. I find I am now covered with a fine layer of reddish blonde fur! I glance down my pants to find the same. Thankfully everything perfectly matches the hair on my head, so it doesn't look too odd. Well, as far as someone who is turning into a wolf could be. "Your nails have grown too. They are longer, denser and look almost like claws." Ahna points out.

"Is there such a thing as a red wolf?" I question. "I look like such a weirdo!" I sigh. "Am I going to look like this the rest of my life, Ahna? Stuck between two worlds? Or am I going to fully change? Or?"

"I don't know! This has never happened before… that I know of." Ahna interrupts panicky. "I wish there was something…..." She stops. "There is something I can do! I don't know why I didn't think of it before now… Yes, I do, I was a wolf. I'll go speak to the elders in the tribe. They may know something."

"You're just thinking of this now?" I say a little frustrated.

"Sorry! I didn't remember them. You know I just got my memories back." She shoots back angrily.

"I know. I apologize." I reach out to pat her arm and noticed the hair that's covered my torso has now grown down my arms.

I turn to glance in the mirror, but Mina jumps in front of it. "Alyx, I don't think you want to look again."

I roll my eyes at her and reach to push her out of the way. I feel a twinge of pain in my mouth and some pressure in my nose. It makes me sneeze. The pain increases and I reach out to steady myself. It really hurts! Ahna grabs me and guides me to a chair. I put my head between my knees hoping it will stop soon. Thankfully, it does. When I raise my head to look at my friends, I can see my nose. It seems to have gotten longer. "Mina," I say. Is that my voice? It's husky and a little hard to talk now. My jaw feels… bigger? Is that the right word? It is awkward but I try again. "Mina, you better let me see."

She looks at me with worried eyes. "Are you sure?" She asks me, hesitant.

"I'm sure," I say and stand to walk over to her. She moves out of the way. I stare back at the creature in the mirror. And I'm not exaggerating. Deep-set golden eyes stare back at the wolf woman I've become. I'm completely covered in hair, even on my face. My nose has protruded, not a lot, but enough to say I have a muzzle. My canines have lengthened into sharp points as well as a few of my other teeth. No wonder it's hard to talk. My nails are hard, dark and claw-like, even those on my feet. My human ears are still there but completely covered with hair as if they are there for decoration. All the hair is red-blonde and coarse except for on my face where it's lighter and peachy soft. I look ridiculous. A wolf in sushi pajamas so I try to take them off. It's hard with claws. I look to the others. "I bet if I went to the party tonight, I'd totally win the costume contest!" I say trying to make a joke about the situation. It helps ease the tension. "I wasn't going to go to the party, but now I want to," I say to Ahna. Then to no one in particular. "Everyone else may think it's a costume, but if I have to spend the rest of my life this way, I want at least one night of freedom. One night where I can go out and still be Alyx." I catch Mina's eye in the mirror. "What do you think?"

"Normally I'd say no, but you have a point there," Mina replies coming over to unbutton me. "But you're not going alone. We'll both go. If something else happens and you fully change, their needs to be one of us to take care of you. Make sure you don't hurt anyone, or anyone hurts you. We need to make sure you are safe." I nod.

"A party would be fun, but I have a more important matter to tend to. I'm going to go talk to the elders." Ahna declares.

I clear my throat. "How will you get there? You can't drive!" The more I talk the easier it becomes.

She winks and says mysteriously. "I have my ways. It needn't concern you. I want you to have fun tonight. Do some wang chung tonight! Isn't that how it goes?"

Mina and I stare at her in shock then bust up laughing. Mine sounds like a hacking dog, but you can still tell it's a laugh. After we compose ourselves, I blurt out. "I didn't know you knew any music! Are you starting to remember it?"

Ahna nods. "Yep. Little pieces all day. Something someone said or did on TV jogged quite a bit up here." She smiles. "Now before I go. File those claws a bit, okay. They are sharper than they seem. If you start to feel woozy and light-headed, your vision gets blurry or you have unexplainable sharp pains, that's not a good sign. You should leave because things are about to get quite painful. It means your full-on shifting and I know you wouldn't want people to see that. They'd freak and you're in so much pain you can't think. You might lash out and hurt someone. The first time is always the hardest." She says remembering. "I don't think that will happen, but I wanted to give you a heads up on what to look for, just in case. I don't remember much about becoming a wolf, but I do remember that." She comes over and scratches me behind the ear. Against my will, I shudder with pleasure.

"I hope Ben doesn't discover that spot! I'll be putty in his hands." I whisper. She smirks and we follow Ahna to the spare room.

Ahna grabs some extra layers of clothing before heading toward the door. "If you haven't heard from me by Monday evening. Go to the caves and talk to Beta. Tell him I went to the elders to try to get some more information on you… your condition. He'll know what to do from there. Maybe."

"Alright." We reply in unison. We wave and follow her out, I watch her cross the parking lot and head Northeast before she disappears down the block.

From behind, Mina giggles. "Okay come on wolf girl! Gimme your phone and I'll text this Ben guy, since you can't with those claw things! You want him to pick us up?"

I think about it for a moment. It is February, but I know I'll be perfectly warm with my fur. Then again Mina won't. "Ask him the address. You can drive my car. It has room in the back in case we need the space for… if something happens."

"Oh, I never thought about that. You're right." Mina says. Ping! The sound of my phone echoes in the quiet of the hallway. "He already answered! He must really like you! I see that's becoming a habit." she smiles.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does. He kissed me once and has already tried several other times." Mina gives me a look. "You know I'm not interested. He's a nice guy. He helped me out."

She shrugs. "Alright." She glances at his reply. "The house is only three blocks away!" Mina shouts. "We are walking. I've got a great outfit that will work in cold weather!" She stops and looks at me.

I roll my eyes at her. "I think we should take my car. In case we need a quick place to stash me... I'm trying to think ahead." I remind her.

"Yeah. Alright. You do have a legitimate point." She glances at the time. "Ben says the party starts at seven. People will be registered with their costumes at the door. He's on the first shift so he'll meet us there." I nod. "We only got two and a half hours to come up with something wicked cool for us both. Let's get to it!"