Page 288 of Knot What I Expected

By four, Monster is clawing at the inside of my skin.

Five.

Go.

I disappear into the trees.

Once I’m safely beneath the cover of the forest, I strip naked and let Monster rise.

My change is swift.

Violent but painless.

I hardly feel it anymore.

It happens from one step to the next.

Skin becomes fur.

Hands and feet become enormous clawed paws.

My spine lengthens. My shoulders broaden. Bones crack and reform while my jaw pushes forward and my senses explode outward.

Then Monster takes his next step.

My Wolf isn’t something you’d see at a fucking zoo.

Hell, most Wolves would take one look at me and know something about my beast is fundamentally different.

Wrong, some might say.

Monstrous.

He’s huge. Nearly seven feet tall when fully upright, with powerful hind legs built to run on all fours when speed demands it, but Monster prefers two.

Always has.

It makes him look less like a natural Wolf and more like something dragged straight out of an old nightmare.

Long canines protrude from my lupine muzzle.

My claws sink silently into the damp forest floor.

Power bunches through every muscle.

And yet for something this fucking big?

I’m stealthy.

Monster was born to hunt.

The forest changes around me as my Wolf senses take over.

I hear Gabby’s footsteps on the trail.

The accelerated beat of her heart.

Her breathing.