Into The Woods (Patreon)

This kinda grew from what I'd intended.   I hope y'all still enjoy it!

"Katrina, have you seen your little sister?"

The question was simple yet filled with a heavy weight of dread that made Katrina's blood run cold.  Katrina looked to her mother.  The older woman clenched and unclenched her hands on the apron she wore and her lips trembled despite the stoic expression she often held.

"No, mama.  I thought she was helping Jonathon with the weeds," Katrina answered carefully after thinking through the events of the morning.

"Jonathon- Jonathan's with your father now," Miriam told her daughter.  "He said-"

Miriam's knuckles whitened.

"He said- he said he just looked away for a moment and she was gone," Miriam's throat seized briefly as she spoke and she wiped angrily at her eyes.  "The woods.  He would've seen her otherwise, in the field."

"No," Katrina gasped.  "We- we have to go look."

"You know we can't," Miriam said and the tears were evident in her voice.  "Your father's organizing a search along the forest and among the neighboring fields.  Find him and join him.  I'm off to gather your brothers."

Katrina watched her mother run.  So unlike her.  She was steady and firm, slow to anger and thoughtful.  The woman never rushed and always cautioned her children to make calm, measured decisions.

Her mother was already almost out of sight.  Katrina looked towards the woods and she set off towards them, squaring her shoulders while pulling a few errant strands of curly brown hair away from her eyes.

No beasts wandered beyond the tree line and they'd learned, long ago, never venture inside.  It always ended in death, with no wounds and the body sitting up against the tree nearest where they entered.  Always.

"ELIZA!" Katrina yelled with a hand touching the gnarled bark of an ancient tree.  She listened in return, head bowed and her eyes closed.  Nothing answered her and she raised her voice once more.  "ELIZA ANSWER ME!"

Knots twisted in Katrina's belly.  Her sister was the youngest of five.  She was the sweetest of them, pure and filled with delight at everything around her.  But, also, simple.  Her mind didn't follow the same paths as everyone else.  Her body grew while her thoughts tarried.

"Gods above, protect me," she prayed to Those That Watched and a small, quiet prayer specifically to the Shepherd to guide her.

The eerie silence unnerved the young woman, but she forced herself forward, twitching at every single imagined sound.  Her heart surged to her throat whenever a twig snapped beneath her boots.  Despite how deep she wandered, the morning sunlight remained the same, piercing the dense boughs in an unnatural way.

"E- Eliza?" Katrina said.  Her voice squeaked, little more than a whisper and her barely restrained terror surged.  "E-"

The cabin wasn't there one moment and then it was, sprawling with stripped skins laying out around the field in front.  An acrid scent filled the air from cauldrons set out.  Vines and plants Katrina didn't know curled around trellises set on the perimeter of a large garden off to the side.

A young woman sat on a log stripped of bark.  Eliza knelt on the ground before her.

"Eliza!" Katrina called out.  She took two steps until the old woman looked up at her.  A simple look stopped her in her tracks.  There was no malice in the woman's eyes but the power and authority were undeniable.

"E- Eliza, come to me now," Katrina said again, frozen in place.

The strange woman smiled, showing faint wrinkles at the corner of her eyes and lips.

"Why are you here, daughter?" the maiden asked.

"My- my- my sister," Katrina told her.  Her face burned with shame at not being able to meet the woman's eyes.  "I c- came to get my s- sister."

The young girl seated on the log kicked her feet playfully back and forth.

"Oh, but, no, we're having so much fun, aren't we, little Eliza?" the girl said.

"Yes!  I love your garden and the little creatures living there!  Their little glowing wings!"  Eliza said while clapping happily.

"There, you see?" the crone said, her sweet voice ringing like bells.  "We'll have so much fun together."

"Please," Katrina moaned.  "She has to come back home.  She-"

"Has to?" the young woman asked and now her smile didn't touch her eyes.  She stood from her log while reaching down to touch her fingers against Eliza's head.

"Please-" Katrina tried to say.

"Has to?" the elderly woman repeated and her fingers curled, scraping against Eliza's scalp and gathering the girl's hair.

"I- I'll take her place," Katrina cried, falling to her knees with her hands down before her.  The earth was rich and damp and she recoiled, snatching her hands away when she spied worms twisting endlessly, surfacing briefly before diving and turning and coiling.  Her stomach burned from the acid gnawing at the fleshy walls.

"So brave," the woman laughed.  She took her hand away from Eliza to place the tips of her fingers against her throat.  Her black dress clung to her curves as she made her way towards Katrina.

Katrina curled forward until her forehead rested against the dirt.  She could feel the earth moving beneath her.

"Even if it meant never seeing your family again?" the little girl asked in a high pitched voice.  She toyed with her dress, spinning this way and that as she danced in place.  "Even if it meant dying?"

Gods, please, Katrina prayed and the little girl laughed as if she could hear.

"Y- y- yes," Katrina said, her voice sticking several times in her throat.

The old woman knelt and the worms churned in a frenzied orgy where she touched the ground.

Katrina closed her eyes.  Her prayers failed her and her body trembled but she fell calm when she felt a palm against her crown.

"I am not cruel," the woman announced.  "I kill as the predator kills.  Out of necessity for survival.  For feeding.  Never to waste.  Take your sister, Katrina, and let your return warn the others of the consequences of stepping into my domain.  It would pain me to think mankind believes they're safe or that I've grown weak."

The voice approached.  Closer.  Louder.  But dropping to a whisper and pain blossomed from her touch.

"Only test me to find out and see how long I restrict myself to the forest," the woman growled next to Katrina's ear.

Tears dripped to the ground, feeding the worms.  The ancient hag removed her hand but the pain was slow to fade, pulsing in beating waves that left Katrina sobbing.

"Trina, let's go home," Eliza said while standing in front of her sister.  Katrina enveloped her sister in a fierce hug with her arms wrapped around the girl's stomach.  "Let's go home, Trina, I'm hungry."

Katrina stood and grabbed her sister's hand, ready to run if needed.

"Guide her well, beast, as your kind does," the maiden called out behind her.

One step at a time, don't startle her, Katrina told herself.  She gripped her sister's hand painfully tight while controlling her pace.  One foot in front of the other, clearing her mind of anything until she was safely beyond the forest.

Only when their feet touched the field did Katrina pull her sister in a run.  The little girl screamed happily and followed, racing barefooted just behind her sister until they collapsed in front of their home.

Dark stars burst in Katrina's sight while her scalp crawled with the memory of the woman's touch.  She gasped and bucked while her sister called out to her in fear.

Hushed, concerned voices whispered around Katrina.  Katrina groaned and stirred until a hand pressed against her belly.  A cool wet cloth was placed against her forehead and she moaned.  Knives tore into her brain and she whimpered before passing out once more.  She woke several times throughout the night and it was the same every time, sweating and moaning while twisting on a thin mattress.  Wild thoughts trampled through her mind.  Wild, naked, animalistic thoughts.

---

Katrina woke to her youngest brother, Marcus, and Eliza pressed against her side.  Her parents lay against them and her other brothers were asleep against loose hay.  Their sheep slept in clumps with several cuddled up against her elder brothers.

When Katrina stirred, her parents immediately sat up.

"Katrina!" her father cried out, rousing the other children.

"Thank the gods!" her mother added, hugging her tightly.  "We thought the worst.  We didn't-"

"We found you collapsed with Eliza resting next to you," her father interrupted.  "She said you went into the forest!  That you both went into the forest!"

"Where were you?  Where did you go?" Miriam asked.

"T-" Katrina tried to say but her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth.  Her father grabbed a nearby bladder to tip it against her lips until she'd had her fill of water.

"Take your time," Miriam said.  "Josef, let her breathe."

"The woods," Katrina said after swallowing. She reached up to grab her father's wrist.  "I saw her.  I saw her, but she let me go."

Her parents glanced at each other and when they looked back, her mother's smile was fragile.

"It'll be all right now," her father told her.  "Rest.  There's still several hours until sunrise.  We'll watch over you.  Rest.  You saved her.  My brave girl, you saved her."

"'Kay," Katrina said, her eyes already closing as she drifted into dreamless sleep.

---

Katrina sat watching her sister and mother pull bugs from their crops.

"I'm fine, you know," Katrina called out from where she sat.  "I can help.  I want to help."

It was true.  She'd welcomed the relaxation at first, enjoying a moment to just sit without having to do anything at all.  However, the longer she sat, the more irate she became.  It was made worse by everyone telling her to just relax.  For whatever reason she couldn't identify, that made her even more frustrated.

"Don't be stubborn," Miriam said, not for the first time.  "You survived quite a trial.  One day of taking it easy won't kill you."

"It might," Katrina grumbled.

Her mother turned to glare at her.

"What's gotten into you?" the woman asked.

"I don't know," Katrina said.  She kicked a random rock.  "I feel fine.  I can do work.  I want to do work.  So, why can't I?"

"You could've died last night, Katrina," Miriam told her.  "Just-"

"Relax, I know!" Katrina said, cutting her mother off.  "Look."

The girl walked into the field.  She squinted at the leafy vegetables and began to pick the little black crawling bugs, squishing them before tossing them aside.

"Katrina, go sit back down," Miriam demanded.

"Look, I'm fine.  I don't feel sick or anything," the girl told her mother, ignoring the command as she continued to pick bugs.

"I know you can hear me, young lady," Miriam said and her voice dropped lower.  "Go sit down."

"Of course I can heee-HAWW!" Katrina shouted.  Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth.

Katrina's throat itched.  She swallowed and swallowed again.  She could feel the urge to call out as she just had.  Her fingers dug into her thighs and she turned her head while swallowing again.

"Ka-" Miriam started to say.

"HAWWW-HEEEE-HAWWWWWWWWW!" Katrina brayed, shoving her face out with her eyes closed as the sound forced itself through her body from the pit of her stomach and up.  She collapsed to her knees while bringing her hands back up to her mouth.

It had felt good to call out as she had and, even now, she could feel her nerves on edge from it, as if they were eager for more.  Or for something else.

"Do it again, Trina!" Eliza yelled out while jumping up and down.

Miriam raced through the crops, trampling a few in her rush to get to her daughter.

"Gkk," Katrina said, swallowing the fading urge to bray while her nostrils opened and closed.

"Katrina!" Miriam shouted while kneeling by her daughter's side.

"I'm- I'm fine- I don't- I don't know why I did that," Katrina said.

"Oh, oh gods, my little girl,"Miriam said.  She reached a trembling hand out to her daughter's face while tears welled at the corner of her eyes.

"I said I'm fine, mama," Katrina said, raising her own hand to push her mother away.

Miriam persisted and the tips of her fingers brushed Katrina's cheek, just beneath her ears.  Her nails trailed through brown fur that grew down Katrina's cheeks in a flat strip that raised when it touched her neck.  Katrina shivered when her mother touched long black kinky hairs covering Katrina's nape and the side of her neck.

The spreading hairs slowed when they reached Katrina's shoulders.

"Mama, what is it?" Katrina asked quietly.  Her teeth ached and her nails bumped into her incisors when she reached up to her mouth.  She touched them, tracing their length and then over.  Her canines were broad and flat but, as she explored them, she could feel them push into her skin when the sharp tips reformed to pull flat.  Her ears twisted in surprise.

"HAAWWW!" Katrina brayed from shock.  She grabbed her ears and soft hairs brushed against her palms.  "Mama!  What's haaAAAWWpenning to me?"

"Baby, I don't know!" Miriam said.  She reached her arms around her daughter to hold her tight and she softly began to sing, an old lullabye passed down from generations.  They rocked slowly together and Eliza soon joined the hug.

Katrina's ears shortened, the skin thickening as the soft hairs receded.  She shivered when she felt prickling sensations against her neck and cheeks, but when it stopped, she peeled herself away to touch her body.

"You're all right now, baby, you're all right," Miriam said, sniffling and laughing.  "Look at you, as pretty as ever."

---

Josef sat on the floor next to his daughter.  Ten men faced them in a semicircle.  She'd been warned what was coming earlier in the morning, but it did nothing to lessen her anxiety even with her father next to her.  His hand rested on her knee for comfort.  Miriam sat back near the door and the flickering shadows of the firepit contorted her drawn face.

Katrina recounted her story from yesterday, starting from when she heard her mother tell Eliza to pull weeds with Jonathon.  She spoke of her mother asking where Eliza was and continuing to her decision to go after the little girl.  Her voice faltered when she spoke of meeting the woman in the woods.

"What did she look like?" Ambrose, their elder, asked.

"She was-" Katrina stopped and frowned.  She couldn't remember the woman's face.  Or her age.  Or hair color or any defining characteristic.  "I- I can't remember.  A woman, I'm sure of that.  But, I can't remember if she was old or young or anything.  Why can't I remember?"

The men exchanged looks and she firmed her jaw.

"I'm naaawt lying," she said and her father's hand tightened on her knee at the drawn out word.

"We believe you, girl," Ambrose said.

"Not a girl," Katrina muttered, her jaw flexing.

"Katrina," her father said, his voice a stern warning.

"I'm not, not any longer," Katrina said.  "I'm old enough to marry, I'm not a girl.  Not 'girl.'"

"If we-" Ezekiel started to say until Ambrose raised his hand.

"Katrina, apologies," the man said.

"I'm sorry," Josef told them.  "I don't know what's gotten into her, but she's been like this since she woke from the fever.  Strong willed."

"Stubborn," Miriam said from behind them.  Ambrose raised his eyebrows and the woman lifted her chin.

"Well, she's a woman, after all," Ambrose replied.  He shook himself and looked back at Katrina.  "Your sister said the same earlier and we've no reason to doubt you.  What else do you remember?"

"The ground was alive with worms and other crawling creatures," Katrina remembered.  She shivered and scratched at the base of her ears before rubbing the skin between her thumb and index finger. "And there were animal hides.  And, oh, the forest was silent.  Not a single sound.  I'd forgotten to mention that."

"Did she tell you anything?" another man, Luther, asked.  They all leaned forward.

"She warned me," Katrina said and her voice took on a dreamlike quality.  "Us.  She warned us.  Said to stay out.  She let my sister go on a whim.  Because I was brave, but I don't think that was it.  It was a whim.  I couldn't even look at her.  She was fury made flesh.  I remember thinking she could just open her mouth and swallow all of us, the farms and village all at once.  And- and she said would step beyond the forest if pushed further."

"Gods," Luther gasped.

"The Pact must hold," Ambrose said.  "We'll spread the word and post scouts for any visitors who might not know."

"Signs," Ezekiel said.  "I can carve them if someone tells me the letters."

"With symbols," Luther said.  "Something to warn those what can't read."

"Are we done, then?" Josef asked.  His hand trembled against Katrina's knee.

They grew quiet and turned to her once more.

"Tell us what happened in the field this morning," Ambrose said.

"Mama?" Katrina asked, twisting to look at Miriam, but the woman avoided her eyes.

"What- what happened in the field?" Josef asked them.

"Katrina, tell us what happened," Ambrose repeated.

"Nuh- nothing," Katrina lied.  She reached up to rub her ears once more.  "Nothing happened."

"We've heard otherwise, Katrina," Ambrose said.  "You're safe here.  You can tell us."

"I said nothing happened," Katrina told him.

"You're lying," Ambrose said.

"What is this?  Miriam?  What is this?  Why are you badgering her?" Josef asked.

"I'm not-" Katrina started to say.

"You're lying because you're scared, aren't you?" Ambrose continued.  "Tell us what happened while you were with your mother.  No, don't look at her.  Look at us.  Tell us what-"

"Nuhh- nothing hap-"

"You're lying!" Ambrose shouted.

"How dare you!" Josef shouted back.

"I'm naaaawWWWWWT!  I'm HAWWWW!  HEEEHAWWWW!" Katrina brayed.

Her ears unwound, the edges folding flat before curling inwards and stretching.  They arched back to show her agitation while small hairs burst through the thin skin, racing to cover them completely before touching the base and splitting.  Long white hairs grew from within her ears while flat brown hairs emerged from her cheeks.

"HAAWWW!"  Katrina called out.  Her eyes bulged and she leaned forward with her face pushed out and her hands on the ground.  The urge was unstoppable.  "HAWWW HAAWWWWWW HEEEEHAWWWW!"

The release was almost sexual and she drooled while shaking her head.  Bristly black hairs emerged from her nape, slipping through her waist-length brown hair as they grew dense into a mane that trailed off between her shoulder blades beneath her dress.

Sweat dripped from the broad tip of her nose when it was pulled by her elongating snout.  She groaned and then moaned, bowing her head with her hands clutching low against her belly.  Pressure coiled around pain mixed with pleasure and that terrified her.  She squeezed and pulled at a soft roll of skin just above the messy curls of her pubic hair.

Something cracked in the base of her spine and she jumped while bowing her head further.  A wiggling sensation tickled deep in her hips and the pressure began to twist around the dangerous knot.

"Pluh- pluhhhHAWWW!  Please!" she shouted out.

Her mother and father gripped her arms with one hand while stroking her fur covered back with their other hands.

"You're okay, baby, you're okay, Katrina," her father whispered while her mother babbled on about how safe she was and nobody was going to hurt her.

The hairs stopped growing and pulled back while she panted.  Sweat rolled down her chest to the tips of her bare nipples, dangling briefly before soaking into her dress.  She groaned and pulled her hand away from her belly while her knees slowly slid apart.  There was weight there.  Flesh against flesh.  Soft and needy and full, but as she slowed her breathing by listening to her parent's voices the urge to touch herself passed.

Five minutes later, she trusted herself to look up.  Her pupils were rounded rectangles in the center of brown eyes that filled her eye sockets.  White touched the edges of brown, compressing the color while her pupils were forced back into narrow circles.

"She was Touched by her," Ambrose whispered and Katrina bowed her head with her eyes closed.

They'll cast me out, she thought.  Or kill me to keep the village safe.  I- I-

"What are you saying, Ambrose?" Josef asked.  His voice was flat, devoid of emotion to all but his wife and daughter who heard the violent undertones waiting to be unleashed.

"We must-" Ezekiel started to say until Ambrose raised his hand.

"What would you have us do, Josef?" Ambrose asked.

"If you mean to-" Josef said but his wife reached for his hand.

"No, don't misunderstand me," Ambrose told him.  "The girl risked her life to save her sister.  She retrieved her knowing it could cost her life.  If her sister was indoctrinated by the creature, who knows what damage could be done years from now.  So I'm asking you, what do you want us to do?  Do we tell others?  Do we keep her secret?  We'll do as you ask in return."

With all eyes on Ambrose, only Katrina saw a flicker of doubt and anger cross Ezekiel's face.

"Tell the others," Miriam said.  "We can't keep it a secret; she can't control it.  I'll not have someone trying to kill her because they don't understand.  So you'll spread the word that she was cursed in saving her sister.  In maybe saving the village.  She was braver than all of us."

"If that's what you wish," Ambrose said slowly and, again, the other men nodded in unison but only Ezekiel lagged behind.  "We've kept you late.  We'll start tomorrow and I'll begin with those I trust to spread the word properly."

"Thank you," Josef and Miriam said together.  The three stood and turned to leave.

August stood by the tree outside the door, a respectful distance away from the house so as not to eavesdrop.  Josef stared at him for a moment before taking his wife's arm.

"August, see Katrina home, will you?" Josef called out.  "My wife and I must talk alone."

"Sir," August agreed, ducking his head with his knuckles against his brow.

"Papa, I don't think-" Katrina said, suddenly terrified.

Short black fur slid through the skin around her neck, hidden by her hair.  Her canines swiveled in her gums, sliding back while the points became flattened.  She glanced at the young man and her pupils wobbled before flattening slightly.

"You'll be fine, Katrina," Miriam said with a quick worried look at her husband.  "Just don't take long."

Katrina watched her parents walk away while August stepped up close to her.  She shied away from him with a huff of air from her nose.  The pressure was back, low in her stomach and her hips felt strange.  Ungainly and uncomfortable.  When she wavered in place, a sharp shard of bone moved within a sheath of muscle and nerves.  Katrina stamped her foot and wrapped her arms around her body.

"I asked after you, Katrina," August said.  He touched her shoulder briefly.  Long hairs flattened beneath his fingertips, just below her dress.  "Shall we walk?"

"Yes," she said quickly before rubbing her throat.  Her ears twitched - a quick, sharp movement barely noticeable beyond a rifling of her hair.

"I was told you were hurt, but they didn't say how," he continued.  "I wanted to wait up with you but your father forbid it."

"It's okay," she said while scratching the itch spreading over her throat.

His presence flustered her.  They'd grown up together and her brothers teased her about her marrying the boy while, behind her back, threatening him if he ever did her harm.  She'd even noticed both of their parents spending more and more time together.  She liked him and enjoyed her time with him, but, she couldn't-  She didn't think of him like-

Her hand reached down to the ache low on her stomach.  Hard work kept her body trim but the skin was loose just above her hips.  She huffed out another hot breath of air when she squeezed the paunch.

Katrina stumbled suddenly when cramps seized her feet.  August grabbed her to keep her upright.

"I'm aawwwwll-" she said before shutting her mouth.

She could feel hairs brushing against her dress and she reached back to touch her nape, snatching her hands away when she felt rough, sharp hairs spreading over her skin.

What's wrong with me?  I'm fine! she told herself.  It's just August!  We're just walking and talking!

"Haaaa," Katrina sighed before forcing her jaw closed.

She reached up to scratch her mouth in an effort to hide the noise she'd made.  The skin surrounding her chin felt different.  Smoother and softer.  Puffy in a strange way.

Short whiskers emerged around her questing fingers and she moaned with fluttering eyelids when she clawed at the skin.  It felt incredible.

"Katrina?" August prompted.

"I- what?" she asked, snatching her hand away.

Her entire body felt tingly and warm and she found herself walking closer and closer to August until she purposely bumped her hip into him before stepping away and reaching her hands up to her ears to tug them.  The short hairs inside and out were velvet soft against her fingers and she loved the way it felt to rub them.

What would it feel like if someone else-  No, no, that's stupid, of course nobody would and-  wait!

"Wait!" she said out loud, once more snatching her hand away.

"What's wrong?" August asked.

"You hawww- you have to go," she told him, pushing him away while lifting her dress to hurry towards her farm.  Her feet ached within the cramped toe box of her boots.  They pulsed with pain in every stop and she grunted as she hurried.

"Katrina, wait, I'm- Katrina!  I'm supposed to walk you home!"  August said while easily catching up with her.

"I can walk myself home!" she said, suddenly indignant.

"But, your father told me-!" he tried to say.

"I'm my own woman and I know my way-!"

A spasm seized her feet, causing her to stumble and fall to her hands and knees.

"HAWWW HEEE- HEEE HAWWW!" Katrina brayed in frustration while hot tears formed.

"Wha- Katrina, what- what's wrong with you?!" August asked.  He knelt beside her, reaching out for her until she moved away.

The young girl turned to sit on her ass and, with a scream, she pulled at her boots while tears raced down her cheeks.  The drops caught against the short fur growing over her face and her ears, curled and long, tilted downward.

Katrina massaged her feet, rubbing from her heels to the tips of her toes.  After several passes, she realized she couldn't feel anything beyond her forefeet.  Her toes hung limp and useless, locked together by a growth of toenail that spread between them.

"Ka- Katrina, your ears!" August shouted.  "There's something- your ears, Katrina!"

"Get aaaaawwww HHEEEEE HAWWW!  Get away from me!" she shouted, rolling and stumbling up to two feet.

The front of her proto-hooves cut into the earth and she tipped forward until she dragged one foot up to take a step.  And then another.  She could barely feel the cool dirt beneath her feet as she lumbered to a run.  Her hair tangled with the spiky mane of black fur lining her back and neck.  It pushed her dress away from her and for that, she was grateful since it allowed cool air to flow over her body.

Miriam waited for her with an oil lamp by the door to their home.

"Katrina!  Are- are you-?" she couldn't finish the sentence and, instead, stared at her daughter's face anxiously with the lamp raised.

In turn, Katrina raised her hand with her head turned.  Her heart raced but it was steady and strong and she barely felt as if she'd run at all.  Her boots dropped from her fingers.

"I'm- I'm gonna sleep in the barn, maaaWWWWW-" she coughed and cleared her throat while her ears bounced against her head.  "Mama.  I'm going to sleep in the barn.  With the other animals."

"Oh, little one, don't- don't do that to yourself," her mother said.  "Come inside.  We've already told the boys.  They know what to expect.  This is your home, too.  Always."

"Don't make me," Katrina whispered.  Her throat felt swollen and she sniffled, ready to bawl but desperately trying to hold back.  "Please.  Just tonight.  I'll be in the barn."

Katrina stomped her foot.  For a single moment she thought she could feel her toes, but when she tried to wiggle them, there was no response.

"I made a fool of myself in front of August and I just need to be alone," Katrina continued.  She raised her arm up to wipe her nose.  The fur scattered over her forearm scratched the soft sensitive skin around her lips and chin.  She snapped her teeth together and slammed her hands down against her side.

The thought of stumbling in front of August - of her childhood friend seeing her in that state - infuriated her.  And scared her.  It happened so easily.  So quickly.  The more she replayed the scene, the worst she felt and the changes continued until a dull ache throbbed behind her eyes.

"Need alone," she slurred.  She felt slower, as if half awake from a long dream.  "Need. To.  Be alone."

Her mother crossed the distance to her, wrapping her free hand around her daughter with the lamp held out to the side.

"I'll see you in the morning," her mother said and her own voice was thick with emotion as she stared after her daughter.  The woman turned and fled, leaving her daughter in peace.

Katrina shivered but not from the cool night air.  Beneath her dress her tail was moving, snaking down between her ass cheeks.  Her breathing hitched while her eyes tightened as she did her best to ignore the way it felt.  The skin was smooth and warm as it caressed her most private of places, it spread her apart and she reached back as if to pull it away, but the tail curved and she stumbled, falling to her knees with her head bowed.

"Haaww- hawww- hawwwww-" Katrina panted.  Her ears brushed against the side of her head and up through her hair as her thick brown locks cascaded down over her shoulders.

Muscles flexed in her tail as it curled, sliding between her swollen labia.  The fine tan hairs covering the appendage dragged against her pussy lips.  Her jaw snapped together with a loud 'chock!' and her eyes squeezed shut.  The bushy tip of the tail swished against her thigh as it began to coil around her leg.  She lay on the ground on all fours, trembling with her long ears quivering and red filling her cheeks.

"Have to- have to- get up- have to get up," she groaned, forcing herself up onto her knees.

She stared down at herself with eyes half closed from arousal filling her body as the heat continued to pulse within, made worse by her traitorous tail grinding and rubbing.  Muscles flexed in her lower back, pulling and twisting in a bizarre, unfamiliar way.  She tried to stop it by focusing inward, but it refused to listen.  With her eyes still closed, she tensed her body, determined to control it, but all it accomplished was for the slick muscles deep within her pussy to clench together.

It was an entirely new sensation.  An emptiness begging to be filled.  She yearned to be stretched out in a way she'd never known before.

Her dress lay flat against her body, the hem trapped against her bare heels.  A bulge pushed against the bodice, just above her waist.  It terrified her.  With every breath, the dress dragged back and forth over the protrusion, reminding her of its presence with a sharp tantalizing jolt.

"Hawwwwww," Katrina brayed while her hand twitched to pull at her dress.  The urge was sudden and intense as the linen snagged against the short fur spreading over her back and arms.  Her brain insisted that it was trapping her, that animals didn't wear clothing and it was tangling her when she needed the freedom of her nudity.  Another part of her wanted to see what grew from her belly.  To touch it.

Katrina's dense hoof sunk into the earth when she forced herself up to one knee.  She moaned when her tail sawed between her legs, slick from the arousal powering through her.  It bent and lifted the back of her dress.

She could no longer take it.  The girl grabbed at her dress, twisting and stomping and pulling while her tail lashed, slapping at her legs and ass until she had the dress over her head.

"HAWW EEE-HAWWW!" Katrina brayed as she flung the dress away.  She huffed and stomped and shook her head to settle her hair against the thick black mane as it waved against her back.

Soft moonlight bathed her as she trudged through their field to the barn.  Thoughts warred inside her mind, gibbering that she was naked for all to see, but the concern was distant and unimportant.  Animals slept in the barn.  She knew that, ever since she was old enough to speak and help around the house.  Animals didn't wear clothes - they wore saddles or harnesses latched to carts and plows.  She knew that and it made sense.  The barn was where she truly belonged.

Katrina stood before the small door set on the side of the building, fighting with the latch before remembering how it worked.  The old, battered iron clunked when she raised and dropped it before slipping inside.  Her family's sheep were all clustered together, but a few raised their heads to stare at her.

A series of miniature cramps seized her stomach, forcing her down.  Her left hand shot out to grab whatever she could to hold herself up as she bowed, lower and lower while raising her ass.  She swallowed as spit filled her mouth to flow down.  Gray streaks covered her lips while the pink faded from her drool-covered chin.  Muscles seized in her jaw, forcing her to bite again and again while her tail lifted and her pussy clenched.

She held herself there on weak legs, trembling as her pussy winked.  Her labia was engorged and swelling, sable filling the stretch marks as they elongated.  Her clit forced itself free of the hood.  The tiny pink nub - a sharp contrast against the jet black wrinkled skin of her outer labia - expanded, throbbing over her clenching pussy lips.

Katrina collapsed to her side on the dirt floor.  Her tail lifted and then slammed down, causing her to bray and kick out with her legs when the pain of it reverberated up her spine.  Her hooves cracked against the wall, breaking several stones from the base of the wall.  The sheep shied away from the girl and the noise she made while thrashing.

There was no subtlety or grace to Katrina's behavior.  Her mind was filled by an angry, gnawing mist that scratched claws down her spine.  Her hands slapped against the fleshy black labia outlining her glistening pink inner lips.

The girl's breasts, covered by tan fur, pressed together, trapped by her biceps while her forearms rubbed furiously against the twin mounds of her ebony udder.

It was the first time she'd masturbated and she did so inelegantly, thrusting as many fingers as she could reach with both hands.  Her continuous ear-splitting braying drowned out the wet slapping sounds of her palms smacking against her quivering pussy.  Cum splattered against her fur, the ground and the wall next to her while she plunged deeper and deeper, desperate to ease the heat tearing her apart.

Pressure built without release, causing her to become even more crazed.  Despite the fog filling her mind, she recognized the intensity of her palm rubbing her engorged clit.  Her left hand slid back to allow her to circle the base of the clit with her fingers.  She brayed and moaned while pinching and stroking and her other hand played out a staccato rhythm that left her labia wobbling with every impact.

Exhaustion took hold hours later.  She lay on her side again, unfulfilled and frustrated and hungry.  With what little energy she had left, she pulled herself to a pile of barley straw on the other side of the barn.  Katrina grabbed a fistful of the stuff to shove into her mouth and chew, chomping with flattened teeth while turning the mixture over and over until she swallowed.  She managed two more handfuls before her eyes drooped and she passed out.

The heavy thump of a fist against the side of the barn woke Katrina.  Drool coated the side of her face down into a small cold pool beneath her cheek.

"Ngh- haww!" the girl brayed in alarm while sitting up.

"Katrina?" Miriam's voice called from outside the barn.  There was a note of fear in her raised voice.

"I'm- I'm here, mama," Katrina answered.

"Oh, thank the gods.  I- I found your dress, and-"

The rest of the words were lost to Katrina.  She gasped and shoved back while crossing her right arm over her breasts and placing her left hand down between her legs.  When her wrist bumped against an unfamiliar part of her body, she glanced down and moaned.

Her udder rested against her thighs.  The ash-gray skin bulging against the pink of her belly with two wrinkled pitch black teats affixed side-by-side.

With her thighs pressed together she could feel the stickiness of her elongated fleshy labia.  She bent to look and held her breath, releasing it at once in a sorrowful moan when she saw the flat tan fur covering her crotch and inner thighs.

A matching line of fur covered her torso in a spray of hair that ran from her udder, between her breasts and up to the base of her neck.

"Nawwwww," she cried out when she saw her broad areola surrounding nipples that matched the color of her teats.  They'd been light brown and delicate before, and smaller and she'd idly daydreamed of breastfeeding her own babies while washing up but now saw them as nothing more than grotesque.

"Katrina?  Baby, are you okay?  Are you- are you-" her mother said beyond the barn.  She was unable to finish the question.  "Can I come in?"

"NO!" Katrina shouted.  She jumped up and covered herself once more before staring down at her toes.  The sight of a piece of her humanity being returned was spoiled by the touch of her tail against her calf muscle.  She reached back and her fingers massaged the bulge where it attached low on her back.  When she pulled her hand away, she could feel a scattering of short, sharp hairs over the curves of her ass cheeks. "Just- just leave my dress by the door, please, mama?"

"Okay, I will.  There's- Katrina, there's breakfast," Miriam said.  "Papa wanted to wait for you to join us.  Will you?  Will you join us for breakfast?"

Katrina reached tentative, hesitant fingers up to the side of her head.  She felt for her earlobes but there was nothing other than the base of her furred ears.  Her eyes squeezed shut as she slid her hands along their lengths.  Muscles tweaked, pulling them back through her curly hair.  Her eyes flew open.  She gasped and snatched her hands away to touch her face, suddenly sure she'd feel an animal's snout.

Her nose was broad and soft with a fine spray of fur at the tip of the bridge of her nose.  She slid her fingers down to touch her coal-dark lips and her protruding front teeth.  And down to her chin, the skin matching her nose and the space above her top lip.  Only here she felt short whiskers and she sighed, closing her eyes briefly.

"I- I still look-" Katrina tried to say before her throat seized with emotions.

"It's okay, baby, they know," Miriam said.  "They don't care.  Please, they're waiting for you."

"O- okay, just- just leave my dress and I'll come after I'm decent," Katrina told her.

"It's here," her mother said.  Her voice lowered slightly but Katrina's ears swiveled forward to listen to her.  "I love you."

"Love you too," Katrina whispered back.

After a full minute, Katrina walked to the side door.  She cracked it open and peeked out before squatting to pull her dress through the opening.  Fog had settled on the farm and no hint of sunlight cracked the gray sky.  Their chores waited for them as they always did.

She dressed quickly and her tail slapped the back of her leg as if angry at being trapped once more.  Her hand rested against the latch, but she turned to stare back at the barn - at where she'd slept.

And she remembered.

"Oh, gods," she moaned while falling sideways until she leaned into the door.

Katrina stumbled out of the barn before kneeling at the trough set beside the door.  She splashed freezing cold water against her face with a gasp.

"D-d-d-dirty," she stuttered, shoving her hands into the water to scrub them together as if that would wash away the shame from the night before.  She splashed more against her face and then leaned forward to submerge her head.

When Katrina pulled back, she stared at her waving reflection.  Memorizing it.  Burning it into her brain lest she forget and lose herself once more.  A reminder of what she was now.

"Never again," she told herself and her cheeks burned with the ghost of the pleasure she'd felt.

---

They stared as she entered, with the exception of her mother who busied herself with filling Eliza's plate.  Katrina hung her head, watching her feet until her mother's old, repeated words echoed through her mind: Don't hang your head or the gods will chop it off.

"Food's getting cold," her father said, but there was no reprimand in his gruff voice.  Still, she was thankful for it - an attempt at normality. She caught the hard lines of her eldest brother's lips pressed together until he broke a piece of his bread to shove into his mouth.

Katrina sat herself and yelped when her tail flexed beneath her weight.  Her ears flicked and bent and she bowed her head while reaching back to adjust herself before sitting once more.  She grabbed the thick new appendage and pulled it aside where it wrapped around her ass and pressed into her thigh.

"Your ears look so soft," Eliza said, breaking the silence.

"Eliza!" Miriam shouted.

"They do!" Eliza replied.

"No talking at the table," Josef said harshly.

"We talk at the table all the time!" Eliza protested.  She looked from her father to her mother, expecting to be backed up.

"Miriam-" Josef said, looking towards his wife.

"Eat your food, Eliza," Miriam told her daughter.  "Leave your sister be this morning."

"Can I pet them?" Eliza asked timidly after barely a few seconds passed.

"Eliza!" Josef yelled

"Josiah, take your sister out to the fields," Miriam said.  Anger and frustration lay just beneath the surface of her voice.  "I'll bring food out to you shortly."

Katrina's oldest brother was already moving.  He took Eliza's arm to walk her to the door and out.

"Why did you say that?" came her brother's voice.  Katrina's ears twisted to allow her to hear their fading voices, despite her wish otherwise.  "Weren't you listening to mama this morning?  Can't you see how scared she is?"

"But they're really pretty and soft looking and-"

The voices mercifully faded away.  Katrina picked at her food.  Her stomach rumbled but shame formed a knot in her belly that left her unable to summon the enthusiasm to eat.  A memory surfaced suddenly in response, painfully clear in her mind's eye.  Barley straw churning in her mouth after- after-

Katrina scooped a piece of egg onto her bread before taking a large bite.  She swallowed and continued to eat, forcing every single piece of food down her throat.  It was a rebuttal to the creature from last night.  She was human and she would eat human food, not the remnants left out for the livestock.

With breakfast finished, Katrina helped her mother clean up.  It was then she realized, after wiping her hand on the apron she'd slipped into, that her udder was gone.  After sneaking a look at her mother, she touched herself carefully to be certain.  The teats were still there but they were flat against her belly and smaller than she remembered from this morning.

The girl excused herself to the privy where she lifted her dress to stare down at the little nipples almost hidden behind her curly brown pubic hair.  Katrina lay her head back against the wall but then jumped when she felt something touch her ass.  She reached back to find her tail shortened with only sparse fur covering the tip.  It reached down to the bottom curve of her cheek and, with her hand gripping it, she could feel things moving beneath the surface of the skin.

"Oh, thank the gods," she whispered after letting her dress drop.  She said a small prayer in gratitude before leaving, only to find her mother waiting outside for her.

Katrina smiled for the first time that morning as she joined her mother to work in the fields.  She even found herself enjoying the backbreaking work while the sun marched high above.  The physical work was exhausting, but she lost herself in it and welcomed the effort of moving and toiling with her aching muscles.  When her mother stopped for breaks, Katrina continued, huffing and shaking herself as sweat rolled down her back.  She only stopped for water, taking the offered ladle to swallow eagerly, not caring that she splashed her face and the front of her dress.

Lunch was taken in the field.  The three women normally ate together, but Eliza was kept apart and Katrina ate in peace.  An hour later, her older brother flagged their mother down.

"What is it, Isaac?" Miriam asked.

"Master Ezekiel is asking after Katrina," the boy answered.

"And?" Miriam prompted.

"He wants to see her," Isaac replied.

"Then he can come here if so," Miriam told him with a sharpness in her voice.  She frowned and shook her head before pulling away a sweaty strand of hair from her brow.  "You go tell him that.  I know his mind, I'm not parading her through town until she's ready to go herself."

"Yes, ma'am," Isaac said before turning away.

"That man is against you, Katrina.  You mind him and watch for him and others like him," Miriam said while staring at her son's back.

Her earlier good mood faded, leaving Katrina floundering until she turned back to her work.  She threw herself into it once more and her thoughts unraveled into nothingness.  When dinner was called, she was surprised to see how low the sun was on the horizon.

"Why didn't you ask me to help?" Katrina asked her mother once she was inside.  Eliza sang to herself as she set out places for everyone while Miriam bustled around the kitchen.

"I did, but you ignored me," her mother said.  "I asked a few times and you just kept going so I left you to it.  I know sometimes it helps to lose yourself in what you're doing so I left you to it.  I think you finished most of the field yourself today.  Go on and get ready."

Katrina snatched a washcloth from a small pile near the door before stepping out and making her way to their well to fill a bucket with water.  From there, she lugged the bucket to the privy before setting it down and latching the door.  She pulled her dress over her head and folded it as nicely as she could.

The teats were still dark nipples hiding beneath pubic hair.  She sighed at the sight of them, disappointed that they remained but grateful for the lack of an udder.  Her fingers brushed them carefully and they flexed beneath her light touch.  Sandy hairs grew in a scattered line along her belly before fading away between her breasts.

After a deep breath, with eyes closed, she spread her legs and bent to look further.  Fur still covered her the skin surrounding her pussy, as well as the folds between her legs and a few inches of the inside of her thigh.

The thick, rounded, fleshy black lips of her protruding pussy drew her attention.  She breathed out through her nose while staring.  After eighteen years and seeing herself naked countless times, it was a shock to see.  Wrinkles lined the dark skin and she touched them with a trembling hand, surprised at the warmth she felt in return.

Images flashed.  Her fingers plunging, coated in clear liquid that was flung around her.  Braying and moaning and twisting as she pleasured herself.

"Haaawwwwww-" Katrina groaned while leaning forward to rest her forehead on the wall.  Her tall ears flicked when the tips made contact with the wood, a reminder that they existed as well, despite the other changes having reverted.

Her pink clit lay half exposed beyond the black hood of skin surrounding the base.  With her head bowed, she saw it clearly until she snapped her eyes shut.  Her flattened, broad nostrils opened and closed as she breathed through her nose.

She reached back, too high at first, and she felt hairs beneath her fingers before sliding her hand down to feel the long lump over her tailbone.  There were segmented bumps for two bones and the end of it curved away from her body.  She caressed it slowly while her breathing quickened.  Bare skin covered by a few straggling hairs with three longer ones dotting the tip.  A quavering moan escaped her lips and the tail arched, eager for her touch.

"Haa- haa- haaa-" her breathing came faster still until she pulled her hand away.

And up to her neck, hands beneath her hair, nails clawing against her nape.  Her mane was gone but a few black hairs remained, shorter and softer than the ones that grew there the night before.

Katrina soaked her washcloth while squatting next to it with her knees wide.  Her distended, sticky black labia pulled apart slowly and her tail wiggled back and forth.  She cleaned herself slowly and carefully, using the daily ritual as an excuse to explore her body once more.  The washcloth slid down her chest, wetting the hairs until it reached her teats.  She moaned again and then dropped to her knees with a thud when the rough fabric dragged against the strange nipples.

"Haaaaaww- eeee-" she brayed softly while sawing the cloth back and forth, down against her clit and pussy and up to her teats.  And back down, two fingers sliding between her labia.  Her left hand reached for her breast, circling the soft skin to massage as she cleaned herself well.

Gray hairs joined the few surrounding her tail.  She arched her back as they formed, follicles and nerves growing before the hair split her skin in a line that left her trembling and arcing her back for more

"Eeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaa-" Katrina moaned, a third finger joining the two.  Warmth flooded the cold washcloth as her own cum began to soak into it.  Hairs emerged from the tip of her tiny tail, elongating as they waved back and forth. Layers of keratin grew over the tips of her toes.

"Awww- Aww- I-"

The washcloth dropped from her nerveless fingers.  She snatched her left hand from her breast and her right from between her thighs, curling them into fists that she slammed against her legs.

Without another word, she stood.  Her dense toenails thumped into the floor.  She grabbed at her dress and pulled it over her head, wiggling into it until it covered the fur still lazily spreading over her back.

Her pussy throbbed with every beat of her heart.  The muscles clenched and she groaned, chomping her teeth together and swallowing the excess spit forming in her mouth.  She grabbed the washcloth and left, eager to be out of the small room and to be away from the smell of her sex.

Katrina focused on her dinner but found herself constantly shifting in her seat.  Miriam opened her mouth to chastise the girl until she saw the uncomfortable look on Katrina's face.  She swallowed her words, instead.

"May I have more carrots, please?" Katrina asked.  Her mind kept drifting back to the straw in the barn. She tried to tell herself it was disgusting, but she remembered a soft, sweet flavor with a hint of sourness and the combination sounded amazing to her at the moment.  Even better was the texture and the way it had felt against her sore gums.

"Yes, you may," Miriam said with a concerned glance towards her husband, who shook his head slightly in response.

"Do-" Eliza started to say until her mother's hand, resting on the girl's leg, tightened.

Dinner finished in silence interrupted only by the overly loud crunching of carrots.

"Isaac, I believe it's your-"  Josef began to say until a polite knock sounded from their door.

"Who could it be at this hour?" Miriam asked, moving away from the table where she'd just begin to collect dishes.

"No, Miriam, don't.  I'll answer it," Josef told her, stepping in front of his wife to walk to the door.  His sons, sensing the mood, followed behind him.

August stood outside, hands behind his back.  He peeked in, searching for Katrina until he spied the table full of food.

"Master Josef, I apologize, I didn't realize I'd interrupt your dinner.  I'll return-"

"Nonsense, August, we were just finished," Josef said.  His sons relaxed as he did.  "Katrina was just about to tend to the sheep for the night and I'm sure she'd appreciate the company."

"Papa, I-" Katrina said.

"Sir, I-" August replied at the same time.

"Go on now, both of you," Josef told them.  "We'll finish up here."

"Mama," Katrina said while glancing quickly from August to Miriam.  Her ears twitched before bending and butterflies swirled in her stomach.  The sight of August excited her while the knowledge that her ears were visible made her blush.  She was mortified at the thought of him seeing her as she was.  The girl strode over to where her mother stood and she leaned in to whisper fiercely in the older woman's ear.  Her own ear swiveled, brushing against her mother's cheek and that only added to her embarrassment.  "Mama, I can't let him see me like this, I can't.  And- and- I don't know what will happen again tonight.  I already- if I- if I change again, I'll need to be in the barn.  I'll need to- to sleep there again.  Mama, please, I can't."

"August, go wait for Katrina, she'll just be a minute," Miriam said.  She guided her daughter towards the bedroom she shared with her husband.  "He's your betrothed, Katrina."

"My- when?" Katrina gasped.

"Two years ago and we'd planned to tell you at the harvest festival next month," Miriam said.  "To make it official.  Your father's already worked out a plot of land for you both, between our farms.  Most from our land, some from his father's land.  They've already been working on a home for the both of you."

"But- but, mama, I can't!" Katrina cried out.  "Look at me!"

Miriam stared at her daughter.  Despite their age difference, they were the same height.  She reached out to touch her daughter's cheek until Katrina jerked backwards.

"Oh, baby, I know," Miriam sighed.  "He could call it off.  Your father spent time there today, talking to August and his father.  The boy doesn't seem to care, but words are easy.  Go to him.  Let him see you.  Talk to him and let him see that you're still the one he fell in love with."

"He- he loves me?" Katrina asked.  She turned, craning her neck towards the closed front door.  "He said that?"

"Before, yes, many times apparently.  And again today," Miriam told her.  "You did a brave thing for your sister.  I'm not sure you understand exactly what you did and how that looks to others.  Nobody else was willing to go into the woods.  You did that.  And, yes, it changed you.  She changed you.  But you're still my beautiful, brave daughter and he knows that."

"But, I caaAAWWW-" Katrina clasped her hands against her mouth while her ears quivered.  She looked back at the door once more, sure that August would be there, listening to her.

"Give him a chance," her mother said.  She reached up to her daughter with a tender hand to fix a loose strand of hair, tucking it up and over Katrina's furred ear.  Pain filled her eyes.  "He's a fine young man and he's known you since you were little.  He's loved you before you were even promised to each other."

The heartache in Miriam's eyes faded the longer she stared at her daughter.  Memories of the young woman growing up filled her and love replaced the sadness she felt over the curse inflicted against Katrina.

"Go on, now," Miriam said softly.  "Sleep well and I'll see you in the morning."

Katrina's tail curled, burrowing itself between her cheeks while her heart began to beat faster.  The idea of going to see the man who would become her husband temporarily overshadowed the anxiety she held over the changes corrupting her body.  He was her childhood friend, a constant companion when she wasn't working on her chores, but now he was more than that and it was a sudden switch in her head.

Before she reached the door, Josiah grabbed her into a fierce hug, crushing her against his body.  She felt his lips against the top of her head and then he was gone, turning and brushing his knuckle against his eye.

Cold air welcomed her when she stepped outside.  She closed her eyes while lifting her head and she inhaled.  Fall was coming to a close.  There was a sharpness present, a crisp touch that she'd come to associate with winter.  Her tail curled further, surprising her with its presence.  She yelped and spread her legs before reaching back to pull it away.  It swished back and forth before bending once more.

The shadow of a man waited by the barn.  August waiting for her in the chill night.  She watched him while gripping the side of her dress.  Gray fur, spurred on by the pounding of her heart, crept inexorably over her back, reaching her shoulder blades while more emerged from the pale, smooth skin over her shoulders, hidden beneath her dress.

Her breath came quickly, puffing into the night and with every exhalation, her voice rasped higher and higher until-

"Eeeeeeeee-aaaaaawww-" she gasped and once again she reached up to claw at her neck.

She could feel it there, within her chest.  A pressure boiling and pressing against her throat, demanding to be let out.  She swallowed, swallowed again and then a third time while grinding her teeth.

"Courage," she told herself, forcing one foot in front of the other.

"Katrina," August said when the girl approached.  He pushed away from the barn but stopped when she raised her hand.

"Mama told me we're to be engaged," she said and her voice nearly broke in the middle.  "Did you know?"

"I- I expected it," the young man said.  "With how our fathers have acted lately."

"You don't hawwww- ngh," Katrina grunted.  Her upper back and shoulders itched and her hand twitched to scratch but she kept her hands to her sides.  "You don't have to."

Her face burned as he stood silently, watching her closely.  She tightened her grip on her dress and pulled, back and forth to rub her knuckles into the hairs growing over her rump.  Her tail shoved against the back where she held it down.  A single cramp knifed into her, low in her guts and she tensed against it, squeezing her muscles.  Her pussy winked beneath the thick black lips.

"Your father asked me to help with your chores," he told her finally. "I promised."

She nodded and swept past him, opening the door quickly before he could see her.  The firesteel hung by the door until she snatched it up along with the curved pole beside it.  The wick on the end of the pole caught on the third strike and she tipped it into the lamp nearby.  Soft light filled the corner of the barn.  She passed August on her way to the other side to light the matching lamp before extinguishing the pole.  There were six more lamps along the walls, but she left them dark in hopes it would hide her body.

They worked together in silence, tending to the animals and Katrina felt her nerves grow more raw with every passing second until she thought she would go mad from the heightened sensations and the knowledge that, once they were done, there would be nothing left to distract them.  The fabric chafed against the fur covering her body and she couldn't help but reach up to scratch the back of her neck.  Coarse hairs greeted her fingers and she groaned quietly.

"Katrina," August said behind her.

"AAWWW!" Katrina brayed and she stomped her foot, ashamed and angry at herself for the startled outburst.  "You- you- you- have to go."

"Sit with me.  Please," he said.

"August, I-" she could feel it again.  The warmth spread through her and the fur covering her body lifted in response.  She scratched at her throat and swallowed, nearly gagging on the spit filling her mouth.

"Please," he begged.

She faced him, head down and he looked at her before turning to walk towards a pair of stools overturned in the corner of the barn.  She walked behind him while kneading her stomach to try to undo the knots twisting within.  August set the stools on their legs and sat but she pulled the second stool to sit further away from him.

Just before she sat, her tail tucked between her cheeks.  She mentally tugged at it and it raised slowly to clear the edge of the stool.  The young woman slumped in her seat with her head lowered to stare at her hands.  She watched as a single long hair grew from her wrist.  The urge to pluck it was intense, but she left it and two more hairs emerged, one at the back of her hand.

As she had during dinner, she wiggled in place until the uncomfortable feeling of her swollen labia rubbing against the stool became something else entirely.  Something that made her tremble and scratch her throat.

He touched her chin without a word, fingertips brushing against the short whiskers before she jerked away from him.  Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw him stand in order to pull his stool closer to her.  When she tried to push herself back, his hand touched her leg and she stilled herself.

Now he raised his free hand to her face once more and she closed his eyes when his palm touched her cheek.

"Aaaawwww-" she brayed softly, leaning into his touch as he caressed her, lifting his hand to touch her ears.  Both ears twitched in response.

"August-" Katrina whispered but her voice failed her.  She wanted to tell him to stop yet she desperately wanted to keep feeling his warm hand against her skin.

His fingertips stroked the base of her ears and she moaned when his nails scratched the skin.  Another cramp seized her stomach, but it vanished quickly to be replaced by a peculiar tingling that was mixed with something like a deep itch being scratched.  She shifted in her seat when the tingling pulsed over her spine.

Fatty tissue formed beneath her flat udder, pushing up as her teats twisted, gathering skin to widen and lengthen.  The twin mounds, joined as one, stretched the surrounding skin.  Pink faded to gray and her bodice lifted to show the bump.  It took concentration not to touch herself and the urge worsened when tan hairs pierced her belly to join the hairs she'd spotted in the privy before dinner.

Heat poured from between her legs.  She clenched the muscles by reflex while her tail slammed against the back of her dress as if angry at the restraint.  Restraint that was slipping from her.  She turned to kiss the boy's inner wrist, her pink lips pressing against his skin as color fled to show gray that was darkening further to black.

"S-s- sorry," she stuttered.  "I-"

His hand left her ear to touch the bottom of her chin.  He lifted her head, surprising her.  His face was close - too close and getting-

August kissed Katrina with a closed mouth.  She melted into him and her mouth opened.  The accidental brush of her tongue surprised August.  Their tongues touched for just a second but the shock was electric.  They both pulled back in unison.

Sorry!  I'm so sorry! Katrina wanted to say but she dared not open her mouth because she felt that intense, almost undeniable urge to bray.  Instead, she scratched at her throat and grunted when she felt hairs against her fingertips.

Cramps seized Katrina's feet, arcing from her heel up to her forefeet, painful enough that she hissed and clenched her toes within her boots.

"Are you alright?" August asked.  His eyes searched her face until he saw her jerk her feet back.

"You neeeeEEEEE-AWWW!" Katrina brayed and she grunted again, bending at the waist while hugging her knees.  Her udder pressed into her thighs and her tail bowed up behind her.  She couldn't stop tensing her pussy muscles and she could feel the wetness touching her legs.   "Go.  You need to go."

When the pain in her feet became too severe, she kicked the heels against the toe box while tugging at them.  She grunted loudly while pulling until August reached down to help.  The boots caught against the front of her feet but he held one hand behind her knee (Gods, his touch - more, I want more! she thought) and one against her heel to pull them off.

Her toenails were joined in an irregular, hardened bridge of keratin.  The gaps were closing between the hardened, dark nails as her hooves began to take shape.  She bent her knees to hide them beneath the stool.

"PleeEEEEEEE-HA-" she slapped her hands against her face to stop herself.

"I would- I would see my future wife," August told her.

Katrina moaned at his words.  Her hair moved against the back of her dress when her black mane lengthened and grew dense.  The pressure against her throbbing, swollen labia turned to pain until she slid from her stool to kneel before August.  She rested her arms on his legs and bowed before him.  Spit ran from her mouth, down to her lips to hang in long, clear strings while her tail struggled against her dress and her pussy winked.  She swallowed and licked her swollen, obsidian lips.

Fingers touched her scalp.  Nails scratched against the skin beneath her mane.  She moaned and leaned into it as August stroked her, scratching from the base of her scalp and down over her dress.  Katrina dropped to all fours, raising her ass and butting into his hand to encourage him to continue.

Suddenly, unable to help herself, she raised up to her knees, grabbed the back of August's head and kissed him deeply.  Her tongue forced his lips apart and she turned her head when her cheekbones creaked to pull her face forward.

A single string of spit connected them briefly when she pulled away.  Her face burned and her eyes were half lidded.  He bent to her, slowly this time and kissed her again, lip to lip until their mouths opened and their tongues joined.  She took his hand to press it against her breast, holding it in place when he reflexively pulled away.  When she took her hand back, he squeezed her breast and she moaned while still kissing him.

Katrina pulled at the bottom of her dress, tugging the material up higher and higher until her legs were exposed.  And then her thighs.  And up to her waist.  Her tail thumped the ground twice before curling up behind her with the tip waving back and forth.  It pulled against her ass while spreading the cheeks apart.  She grabbed his other hand and dragged it down until it touched her udder.

August reared back, knocking over his stool to fall to his ass.  Katrina's knuckles whitened on the fabric gathered in her fist.  He stared at the dark gray mound of her udder and the two black teats.  She trembled and spread her knees and his eyes lowered to her wild pubic hair and the swollen sable folds of her distended labia.  Three strings of cum dangled from the pink within while more connected to the fur covering her thighs.  He swallowed but continued to stare.

"EEEE!  EEEEEEEEHAAAAWWWW!" Katrina brayed, throwing her head back and luxuriating in the feeling of letting go.

"Katrina," August said and his throat felt rough.

She looked back down at him.  At the bulge in his trousers.

"Let- let me see it," she whispered and swallowed.  Her teeth snapped together and she swallowed again while her pussy clenched beneath her.

"We- we can't- we shouldn't-" he told her, but his hands went to the cord holding them up.

With his eyes locked to her pussy, his trembling fingers undid the knot to pull his trousers down.

"Eeeeeeeeeeawwwww-" Katrina groaned quietly.  Her tail thumped again and she rocked her hips as if she were riding him already.

August's cock bobbed before him, hard and thick with veins.  Drool slid over Katrina's lips to run down her chin and her nostrils widened on her broad nose.  She could almost feel it inside of her.

"Can't- can't think straight-" Katrina said.  "Go.  Have to.  Go.  It's- the animal- it's-"

She was losing herself.  Losing her strength to resist against the creature within.  She tugged at her dress, grunting as she pulled it up and over her breasts.

"You haaaAWWWWWWW EEEEEHAAWWWW!" she cried out.

Katrina lowered herself back to all fours and she turned in a half-circle until her ass faced August.  She bowed, lowering her stomach while raising her ass and her pink inner lips winked at the boy while her tail jerked over and over, higher and higher.

He stood.  Light winked out from their corner.  She turned to see him approaching and she shoved herself back, eager to be bred.

August's hand touched her hair.  He stroked her briefly.

"I'll see you again, Katrina," he said softly before standing.

She brayed in frustration but was unable to move and, instead, reached beneath herself to shove fingers inside her dripping pussy while watching August.  He extinguished the other lamp and darkness filled the barn until he opened the door to let starlight inside.  With the door open and his hand against the frame, he turned to her one last time before leaving.

Katrina's braying moans followed after him as she pleasured herself long into the night.

---

She woke in darkness with a groan.  Hunger gnawed at her stomach so she stood to walk over to the straw.  She sat and ate until her belly was full.

It's done, at least, she told herself and hot tears welled in her eyes.

He'd seen her change.  Worse, she'd disrobed before him and offered herself like a beast.  He'd seen her naked and she'd begged him to mount her.  On all fours on the dirt floor in the barn.

The girl sobbed, her cries intermixed with soft braying until her head hurt and her throat ached.  When the tears ran out, she stood and brushed away the dirt from the sparse fur covering her body.  Her udder was gone again but the teats were still long and she was careful with them when she pulled her dress back on.

Her parents would be disappointed to learn of the broken betrothal, but she wouldn't be the first to live alone into adulthood.

She left while carrying her boots and telling herself she just wanted to feel the bare dirt against her toes in order to savor being able to actually feel her toes.  A smaller part of herself wondered if it was because she was beginning to enjoy going barefoot.  Closer to nature.  Closer to the animal.  She suppressed the thought and continued on to her home.  Her brow furrowed when she spied light in the edges of the windows, but she knew that her father often woke earlier than the others.

"Papa, I'm-" Katrina called out as she opened the door.

Her parents sat at the table with August and his father.  Katrina's heart sank and her boots dropped to the floor as they all turned to look at her.

"I- I- I- I-" Katrina stuttered with wide eyes snapping from each of them in turn.

August stood and approached.  She shrank back from him until she bumped into the wall behind her.  His hand reached for her and she flinched until gentle fingers touched the bare skin of her gray chin.  Tears filled her eyes and she cursed herself for it.  His other hand touched her arm and he helped her stand tall her until she looked up at him.  She realized she couldn't read his expression and that frightened her.

"Our parents promised us when we were young," he said.

No no no no, she groaned internally.  She couldn't stand the thought of hearing him say the words to her face.  She'd told herself their parents would talk away from her and she'd never see him again.

"To be wed when we were of age," August continued.  His thumb rubbed her chin.  Tiny holes, almost invisible, dotted the skin where her whiskers would grow.

"August, please," Katrina groaned.  She looked away from him until his hand guided her head back and her eyes found his once more.

"I've loved you for years, Katrina," August said.  "Without knowing what our parents did.  I grew to love your kindness.  Your strength.  Your calmness.  I watched you grow into the woman you've become."

She swallowed and trembled.  Confused.  Not letting herself be hopeful in the face of his words. Bones formed in her short, stubby tail, pushing it forward while hair sprouted over her belly.

"I would've asked for your hand even if we weren't promised," he told her.  "And so I will.  Of my own accord.  Here, now, before our parents."

"August-"

"Katrina," he said, taking his hand away briefly to wipe at a tear while clearing his throat.  He smiled and his lips trembled.  The young man laughed and wiped his eyes again.  "Will you be my wife?"

"Awwwwwww," Katrina brayed softly.  She swallowed and rubbed her throat.

"We- we'll have to stay with our parents, but now I can work on our house with my father and-" he rambled.

She went to her tiptoes while wrapping her arm around him, crying as she kissed him.

"Yes," she told him quietly, her breath hot as tears rolled down her cheeks.  Her tall ears bent back.  "Yes, I-"

He kissed her harder, cutting her words off while his arms crushed her body against his.  Her tail wiggled happily behind her.

"I love you," he told her when they finally separated.

"And I, you," she replied.

Miriam ran to the couple to hug both at once while their fathers clasped hands.  They spoke of what needed to be done while the other three cried with joy but Josef couldn't stop himself from glancing back at them and smiling.  He sniffed and rubbed his eyes before rejoining the conversation as it turned toward the celebration they would hold later that week.

---

Katrina knelt before her little sister.  Her tail brushed the ground, laced by a ribbon as it lay free through the hole they'd made in her dress.  Eliza raised the crown of flowers she'd picked with her mother earlier in the day.  After she settled it over Katrina's head, the little girl touched her sister's furred ears.

"So soft," Eliza whispered as she rubbed the ear.

Katrina laughed and kissed her sister's forehead before standing and facing August.  They joined arms, fingers resting against each other's elbows while Josef lay a leather cord against Katrina's wrist.

"We join these two-" Josef began to speak while slowly wrapping the cord around their arms.

The words faded as Katrina stared at her betrothed.  August tried to hold a serious expression during the ceremony but a tiny smile spoiled his stoic look.  She could see herself reflected in his eyes and a faint sense of dread filled her until she pulled herself back

I love you, August mouthed silently and she gave a trembling smile in return while her ears quivered.

Already she could feel the fur creeping over her.  Already she could feel the urge to bray.  To call out and release the anxiety and fear and happiness she held inside.  Already she wondered whether she would remember their first night together when he mounted and bred-

She shook her head, shoving at the intrusive thought.  Her hair was pulled back in a complicated braid with white flowers tucked into the curls.

Courage, she told herself.  One step in front of the other.  As I did with the witch in the woods.  As I did when I met him that night at the barn.

One step.  And then another.