Chapter Six- Adjusting

Matt staggered across the floor on his four legs toward Angela who had placed herself several feet away. "Keep going, you're doing fine," she encouraged. She stood patiently as Matt learned to walk on all fours. It took her no time to learn as gargoyles did move on all fours from time to time. Her hind quarters were similar to her normal legs which held her in adapting.

Matt moved his legs forward, getting steadier as he practiced on them. Both were also exploring their senses with hearing being the first. The distance between them was a perfect test for it. Angela spoke normally or softly but Matt heard both volumes just fine.

"Matt, what abilities would we have outside of wolf form?" she asked at normal volume.

"Well, I found I heal quicker, I'm stronger, faster, and have more endurance."

"How quicker is the healing?"

"I have no sign of the bite wound and when I nicked myself shaving, the cut healed within, at most, a minute."

"That is a lot faster than a gargoyle. Clearly, this all happened during the day as my bite mark was still there when I went to sleep."

"Yes. Angela, I tested my speed down in the garden. I ran dozens of laps and everything around me was a blur and when I stopped, I was only a little winded."

"Incredible." Angela's tail began to swish in excitement. "I can't wait to try that myself."

"Mmm." Matt focused on his steps and found they were smooth and sure now. I've got walking down. I'll need to work on walking faster, trotting, and running. He moved his legs faster and when he reached Angela, he rubbed her cheek with his own and his tail flicked. "I've got walking down."

"Good." Her nose sniffed and then flared. "I'm picking up a lot of scents."

Matt inhaled deeply. "Me too. I can smell meat cooking." He sniffed again and felt his stomach gurgle. He headed inside as did Angela and both tracked the smell to the kitchen where they found Broadway at the stove and the smell of meat was overwhelming to their noses.

The large gargoyle looked back and down at them with a grin. "Hi. I thought you might be hungry."

"Changing forms does burn energy and calories," Matt agreed.

Broadway nodded as he served up and placed down a pair of steaks. Matt felt his mouth water as he laid down and blew on the meat before biting off a piece, his teeth cutting it easily. Perfect, he thought. Not too well-done and quite juicy. He licked his chops as he ate his steak and saw Angela doing the same.

Broadway looked both over as he cleaned up. They were a little bigger than normal wolves and their fur matched the hair color they had. He thought they looked impressive but it wasn't fair that Matt had been targeted or that Angela got caught in the attack. Well, there's nothing we can do. The ones responsible won't reverse it and they likely didn't create a cure. They'll be this way forever.

Matt lapped some water from a bowl Broadway had provided and swiped a paw over his muzzle's edges. "Thanks, Broadway. It's not easy getting anything without hands."

"You're welcome." Broadway picked up the bowls, refilled them, and put them in a corner so Matt and Angela could drink if they got thirsty later on. He turned around to see Angela scratching at an ear with a back foot, a contented sigh sounding as she scratched. "Angela?" he asked, slight confused at the strange sight before him.

Angela put her foot down and looked up at him. "I had an itch," she said defensively. "I know it probably looked strange but four-legged animals scratch like that. I'm a wolf right now and I can't help how I'll act like one every now and then."

"Well, yeah, but you're not a real wolf."

Angela bristled. "I'm aware of that. I'm a wifewolf. I have the body and senses of a wolf and will have super abilities in both of my forms. I do find the lack of wings a drawback but it's only for three nights." She sighed. "I know it'll take time to adjust to me being like this and I'll try to be patient."

Broadway crouched down and rubbed her chin. "Yeah, it'll take time and I apologize for my reaction." He smiled as Angela whined before saying, "Oh…that feels nice."

"I imagine it does. Angela, would you like to keep me company during my reading lesson?"

"I would. Want to come, Matt?"

"No. I think I'll take a nap. I've been up since noon." He watched his mate and Broadway leave before going through the halls, yawning a little and thinking of his bed. His ears pricked up when he heard Hudson chuckling from the TV room. He stuck his head in and saw a comedy show playing. He walked in and his presence caught Bronx's attention. The blue doggoyle turned his head to Matt and his movement caught Hudson's attention. He looked over and smiled. "Laddie. Come. Make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks." Matt curled up on the other side of Hudson's chair, laid his head down, and closed his eyes.

Hudson gazed down at the werewolf, admitting that he looked comfortable in his current form. He reached down and ran a hand over the head which jerked up suddenly. "Easy, laddie. It was just me."

"That's okay," Matt yawned. "It's just that I've been awake since noon. I guess my endurance is waning."

"Aye. Your longer endurance. Brooklyn led us to the book and Goliath read it out loud. I'll tell ye, that book makes being a werewolf a good thing."

"As long as the Illuminati doesn't use me to attack someone. I wouldn't do it in any case."

"They could threaten you to get you to obey them."

Matt's ears folded back. Hudson had a point. If the Illuminati wanted to use him to attack an enemy, they could threaten him with silver or threaten Angela's life.

Hudson stroked Matt's head again. "Don't worry about it right now. Get some rest."

"Yeah," Matt mumbled sleepily as he laid his head down and let Hudson's stroking lull him off to sleep where he had odd dreams of living free in a forest with his mate, Angela.

Angela sat beside Broadway's chair as he read passages from Shakespeare's King Lear. She enjoyed listening to Broadway read as she thought he had a good reading voice. He would sometimes falter before asking her for help. It felt like it had before, the two of them spending time together with him reading and her helping him occasionally when encountering a hard word.

Broadway glanced down at her as he read and saw her spread a front paw to reveal sharp claws. "Angela, are you really fine with this?" he asked, deciding to pause in his lesson.

"Eventually, I will," she answered. "It's still new to me but I'll get used to it. We all will."

Broadway nodded as he leaned down and stroked her head. He knew from the book that at dawn, Matt and Angela would change again, the latter would then turn to stone and sleep for the day.