"I think I'm going to get him the werewolf potion. Based on the sheer number of stories, I think that’s the one he'd want most. Besides, it’s a full moon tonight. Almost seems meant to be."
"Excellent choice. That will be $20."
Ellen handed the money over to Amanda and watched as she packaged her selections into a small paper bag.
As Ellen left the store and walked back to her car, a devious thought occurred to her. She always fixed her sons a special breakfast on their birthday. This time she thought she'd dose her son's juice with the werewolf potion, with the change coming as a complete surprise. Oh yes, she thought, that is exactly what I'll do.
The following morning was Nate's birthday. She was preparing breakfast for him before he had to leave for school. She poured a glass of orange juice for him and then pulled out the small potion bottle. She unscrewed the top and poured the contents into the glass. She stirred the glass and smiled. She carried the glass to the kitchen table along with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She called for Nate and his younger brother Eric to come and eat before taking her place at the table as well. She watched Nate take a sip of his orange juice and smiled to herself. She could only imagine her son’s reaction as he started to actually transform from boy to werewolf as he had so often fantasized about. She hoped this might make up for some of the rougher moments in the past year. Her divorcing their father, in particular. Although, she thought Nate handled that rather well. It had been far harder on Eric, who was only 12, compared to Nate's 15.
There was some doubt about whether or not the potion was even going to work. She realized she was taking a lot on faith that this stuff was even real or even was going to work. It may have just been an elaborate gag gift store and she thought it was real. Then she would be without a real gift to give her son for his birthday. Her nervous feelings subsided when in the late afternoon she noticed Nate had started to develop a bit of stubble. She also noticed he seemed to be feeling a bit sore as he repeatedly rubbed his feet and hands and adjusted his jaw. She could only imagine the surprise he was going to experience when the sun set in a few hours and the full moon rose.
Dinner time came and went with little fuss as they sat down to a meal of grilled steaks, baked potatoes and a vegetable. Nate had grilled the steaks himself while Ellen prepared the rest. She smiled a bit as she noticed he had prepared his rarer than the other two. Cake followed closely after that with Nate blowing out the candles as Eric and Ellen sang Happy Birthday to him. Ellen assured him he would get his present later that night.
After dinner, Nate, Ellen and Eric settled in to watch a movie with Nate taking a seat in the recliner and Ellen and Eric spreading out in the sectional couch. As anticipation grew in Ellen towards Nate's impending transformation she began to understand the appeal he saw in it. As she pretended to watch the movie, she kept an eye on Nate. Noticing small changes, such as his legs and arms looking a bit hairier, both exposed nicely due to Nate's wardrobe choice of t-shirt and shorts. Sure enough, she noticed the moment the transformation started in earnest, as his fingernails slowly grew out into claws. Nate's expression at this was one of shock and confusion. He quickly stuck his hands out of view, hiding them between himself and the armrest. After a minute, he got up and walked out of the living room. As he passed, she noticed Nate was looking decidedly harrier. A moment later, she heard the bathroom door close.
Nate flipped on the bathroom light as he felt utterly perplexed at what was happening. He knew what it was, but just had no idea how it could actually be happening. What he knew was it felt good. Really good. His body tingled all over with an odd warmth. He pulled off his t-shirt and marveled at his hairy body as hairs quickly grew thicker. His lips were growing darker as his teeth grew into large, sharp fangs. His heart stopped when he heard a knock at the door.
"Umm...occupied…" he said, with some difficulty with his growing fangs as a strand of drool escaped from the side of his mouth.
"Happy Birthday, honey. I hope you're enjoying your present."
Nate was confused until it clicked. "You did thisth? But how?"
"I...uh, I found your notebook. And there's this store by my work that sells magic items…"
Nate opened the door to the bathroom and Ellen was momentarily taken aback by the dramatic changes her son had gone through in a short period of time. His torso was covered in shaggy brown fur that continued up around his neck and around his reforming face. Large fangs jutted out from his mouth as he grinned from ear to ear, which now we're slowly stretching out into lupine points. He let out moans of pleasure as his muscles grew and reformed. He gripped the marble countertop as his body grew and changed, the large claws that grew out of his fingernails making small tapping noises as they tapped against the marble.
"Thisth feels so good," he said, having trouble speaking with the fangs and his voice suddenly several octaves lower.
Eric peeked around the corner just in time to see his older brother finish his transformation as his feet reformed into digitigrade paws and his face pushed out into a lupine snout.
"Oh cool!" Eric grinned from ear to ear. "I always wanted a dog, but this is even better!"
Ellen and Eric watched in silence as Nate took in his changes, standing in front of the mirror as though he were trying to reconcile the image they saw was really him. He slowly walked out of the bathroom as Ellen and Eric backed away and tentatively looked on. While she wanted to believe her loving son was still inside her son's new monstrous visage, she also knew there was a wild animal side to him now. They watched as he walked into the kitchen, pulled open the sliding glass door and ran out into the cool, summer night. Ellen walked over and closed the door behind him.
"Enjoy yourself darling, Happy birthday."
Eric walked into the kitchen, grinning ear to ear. "When do I get to turn into something?"
***
Nate ran through the woods as fast as he could, ecstatic at his newfound speed and agility as he leapt over fallen trees and dodged branches. He stopped in the middle of the woods and let out a joyful howl as he looked up at the night’s sky, illuminated by the bright, full moon. As he stood there panting he realized he was hungry again. His lupine senses took over as he caught the scent of prey in the distance.
He gave himself over to the wolf’s instincts as he made his way through the woods until he made it to the lake where he spotted his target, a young deer taking a drink from the lakeside. Nate quietly approached the young deer and climbed up into a fallen tree next to the lakeside, careful not to disturb too much. He waited for his moment and pounced, landing squarely on the deer as they both fell into the shallow water. The deer flailed and tried to get away but the young werewolf was quick as he broke his neck and ripped out his throat. The beast dragged his catch back onto shore and began to sate his newfound hunger under the starry night.
Nate awoke the following morning to find himself leaning against the large fallen tree by the lake. The sun was beginning to rise and he was beginning to shift back to his usual human boy self as his wolf snout slowly pulled back in, as did his claws. He looked over to the side and saw the half eaten deer carcass and was shocked to see what he had done last night. He quickly got up and ran back to the house, still on his digitigrade paw feet. As he ran, he could feel his body discarding the shaggy brown fur from his body and was suddenly grateful that his jean shorts had remained intact during his transformation. He made it to the tree clearing and made a quick dash to the back door, sliding it open and running inside. He slid the door shut and made his way upstairs. He was caked in mud and dried deer blood, wanting nothing more than a shower. He paused at the bathroom door, bracing himself up against it as his feet finally shifted back to normal, human proportions.
After his shower he came back downstairs to find his Mom up and seated at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee.
“Good morning!” said Nate, breaking the silence.
“Good morning, did you have fun last night?” Ellen took another sip of her coffee.
“Oh yes, it was fantastic. Just absolutely amazing.” Nate proceeded to detail his evening to her as she listened with a feeling of relief that he was so happy with what she had done.
“Yeah, so the wolf part of me, I guess that’s the only way to explain it, got hungry and I, uh, I wound up killing a deer last night.”
Ellen’s eyes went wide for a moment in surprise but then decided maybe that seemed reasonable. “You know what, that woods is full of them and they keep destroying my garden and eating the bark off the trees so that actually works great. You can run through those woods and kill as many of them as you’d like, honey.”
Nate let out a chuckle as he thought how weird and yet how freeing it was to talk with his mother about this. It felt nice. That feeling of calm was short-lived though as there was a knock on their patio door. They both were shocked to see their neighbor, Mr. Reynor standing there. Ellen got up and walked over to the door. She slid it open and invited the man in. Mr. Reynor was an older gentleman that lived next door. He was an older man, in his sixties with greying black hair.
“Mr. Reynor, hi, what can we do for you this early morning?” Ellen resumed her seat at the table as Mr. Reynor took a seat as well.
“I don’t know if you heard it last night, but I heard some loud howling coming from the woods last night…”
Nate and Ellen looked at each other and shook their heads. “No, we didn’t hear anything.”
“Then again, I could sleep through a fireworks show, so…” added Nate.
“Anyway, I went out to investigate this morning as something like that is very unusual around here. As I was walking along the lake I found this half-eaten carcass of a deer by the lakeside. I think we have some sort of a predator around those woods. I tracked it all the way back to your house too. There are muddy paw prints all over your deck. Big ones. There is something in those woods and it’s curious about people.”
Ellen looked down at her coffee and took a sip. “What do you think it could be?”
“I don’t know. From the print it looks like a wolf but it’s too big. Much too big. I’m not sure. Just be careful and stay away from the woods, especially at night. Until Animal Control can get it sorted at least.”
“Animal control?” Nate’s heart sank. His first night as a werewolf and already he called far too much attention to himself.
“Well, I gotta let them know. There’s a dangerous predator on the loose. They’re gonna have to come down here and trap it. In fact, I better give them a call. I just wanted to let you know when I saw the prints on your deck there.”
Ellen and Nate watched as Mr. Reynor got up and walked out the patio door, waving bye as he walked back to his house. Nate slumped back in his chair, feeling disappointed.
“Great, now what am I going to do? I still have two more nights as a werewolf left. And then there is every full moon after that!”
“Well, you’re just going to have to lay low for a little while. And then when it’s safe, if you do kill something...when you’re done you’re just going to have to bury the remains first thing in the morning.” It was when she finished that sentence that it finally sank in just how weird Ellen’s life had gotten lately. Nate nodded glumly.