An American Werewolf In London, Ch. 02 (Patreon)

Inspired by a little prompt from an artist I admire!  There is no chapter 1 - that's the movie itself.  Couldn't think of a better title so, there you go.  I tried to incorporate bits and pieces of research to make it more authentic for the time period and location but please don't expect perfection!

The faint buzzing of the dim overhead halogen lights wormed into her ears as she stood before the dark glass wall.

Her reflection haunted her, a spectral outline of her lone body with the colors all washed out.  Her gaunt eyes, ringed with grey, stared into the distance while her mind lay devoid of all thought.  A single drop of rain, from the misting drizzle outside, fell from the tip of a lock of hair and down to the shoulder of her Ultrasuede jacket, merging with the drops there before gravity pulled the blob down to race along her back.  They'd offered to take her jacket in the waiting room but she'd barely heard them.

Light filled the room in front of her.  She blinked but held herself steady.

A white sheet lay draped over a body resting against a trolley situated vertically in the center of the room.  For a brief moment between the darkness and sudden light, she saw her reflection juxtaposed over the silent form but then it was gone, leaving just the body in the cold, grey room.

A middle-aged man stepped through a door in the opposite side of the room.  He reached up to settle his combover before remembering he wore thick rubber gloves.  Instead, he brought his hand down to fidget with the matching apron tied around his midsection.

The man wasted no further time in walking to the trolley.  With a bare, regretful nod in her direction, he wheeled it closer to the window and looked at her.

She stared at it.  At the outline of it.  The curve of its head and rise of its nose before dipping down and then falling further to the valley between chin and chest.  Her hands trembled at her side, closing into fists that she tapped against her thighs.

Finally, she relaxed.  And took a deep breath while fixing her expression.  And then nodded.

The sheet was pulled back quickly, as if the abrupt display would spare her the pain of a slow reveal.

She reached for him, fingers to the glass until the warmth of them left a halo of condensation surrounding her palm.

Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, surprising her.  She'd thought she'd wrung herself dry over the past three days but the sight of him brought it all back.  Her throat began to ache when she leaned forward to rest her forehead against the glass.

"David," she whispered, closing her eyes as the tears rolled down her cheeks.  She saw his smile in the darkness behind her eyes, bright and vibrant and wide.

Until he lunged at her suddenly, cloaked in shadows.  She gasped, staggering backwards to find she once more stood alone in the small viewing room with her startled reflection staring back at her.

She settled the loose strands of her hair while double-checking the walnut colored plastic hair clip.  A sharp tug at her jacket scattered rain drops but she ignored them and turned, stalking through the room to the door and out into the hallway.

A young attendant met her outside the room with a clipboard.  The girl opened her mouth to speak before reading the woman's expression and falling silent.

An old length of twine tied a battered pen to the clipboard.  The woman took it to sign an approximation of her signature on the first line she saw.  It seemed to satisfy the attendant who nodded and slipped through a door to the side.

Alone again, she thought, turning to stride down the long hallway.  As before, she took a deep breath to prepare herself before pushing the handle with her hip to step into the waiting room.

"Miss Price- Alex," a stern voice called out immediately.  "I rang for you!"

"Dr. Hirsch," Alex replied, firming her lip when she felt it tremble.

The doctor stood before her with a frown and furrowed brow, overly dressed in too many layers for the weather.  He tugged at his scarf but his expression softened.

"You knew I wanted to attend with you," he accused gruffly.  "And I offered you a ride as well.  This is no time for you to be dealing with the stress-"

"It's fine, doctor," she assured him.  "I was already nearby finishing my last interview with the police and the walk helped keep my head clear."

"And drenched, I should say," the doctor fussed, focusing on her hair and jacket.  "Come, we'll go get a drink and warm up.  I have my car waiting."

She followed him woodenly, as she'd done most things recently, walking into the rain to wait patiently beside the passenger side of his little red MG while rain pelted the fabric roof.  He hurried to  unlock her side and hold his umbrella over her while she lowered herself into her seat.  After closing her door, he waited for traffic to let up in order to let himself into the driver's side.  The car rumbled to life and Dr. Hirsch pulled into traffic immediately.

"I wish you'd waited for me," he said quietly.

People rushed by on the sidewalk as tail lights blinked on and off to match their slow crawl through the city.

"It was over quickly and-" she swallowed.  I didn't want anyone else to see him.  "I didn't trust myself to not be emotional."

He nodded, sensing her mood while reclining back in his seat and working the clutch.  The sounds of the city surrounded them, muffled by the white noise of the grey drizzle.

"You're missed back at Saint Martin's," Dr. Hirsch said finally.  "All of the other nurses ask over you constantly.  I've had to threaten them to ensure they didn't harass you at home while you recuperate."

"Have you been able to cover my rotations?" she asked faintly.

Dr. Hirsch glanced over at her before looking forward and shifting gears to dive through a sudden gap in traffic.

"Now listen here," he told her sternly.  "We've all missed your presence for more than your ability to work.  I know you've suffered trauma that I can't imagine but dwelling on it won't help.  You're a shell of your former self."

"I'm sorry," she replied.  "I'm just so tired.  And the thought of- of acting like normally is exhausting."

"If you need to talk to someone," Dr. Hirsch said carefully.  "I do have my contacts."

"I am not committing myself to a psychiatric hospital," Alex said with sudden fierceness.  "Or letting myself be committed.  I've read On Our Own and-"

"Now I'm not talking about that," Dr. Hirsch said, interrupting her this time.  "I know others who have gone through similar experiences that may be able to help."

"Similar experiences?" she laughed bitterly.  "Similar experiences?  Did they also have a whirlwind romance with a man who- who- who-"

A cold, sorrowful cramp filled the pit of her stomach, forcing her to curl into herself in the car seat.  Her throat seized as hot, shameful tears fell.  She gasped for air until she trusted herself to speak.

"I don't even know what happened!" she wailed.  "People died!  And they said it was his fault!  That he did it!  They were- they were mauled viciously until he was gunned down in an alley right in front of me!"

Dr. Hirsch reached a tentative hand over to her to squeeze her knee before withdrawing it.

"He- he- he-" she hiccupped.  "He said he was going crazy.  That- that he was a monster and he begged to be locked up so he wouldn't kill again.  But I knew him!  He was kind and sweet and silly and- and- and-"

And potentially a monster, Dr. Hirsch thought to himself, recalling the research he'd done at the pub near the moors.

"A madman," Alex finished with a shuddering breath.  Her throat clicked when she swallowed and she gripped her wrist, massaging the tendons with her thumb while digging her nails into the skin above.

"It doesn't matter who or what he was," Dr. Hirsch told her, relying on the gruff, fatherly voice he used when delivering hard truths to patients in dire conditions.  "You're alive now and you need to care for yourself.  Let me help you.  I'll get in contact with them and you can talk and sort yourself out."

"I'll consider it," she said stiffly, straightening in her seat once more while wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Now, Miss Price," the doctor started to say.

"Please, Dr. Hirsch," she begged.  "Let me at least have time to grieve."

"Then you shall," he replied.  "But, afterwards..."

"Afterwards, I'll meet with your survivors," she finished.

---

Alex stumbled in the entryway of her flat before leaning against the cool wall.  She fumbled with the buttons of her jacket until they were all undone and she shrugged out of it to let it fall to the floor in a wet heap.  She walked into the living area while the room rolled left and right, forcing her to grab the back of her chair for support.

Dr. Hirsch had cut her off at four stiff drinks when she'd tried to order a fifth.  He'd fussed at her for becoming hysterical, drawing attention to them as she alternated between yelling and weeping.  Finally, he'd helped her to his car and back home where she'd shrugged off his arm once she'd made it inside.

David's ghost lived here.  In the bedroom.  In the shower.  In the living room.  She swore sometimes she could smell the scent of him still lingering despite how short his time was with her.  But it was impossible after all as, despite the temptation, she'd given all his belongings to the police who surely would have transferred it to the embassy by now.  Nothing of his remained in her apartment; she was simply imagining all of it.

The police had combed through her apartment, demanding to know if he'd kept a large hound with him, based off of fur they'd found in her living room.  As if she somehow wouldn't notice a great, hulking wolfhound shadowing David's step.  She'd bent their ear on that one hard enough that their chief inspector had come by to offer personal apologies.  Only she knew it was not until they'd interviewed her neighbors to ensure she wasn't lying.

She dropped her purse beside the chair and sunk to her knees before dropping to her hands and lowering herself to the carpet while closing her eyes.

"David," she sighed, nuzzling against the threads and the dark hairs still trapped within.  She sniffed reflexively, huffing while drawing in sharp breaths before stretching out her arms.

---

Jumbled confusion. Bright sounds and loud images tumbling and bumbling and she whimpered and clawed at the carpet in her sleep.

"Nuh- no," she whispered, jerking her head while her eyes swiveled back and forth behind closed eyelids.

Darkness swirled, full of teeth and eyes and fur.  Stalking her.  Chasing her.

Her leg thumped the carpet before kicking and her lips pulled back to show her teeth before closing and then drawing back once more with a second whimper of pure terror.

She could feel it behind her.  Impossible to escape.  Her hackles rose and she refused to look back.  She tripped, glancing down mid-fall to see a skull embedded in the dirt in her dreams.  The shadow tore into her.

Alex whined and kicked again.

She wasn't dead.  She was moving.  Low to the ground.  Speeding along the earth while others fled.  Rending and tearing for nothing more than the pure joy of it.  She was powerful.  Unshackled by grief or fears or stress or anything beyond the urge to hunt.  She gloried in it, thrilled in the kills while-

"Alex!"

She jerked away with a shout, alone in her dark living room.  She'd somehow maneuvered out of her sweater and her trousers were down around her knees.  Looking around groggily, she realized she'd torn her panties and was sitting on their remains, leaving her nude but for her bra and pants.

Scattered, discarded dark hairs lined her belly.

"David?" she called out while looking around her flat.  The voice was a faded memory made more distant by the pounding in her head.

Groaning, she stood, frowning at her trousers before simply pulling them off completely.  She kicked them away from her ankles while walking into her kitchen.  The headache was worse now that she was standing, even with the lights off.  Alex grabbed a glass from beside her sink to fill it from her tap.  The water was lukewarm and tasted off in a strange way she'd never noticed before but she refilled it and finished a second glass.

Her tongue touched the back of her teeth, rubbing against her short canines as she walked back into the living room.  Standing next to her torn panties, she glanced towards her living room but, briefly before sinking back onto the carpet.  Alex turned, curling into a ball and then stretching out until her arms and legs trembled from the exertion.

It felt wrong.  She turned to her other side and back again before sitting up in a huff to undo her bra and lay down again.  Laying half on her side, she stretched out, caressing her body against the carpet.  Against the dark fur hidden in the pile.  Nuzzling into it while breathing deeply until she settled back into a dreamless sleep.

---

"I'm doing well, Dr. Hirsch," Alex spoke into the receiver with the handset held class to her ear.  "I think I'd like to return to the hospital in two days on Monday."

She listened for a moment as the doctor's voice buzzed over the line.  A frown creased her brow as she began to walk in a small loop with the phone's cord tangling behind her.

"Yes, honestly," she reaffirmed.  "I'm going to clean my flat for the first time today and then go for a walk.  I really do feel better."

Once more the doctor spoke to her and she frowned more deeply.

"It's been a week since you've last seen me, doctor," Alex said more severely.  "I'm not that same hysterical woman.  I've cooked my own food, watched some programmes on the telly and I feel my energy returning for the first time.  I feel proper again and I don't believe my behavior would interfere with my duties.  In fact, I think the return to a more normal routine would help."

She nodded as she listened to the response.

"Yes, the evening shift would be fine," she told him.  "I'll see you, then.  Goodbye."

Hanging up the phone, she turned back to the living room with her wrists against her side and a determined look on her face.  She hadn't lied to the doctor; she really did feel more energetic.  Her appetite had even returned, with a vengeance.  There were still moments when a memory would resurface and she found herself in tears but they were few and easier to repress.

"Now, then," she said out loud.  "Let's begin."

She worked slowly, pushing aside negative thoughts as she put things back in order.  The police had done a thorough, if careless job in searching her flat and her own despondency had merely exacerbated the disarray.  Returning everything to their places soothed her, as if replacing things where they belonged reordered the chaos in her mind at the same time.

Her living space wasn't large enough to keep her occupied the entire day but the time passed quickly and she was surprised to see she'd missed lunch.

Alex stood in the short, narrow entryway with the wand of her Goblin vacuum braced against her hip.  She stared at the rectangular lights on the carpet, cast by shafts of sunlight streaming through her open windows.  Her mind drifted as the translucent curtains swayed and the sounds of children playing loudly outside drifted through the air.  She lifted her chin, tilting her head towards the curtain while her eyes stayed locked onto the carpet.  The scent of food wafted to her as she breathed in deeply, twice with rapid inhalations.

His smell lingered.  She swore it did.  Returning home after drinks with Dr. Hirsch, she woke up nude on the carpet and she swore she could still smell him.  That she could still feel him in a way she couldn't define.  It was his scent but more visceral.

She'd showered soon after waking, washing the black hairs from her body beneath the steaming water.  And she remembered.  The smell permeated her brain.  Flooded it.  It woke new things inside of her.  She could almost feel his arms around her once more, kissing beneath the shower.

She gathered the hairs as they flowed down, trapped in her hand and she moaned, dragging her hand down through the bush of her tawny pubic hair as she touched herself while mouthing David's name.  The remnants of his fur mixed with her hairs as she touched herself.

In her imagination in the shower, they explored each other.  Hands on her.  Mouth on hers.  Kissing while grinding against her.  Lifting her hips to encourage him as his cock pressed against her clit.  Fingers digging into her skin as he bit her lip and pulled.  Releasing it to claw her.  Kneading her ass with nails before turning her and shoving her to the wall.

Alex's lips had trembled at the thought and her soft moan vibrated on the edge of a growl while her hand sped up.

Weight against her back.  A hand sliding up the front of her body as he forced himself into her.  Up and up and up to her throat while his teeth found her shoulder.  Squeezing while biting and snarling and-

"Ahhh!" Alex had cried out.  Her intense orgasm had left her panting and sitting against the small shelf while displaced hair products clattered to the tub.

He'd always been gentle to her.  Enthusiastic but gentle.  The thought of him being rough was-

"Mmm," Alex moaned while turning her head and biting her lip.

It was new to her and strange and worrisome but her hand had slowly began to rub in small circles once more.

Shaking her head to push away the memories, she refocused and grabbed the hose for the vacuum.  But she stopped again.

"No," she whispered.

She knelt to unplug and wind the cord for the vacuum.  His scent did linger.  She was sure of it.  It comforted her and she refused to let that go.  Not yet.

Vacuuming aside, her flat looked spotless and she smiled at it, pleased at the effect it had on her mood.  When she glanced at the plastic clock on her side table, her lips twisted in thought.

Nearly 2:30 in the afternoon, she mused.  Still time for a walk and I can grab something to eat along the way.

Alex stored the vacuum in her hallway closet before making her way into her bedroom to pick out a sweater.  She pulled a few aside before settling on a navy blue top with a white floral pattern around the neck.  The grey skirt she wore was loose and comfortable but long enough to keep her warm so she twirled, grabbed her purse from a hook by the door and stepped into her shoes.

She felt light hearted and light of step as she left her flat, striding confidently through the hallway, out through the double doors and down the wide brick steps.  A young child rushed past her while shouting for his friend and others played in the street, kicking a ball back and forth while adults passed on the sidewalk.

When the flow of people slowed, she joined them, walking without specific purpose. Yet her nostrils flexed occasionally.  The scent she'd burned into her mind the morning after drinking with Dr. Hirsch led her.  It was incredibly faint but it belonged to David and she could track that almost anywhere now.  The fences he touched.  The posts he leaned against.  Where he sat.  It all presented a ragged line that she subconsciously followed.

The London Zoo loomed in front of her before she even realized where she was going.  A few people stood outside with handmade signs demanding the animals be let free or proclaiming that cramped spaces were torture for the animals.  She glanced inside to see it was mostly empty despite being the weekend.

Despite the surprisingly strong smell of the animals within, the thread of David's old scent reached her.  She was drawn to the zoo but David's face suddenly flashed in her memory.

Alex, I've lost my mind.

She walked to the ticket booth, passing money over when requested and palming the ticket in return before walking into the zoo itself.  Alex turned, lost for a moment without knowing why she felt lost.  Finally, she chose a path to walk and continued.

The sounds of animalistic grunting grew louder and louder until she approached the gorilla enclosure.  Children milled about in front of the cage, laughing and whispering and imitating the animals who wrestled nearby.

Although she wanted to continue walking, she slowed and waded through the crowd of children to stand before bars.  The gorilla being "attacked" on the ground shoved the attacker away.  The other charged to continue its play but the first screeched and the charge stopped.  They looked around as a third hooted and ambled over to join them.  The first of them roared at the gathered crowd, beating its chest before dragging the third away to fall back.  The second hesitated for a moment but followed.

Children groaned when the animals didn't reappear but they soon raced off to torment other caged creatures.  Alex lingered.  She breathed in deeply while her sharp eyes focused and her hands gripped the placard set before the enclosure.  Her hands relaxed only after a few minutes passed and she stepped back to continue her path.

His smell was stronger now.  A strange anxiety filled her and she clenched her jaw as she began to walk faster.  And faster.  The largely human side of her brain fought with the urges and instincts infiltrating it, leaving her confused.  She was suddenly sure he was alive and waiting for her.  The smell was too strong to be anything else.  An ache formed in her heart.

"David!" she cried out, breaking into a run.  She shoved past a young mother kneeling beside her pram but continued despite the cry of outrage.  Faster and faster until she dodged past thick bushes.

A scrawny brown wolf sat directly in the center of its enclosure, ignoring the oohs and ahhhs of the crowd as it stared directly at her.  Alex slowed to glance through the crowd.

"David?!" she called out.

People turned to her but none of them were who she wanted.  She walked through the crowd as she had with the gorillas but even in her dissociative state, she realized he couldn't be there.

The wolf tracked her but stood on all fours when she approached.  Its head was low with its tail curled and she swore she could see its muscles shaking but it stood its ground.

"...where I woke..." the wind whispered.  Soft golden hairs lifted from the back of her neck.  She spun to the annoyed complaints of those around her.

"David!" Alex cried out again, pushing through the crowd but he was nowhere to be seen.

A few mothers pulled their children away from her as she darted from one side of the courtyard to the other.

"I'm losing my mind," she muttered while rubbing her arms.

With a quick backwards glance at the wolf enclosure, she shook her head and walked away with her head down.  The previously bright sounds rankled her now.  Joyful cries from children appeared mocking and the press of even the light crowds was unbearable.

Her flat was cold when she returned and her head ached in twin points at the back of her skull.  Alex closed the windows and the curtains.  She turned wordlessly to go to her bedroom but stopped by her small loveseat.

With her expressions fixed and her eyes a million miles away, she undressed, pulling her sweater over the white shirt beneath and then undoing the buttons for the shirt itself.  She piled them together before reaching back to undo her bra.  Her brown nipples stirred in the cold air as she unzipped her skirt.  Lastly, she slipped out of her plain white panties, sliding them down her slim thighs until she kicked them lightly to join her other clothes.

And then she lay on the floor.  Her eyes were open wide as she blocked any thought from forming in an attempt to ease her headache and the pain in her heart.  She rolled to her side while drawing her knees up and turning her face to the carpet.  The minutes passed and her breathing grew even while her eyes drooped.  She whispered his name once before slowly falling asleep.

The wolf's face met her in her eventual dreams.  Hale and hearty and draped in silver moonlight.  She followed it as it padded through the void.  Over time, her back and legs began to ache until she leaned forward to fall on hands and feet.  The moon was gigantic overhead, large enough that she could physically feel the pull of its gravity against her body.

A red streak burned through a silver stream of light and the wolf flickered before stabilizing.  But, when a second beam of scarlet appeared, the wolf vanished for two steps.  Alex spat as anger filled her.  Yet the wolf returned and she calmed despite the red haze.

The scarlet lights multiplied suddenly and she yelled, raising her bent head to the moon to curse it.  Before her, the scene became a kinetoscope, strobing to show silver and red bars of light and the flickering image of the wolf walking before her.

Faint screams echoed through her ears as figures writhed just beyond her vision.

Her vision boiled as the red consumed all and she screamed her rage to the moon.  She'd been abandoned.  By David.  By her parents and her older brother who barely called to express their concern over her wellbeing.  She was dying inside and they went about their business, living their happy settled lives while she struggled to find the energy to feed herself.  Everything tasted like ashes and they- they-

She raced through the macabre landscape, clawing through piles of bodies towards an undeniable destination.  Her family would be the first to die.  They had to be.  Her blood.  The curse demanded it.  The first of man.  Many.  They would-

A hand touched her shoulder, warm and wide and she stumbled to a stop.  Her parents-

It caressed her, rubbing a thumb in a slow arc back and forth until she found herself calming.  With a sigh, she lowered herself and closed her eyes while whispering his name a second time.

Alex woke in the same position in which she'd fallen asleep on the living room floor.  She groaned and pushed herself up until she crouched, nude and warm despite the weather outside.  Half asleep, she lurched upwards and stumbled to her bedroom to slip beneath the covers.

---

"You should really see the man they just brought in," Miss Gallagher said with a sly glance to the door behind her.  "A handsome fellow.  Very handsome.  And I don't see a ring."

"The one with the nasal fracture?" Alex asked while jotting down a number on her clipboard.  "From a fist fight?"

"Well, yes," Susan replied hesitantly but she smiled and continued.  "He says he was helping a lady at a restaurant.  She were- was being assaulted until he stepped in."

"Mmhmm," Alex said, continuing her count of inventory.

"I just-"

"Miss Gallagher!" a voice called out.  "Miss- oh, there you are!  You're needed in 3A.  The doctor's waiting."

"I'll be along," Susan told the other nurse.  She looked at Alex and touched her shoulder.  "Alex.  It's been two weeks since you've come back but are you sure it's not too early?  I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you took a little extra time off.  Or- or- the girls and I are going to the disco tomorrow night.  Maybe if you came with us, you could have a little bit of fun."

"I'll consider it," Alex said shortly.

"But-"

"They're waiting for you, Miss Gallagher," she said shortly.  But within a heartbeat, her face relaxed and she sighed.  "I- I know you mean well, Susan.  And- And maybe I will go with you but I just don't have the temper lately to deal with everyone pushing me so hard to move on so quickly.  Now, go on before you're reprimanded."

Miss Gallagher squeezed Alex's shoulder before leaving in a fast walk.  Alex sighed again and closed the glass case in front of her.

David stood in the reflection.

Alex spun, mouth open in a shriek that wouldn't come due to her throat seizing in sudden fear.  The room was empty except for her and she scented the air without realizing what she was doing.  Harsh chemicals overwhelmed the scent of nearly everything else but she could still pick out the smells of doctors, nurses and patients.

And blood.  The pungent, tangy aroma of blood.

But, no David.

"Lord in Heaven," she gasped, pushing away from the cart she'd slammed into the wall.  Her heart pounded beneath her chest and she licked her lips while sniffing the air once more.  The scent of blood reminded her she hadn't had her lunch break yet.  "Keep it together, Alex.  Keep it together."

Although disturbed by her vision, she forced herself back to work, eyeing the clock for when her break would begin.  Still, she couldn't help but steal glances at the glass case until she left the room.

---

Wind blew sprays of drizzling rain in random spouts as Alex walked home.  She had her shoulders bent with her hands in her pocket and her thoughts to herself.  The cold assaulted her but she felt warm despite the pervading chill.  She would've stripped to her trousers and shirt if not for the odd looks she was sure she'd receive from everyone else.

Her legs were tireless, propelling her onward despite the dull, deep ache that occasionally flashed along her spine.  She winced every time she felt it as it traveled down her spine and along her tailbone before splitting to course through her legs.  It was random but happened enough that she began to grow concerned.  She glanced at her watch and shook her head.  The last instance was 3 hours ago but the two before that were an hour apart.

Alex walked wide of a post at the side of the street.  The sharp scent of urine was especially bad this morning, she'd noticed and she worried about the homeless that slept on the streets.  It was growing colder every day and without shelter, she didn't know if they could survive.

Especially if they clustered in the open.  Easy prey.  In the open, often sitting around makeshift fires, smelling of alcohol and piss.  Their loud songs and arguments would draw any creature looking for an easy meal.

The woman's stomach rumbled so she pressed her fists against it while licking the tips of her lips.  Her teeth flashed for a moment until she smelled urine again.  The same scent.  From a female, a small part of her realized.  The knowledge was fed to her without her conscious mind realizing what it was told.

It upset her.  The smell of the female's markings.  She was close to her own apartments.  Her own territory!  Her teeth flashed again.  A fresh scent, still warm in the cold air.  She followed it, turning left a block from her apartment and then right on the opposite sidewalk.  Her head lowered and she huffed while breathing deeply.

Almost there, that bitch, she cursed internally.  Who does she think she-

Barking alerted her a brief second before the animal's scent was carried to her by the wind.  A small white dog with black spot was half a block away, pulling at its owner's leash.  Alex stared at it with narrow eyes while her nose flared.

"Your dog?" Alex asked the little girl roughly.

"Ye- yes?" the girl stammered.

"Walk it somewhere else," she told her while taking a menacing step.  Her upper lip pulled back briefly.  "Down Pancras or close to it.  Not 'round here.  Smells.  It's pissing on everything."

"I'm- I'm sorry, mum," the little girl said with a short curtsey.  Her wide eyes and thin lips trembled as she pulled her dog back roughly.  "Margaret, come.  Margaret!  Come!"

Alex watched them leave before crossing the street to make her way to her flat.  Despite being early on a Monday morning, the streets and sidewalks bustled with activity.  She eyed the crowd, mentally tagging the slower walkers as she made her way up the stairs to her flat.

She shed her clothes as soon as she shoved the door closed, stripping her jacket and scarf off and then the sweater with it.  Less encumbered, she made her way to the kitchen to turn on the stove.  The little flames guttered and swayed when she opened her fridge to pull out a steak wrapped in butcher paper.

Sweat emerged from beneath her hairline and the back of her neck.  She shook herself and ignored it while cutting the paper and groaning at the sight of that steak.  Her hunger was fierce despite having had lunch hours ago.  Slamming a pan onto the stove she grabbed the steak with her bare hand to slap it into the pan without oil.  It hissed immediately and she swayed while moaning as the scent of steak intensified.

Her left hand gripped at the buttons of her shirt while she hovered over the cooking steak.  She licked her lips and then raised a bloody finger to clean it, folding her tongue over the digit before bringing a second finger up.  And a third.  Alex lapped at her hand with quiet little moans until every drop of myoglobin was gone.

It proved too much.  She snatched the nearly raw steak from the pan, shoving it in her mouth to tear chunks from the grey and red meat despite how hot the partially cooked side was.  Her head snapped back as she ripped pieces free and red began to dot her soft lips and the pale surrounding skin.  A soft rumble formed at the back of her throat as she continued to feed, stuffing herself until the steak was finished.  And then, once more, she cleaned her hands with rapturous moans.  Her fingers slid against her lips and mouth, tugging and pulling as she tried to wipe the taste of meat from the specks on her face.

Finally, she slid to the ground with her back to the fridge.  The flames still burned beneath the empty pan and sweat rolled down her body.  She tore at her shirt, popping the buttons apart before scrabbling at her trousers, pushing and kicking and twisting until she knelt in panties and bra with sweat dripping from the tip of her nose.

Alex panted in the kitchen while her head throbbed.  She sat back against her heels and pulled at the front of her bra, sliding a nail along the cup to the center where she tugged until it slid down beneath her breasts.  The flames mesmerized her.  The ferocity with which she'd eaten the steak fed the beast growing within her and it's presence excited her.  Hypnotized by the dancing flames, she leaned forward on her knees with a hand on the ground before her and her knees slid slowly apart.

With a long, low groan, Alex shoved her ass down and back, down and back before setting her other hand down.  On hands and knees now, she lowered her head with another groan.  Her curly brown hair fell around her as she raised her ass and pushed back, shoving the edge of the fridge against the seat of her panties.

"Ohhhhhruuhhhhh," she groaned, raising her head slowly in a circle.

She rocked back, flexing her hips until her clit, engorged with blood, brushed the cold edge of the fridge door.  Her small tongue hung freely when she lowered her head once more and she began to push mindlessly, giving control over to the beast in her mesmerized state.  Mindlessly thrusting as her orgasm built, driven by the taste of raw meat and the coming full moon.

Back.  And back and back and back she whimpered, her human voice high in pitch as she drew closer and closer and-

"Yes!" Alex shouted, eyes wide and head thrust high with her ass quivering against the fridge.  She groaned and smiled, showing her teeth as her eyes grew heavy and she lowered herself to the cool floor.

She woke nearly an hour later to absolute confusion that turned to panic when she noticed the flames on the stove.

"Shit!" she yelled, jerking up and forward to turn the gas off.  "What- How did I get-"

As she pulled herself up, she settled her bra back in place and adjusted the seat of her panties, pulling them from between her pussy lips as she tried to make sense of what happened.  She could recall walking up the stairs outside, angry for- for some reason.  And so hungry . But nothing beyond that.

"Stress," she said out loud, rubbing her eyes with her hand.  The visions and voices and losing time, it all had to be stress she realized.

Walking to her phone, she picked up the receiving and dialed her coworker.

"Susan?" she said into the receiver.  "Hi, yes, it's Alex.  Yes, I think I will come with you tonight.  Oh, yes, that's perfect.  I'll see you then, goodbye."

Working through the weekend left Monday and Tuesday night as her days off.  She'd planned nothing but with everything else, a night dancing sounded perfect.

She smiled as she placed the receiver down and a single drop of sweat rolled along the side of her spine.

---

"Alex, over here!" Susan called out.

Alex turned to see her friend with two other coworkers.  She wrinkled her nose at the heavy scent of their perfume without wondering how she could smell them a block away.  Still, she smiled at the three women.

She felt amazing after waking up from her sleep.  Energy pulsed throughout her body.  Dancing would be the perfect outlet for it and she was thankful for the invitation.

"Aren't you cold?" Mary, her junior at work, asked when Alex approached.

She'd chosen a short, sleeveless dress to wear tonight.  One that was loose enough to dance in but tight enough to show her curves.

"No, I feel great!" Alex said, smiling even wider.  Even with the cold, she still felt too warm but she was just happy she wasn't sweating

"Well, let's get inside and get started!  I need a drink!" Susan shouted.  The four women cheered and followed her into the club.

The pounding music and flashing lights overwhelmed Alex when she entered but the writhing forms made it even worse.  Movement drew her attention constantly as men and women danced on the huge floor beyond the bar set to the side.  Her head jerked from one group to the next while the music crashed and thumped and screeched and the lights gave everything strange patterns and colors.

Sweat formed between her breasts and along her back.  Her lips parted while her pupils widened and her breathing quickened.  She followed the other women until they stopped at a small table near the entrance.

"Too hot," Alex gasped, glancing at a man who spun and twirled off to her side.

"I'll get your drinks tonight," Susan yelled over the music.  "What do you want?!"

"Something cold," Alex replied without looking.  Her nails dragged against the top of the table until they dug into her palms.  "Too hot."

Focus proved impossible.  The beast raged within at the sheer amount of noise and everything screamed for attention from her heightened senses.  When the first drink appeared, she downed the entire thing at once, hissing at the end before setting it down.  A second drink followed soon after.  And a third.  Her nerves grew dull but her energy didn't fade and she found herself gnashing her teeth while eyeing a few men on the floor.

Susan and Lori were already dancing, originally together but they'd broken apart when approached by a pair of men.  They laughed and danced, rubbing against each other while the music played.

"Screw it," Mary slurred.  "I'll go."

The longer Alex stood within the disco, the more disconnected she grew from her own body.  It all mashed together: the unending, ear-splitting noise, the mad crush of people with their hormones in overdrive, the maelstrom of scents left behind by years of patrons, and the non stop movement.  There was no control and she experienced a split as she became untethered from her own body, watching herself move and act as if a passenger in her own flesh.

Alex followed Mary but walked away when she spied a man bouncing his back against the wall.  His thick mustache curled over his lips and around his cheek.  She preferred men who shaved but he was other handsome and very well built.  She approached him and he glanced at her, eyes dipping to her chest with a smirk.

"Dance with me," she told him, grabbing his hand to pull him away from the wall.

She wasted no time and didn't care if he danced or not.  Spinning in front of him, she raised her arms and then lowered them over his shoulders before putting her face directly in front of him.  She shoved into him, writhing as she grinded before spinning once more and grabbing his hand.

Now she rubbed her ass against his crotch.  Groaning and smiling when she felt him begin to harden.  With the hand she held, she placed it against her chest, thumb to her nipple and she moaned while leaning her head back to place her cheek against his.  She moaned again, loudly, mostly for his benefit but also because of the heat flooding her.  Sweat soaked into her dress as she abandoned her dance to simply grind against the man, flexing her ass harder and harder.

She spun, still smiling fiercely and she took his hand again.  Without looking around or caring, she shoved his hand down the front of her dress until he cupped her bare breast.  Her own hand clawed at his back and ass.

Her soft, brown eyes flashed with wild madness as she shook her curly tawny hair.  When he tried to say something, she kissed him briefly and bit his lip, pulling it back before letting it go and smiling.  A surprised look crossed his eyes as he pulled his hand from her dress to touch his lip.

"That hurt," he told her.  "Maybe you could slow it down a little?"

"Why?" she panted while running her hands over her breasts and then down.  Her nipples tented her dress and she raised her hands again to pinch them with a moan.

"I just- hey," the man said when she turned to pin him against the wall with her ass again.  She grunted with her hands on her knees and her eyes closed while thrusting back against him.  "Lady, hey, wait."

"You want to do it," she asked, leaning back and grabbing for his hand until he snatched it away.   She moaned while rocking her ass.   "Right here?  Right now?  I'm not wearing any panties.  You can touch me.  Your fingers.  Your mouth.  Your dick.  Right here.  Or the alley.  I'm so hot.  I'm so hot and so horny I just need it so bad."

"Lady, I don't know what you're on but-" he started to say.

Alex groaned and dropped to her hands and knees.  She continued to pant but reached back with one hand to lift her dress.  The flashing light highlighted her glistening pussy as she whined and raised her ass.  A few men and a single woman whistled while others moved away from her.

"Just fuck me," she said, lowering her back to raise her ass higher.  "Now.  Just fuck me."

"Hey!" a deep voice yelled out.  A bouncer dressed in black pushed through the crowd to reach her.  He grabbed her arm and pulled but she pulled back, staggering him off balance until he planted his feet and hauled her up.  The man grabbed at her dress to fix it as he pulled her with him.  "That's enough, you barmy cunt!"

Alex snarled and pulled and his shoulder dislocated with a loud popping sound that was drowned out by the music.

"You cunt!" the man screamed as he grabbed his shoulder.  "I'll fucking kill ya, ya fucking crazy cunt!"

Alex ran, slamming through the crowd until she stood outside where she dropped to her knees.  Her eyes were still wild with huge pupils and her lips trembled over her teeth.

"There!  That's the- god, my fucking arm!" the bouncer screamed from the door.

She ran, tripping on her heels until she kicked them off to go barefoot.  The cold wind thrilled her as it ran over her burning body.  When she was far enough away, she slipped into an alley to take a breath.

"Alex."

David stood before her in his grey NYU t-shirt.  He had a pained look on his face.  She stared at him and then breathed in, inhaling the surrounding air as deeply as she could.

"You're not really here," she said with a troubled laugh.  He had no scent.  "I'm cracking but you're not really here."

"I am, Alex," he said, without moving.

She still felt incredibly disoriented from the lights and sounds and smells from the club.  Everything was a chaotic mash in her mind and she was having trouble focusing.  Yet David was as perfect as she'd remembered him.  Except, no, not perfect.  Red marked his shirt.  Little crescents of scarlet coloring that drew strange lines down his shirt.

"I'm drunk," she said.  "I'm drunk and breaking-"

Breaking? Alex shook her head.  Something about break?  Something hurt.

"That's part of it," he told her.  "But, Alex, I don't have a lot of time.  Listen-"

"Not a lot of time?" she laughed, sadly this time.  "There's no time, David.  No time for David.  No time for you.  You're dead and I'm- I'm trying to move past you.  God.  What was I doing?  What did I do?  I was dancing."

"Alex, listen," he said sharply.  "Tomorrow is the first day of the full moon.  That's important."

"Oh, David, I know," she said.

He paused and looked at her curiously.

"I know about the- the moon and the- the- werewolf," she continued.  "I know what you think you were.  I remember.  God.  And your dead friend talking to you.  Warning you.  How else could I conjure you up as I'm starting to fall apart."

"I'm serious, Alex,"  David said.  "It didn't stop with me."

"What- what didn't?" she asked.

"The werewolf.  Alex, I-  Alex, I passed it on to you."

"You what?" she asked, leaning back with a look of indignation.  "Mental issues aren't spreadable diseases, David.  I know that so how can my subconscious be so ignorant?"

"I was a werewolf and I infected you, Alex," David insisted.

"No.  No," she told him, shaking her head.  "I saw you in the alley.  You were just a man.  Just a sad, dead man.  I saw, David."

"Alex, I-"  he wavered for a moment.

"I SAW, David!" she shouted while slamming her hands against the side of her head.  "I saw it and I see it every night.  The explosions of the gunshots and your dead body again and again and again until I think I'd go mad from it!"

Alex laughed while sliding down the rough brick wall behind her.

"Except I guess I did, didn't I?" she said.  Her laughter turned to quiet sobs with her palms against her ears and her head bowed.

"Alex, please, you don't have much time," David said but his voice came from far away.  She looked up at him, hiccupping as tears streamed down her cheeks.  "Please, trust me.  Talk to Dr. Hirsch.  Tell him what I-"

His voice faded with every word as the silver moonlight began to leak through his body until he vanished.  Alex stared at where he'd stood before looking up.  The moon filled her vision and cold sweat broke out over her brow.  She swallowed and tried to look away but she couldn't.  She couldn't stop staring at the moon and the reflected light.  Static filled the air, buzzing in her ears while the moon grew larger and larger and larger and-

"NO!" she screamed, throwing up her arms over her face.  She trembled against the alley wall as the minutes passed until she lowered her arms and bowed her head into her bent knees.

Eventually she stood on aching, shaking legs to make her way back home.  She collapsed inside while ignoring the ringing of her phone.  Quiet sobs wracked her body until she ran out of energy and fell asleep.

The moon dominated her dreams.  She prayed for something else to happen, for it to change in some way but the moon persisted and she dreaded it.  There was no way to turn her head.  No way to cover her eyes.  She couldn't even blink.  It was there and it was all.  Dominating her.  Enforcing its will upon her.  Imprinting itself inside of her.

Changing her.

---

Alex woke mid-morning to a cramp in her stomach.  She cracked her eyes open to store at the floor in front of her and the carpet beyond.  The bright sunlight made her groan and close her eyes once more.

She smelled of trash, alcohol, sweat and a strange mixture of the scents from a hundred people at the disco the night before.

Sleep wouldn't return to her no matter how hard she tried or how much she wished for it while laying on the cool floor of her entryway.  And now that she was awake, she was uneasy.  Her joints ached in tiny pulsing rhythms that made her want to move around.  To run.  To-

With a heavy sigh and a groan, she pushed herself up.  She marched to the bathroom while reaching for the zipper at the side of her dress.  It slid down her naked body just before she turned the light on for the bathroom.  Her body moved automatically as she continued to shuffle forward into the shower where she turned on the hot water with a small mixture of cold.

The steam surrounded her and she groaned as the aches in her joints responded, the pain melting away when she finally stepped in and let the water run over her.  With her head bent, she pumped conditioner into her palm and rubbed it in, scratching deep into her hair until it was completely covered. She waited and then rinsed before adding shampoo, mixing it in with another sigh, happier this time, as her short nails dug against her scalp.  While she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, she lathered her hand with body soap to clean herself.

The touch of her slick, soft hands made her gasp.  She pulled them away and then ran a finger along her side.  Her eyes widened at how incredibly sensitive she felt.  When the edge of her nail dragged against her skin, she moaned and bit her the inside of her lip.

Only then, bending over to inspect her body, did she notice the inch wide ring of brown hairs surrounding her belly button.  She toyed with them, somehow certain they weren't hers until she felt the tug beneath her skin when she pulled at a few.  They grew down, even wider until they mixed with her pubic hair.

"What in the name of-" she said to herself as she ran her fingers through the thick hairs covering her mound.  Drenched with water, they hung low enough to cover her clit and the gap between her legs.  While she didn't keep herself trimmed, her hairs were never as wild as they were now.  Or as dense.  She pulled at them, amazed at how long they were in her grip.  More grew to either side of her mound, covering her from hip to hip.

Alex stood back from the water to push her pubic hair aside.  The skin beside her labia was hidden behind russet hairs that had spread over her labia in scattered patches.  And down the inside of her thighs.

So engrossed with the hairs on her waist was she that she missed the darker hairs on her arm and the backs of her hands.

She couldn't stop stroking herself.  Her fingers combed through the wet hairs over and over until she began to feel the edges of her growing orgasm.  The water trapped her changing smell, filling the small room until it swirled in her brain and the beast within stirred, recognizing its own scent.

Alex bowed her head as she slid down to sit on her ass with her legs spread.  She rubbed her hidden clit, dragging her fingers against the thick hairs.  When she slid her fingers down, she was surprised to feel how wet she already was.  How ready she was.  She pulled at the hairs over her mound with her left hand while slipping a finger inside her waiting pussy.

"Oh yes," she moaned, clenching her hand to pull the hairs hard while sliding her finger deep inside.  The white noise from the shower insulated her from the sounds outside to prevent her sharper hearing from distracting her as she hooked her finger up while inside to rub just beyond the opening of her throbbing pussy.  She relaxed her left hand with a low groan that vibrated in her throat.  Her breathing quickened while her feet slid and she dragged her left hand upward, enjoying the sensation of the hairs against her bare stomach.

The faint smell of wet dog filled the bathroom as Alex's voice rose higher and higher, fast moans turning higher pitched into excited whines until she jumped, pushing her chest forward with a loud sigh and a wide, satisfied smile.  The steam filled the bathroom, making her feel lightheaded after the exertion of the masturbation and release of her orgasm and she still wanted to continue.  Despite the late night following nearly two weeks of solid night shifts, her vitality felt endless.

With a sad sigh, she picked herself up to finish washing, already planning a break later to touch herself again.  She turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing her towel to dry herself off while humming a quiet piece from the song In The Air Tonight.

"I can feel it, mhhmm in the air tonight," she mumbled while rubbing the towel behind her, dragging it down and over her ass before wrapping it around her thighs and tsking when she noticed how unkempt her leg hair was.

Alex hung her towel, missing the amount of brown hair coating it.  Wild tawny fur spanned her back from the nape of her neck and down to her ass, spreading out just as it reached her hips in a wide triangle that dipped between her ass cheeks.  It was scattered but long, completely different from the shorter hairs along the rest of her body.

Now dry, she leaned into the mirror to stare closely at her face.  Her eyes darted to the hairs between her brow and she titled her head to touch the tiny brown peach fuzz growing out from the corner of her chin to the middle of her cheek along the edge of her jaw.  For a moment, she contemplated plucking her brow and shaving but it wasn't bad enough and she didn't expect to go out.

"Better to leave it until tomorrow when I get ready for work," she told herself while tilting her head the other way.  "Huh."

She ran her finger down her jaw to her throat, lifting her chin while looking down.  It was difficult to tell from the angle but there seemed to be even more little hairs dotting her throat.

"Surely not," she said, backing away and shaking her head.  "Too long in the shower, fogging my senses."

Satisfied with her inspection, she turned and left her towel on the hook.  It was her custom to wrap it around her body but, really, the idea of air drying from walking around sounded quite enjoyable to her in the moment.

"I can feel it, coming in the air- oh Jesus!" Alex shouted, interrupting her song as she opened the door.  She staggered back against the frame with her hand to her chest.

David stood before her.  The easy grin she'd come to love was replaced by a solemn frown yet he still wore his grey NYU shirt with his unruly mop of hair.

Bloody holes made circles in his shirt and she suddenly remembered seeing him the night before.  The crescents were whole now, fat, full red moons from his upper chest to his navel that appeared to ooze fresh blood down his body.  His face was gaunt and white.  Drained.

Despite the wounds, he still had no scent.  She inhaled, by reflex now, with short, sharp breaths to test for it.

"Oh Jesus," Alex moaned while bending and shading her eyes.  "Oh Lord."

"Alex," he said, his voice a pained whisper.

"No, no, no," she said out loud.  "I can't.  I just can't.  I'm a nurse at Saint Martin's Hospital.  I've dealt with countless cases of trauma and have personally witnessed people dying in my care.  I will not let this be what finally breaks me.  I.  Will.  Not."

"Alex, you aren't hallucinating," David told her.  "I thought the same thing when I saw Jack after he died."

"Jack," Alex said flatly.  "Your friend who was- why am I talking to you?"

"Because you feel the changes, Alex," David answered.  "It's the morning of the first full moon."

"David, no," Alex groaned.  She walked to her room and he followed behind her, waiting until she grabbed another towel from the back of her chair to wrap around her body.  "There.  There.  I clothed myself from a phantom.  This is how far I've gone.  Well done, Alex Price.  Well done.  It'll be the mad house for you soon enough.  Just like Dr. Hirsch wants."

"No, Alex, you can't do that," David said sharply before wincing.  He seemed more faded now and she was certain she could see her dresser through him.  "It'd be a slaughter.  Listen to me.  Despite what you think, despite what you believe, you're a werewolf.  You'll change tonight whether you believe it or not.  And you'll kill like I did.  Alex, please.  You have to listen.  You have to-"

He turned to look behind him.

"No, fuck you," he told someone she couldn't see or hear.  He was translucent now and his voice echoed.  "No, I won't let that happen.  I'm not going to tell her- no, I already told you, fuck off.  There has to be another way.   I love her.  I won't let her die.  I won't-"

His voice trailed off as he vanished completely, leaving Alex alone in her bedroom.  Alone except for the sounds of the neighborhood.  With the smells of the neighborhood.  She sat without even checking if there was something to catch her but her bed was beneath her.  Warbling conversations a block away washed over her, as did the myriad scents of her city.  Yet she sat, motionless, to stare at the spot where David stood.

"I'll survive this," she told the room.  "I won't let this break me.  I'm stronger than this.  I've survived worse than this.  I won't end my life as some nameless invalid locked away and forgotten in an asylum room.  I won't."

She stood and paced, dropping the towel.  Now uncovered and dry, the fur lining her back lifted and she shivered at the first ouch of her hair against her mane.

"I'll go out," she said and then groaned while pinching the bridge of her nose.  "I'm talking to myself far too often.  I-"

I need to curb that, she continued in her mind.

Pushing away thoughts and concerns, she busied herself about her room.  She unrolled a fresh pair of panties from her top dresser drawer, stepping in and sliding them up over her hairy legs until they nestled between her thighs.  Her bra followed and she winced when she caught her back fur in the clasps at the back .  It took a few moments of consideration before she settled on jeans and she almost discarded them when she felt how tight they were on her.  However, a spark of hard-headedness filled her and she struggled into them, dancing around her room until she had them up.

Alex yelped when she caught thick pubic hair in her zipper.  She looked down to see the hairs somehow piercing her panties.  Worse, they overwhelmed the small underwear, escaping from the side and top.  Even when she slowly zipped and buttoned her pants, the hairs peeked over the band of her jeans.  The stared at them for a moment, stroking them before looking towards the bathroom and wondering if she should trim herself.

She decided against it, sure that any additional interruptions would make her lose her drive, causing her to spend the rest of the day moping inside.  After playing with the hairs for another minute, she grabbed a white shirt to wear beneath a sweater.

Just before she glanced outside, she scented the air.  Even with the closed windows she could smell the rain so she made note to grab her jacket on the way out.  Her stomach grumbled as she stepped into her shoes.

Out of habit, she reached for her purse while taking a step towards the hook but her foot hit something, causing it to slide across the floor.  She looked down to see her spare key while her hand grasped air.  Her purse was gone.

The club, she vaguely remembered.  Did I lose it?  Or leave it with- wait, what happened after the club? I left, didn't I?

The memory was shrouded in fog, obscured by the taint of the beast when it had taken brief control.

How is it I remember having a cry in the alley over David but not what happened in the club? She asked herself.  I'll call around to Susan first.  She'll know.

She pocketed her spare key after stepping outside and locking her door.  Smells collided with her, driven by the wind and barely dampened by the gentle curtain of rain falling steadily.  She drank of it all and a new part of her tried to parse the information presented, tying what it could to what she knew of her neighborhood as she walked towards the slowly closing doors to her building.  A tenant she didn't know passed by and she turned to smell them before continuing.

Once outside, she froze.  Movement.  Sounds.  Her head darted around while her lips drew back and she took stock of the area.  Of her territory.  To-

But the urge lessened and she shook herself out of her trance.  She stepped down the short steps while pushing her hands into the pockets of her jacket and pulling them close together, ducking her head and joining the anonymous mass of foot traffic towards her coworker's flat.

---

"Oh, thank God, you're fine," Susan said over an hour later.

"Listen, Susan, I don't remember what happened last night," Alex said while waiting to be invited in.

The smell of sex was intriguing.  There was a male here and Susan was flushed.  Her clothes were minimal and nothing matched.  Cigarettes as well, but old.  From last night.  The alcohol was fresh, however.  Susan glanced over her shoulder.

"They said they kicked you out," Susan told her.  "That you'd- that you'd been improper and you'd left.  Alex, they said you broke someone's arm."

Alex laughed with a disbelieving look.  "Certainly not.  I did what?  Susan.  I broke someone's arm?  Me?"

"I know, I know," Susan said.  She licked her lips and glanced over her shoulder again.  "I have your purse.  I'm sorry I can't invite you in.  I'm- I have things I have to do."

"Things," Alex grinned.

"Oh, shove off!" Susan muttered, grabbing a purse from a stand beside the door.  She forced it into Alex's hands until she took it from her.  "I'll see you tomorrow night at work, okay?  And, Alex?"

"Yes?" Alex asked.

"Behave," Susan said.

Alex gave a short, mocking curtsy but the door was already closing.  Laughter followed Alex out of the first floor hallway and the sound of sex was not too far after.

"Cheeky," Alex said with a smile.

Sniffing the air, she turned towards the smell of sausage, following her nose until it led her to a pub several blocks away.  She settled in place away from the small morning crowd until a barman came to take her order.  Her eyes lit up on the small menu offered and she ordered a large breakfast.  As soon as it arrived, she tucked in, wrapping the sausage in her fried bread before breaking her eggs and drenching it in the yolk.  She accidentally bit her fingers when she shoved the mixture in her mouth but it didn't stop her from grabbing more as her tongue worked around her lips, cleaning the egg and bits of bread and sausage.  When the barman came back around to refill her drink, she ordered extra meat.

Once sated, she found herself restless again.  She paid her bill and left, slinking into the crowd once more.  They moved as a herd while she held herself back and apart from them. She couldn't help but see the small pattern in the way groups formed and broke away, in the body language and pace each of them set.  It was fascinating and their scents began to provide additional clues.  Sweat soaked anxiety for those in a rush due to stress.  Or the fresh scent of breast milk from a new mother pushing her pram, moving slowly not due to the burden of her child but because she was exhausted, with an unsteady gait despite her comfortable trainers.

And so it went throughout the day.  Instead of returning home after breakfast, she wandered and studied, enjoying her time out.  Morning turned to afternoon and the rain gave way briefly to roiling grey clouds as evening approached and the sun, hidden by the clouds, began to set.

She'd dropped her purse at some point.  It'd become a hindrance, hanging onto her and blocking her movement.  It distracted her from her hunting.  Not long after, she found herself following a businessman.  He was larger but not fat and while he walked with confidence, there was an extra hitch to his step that betrayed a discomfort.  She vaguely heard his phone call about losing an important client but she was far more focused on the man himself.  Intensely focused.  She couldn't stop following him and she found herself attempting to control his movements as she walked behind him, stepping left to herd him away from the others when he turned right and so forth.

Until David appeared once more.  He stood in the crowd before her but he turned as soon as she noticed him and he walked into a narrow alley.

Alex watched him go with brown eyes cracked by branching, golden fissures.  He continued to lead her, allowing her glimpses as he crossed streets and alleys, slipping between buildings until he came to a stop beside a large bin.  She huffed, drew her teeth back as if to growl and looked around, searching for street signs.

East End, she realized.  She ought to have been alarmed, having heard stories of muggings and worse from the area.  The Royal Docks struggled and people found themselves out of work with no useful skills but mouths to feed.

Part of her welcomed them to try her.  The energy pulsing through her played a new chord inside her body.  She itched for violence, especially with her prey having been taken from her by nothing more than a ghost.

Blood spilled from the corner of David's mouth.  Despite her growing aggression, she felt physical pain at the sight of it.  Even the beast inside whimpered quietly at his pain.  She loved him, too; the wolf recognized her mate.

"It's too late," David groaned.  He glanced at the dark, star-less sky before looking back at her.  "I tried, Alex.  I tried my best, I'm so sorry.  I'm so fucking sorry."

"David," she said, stepping forward and reaching for him.  Her heart pounded, the beat throbbing in her temples.

Sweat dotted her skin.  She shrugged out of her jacket, carelessly letting it fall to the mud filled puddles below her.  Her pants dug into her hips and thighs, constraining her.

"I'm here," he told her, raising his own hand to her.  "I'm here, Alex.  I'm here."

She stared at her fingers.  The gold lines fractured in her eyes, streaking out like lightning to her pupils and expanding.  Sweat slid down from her forehead to the tip of her nose where it hung for a moment before falling.  Her lips parted.  She breathed out and immediately in.  Out and in.  Her tongue slipped between her lips.  Out and in.  Panting as her eyes, now the color of molten honey ringed by pure black, focused on the tips of her fingers.

Time slowed in her vision.  Brown hairs lazily emerged from the backs of her hands and fingers in tiny, scattered clumps.  She saw them as they continued to spread between wide swathes of bare skin up to her wrist.  Her fingers spread to match David's fingers, palm-to-palm as tears ran down his eyes.

Pain wracked her body when her hand passed through his and she continued to fall with a scream, catching herself on hands and knees with her head raised to her dead lover.

"D- D- David," Alex moaned through grit teeth.

She curled her fingers, dragging her nails through the mud while arching her back.  Muscles beneath the skin tore and reformed at an alarming rate, pulling her spine apart.  Her vertebrae pressed against her skin, visible through shirt and sweater as they rose one at a time beginning at her neck and down.  Her sweater tightened immediately and she moaned, reaching back for it before slamming her fist down as the pain hammered hot spikes through her spine.

Buttons popped on her shirt, sparing it as her sweater tore to reveal hardened lines of muscle on her back.  And still her spine pushed against her flesh.  She rolled her head and stretched to try to ease the agony while screaming but it did nothing to dull the pain.

The scattered fur covering the middle of her back grew dense while her bones popped and cracked.  Tawny hairs sprouted amidst the existing ones while more hairs appeared at the edges of the fur, creeping to her sides along her sweat-soaked back.

"It- it- hurts, David," Alex cried, reaching back again but once more pounding her fist to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated, crouching next to her.

She bowed her head as the pain increased and the pounding in her temples grew louder.  Red filled her eyes while she grinded her aching teeth back and forth.

"Sorry!" she shouted.  "You're suh- sorry!"

Alex raised her ass.  Her sacral vertebrae raised and her jeans strained.  The fabric made a strange keening sound to her incredibly sensitive ears as the growth of muscle continued to her hips, pulling them apart.  Her coccyx snapped and she screamed again.

A tear opened in the seat of her jeans to show her panties pulled tight against her sex.  The rip continued up her jeans and her ass bulged out of them, her pale skin already dotted with brown stubble.

"SORRY!" she screamed while stretching her legs out behind her.  The beast howled within as it asserted control.  "Fucking sorry!"

"Nnnnraaaah!" Alex growled, snapping her teeth as bones cracked and creaked in her jaw.

Her breathing began to deepen as her ribs pushed against her chest, forced outward by her increasing bulk.  Metal groaned almost silently as her bra's clasps bent and gave way.

Fire burned in her fingers.  She bit at them, grinding her teeth into the joints in an animalistic attempt to soothe the pain while her tongue licked the thick fur still growing from the back of her hands and fingers.

"Fucking- fucking-!" she growled angrily.

Her palms slid through the mud as bones shattered and healed in an instant.  Tendons stretched and she raised her head in a silent howl while digging fingers into the cool water.  The skin along her palm bubbled outward slowly, soft skin growing into hardened calluses while her hands stretched to become her paws.

"Fucking- fucking kill you all!" Alex screamed.

The exposed flesh of her ass swelled as her body readied her to chase prey.  Her panties pulled into a thin, tight band, sawing between her pussy lips. She snarled and bit at the air until they snapped and hung beneath her.

The fire roared through her head, tinting everything with a crimson filter.  Her family would die first.  They must.  They-

Breath behind her.

Alex kicked and turned, pulling herself forward on her front paws while growling.

An immense black wolf stood before her with red covering its jaw.

No, not a wolf.  Something else.  It was longer than the noble beast with muscular, coiled legs and arms ending in massive, extended paws.

David, she knew.  The wind left his fur untouched but she could smell him now.

He walked to her and she lowered herself while growling but her jaw broke and she stifled a whine.  Her cheeks strained forward while David went behind her and she clawed at her face.

Fingernails popped free as she dragged them against her skin, leaving streaks of mud to cover the brown fur emerging from her cheeks.  Black, curved claws peeked from the tips as they anchored to her fingers and lengthened while widening with the continued growth of her fingers.  When she slammed her paws down this time, she tore deep furrows in the earth.

David's fur slid against the exposed bare skin and hairs covering her back beneath her tattered sweater.  She shoved up but he bore down, holding her in place while she struggled against him.  Sharp teeth nipped her neck.  She could feel it grinding the tendons beneath her skin while a thick, long tongue lapped at the tangled fur spreading up her back and along her shoulders.

She howled and shoved, panting as her jaws cracked and pushed forward.  An invisible fist grabbed her tongue and pulled until it lay against her chin and lower, broad and rough.  Alex shook her head and swallowed, once more growling and shoving.  Her tongue rubbed against her canines as they flowed downward, expanding in the emptiness of her elongating muscle.  Dentin formed in her molars, breaking the enamel shell and forcing them into deadly, curved fangs to match her canines.

Alex screamed, her deep voice breaking into an angry howl until she felt heat between her thighs.  Her hips jerked and shoved back.  The slick, bulbous tip of David's unsheathed cock slipped down, pressing against her jeans as they tore beneath the expanding muscle of her legs.  Thick brown fur already covered her inner thighs.

David's cock lifted when he raised himself and he thrusted into her, questing again and again until he parted her pink lips.  His slick red dick jabbed painfully into her and she growled while he bit hard enough against her shoulder to make her groan.

Wetness flooded her and the anger began to subside.  As she relaxed, her pussy opened to him and he pushed deeper while she shoved back in return.  Her bare, flattened against her sweater, shook from the impact.

Seams tore on Alex's jeans from her knees to her ankles, showing pale skin that soon grew dark as the tips of her hair slipped through her flesh.  She kicked her feet when the ache between her toes became distracting but David shoved and she lost interest in the pain.

The feel of the male, no, of David, was all she wanted now.  His hot breath puffed against the fur on her shoulder while his stomach grinded against the lump of skin that would become her tail.  He shoved and she yipped before growling and slamming up into him.  Deeper and deeper and deeper until she felt his knot stretching her pussy wide.

The slick, soaked lips between her thighs strained.  Her soft labia swelled, hardening slightly while growing dark in color.  Ebony lines filled the tiny stretch marks over her folds as they expanded outward and folded, closing over David's cock as it slid into her.  Her clit pushed out, dragging its hood with it as it joined with the labia into a distended, tri-fold pussy.

David shoved with a growl and her new labia bulged over his knots, opening eagerly to take him completely inside.  She growled and snarled and clawed at the mud while slamming back, accepting the tearing pain with the pleasure.  The fur on her belly shifted as skin shifted in six points.  She felt the sharp, pinching pain of her teats growing without knowing what they were as ducts formed along her natural milk lines.  Her flesh grew reddened and inflamed until the skin twisted and pushed out into six wrinkled, hardened teats.

Alex's fur waved in the wind while drool dripped from her tongue and long lines of cum dangled from her pussy before snapping and forming anew.  She kicked back and raised her ass and snapped at the air at every snap-crack of a bone growing in her tail.  Fur covered it in patches while it curled above her.

The pain in her feet was no longer ignorable.  Her joints grew cramped while her nails were displaced by the onyx claws pushing against them.  She kicked her feet against the ground and bent her ankles with her toes flat while the shoelaces tightened against her growing feet.  David felt her pain and began to pound faster, diverting her attention long enough for the trainers to break.  The soles separated as her claws pierced the tips and her freed feet lengthened, skin expanding over bones. Her forefeet bent and continued to grow while calluses formed beneath them and her toes swelled.

Now, finally, she felt more comfortable on four legs rather than two.

David's knot filled her thoughts now that her feet were settled.  With every thrust, she opened further to him, wider and wider while she whimpered and growled and snarled, lost to the monstrous heat forced by the thought of mating and accelerated by the bestial urges within.

His lips trembled on her neck and she felt him tense. His movements grew compact.  Harder.  Shorter.  His furred crotch pounding her ass in a fast rhythmic tempo that left her powerful ass quaking with every impact until, finally, she opened to him and his knot slipped inside.

They came together.  She howled with a stuttering scream and his pure voice joined hers, twining together as their bodies merged and he filled her, locked by his-

David padded around to her side and she stared at him, perplexed despite her animal intellect.  He couldn't be there.  He was inside of her.  He was-

Except he wasn't.  Her orgasm had been very real but she felt empty and the pain she expected in her shoulder from his teeth wasn't there.

He wasn't real.

She snarled at him and bayed at the moon again, raging at the loss and the deception.

With her true pleasure denied to her, she hunted.

The black wolf raced with her, following her as she crashed through streets and alleys, sniffing and tracking.  Her family would wait.  She was starved.  A drunken song tweaked her ears as they slowly slid through her brown, curly hair.  They widened, already covered in fur, as she circled and tracked.

A lone homeless man leaned against a post, lost to the remains of his drink.  She stalked with a low growl.

David slid in front of her, blocking her from the man.  She snarled at him, dodging to the left but he matched her.  She snapped and growled, jumping right but, again, he was there.  The homeless man stumbled and swore before turning and running with a lumbering, slow gait.  She leaped to give chase but David was there again, confounding her.

And then the black wolf turned, looking over his shoulder with a huff.

Follow me, it's posture said.

She glanced after the retreating homeless person and snapped once more but huffed instead of chasing.

Alex followed David, begrudgingly at first but faster with every block, bounding with incredible speed through the cloud-covered night.

---

Alex woke in grey light.  She groaned and sat up but gasped when she felt her bare breasts against her chest and the cold, morning fog against her skin.  The forest surrounded her and she was covered in twigs and dirt and mud.  Her thick pubic hair was a knotted mass and every joint in her body ached.

A stomach cramp seized her. She turned to the side to retch seemingly endlessly.  Finally, she lay back against the cool bark of the tree behind her.

She had no memories of the night before.  She could remember walking the city.  She had clear thoughts of breakfast and lunch but somewhere mid-evening, it all faded to nothing.

"Why aren't I panicking?" she asked herself.  Her voice croaked as if unused and she massaged her throat.  Despite vomiting and only just waking up, she was ready to run a marathon.  "That's funny, why-"

Alex, I've lost my mind, the words echoed through her own mind.  It was so incredibly clear and always would be; such a strange thing to hear suddenly.

But that wasn't all.  She struggled and tried to remember the rest of what David had said that morning.  And then it all came back to her.

I woke up at the zoo!  But you know what?  I feel terrific!

A cold hand seized her spine.  Later he'd told her he was a beast.  That he'd murdered people.  She thought he was crazy until she'd seen him in the alley.  Before he was shot dead.

But- it wasn't him, was it?

Alex looked down at her nude body.

"David?" she asked quietly.  "Are you there?"

He'd tried to warn her that she would turn.  That she'd become a werewolf like he had.  It couldn't be real.  It couldn't.  And yet, here she was in a forest.

I woke up at the zoo!

She stood and then fell back against the tree before forcing herself up once more.  And then she walked, weaving through the forest while listening for civilization.  Her sharp ears eventually alerted her to people and she slowed, walking the edge of the forest until she spied a lone house, separated from the others.  She crouched low, occasionally dropping to hands and feet in an odd lope until she reached their backyard.  With an ear out for the owners, she dug around, breaking the old lock on their shed with her bare hands and digging through boxes to find an old dress that barely fit her.

Once clothed, she walked more confidently despite the lack of bra and panties and by the time she reached the city, she'd convinced herself that she'd simply become hysterical again.  What she needed was to rest at her flat until it was time to work.  And then she'd talk to Dr. Hirsch about meeting with his so-called 'survivors' to see if they had any worthwhile information.

The beast fed her self confidence and she supped until she was full of it.

Hours after waking, she'd made it into her apartment after convincing the super to let her in.  She stripped immediately, enjoying the freedom of her nudity before curling up on the floor and passing out.

---

Alex moaned and rolled, sitting on her ass and stretching her arms until her joints popped.  She growled quietly and stood, knuckling her back with a glance at her clock.  She had time to get ready for work but, just barely so she rushed through the motions, washing her hair and soaping her body without regard for the fur covering her back and her sex.

She dressed, discarding jeans for a looser skirt that fit her better before tearing into a week old packet of sliced ham.  With a growl, she shoved through her fridge and then her freezer, tearing open a package of frozen chicken.  She bit at it, gnawing at the skinless meat but her teeth were too flat and small so she angrily tossed the chicken aside and finished getting ready.

The crowds annoyed her, jostling and walking with uneven speeds until she stepped away from them all with a snarl and teeth bared.  She would-

David.  Again. In the reflection of a bank's window.  She turned to see him and he waved to her.

"Dammit," she cursed before spitting but she still followed him.

"Alex," he said and only her ears could hear his weakened voice.  Blood leaked from his mouth and his ears now.  "Please, you have to go."

"Go, where, David?" she hissed.  "You aren't even real.  I have work. Real work so I can afford my real life.  You don't even-"

"Look at your hand," he said, wavering on the edge of transparency.  "Alex, your hand."

She obliged with a sneer.

Brown fur slid through the back of her right hand.  It seized, forcing her fingers to curl inward and she snarled when pain lanced through her palm.  Turning her hand, she spied dark razor tips beneath her fingernails.  Claws building within the swelling finger.

"No," she whispered, cursing as pain enveloped her other hand.

"The forest," David whispered.  The rest of his words were carried by the wind as he vanished.  "Too weak to help."

She ran, whistling for a cab that screeched before her.  Sweat poured from her body as she gave instructions and she gripped the edge of the seat, fighting back the rage that rose within.  Muscles bulged on her forearms and she tore at her dress, ripping the front to bare her bra while gnashing sharp fangs.

"Fasterrrr," she growled while bending to hide her changes.  She could already feel the stub of her tail pressing against the back of the seat.  The pain of it all was almost too much to bear but she breathed through her nostrils as they blackened and cracked.

Bones scraped together beneath skin expanding over dense muscles.  Rage built within her alongside her hunger for flesh and the urge to rend and tear.  Alex's ears elongated as she concentrated and the tips bent at an angle while wrinkles appeared mid-brow over the expanding bridge of her nose.

Remember, she tried to tell herself through the blinding anger.  Remember David.

The ghost of his touch calmed her somewhat.  Not how she remembered him before he died but from the night before.  Changed.  A monstrous beast mounting her.  His passions dulled the edge of her pain, giving her extra precious minutes of humanity.

The cab sped through the city and she tore at the backing of the driver's seat, imagining it was his throat instead.  It was almost gone.  Her sanity.  The rage was too much to bottle.  And then he stopped, announcing her fare.

Alex turned and coiled her legs before kicking.  The door screeched and spat sparks as it bounced against the concrete.  She leapt from the cab onto all fours, despite the awkwardness of the position.  Bones cracked in her feet and arms as her paws slapped the ground.

She fled deep into the forest, losing herself as the animals fell quiet.

But not quiet enough.  Alex hunted throughout the night until she'd killed far more than she could eat.

And again, she woke in the early morning, sleeping on her side on a bed of moss.

"Oh," she said simply, opening her eyes briefly before closing them again.

David stood there, translucent but visible.  He waited for her as she replayed the night before in her mind.  The cab ride.  Changing.  She could remember changing.  Part of it.

"I want to die," Alex moaned.

"No," David said fiercely.  "No, don't do that.  Don't say that."

She opened her eyes to see him crouched.  Furious.  Dead flesh hung from his face.

"I'm cursed," she told him.  "I can't control this.  I'll- I'll kill someone and I can't live with myself if I do."

"But you haven't yet," he replied.

"Yet," she laughed.  "Two days now, isn't it?  Just two days.  I have how many decades left?"

"You listened to me that first night," he told her.  "I was able to help. And you listened.  You almost killed someone then but I stopped you.   I can continue to stop you."

"You can't," she said with a quiet sob.  "You're dead, David.  You're not even real."

"I am real," he told her with his old, charming smile.  "Alex, I'm stuck.  I can't move on.  I'm not in your imagination.  I'm a spirit, I guess.  And I'm tethered to you.  Just like Jack was stuck with me."

She absorbed the information, shuffling it with what little she knew so far.  He did seem too real to her.  And she felt in control of herself.  She felt great, in fact.

Alex grimaced.  Of course she felt great.  She was a beast now.

"If I don't kill," she said but paused, touching her hand to her bare chest.  "I- I can't kill myself.  If I don't kill, will I be saved?"

"Saved?  Like, heaven?" David asked, cocking his head.  "I- I don't know.  But, look at me!  I mean, there's something out there, right?  If I exist?"

"But, I'm cursed," Alex said, pushing herself up.  She sat with her knees together and to the side, bashful for a moment in front of David.  When a partial memory of the first night hit her, she blushed and cleared her throat.  "I'm cursed so maybe it doesn't matter any more."

"Or maybe it does, Alex," David said.  "We don't know.  But what we do know is you haven't killed.  Not- not a person, at least.  We can do this.  I'll help you.  I'll be with you every step of the way."

Alex's knees opened for a brief moment and she swallowed before closing them again.  The knot...

"I-" she started to say.  "I'll try.  I'll try, David."

"Thank God," he said, bowing his head with a little laugh.  "Let's get out of here, huh?  And find you some clothes?  I mean, you look amazing but I don't like the idea of everyone else seeing you au naturel."

He spoke to her as she walked but began to fade less than ten minutes later, leaving her to navigate alone.  Her confidence built as it had the day before and she began to consciously use her enhanced hearing and sense of smell, exploring their limits and abilities in order to find where she needed to go.

Although she came from a different direction in Epping Forest this morning, she was still able to find clothing and a ride into town.  She spent the day reassembling her life.  First, by calling Dr. Hirsch to apologize for the night before and to ask for a few extra days off.  Only when she was given a new spare key to her flat did she realize she'd lost her purse that first night she changed.  She wrote a list of things she'd need to replace and then went shopping while watching the time.

Just after 2 p.m., she hailed a cab.  She wore old, cheap clothes she'd stored for donation.  They served her well as she walked into the forest alone, shedding the clothes when she was sure no one was watching.

The freedom was exhilarating and she enjoyed it until the first cramps hit.  David joined her, as a human, speaking to her as she screamed through the changes, bones cracking and forcing her down to all fours like the beast she was.

And yet, when she bayed at the full moon high above, there was a faint hint of human song within it.

---

When the third night ended, Alex spent the morning in the forest.  She rested and then bathed in a creek until the mud and dirt and twigs were gone, leaving her pale beautiful skin behind.

It was while she was bathing in the cold, clear water that she noticed her labia were still swollen.  They pressed together softly and she touched them tenderly, pulling them apart to examine the velvet lips within.  It was different but only slightly and she wondered when they would change back.

And worried they wouldn't.  But, that was something to worry about another time.  She shrugged and made her way, gently itching at six sore spots on her belly.

Her first night back home, she missed the forest in a strange way.  It was simple and clean and quiet.  Uncomplicated.

Safe.

She began saving and planning to eventually move to the countryside. David joined her as he could, when he had the strength.  His strange decay waxed and waned with how much time he spent with her so he used his time wisely.  Although the wolf was a curse, it came with abilities she made liberal use of, enjoying the boldness it imparted as well as the more physical gifts.

Over time, the beast left her with permanent changes that were difficult to explain away but it wasn't long after that that she was able to move away, severing contact with those she knew in her past life.

The wolf was never controllable.  It's rage never ceased.  But, with David by her side, she managed and redirected.

And thrived.