Derrick ran for a long time, his head and heart full of terror. It took a while for him to realize he was not being chased or hunted, at least not yet. Why was he running? Fear. The fear of prey. Even now, as he calmed down and felt relatively safe, he was on alert, almost on edge. In addition to the powerful stag's body, Dianna had given him the instincts of a deer. Every sound, every odd smell, the slightest movement made him tense. He struggled against the animal mentality, trying to figure out what to do. He had to let his parents know, maybe find someone else at the spa to change him back. But Dianna had seemed so sure he was a stag for the rest of his life.
He began moving through the woods, relaxing a little more as he found no predator scents. Some other odors were very interesting, and he followed them without really thinking about it until he pushed through into a clearing and discovered three beautiful does. They stared at him, unafraid, and he marveled at being able to get so close to them. Then he remembered that he was a stag, not a human. Of course they were not afraid.
He shuffled to them, drinking in their scents. Two were in heat, something his instincts could not only identify immediately but also ramp up a reaction. He felt a flush of heat and desire, sniffing at the two in need and selecting one for his first attentions. The sexual drive hit him so hard and fast that he was sliding over her rump before he had time to think, and then the intense lust and instinctual drives blinded him to everything else. Mating was short, less than a minute thrusting before he shot his seed into her.
Derrick gradually came back to himself, standing in the clearing with the female rubbing against him. Her scent was fixed in his mind, a kind of territorial stamp that made her HIS. The grass here tasted good, and he felt almost relaxed. Still alert, but the other female's scent was pleasantly distracting. He snorted and shook his head, the heavy rack giving the movement mass. He just mounted a doe! Derrick was pretty sure he should be upset, or at least concerned, but the intense memory only brought satisfaction. He felt so alive! All of his senses were cranked up, and he was aware of the muscular, powerful body he now wore in a way he had never experienced as a human. If it wasn't for Dianna's plans to hunt and kill him, he might even come to...
Derrick snorted again. What? Come to like being an animal? Sure, he liked the strength and mass of this body, and while the mating was a blur in his mind, there was a deep sense of accomplishment. He had fulfilled a driving need, completed a task ordered by the most basic animal instincts. His purpose.
No! He had to concentrate hard to clear the stag's thoughts. He was more than an animal, he had more to do than evade predators and make baby deer! It would be so easy to let go, to accept this new life. Derrick didn't like school all that much, and he had not yet even decided what he would do after high school. A stag had no pressures of job, of money, of family. Even now, having just mounted the doe, his sense of responsibility was vague and easily ignored. The stag was already almost natural to him, Derrick the boy getting hazy. If he continued like this he would be the animal in all ways very soon. And then what? Death at Dianna's hands and his head mounted on a wall?