Chapter 86

Still locked in Candice’s embrace, Sophia’s whines died down as she tentatively extended her tongue out past her lips, and then curled it upwards. She pushed it further… further… until the tip touched the groove that now ran between her upper lip and the lower half of her nose, separating her nostrils. Straining, she rubbed the flat part of her tongue across as much of her leathery rhinarium as she could, coating it in a thin layer of saliva.

Ohhh, it feels so good to be able to do that again.

Immediately, Candice’s unique biological markers grew in intensity, and Sophia instinctively started drawing them in via short, rapid bursts through her nose. This close to Candice’s skin, she was awed to find she could detect the presence of varying melanin concentrations, lotions that had been applied days earlier, and even fabrics that were definitely not from clothes being worn now. A reminder of how much Candice had sacrificed for Sophia came in the form of how much her usual hallmark strawberry fragrance had diminished.

She hasn’t showered in days, all because of me. Sophia’s nose lingered as she found a particularly strong collection of skin oils at the corner of Candice’s jaw. At least I can get that spot for her. Sophia extended her tongue and ran it across the offending spot.

Sophia jerked back in surprise as Candice jolted and drew away. Without warning, the girl removed her arms from around Sophia’s neck.

“Hey, that tickles,” Candice commented as her scent took on a note of surprise.

Reacting to the sudden loss of support, Sophia instinctively threw her forelimbs in front of her, landing flat on her hand-paws. Luckily, Candice was able to scoot just far enough away to avoid Sophia’s pointed claws coming down on her leg.

Oops, that might have been a little too wolfy.

“Orrrry,” Sophia apologized, her ears flattening.

Talking feels so weird; I wish we could talk Wolfish.

“It’s fine.” Candice's reassurance was belied by mild disgust appearing in her scent. “It just surprised me.”

For a moment, Sophia studied the other girl’s face, again fascinated by how incongruent it was with her human memories. Up close, her friend’s features were just marginally less acute than Sophia remembered them being, albeit in various shades of yellow and gray. However, even as close as she was, they still failed to coalesce into anything meaningful. Nor could she read any of the facial cues that had been second-nature and so important to social communication for most of her life.

I wouldn’t be able to pick her out from a picture right now.

Yet, that recognition didn’t bother her in the slightest. All it evoked was mild curiosity, and even that was quickly eclipsed by the intense need to analyze the wealth of aromatic information flooding in.

I wonder if there’s a way to make a picture out of scent? That would be so cool!

“What?” Candice asked, her scent turning uncertain. “You’re staring at me.”

“Noting,” Sophia replied and turned her head towards her hand-paws resting on the carpet before glancing at her legs still folded to the side.

Why am I still sitting like a two-leg? No wonder I still feel so out of sorts.

She leaned onto her hand-paws, and quickly pulled her knees underneath her. As she did, her tail caught on her sweatpants as it tried to help maintain her balance, prompting an irritated growl. Rolling onto her side, she tried to bend her proto-muzzle towards the offending garment. Her aggravation grew as her shirt pushed and pulled against the fur on her back.

“What’s wrong?” Candice asked, her scent alarmed.

Gah, I want these clothes off! Bringing her human memories to the fore, she moved her hand behind her and pushed the back of the pants off her tail, fighting through the mental discomfort the movement caused. Even if I still have a ways to go. Briefly, she considered pulling them down further, but couldn’t quite overcome her inhibitions around modesty. I guess neither of us is quite ready for that.

Instead, she lifted her tail before letting go of her sweats, and they snapped back into place underneath it.

There, that’s better. With a sigh of relief, Sophia rolled onto her front and pushed herself onto all fours. Oh, it feels so good to have my paws on the ground again! She flexed her digits on both ends, exploring the texture of the carpet through her pads. I can’t wait to feel the snow and ground again!

“Ah, I imagine tails and pants don’t mix together very well,” Candice observed.

Sophia didn’t respond; instead, she experimentally took a step forward. Despite the awkwardness of her hybrid form, her confidence grew at how intuitive the movement felt. A thrill ran through her as her fingers and toes automatically dug her claws into the carpet, tugging pleasantly on the bones they were connected to. Freed from its clothy prison, her tail swayed in time with her movements. Pushing her forelimbs out, she stretched with a pleased groan before standing back up.

Sooo much better.

“I’ll never get over how natural you make being on all fours look,” Candice commented. “It’s almost unsettling.”

Raising her nose, Sophia drew in the cabin’s air. Human and unnatural scents were everywhere, but even the natural fear they kindled in her couldn’t dull her excitement at finally being able to experience the world in the way she had always been meant to. Every single one demanded her careful attention, investigation, and categorization, and underneath everything she could smell the forest and mountains outside the walls. However, one particular group of scents screamed of unfinished business.

“So, now what?” Candice asked with a yawn, still sitting on her knees a few feet away.

Now, I finish what I started, and you had better not try to stop me…

“Old till,” Sophia ordered, turning her head towards the other girl as her short tail quivered in anticipation.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Candice’s scent took on an air of nervous curiosity.

“Old till!” Sophia repeated, taking a few steps towards the girl.

Leaning forward, she brought her nose close to Candice’s face and started sniffing. Square inch by square inch, Sophia methodically committed as much of her friend’s facial aromatic topography to memory as she could. Once she was finished, she pulled back and gave her nose a satisfied lick to clean it off.

This is amazing! Her tail gave a mischievous wag. But what about…

“Oh, you just wanted to smell me? Why didn’t you just say so?” Candice asked. “You know, I’ve always wondered what people smell like to animals.” Her scent turned embarrassed. “I mean dogs…! Er, wolves!”

“Ot don,” Sophia replied, padding around the girl. “Ust a morrrment…”

Her nostrils continued to work, but Candice’s clothes made it unrewarding to do more than a cursory investigation of most of her body. However, there were some interesting scents coming from…

Should I…? Instinct bade her to investigate. I’m a wolf; why wouldn’t I? Sophia coyly stuck her nose against the bare skin on Candice’s back, just above her jeans. No special scent, of course, but I can smell…

“Eeep!” Candice squeaked in surprise, and she jerked away. “Sophia!”

Sophia jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting swatted by Candice’s hand. She chuffed mischievously as her tail wagged.

“Sophia! Your nose is wet!” Candice exclaimed, her scent mildly irritated as she rubbed where Sophia’s nose had touched.

Then her scent turned embarrassed. “Wait… were you…”

Cool, I can smell what she’s eat… Sophia’s ears tried to swivel as they picked up a high-pitched noise in the kitchen. What’s that?

“Were you…” Candice stammered, her scent growing thick with embarrassment and exasperation. “Were you seriously trying to sniff my butt?”

Sophia didn’t quite hear, however. Instead, she carefully stepped around her friend. She stared at the doorway, her nose working furiously. There were another series of high-pitched sounds that sounded suspiciously like squeaking. Then her brain picked out a particularly fresh scent from the ones that she had already noticed coming from all over the cabin. As she poked and prodded it in her mind, her mouth started to water, her stomach rumbled, and she remembered just how desperately hungry she was.

Prey.

“Sophia… What are you doing?” Candice asked.

What does it look like I’m doing? Sophia spared a glance at her companion. I’m hunting.

“Shhh,” she managed through her lupine lips before returning her attention to the door. “Tay ere.”

Bending her forelimbs, she started creeping towards the opening to the kitchen. The world seemed to slow while scents, sounds, and sights sharpened. In the other room, she could smell her query as it chomped away on a bit of dropped bread between the kitchen island and gas-fired-heater.

You’re mine…

The sound of her claws clicking on the linoleum floor sounded painfully loud in her ears as she passed through the threshold. She went still as the squeaking grew quiet. For an agonizing moment, all she could hear was the excited thump of her own heartbeat. It came as a great relief when the squeaking resumed in the same place. Her nose further confirmed her prey hadn’t moved.

Easy… Easy… Even more carefully than before, she resumed prowling forward. There you are!

Two yards away, next to the island, was a mouse, eagerly nibbling on a piece of bread. It was small, too small for a full-grown wolf to bother with under normal circumstances. But the rush from finally accepting what she was meant to be was fast wearing off, and the consequences of her days-long denial were setting in.

One chance… She lifted a hand-paw, moved it forward, and brought it down. I can’t mess this up.

The kitchen lights were off, but every movement, every twitch the mouse made, was clear as day to her lupine eyes. It hopped towards another crumb on the floor – one dropped by Candice that morning, judging by the smell – and grasped it in its paws as it stood. Sophia paused and waited patiently as it drew to its full height, its back to her.

Then, the claws on her hand-paws curled into the floor, and she sprang forward.

To her distress, she found her incompletely changed body painfully slow, and were the distance any greater, she’d have had no hope of catching the swift rodent. By the time she had covered the yard or two separating them, the mouse was already back on all fours and starting to scamper away. Desperately, Sophia lowered her small muzzle, opened her jaws, and dove for the fleeing animal.

No!

Illsuited for the demands she was placing on them, Sophia’s forelimbs buckled, and all she felt was the mouse’s tail brushing the still-bare skin on her chin as she fell. 

No! No! No!

However, the mouse had still been getting up to speed, and Sophia was moving faster as she fell. Her shoulder slammed into the mouse as she hit the floor, launching it across the kitchen floor and into the base of the sink cabinet. Its body rebounded, and it lay on the ground, stunned.

Yes!

In a flash, Sophia pushed herself back onto all fours and darted for the stricken rodent. The mouse was just starting to recover when her small snout closed around its torso. Held firmly, it squirmed and squeaked futilely in her mouth as she lifted it triumphantly. 

Sorry, little mouse, but this wolf’s gotta eat.

Sophia squeezed her mandibular muscles as hard as she could. Her incisors and canines pressed into the mouse, penetrating its skin and compressing its body. The snapping of bone echoed in her ears, and the first taste of sweet blood touched her tongue.

Ohhhh, I’ve missed this so much!

Unable to handle the entirety of even such a small mouse in her partial muzzle, she let it drop to the floor, where it thrashed about in its death throes.

“Sophia? Is everything okay?” Candice asked from the other room.

Too absorbed to pause for a reply, Sophia bent her head down, opened her mouth, and used her teeth and tongue to bring the spasming mouse in head first. Its small claws scraped against her lips as she positioned it with her tongue. Then, once she had its neck between her incisors, she bit down– hard. There was a snapping sound that reverberated through her skull as her teeth crushed its neck, and the mouse went limp.

“Do you need help?” Candice asked, her scent growing worried.

Probably best if she doesn’t see this side of being a wolf quite yet. Sophia sighed and dropped the dead mouse. It would kill the mood.

“Ah taught ah herd sumthin,” she called out. “Ahll be back shoon. Tay in dare.”

Candice’s scent turned slightly suspicious, but she replied, “Alright.”

Turning her attention back to her kill, she brought the mouse’s head back into her mouth. With some effort, she crushed its skull with her jagged premolars. Then bit by bit, she eagerly consumed the small body, savoring the rich flavors that were released. 

Almost as good as that rabbit, but still not a deer.

A few minutes later, she was sniffing the floor for anything she had missed. Satisfied that she had found everything there was to find, she lifted her head and licked the proto-fimbriae that adorned the corners of her lips clean. Her stomach still felt empty, but she could feel energy spreading throughout her body. 

That was so much fun! Her body still trembled in triumphant exhilaration from her successful hunt. How did I ever think I could be anything but a wolf?

As the thought finished, her insides felt like they hit a brick wall, and sorrow consumed her. She whined as the sense a vital part of her soul remained missing grew.

There is something missing: my pack. She looked towards the door, feeling drawn to it.  I have to find my pack, my mate. There was an audible click, and she realized she had stepped towards the door. But what if it’s too late? Uncertainty and fear gripped her. What if I don’t like what I find?

She started to pull away from the door.

But how can I live if I don’t?

Her turmoil faded as she realized she already knew the answer.

I still love Shadow, still believe in him, and I must find the truth.

Taking a breath, she called out, “Andice, ah need you.”

There was the sound of human feet pounding on the carpet, and Candice’s scent turned fearful.

“What’s wrong?” Candice called out when she appeared at the doorway. “Are you hurt?”

“Ahm okay,” Sophia replied, flinching as her friend turned on the light.

Relief tempered by confusion suffused Candice’s scent. “Then what is it?”

“Ah ned to go oat dare,” Sophia told her, looking at the door anxiously. “Oatshide.”

“Outside the cabin?” Candice asked with a yawn. “I guess, as long as you stay nearby and it’s just for an hour or so.”

Sophia hesitated, but immediately felt guilty. She's stood by me this whole time and deserves the truth.

“It won’t be nearrr the cabin,” she answered frankly. “Ah ave to fffind Shadow. An I don’t no haw lon ahl be gone.”

I have no idea how far I am from our territory or even what direction it is, but I have to try.

“Sophia, no!” Candice’s scent turned panicked. “It’s after two in the morning! I don’t know how long you’ll stay like this, but what if you change and you’re still out there??? You’ll be in the middle of the woods and freeze!”

“Ah no,” Sophia replied, her tail flagging. “Ah ave to try.”

“But…” Candice started to protest.

“Ah kneed to no wat appened,” Sophia said bluntly. “If he kiled ma mather.”

He didn’t… I know he didn’t.

Silence filled the kitchen for a long moment, and Candice’s scent turned conflicted.

“Peas,” Sophia pleaded, her ears drooping slightly. “Dis mite be ma onie chance…” She hesitated before adding, “Ah till love im.”

“Alright,” Candice said finally. “Okay, but promise, promise me you’ll be back before morning.”

I don’t know if I can be…

“Ah pomise,” Sophia answered simply.

Candice started towards the door, the scent of fear and tears growing strong.

“Ate, ah kneed ma cothes off,” Sophia stopped her. “Ahll be able to ove fester.”

Okay, I mostly just want to feel like a wolf out there.

“But… you’ll be naked!” Candice objected. “And cold!”

“Ahll be fin,” Sophia insisted. “Furrr, ‘memmer?”

“What if you change while you’re still out there?”

“Andice, ahm gettin dese cothes off, wit orrrr witoat oor elp,” Sophia said firmly, and bent her head towards her shoulder while opening her mouth, threatening to tear off her shirt.

Candice sighed, her scent resigned. “Fine, I guess I’ll have to get used to it eventually.”

“Ah meen, dis rrras ooorrr adea,” Sophia teased, getting onto her knees. “Ah trrried bein uman.”

“And I’m regretting it already,” Candice grumbled, but knelt down next to Sophia, anyway.

After some awkward maneuvering, Sophia was out of her shirt, and impatiently leaning against the sink as Candice worked Sophia’s sweats down her legs. A content rumble emanated from deep in her throat as she felt the last pant leg slide off her foot-paws.

Finally! Standing on two legs feels so wrong.

Pushing off the counter, she squatted down and then settled back down onto her hand-paws, careful to rotate her bare butt away from Candice. Once back on all fours, she arched her back and stretched, savoring the lack of anything rubbing against her fur.

This isn’t as embarrassing as I thought it would be. She bent her head towards her shoulder and licked a patch of fur that was sticking up. It feels weirdly right.

“I still can’t get over how gorgeous your fur is,” Candice commented, her scent definitely signalling her discomfort, but also exuding something suggestive of awe. “It would be incredible in sunlight.” Her scent turned wistful. “I guess we might get to see that one day.”

Okay, now I’m embarrassed.

“Uh, ah soud go,” Sophia said, self-consciously curling her tail and ears.

Candice’s scent turned anxious. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Ahll be fine,” Sophia replied, trying to sound confident.

I hope.

“Well, good luck,” Candice told her before dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around Sophia.

“Tanks,” Sophia said, her own emotions swirling. “Por evryting.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Candice asked, the scent of her tears again becoming thick in the air. “I’ll be waiting for you to get back. And you had better get back, or I’ll never forgive you. Besides, I’m not cleaning this cabin all by myself.”

“Ah will,” Sophia said, squirming out of Candice’s embrace and then giving her a lick across the cheek.

Candice stood, stepped towards the cabin door, and opened it. Sophia didn’t even wait for the cold air to finish blowing through her fur before racing through it.