You pull your lips back, exposing your teeth in a wolflike explosion of faux fury. Lapu cowers, shrinking away from your anger. "You left Tiva to be beaten by the humans? Maybe killed? What kind of wolf are you?" You snap at him. "Get up."
The boy shivers, but nonetheless straightens himself out. He can't meet your gaze.
"If the humans have really invaded the pack's territory, we'll need all the wolves we can get to keep our people safe. I don't have the patience to deal with cowards right now, so you're going to stop whining and stop acting like a scared pup."
Lapu gulps and nods. "You're right. We have to go back."
"Follow me," you say, darting into the alley, footfalls echoing between the tight brick walls.
I need to get there faster, you think as you run. What are humans doing in the pack's territory? You push through the transformation into your lupine self, joints popping as arms and legs elongate and thick, bristly black hairs sprout from your skin, first in patches, then in an uninterrupted wave of fur.
As you drop to all fours and propel yourself down the alley, you can hear something through the blood rushing in your ears. Was that a scream? Tiva? And then you hear something else, a wolfish growl followed by an uncharacteristic whimper of pain. You look back to make sure Lapu is following you, and to his credit, the boy hasn't backed down. He's halfway through his own change, wavy blond fur slinking its way down his spine as his face cracks open into a wolf's toothy muzzle, lips pulled back in a feral snarl.
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