You can feel the dragon in you gnawing at the back of your mind, furious with your decision. Having managed to cage the beast for now, you go about trying to rationalize with your lupine friend. Getting Anders' attention isn't hard, a wave of your hand has him kneeling in front of you. You have to push him back a little as he begins to nuzzle into your crotch, looking to get at your hidden treasure.
"Anders, please look at me..." You begin, not sure how to bring back your friend from his submissive state of mind.
"Yes, alpha." Anders replies, standing to his full height, he still has to look up at you. You don't that will help, so you crouch a little so that you are level with his eyes.
"Anders, I know you're in there, I can't have you like this! You have got to fight your instincts, I know you're strong enough!" You just say the first things that come to mind as you desperately appeal to Anders the human to fight his wolfish nature. Anders continues to pant happily, "Come on, where's the Anders who tried to protect people from the explosions? Where's the Anders who woke up in an unfamiliar body and continued to go out of his way to continue his mission as a police officer? Where's the Anders that rescued me? Gave me strength to keep going forward?"
The wolf cocks his head in confusion and you can see him work something out internally, but who or what is fighting for control is a mystery to you. Anders starts to whine a little and you decide to keep pushing, "Serve and protect, these words are what pulled you through the first time. When your entire world was flipped on its head, these words kept you going."
You can see an effect now, Anders has his eyes clenched shut and begins to growl. He shakes from side to side as if he was wrestling with his own shadow. It seems you've found what it is that Anders the human draws strength from, you change tact to help him fight his inner wolf and regain control, "So that's it then?" You demand, "This is how society falls? A one-night stand and anyone can have their way with the law? Anyone can have their own personal harem of police officers?" You try to get Anders angry, this might backfire, but the risk is worth the chance at getting your friend back.
"No one to stand up for justice, no one to help those who cannot help themselves... And for what? A quick fuck and a new master? A life without responsibility? Without accountability? Well, that is awfully selfi-" Claws dig into your throat as you are forced into the desk behind you, a panting and deranged beast hovers in front of your faces. Anders' fangs are barred and his eyes are wild and twitchy, but you just smile up at him. "It's good to have you back, buddy." You strain to talk past the paw on your throat.
Anders just looks at you for a moment, you can see anger giving way to embarrassment giving way to shame. He lets go of your throat and takes a couple steps back before saying, "I'm sorry..." Anders slumps into an office chair and looks as though the weight of the world had just been dumped on his shoulders. "I... I couldn't fight it, I was so tired that I just let this animal take over my mind." He points at his skull, his ears lay flat on his as he looks at you again. "Everything just seemed simpler when I let go, I thought I could escape everything that has happened to us and just... go with the flow? Let someone else deal with it."
You walk up to the distraught wolf-man and place a hand on his shoulder, "I never wanted this either, it was tough enough just worrying about myself and my family, but now we're responsible more than just ourselves. This is where things are going to get hard and we can't let ourselves slip, there's too much at stake now." The wolf nods, he knows better than anyone the burden of leadership, to spend a lifetime keeping a community safe.
"I know... But, when we met after the ambush, even then there was something that drew me to you... Something that said 'Follow this kid, he'll do you right'" Anders looks at you with his large eyes, reflecting what little light there is in the room, "I look back on that and I can say that it wasn't wrong, but then I found myself looking for an escape. Any excuse to let someone else take the lead, let someone else make the decisions, let someone else take the blame. I've been blamed too many times in my long career and I was just about to give up, I... I'm a coward." A tear escapes his eye and drips off his muzzle, you don't know what to say.
You lean down to give him a small kiss on the nose and pull him into a hug, your wings form a cocoon around him and your tail wraps around both your forms to lock you tight. The two of you stay like that for a while, gently rocking back and forth as you stroke your wolf's head with a claw. "You don't have to bear this burden by yourself anymore... All of us are here for you, for each other. Amelia, Cam, Cass, myself, we're going to get through this together."
You feel Anders release a shuddering sigh as he relaxes in your embrace, he begins to extricate himself as he says, "You're right, no matter what happens, if we deal with it together, we can get through this... We should have a talk with the others about our next move and what our long term plans are. I may have found something that could be helpful to us." He looks at you with a familiar, toothy grin. You smile back awkwardly, still getting used to your new facial features. You hope it doesn't come off as intimidating.
Anders slowly moves around you to get dressed and you do the same. Soon enough, you've donned an extra large t-shirt that you found in the laundry room earlier, as well as your jeans and belt. Anders has his fresh uniform on, new shirt, tie, navy pants and hat, his utility belt has a new set of cuffs, pepper spray and his gun is slung over his right hip as per usual. He looks very smart, even his foot-paws are wrapped in something akin to army puttees, you assume it's because nobody makes a wolf's size-ten.
Alright, now it's time to get everyone gathered together, what is the new course of action you decide to put forward?