Chapter Seventeen

Daniel lifted his face up to the full moon and let his wolf wash up through and over him. It wasn't a seamless transition, not even for an Alpha such as him. Being a werewolf was initially called a curse for a reason, but with his pack and full moon present, his shift came relatively easy and painlessly and he accepted it for the blessing it had become.

There of course was the pain as his bones broke and reshaped, but by now it was one he was familiar with and barely gave it a thought. A lot of movies like to portray the lengthening of the jaw and snout as the transformation works its way down, but in reality, the change starts in the spine between the shoulders. The kinder way to describe it, without detail, would be to say it began at his shoulders and rippled out, like a rock tossed into a still pond.

But it wasn't that simple or serene.

The bones of Daniel's vertebrae from the last rib up, his thoracic spikes, began to lengthen, pushing out from the skin. As the skin peeled back from the spine pushing through, fur peeked and pushed through the tears. Daniel felt his neck lengthen slightly and his shoulder blades shifted around, hunching him into a forward position. It made it momentarily difficult to breathe as it compressed his lungs, but within the next two breaths, he felt them expand to their new shape. At this point, he felt his face realign around his eyes and his jaw unhinged as it grew longer and his teeth came in while his human teeth retracted back into the bone.

The next sensations are what become overwhelming for new shifters, as the transition is now spreading outward equally to both ends of the body. His humerus shrank and he could feel the bone as it bent and curved into position at the same time his hips split and reshaped themselves. Then his ulna separated from the elbow as it lengthened. His femur shortened with only a slight curve. When his tailbone grew, it felt like someone had taken hold of a cord that was attached to his spine and pulled backwards, drawing it out. He briefly thought that it always felt like his body expanded like a balloon, before it settled back into place.

But the worst of it, the breaking and reshaping of the bones, was over. His muscles felt like a thousand tiny worms coiling and rolling, as they shifted and grew. His fingers splayed as his palms turned to paws, growing over them and turning into retractable claws in their place as the same happened to his feet while his toes curled. He felt the dirt and grass of the ground until the hardened pad and fur settled into place.

His fur was only a millisecond behind, like a secondary wake in the ripple. As his skin peeled away, it looked like he was being turned inside out exposing the fur underneath like a reversible coat, but that is essentially what he was, two skins in one body.

He stood on all fours with his head down as he took a second to adjust and remind his body it was over, then he shook, clearing the last vestiges of the crawling bug sensations away and took a deepened breath. The pain was worth the power of the metamorphosis into his new form. The wolf's presence is so large that it constantly feels tight, under pressure, when it's shoved into his human skin. Letting his wolf free always felt like the best stretch, as if finally able to get all of the wrinkles out.

Daniel enjoyed that stretch, bringing his top half down and then up and leaning forward as he extended his rear legs, then he turned and faced his pack. The stronger and older wolves began their change right after he did, but it would take them a little while longer to complete. The younger and lesser wolves would appreciate his help in speeding up the process, so his wolf pushed his aura over the crowd, urging their bodies to accept the pain and called their wolves forward.

Not every run or every full moon was carried out with the ceremonial-like traditions of tonight, but tonight was a Blood Moon and with his recent extended absence, nights like this brought cohesion and strengthened their bonds as they all came together.

Daniel thought back to Henry's first shift with them, it was a night much like tonight, though not a Blood Moon, thankfully. Since the boy's first time had been in a darkened basement, alone, he suffered so much during it. Daniel kept Henry close to him that night and as the rest of the pack finished, they began to shift nervously as Henry was still in mostly human form. It was a pitiful thing to witness. His fear of the pain he remembered kept him fighting to keep his human form, making it worse, and his little body was curled into a fetal position in the dirt, crying out and writhing in agony.

The wolves watching began to whimper in sympathy and a few stepped forward, not knowing what else to do. Daniel showed his teeth to them in a warning to stay back. The pup was his. He pushed everything he had towards Henry and it caused him to cry out louder as the wolf rose to answer his Alpha. Daniel couldn't speak words of soothing or encouragement in wolf form so put his nose next to the boy's face, breathing out calmness and acceptance.

One of the female wolves, Anna, turned and ran as fast as she could, back towards the packhouse. Before Daniel could ask what she was doing, he sensed her leading Donna back to the clearing. Humans weren't allowed near them during the official shifts of the full moon. The wolves could come out of the change in a bad mood and lash at anyone or anything near them. Wolves could take more damage and heal faster if they fought, and the humans were too vulnerable. With Daniel's presence, the squabbles and nips usually kept at a minimum, but there was no point in tempting fate for something that could easily be avoided all together.

Donna puffed as she came closer, her head down and turned to the side to show her submission. The female wolf next to her crawled forward on her belly and Daniel nodded and took a step back. The female wolf licked Henry's face with a motherly instinct as Donna spoke.

"Henry, I'm here," Donna said softly. "Focus on feeling the moon and in letting your wolf free. You have to relax and not fight it."

Henry cried louder at hearing her voice, his voice deepening and becoming guttural. It was eerie and unnatural to hear it coming from a child. His mouth sounded full of rocks as his sounds came out around his new teeth coming in. "Make it stop! Please, Grandma, make it stop. It hurts..."