“I’m still hungry,” Dmitri added.
Douma exhaled sharply in an effort not to laugh. It was bad enough we had pup-Voss wrestling with a flower bush. Dmitri was making it even harder for us to concentrate—this was supposed to be a super intense and solemn moment, after all.
“Let the wolf take over,” Lumi said. “In one deep breath, reach for the door inside you. You’ve done it before. You can do it again.”
“It’s crazy hard,” Jovi replied, grunting as beads of sweat covered his forehead.
It took a considerable amount of effort, it seemed, to summon a shift. I wondered what it was, exactly, that triggered the entire process. Was there really a wolf’s voice in their heads, or was that more of a metaphor?
“You’ve done it before,” Lumi repeated, her tone sharp and firm. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. That much was clear.
I, for one, was in awe of her. The amount of power and knowledge inside her was simply incredible. I could only imagine what her mind felt like. How she processed the Word’s connection to every atom in her body. What did it feel like? Was it like a permanent buzz? Or like having one’s hand glued to a fork stuck in a power socket at all times?
Aida cried out in what sounded like pain. Field was stiff, but he didn’t say anything. Even pup-Voss stilled, his amber eyes fixed on his mother. Aida doubled over, laughing and sobbing at the same time.
“Oh, wow,” I mumbled.
“That’s it, Aida!” Lumi encouraged her. “Let the wolf out. You’re almost there!”
I heard bones crack. Aida leaned onto her fists, breathing heavily as her body began to shift. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of chocolate-colored hair growing out from every inch of her skin. She growled, prompting Dmitri and Jovi to respond.
“Come on, babe!” Field said. “You’ve got this! You’ve done it before!”
Aida shuddered, claws extending from the tips of her fingers. Her figure was beginning to change. Her arms and legs were covered in luscious brown fur. By the time she turned her head to look at us for a brief moment, I couldn’t recognize her anymore. A few seconds later, a mighty wolf emerged, leaving her ripped clothes in the grass.
“This is so cool!” I croaked, feeling a huge grin slit my face.
To my right, Field was bursting with pride and love. And for good reason. Aida was simply stunning in wolf form. Her golden eyes were perfectly round and warm, her fangs glistening white and the fur on her back all ruffled up. She was restless and ready to go for a run in the woods, but she chose to sit, instead, waiting for her brothers to join her.
“Jovi! It’s time! Let him out,” Lumi said. “You can feel him clawing his way to the surface, and I know it’s more of a reflex to resist it, but don’t. Just let him loose!”
Indeed, Jovi was halfway through with his transformation as well. His fur was black as night, and he was considerably larger than Aida. By the time he completed his shift, both Anjani and I gasped with pure astonishment. She’d seen this side of him before, and she was still amazed.
Jovi was as big as a dire wolf, and about a foot taller than Aida. His thick, jet black fur curled at the tips, ever so slightly, creating a luscious wavy pattern from his neck to his bushy tail. His eyes were mirrors of the forest itself, a most intense and spine-tingling green. He rushed around his sister a couple of times, then lovingly licked her face.
They both waited patiently for Dmitri, who was still struggling. Patches of fur were beginning to show, but I worried he might not be able to complete his transformation tonight. He was covered in sweat, breathing heavily as he tried to summon his inner wolf.
“He’s made it this far before,” Douma whispered to me. “He just hasn’t managed to get past the claws yet.”
I watched, my nerves stretched as I internally rooted for him to let it all out tonight. Aida had said she was confident they’d all turn this time. I wholeheartedly hoped she was right.
“Dmitri, don’t fight it,” Lumi said. She crouched in front of him. Her white irises with blue edges glimmered with excitement, as if she knew something he didn’t. “I can feel you, young wolf. Just… let loose.”
Aida and Jovi both whimpered, their gazes fixed on their younger brother. Dmitri was hard at work for what felt like the longest minutes in anyone’s existence, until we all finally heard it—the first bone snapping. Then the second. The third.
Dmitri shouted from the pain, but Lumi didn’t let him give up.
“Keep at it!” she said. “Let him out! Don’t fight him! It hurts a lot less if you don’t fight him!”
Dmitri nodded, then collapsed in the grass, panting and groaning in soul-crushing agony. Then, something happened inside him, I figured, as he froze. For a moment, I wasn’t sure whether he’d succeed this time around, but then he just sighed, and his body quivered.
Black fur exploded through every pore. The clothes he’d been wearing were torn to pieces, as the full beast came out. We all cheered as Dmitri stood on all fours, a full ink-black wolf with greenish brown eyes. He reminded me of Bastien, in a way. The long legs, the shaggy fur, and the sturdy back muscles.
Pup-Voss was the first to howl, as cute as always. Soon enough, Aida, Jovi, and Dmitri joined him, all of them glancing at the moon as if serenading it. Shivers ran down my arms and legs. It was incredibly difficult to describe the joy I felt, compressed into this one single flicker of time. I was witnessing something extraordinary, as the three wolves licked and rubbed against one another, thrilled to be together, in both human and wolf form.
Half-wolves that had once thought they’d never experience the life of their father… Their dream had finally come true. They’d beaten the odds and the ancient lore, and they’d proven that one’s nature could never be truly set in stone. In the end, what was crazier? Half-wolves going full werewolf, or a vampire walking in the sun?
As I watched Aida, Jovi, and Dmitri dart off into the woods, I had to admit, this was an incredible moment.
We’d gone past the limits of what had been once thought impossible, and we were now treading through new and uncharted territory. I was beside myself with the thought of being a part of this journey. Who knew what lay ahead?
Dmitri
There were zero words in any language ever invented that could possibly describe how I felt. Thrilled was but a tiny fraction. Ecstatic? Even less. Excited. Happy. A gazillion times happy, maybe. But the most intense feeling of them all was the rush of no longer being myself.
I’d finally done it. I’d shifted into a werewolf, honoring my Blackhall lineage. The energy surging through every fiber of my body was simply too much to bear, yet so addictive, I feared I may never want to go back to being plain ol’ two-legged Dmitri.
Who am I kidding?
I had Douma, my Perfect Douma waiting for me. However, for now, I was free and wild. A beast. The essence of my truest form, running through the woods at what seemed like supersonic speed. It wasn’t, but my perception was warped. That much I knew.
My heart was racing. My paws were light.
And my siblings were with me. Jovi, black as night, to my left. Aida, chocolate brown, to my right. Their scents, their wolf scents, to be specific, were forever seared into my memory now. I could track them anywhere, at any time, no matter what—or so I thought. The connection between us went past that of siblings, or even the Blackhall bloodline. We were bound as wolves, as soldiers of the night, as shadows of the darkest forests.
This wasn’t going to be our last night together, either. There would be more runs like this, soon enough. I’d seen it on Jovi, and on Aida, too—once I got past the first shift, the others would come with more ease. It would still take its toll on me. I’d have to work hard, every damn time, to get here. But now that I knew I could do it, nothing and no one stood in my way.
I howled, from the bottom of my lungs. It felt so raw, so loud as it rippled toward the night sky and cut through the tree crowns. Local birds were stirred and startled. Dozens flew away, their wings flapping as they tried to put some distance between us and them. They were smart to do that, too. I was eager to hunt. I’d just had dinner, but the wolf-me wasn’t fully satisfied just yet. Besides, with all this running and all these calories that we were burning, all three of us were bound to get hungry soon enough.
