“No,” he muttered. “No, no, no. Not again!”

He was sitting naked in the preserve, and had been curled up on his side. His muscles were sore, he was covered in dirt, and he had no memory of anything after looking out the window at the full moon.

Slowly, he got to his feet. This was the third time in as many months. He picked a leaf from his mouth and shuddered at the metallic, meaty taste of his tongue. Somehow, he had to sneak back into the house without being seen. Dan and Mr. Maypenny would be beginning morning patrols shortly. Jim could just see the pink fingers of the sun reaching out to burn off the fog.

He hurried through the woods, looking for trail markers. He had no idea where he was, just like the other times. He had noticed he was growing an awful lot of body hair, even for a seventeen year old in puberty.

Bobby Belden had scrunched up his nose the other day and informed Jim he stunk, which made Trixie and Honey snicker. Jim had noticed he seemed to smell musky these days, and was bathing twice a day and using extra deodorant.

Jim wondered if he should bring this up to Dr. Ray, his psychologist. Surely though it was not normal to wake up in the woods, naked, and holy crap, he was covered in blood!

Jim stopped his walking as he stared down at the dried red-brown stuff on his chest. Slowly he touched his face, feeling something crusty.

He sat down and tried to breathe deeply. This was a nightmare, he thought. It had to be. No, a pinch did nothing but hurt. This wasn’t a dream.

The sun was rising quickly; he had to make his way back to the house ASAP. If anyone saw him…

He saw a tiny glimpse of red. A trail marker! He hurried towards it and recognized the spot. He wasn’t too far from the stables.

Breathing heavily and keeping his eyes and ears open for anyone approaching on horseback, Jim made his way to the stables. Sneaking inside, he grabbed a saddle blanket.

Jupiter shuffled in his stall and neighed. The others heard him and began stamping their feet in anxiety. Jim didn’t understand. The horses had been acting very strangely around him for the last few months, not wanting him to pet or ride. It was frustrating and hurt his feelings.

Wrapping the blanket around him, he darted towards the main house. He had to figure out what was happening and why he kept turning up like this. So far, the full moon was the only link. He knew the word “lunatic” came from the word “luna”, which was one name of the moon. People were long believed to go crazy on the night of the full moon. Was he crazy, he wondered. Was he losing his mind? Did he have some sort of unknown, crazy DNA that was making him roam the woods when the moon was full? And what about the blood? Surely he didn’t hurt someone. Or an animal. Jim loved animals, and he generally liked people.

Slipping into the house, he barely made it to his bathroom when he heard Honey knock on his door. Quickly he turned the shower on and glanced in the mirror. He jumped backwards, staring at his reflection.

His green eyes looked eerily light, almost yellow. He had shaved yesterday and today he was sporting almost a full beard. His body hair was noticeably thicker.

Trying to catch his breath, Jim stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over him. What the hell was happening?

Later, after he was clean and showered, he joined his sister for breakfast. He could smell her perfume before he even walked into the dining room, and he inhaled deeply. Honey didn’t wear heavy perfume but today, she smelled….delicious.

Jim shook his head and walked into the room.

“Are you all right?” Honey asked him.

“I didn’t sleep too well.”

“I heard you pacing around eleven, but you look awful.”

“Thanks, Sis.”

Honey blushed. “I just mean, you look you were up all night.”

Jim rubbed his eyes, noticing the hair on the backs of his hands seemed thicker too, and his fingernails really needed a trim.

“Yeah, I was. I’m not looking forward to staying awake all day in school.”

The bus seemed extra crowded and odors assaulted his nose. Mart’s gym sneakers were in his bag, but Jim was sure he could smell them. Dan’s hair gel scent tickled his nose. Dan sported his dark sunglasses as usual, but Jim suddenly felt hostile towards Dan, for no reason. He could separate the girl’s scents by their perfumes, something he hadn’t noticed before. Someone on the bus had a bologna sandwich. A lot of people had used mint toothpaste that morning.

Jim cracked open the window, despite the cool fall morning. His brain hummed and throbbed with the chatter and noise and smells of the bus. He couldn’t wait for this day to be over.

***

The next day, Jim noticed he wasn’t sporting an almost full beard anymore, and he thought his nails looked shorter, even though he had forgotten to trim them the night before. His chest and the backs of his hands didn’t seem as thickly furred.

The day after that, Jim figured he must have been imagining things, including the girls discreetly edging away from him at lunch time, noses wrinkling slightly. If it happened again, he would talk to his psychologist, he figured.

***

Rabbit. Blood. Tasty. Run, little rabbit, run! Mmmmm gonna getcha!

Jim raced through the woods in pursuit of a fat, brown, bunny rabbit. It was nimble but so was he. He leapt through the air and caught it, bringing his jaws down around his neck.

After he was fed, he padded through the woods, sniffing for another rabbit, or even a deer. A scent caught his nose and his head came up. Another male in the area, watching him. Jim froze, his nose twitching, as he tried to locate the source.

From nowhere came a massive black wolf, snarling and growling. Jim felt himself beginning to cower, and tried to tell himself not to. The giant wolf body slammed him down and pinned him, jaws on Jim’s throat.

Jim let himself go limp. He knew wolves were centered on dominance and he wasn’t about to challenge this beast.

The black wolf released him. Jim slowly sat up, and to his annoyance, wagged his tail. The black wolf circled him, sniffing, and then one giant paw shot out and smacked Jim in the head. Dazed, Jim growled softly. The black wolf snarled and smacked him again. Jim felt his temper building, and on the third smack, leapt at the wolf.

This was what the wolf wanted as he howled happily before tackling Jim and they rolled around, biting and snapping. Jim realized the black wolf wasn’t really hurting him, but playing. They roughhoused and wrestled, until a new scent caught their attention.

There was a deer nearby. The black wolf let Jim up and took off after the deer. Jim followed, not about to let his new friend have all the good stuff.

***

Jim opened his eyes to see the fog settling into the woods.

“Aw, crap,” he muttered, sitting up. He looked around blearily. Dried blood caked his hands, chest and face.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He was being watched.

He whirled around to find a naked Dan Mangan sitting about eight feet away, looking suspiciously furry, his black hair disheveled, and covered in dried blood. Nearby lay the remains of a deer.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Dan said sarcastically. “It took you long enough to change properly. I’ve been smelling your stench for months as the hormones did their thing. It’s time we had a chat.”

 

***
Author's Notes

- A big thank you first and foremost to Ryl, my challenge/editing partner who is always a joy to work with and always on the same wavelength with me. Here's to many more challenges to create in the coming years, my friend!
- Submitted for Ryl and Mal's 3rd Halloween Challenge - Wolves have always been my favorite animal after dogs, and doing a werewolf challenge just seemed so right! - Word Count, 1,348