“So, have any other questions at the moment?” Ryan asked, trying to distract himself from his arousal, which Claire had obviously seen. She had this devious grin on her face. The two were sitting on Ryan’s couch, sipping coffee. And Ryan had made a point to sit in a way that his crotch wasn’t in view.
“Um… ya. How many different kinds of weres are there?” she asked, her eyes raising to meet his. Ryan had no doubt Claire had been checking him out. Which was fine with him. Weres weren’t known for discretion when it came to things like that. He was used to women sizing him up.
“More than I can count. Everything from horses to lions, to bears, to seals. There are even what we call ‘mythic’, weres a bit more legendary than others.”
“Like what?”
“Well, menfolk have always been a bit of a toss up. Usually they’re put under the regular were category, but on occasion you find them listed as ‘mythic’. Not around here, the weremer in Moon Lake have been here so long they’ve essentially ‘domesticated’ themselves. True mer spend their entire lives out at sea I’n given to understand.”
“Wait, you mean mermaids are real? So, do they like turn into complete fish too?” Claire marveled at the information being given to her. The world she knew was getting uprooted. But beneath, things were starting to get more and more interesting. Not scary as it had been at first.
“No. They have three stages of transformation, unlike the rest of us who are either furry or not. I’m not clear on the specifics, you’d have to ask one of them.”
“So, what are you?”
“Natural born werewolf. My family has been in Moon Lake for centuries. Ever since my grandparents first settled”
“Wow, er wait a second. Your grandparents?” Claire wasn’t sure what Ryan meant by “grandparents”. Several dozen “great”s must have been omitted for convenience.
“Uh no. Weres live much longer than regular humans. At around twenty the body starts aging much slower. So someone who looks like they’re in their thirties might really be upwards of one hundred.”
“Holy crap!” Claire thought. That did explain why everyone in town looked so youthful. She glanced at Ryan, who knew what she must be wondering about.
“Don’t worry, I’m not that old. Only twenty nine myself.” Ryan said. He’d joined the academy right after he completed college. So he looked the right age, more or less.
“Oh, that’s good.”
“My parents had… Wait why is that good?” Ryan wasn’t expecting Claire to say that.
“Well it would be a little weird, don’t you think? Me staying with some seventy year old guy?” Claire said sheepishly. When she put it like that, it certainly was.
“Anyway, funny you should say that. My Mom is actually seventy something. Weres are capable of having children well into their adult life. I’m not sure when, you know, that lady stuff happens. But it does.” Ryan continued what he saw saying before Claire made her comment.
““How old can a were get?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but a healthy were can live into to be about three hundred.”
“W-O-W.” Claire punctuated each letter. Three hundred years old? If she became a were she could live to see the 24th century?! That was insane, to her.
“Do most weres just die from natural causes then? Or do you guys go down from silver bullets?” Claire joked knowing Ryan was a werewolf. He actually cracked a smile at that.
“Silver doesn’t really do much. Weres are sort of allergic I guess you could say to it. So sure, you put a silver bullet through my head or heart and I’ll die. But you put a regular bullet through me and it’d do the same. And any other fatal wound like getting stabbed or hit over the head hard enough can do you in. Weres heal fast, and are extremely sturdy in some sense, but we’re not invincible.”
Ryan thought to the three cases he knew of where a were was taken prematurely. The most recent of course being William Anderson, who was stabbed by that crazy rogue. Then there’d been a fellow werewolf a few years back who died in a car wreck. And his own father who died from cancer when Ryan was about seven.
He sat there, just thinking for a time. Claire too sat in deep thought as she continued to process information. She had so many more questions, but needed a moment or two to think things over. Because she still had a decision to make. She’d essentially been given an ultimatum. Either join this were society of her own free will, and choose what kind of were she wanted to be for the rest of her life, or have someone else decide her fate.
“Claire?” Ryan’s voice snapped Claire back into reality.
“Listen, I’ve got some paperwork to do. I’m just going into the kitchen, so if you need anything just call. Not too loud, weres can hear much better than you’d think.” he added with a smile.
“Alright. Er, wait,” Claire said as Ryan was about to pass through the doorway.
“Could… could I um… see?” she blushed profusely. It seemed a ridiculous requests to make to her. But Ryan understood, and was more than happy to show her his were form. Provided she didn’t mind him being naked.
“Wait, why?” she asked when Ryan informed her in order to change he’d need to take his clothes off.
“The forms of weres like wolves, bears, horses, and big cats don’t fit in clothing. Smaller weres like foxes, cats, raccoons, and rabbits don’t gain much mass. You saw the Twists earlier, they only grew a few inches at most.”
“How big are we talking?” Claire only vaguely remembered the two werewolves she encountered what seemed like a lifetime ago. They were big, but how big Claire couldn’t say since she was a ways away.
“Mmm, I’d say I’m at least nine feet. But I’ve met some wolves who were ten or even eleven feet tall after changing.”
This time Claire held in the “wow”. She tried to imagine what Ryan might look like, but to no avail. She just kept picturing the werewolf from “The Howling” over and over again. And there was no way he could look like that. Could he? There was only one way to find out.
Claire turned away when Ryan started undressing, much to his amusement. He’d spent his entire life surrounded by weres, he forgot how uncomfortable with nudity normal people were. It was funny, he didn’t have anything she hadn’t seen before. Well, not yet.
“You really don’t have to do that. I don’t mind. Plenty of people have seen me naked before. More than I’d like to admit.” said Ryan. Claire slowly turns back around to see Ryan in his birthday suit.
“And I thought he was hot with clothes on.” she thinks. It takes all of her willpower not to look lower than his naval. The teasing happy trail enters her line of sight every now and then, but Claire manages to “stay strong”.
“Ready?” Ryan asks. Claire nods, and then Ryan starts to change.
It’s different watching him transform. His body almost doubles in size. Dark gray fur appears all over his skin, layer after layer forming a dense pelt. His undercoat is almost completely white, make it appear as though he was gray points like a cat might.
Ryan grunts as his face extends into a canine muzzle. Claire sees something moving out of the corner of her eye, and realizes it’s his tail lashing about. Ryan’s ears shoot upwards and to the top of his head. Short black claws appear on his hands, which have gained subtle pads. His stance changes as his feet become paws. As his lower body shifts, Claire can’t help but notice his massive equipment, hidden inside a furry sack. Or sheath, she supposes is the correct term.
Everything happens in less than a minute. One second there’s an attractive blonde standing in front of Claire, the next there’s a ten foot tall gray werewolf with fangs jutting over the side of his mouth.
“Big bad wolf…” Claire thinks as she admires Ryan’s wolf form. She had been terrified before. But now that she knows more about weres, there’s something intriguing about him this way. And Claire would be a liar to say she wasn’t a little turned on by the red rocket poking an inch or two out of Ryan’s sheath.