Dare looked up from the recipe on his phone and began searching through the kitchen to make sure it had all the equipment he’d need for his plan. “No stand mixer, so I’ll have to use the handheld mixer… The mixing bowls are pretty small, too,” he mumbled to himself. “It’s almost like they didn’t expect anyone to actually use this kitchen…”
The pile of microwave popcorn bags and instant noodle cups overflowing the dorm kitchen’s garbage can told Dare all he needed to know; the kitchen existed for the sole purpose of nuking a snack to eat while studying, not for making a decent meal. The oven probably cooked unevenly, and he’d definitely want to disinfect everything at least twice before he put anything in them. It would be a challenge, but it was one he was up to.
“Okay, I think I’ve got all the equipment, so next I’ll need to find-“
“AWOOOOOOO~!”
The loud sound of at least a dozen of howling wolves entered the small kitchen though an open window, making Dare nearly drop his phone.
“Jesus, what the hell was that!?” he yelped, peering out the window cautiously. “I know we’ve got wolves on campus, but those sounded like wild animals…! The doors to the dorms lock after dark, right…?”
“Oh, didn’t Stripes tell you?” a voice said from the kitchen’s doorway. Dare turned to see Max the hyena standing there, letting out a big hyena chuckle before walking closer.
“Stripes didn’t tell me a lot, it seems. What didn’t he tell me this time?” Dare growled, getting a little sick of all the secrets the higher-ups at CVU seemed to be keeping. “And where have you been? Would have been nice to know we had someone other than Stripes keeping an eye on things on our floor.”
“Aww… you missed me, Dare? I’m touched, truly,” Max giggled, ruffling the fur on Dare’s head playfully before hopping up and sitting on the kitchen’s counter. “I’m a junior, bud. That means I have a lots more classes than you and more work on my plate. Plus, I’ve been dealing with a little personal business of my own. And finally… Well, I only really signed up to be RA so I didn’t have to trudge across campus to see my monochromatic mate. Don’t tell the Student Affairs office about that, though.”
“I won’t. None of my business, I guess,” Dare sighed, glancing out the windows. “So, what’s up with all the howling?”
“Oh, that. I figured Stripes would have told you, but at the full moon, carnivore anthros transform into fully feral forms, give into their instincts, and prowl around campus. Happens to herbivores at the new moon, and omnivores just sort of have it happen randomly.” Max said casually, glancing up at the clock on the wall. “I figure I’ve still got about… ten minutes until I change for the night, so… A-argh…!”
Max clutched his chest with both paws, falling off the counter onto the floor and rolling around in pain. He let out a snarl that made Dare back into the corner of the kitchen in terror, and for the first time in his life Dare knew what it was like to be another animal’s prey.
…And then, Max smirked and let out a deafening hyena laugh before standing up and winking at Dare.
“…Fuck you, Max. Not funny,” Dare said shakily, but after a couple seconds he too had to laugh at the absurdity of Max’s joke.
“Sorry. That one gets freshmen every time, so I just gotta use it whenever I can,” Max said, his laughter starting to die down a bit. “So, what are you doing in here, anyway? It’s a bad habit to just eat junk food whenever you get stressed out over classes.”
Dare was about to hit back with a snide remark and dodge the question, but then he remembered what the skunk who was supposedly his mother said over the phone. Someone asks a question, you avoid it. …It’s gonna piss everyone off!
Why the hell do I care if Max knows what I’m doing here?, he thought to himself. Just ‘cause he’s a joker doesn’t mean he’s going to laugh at me about this, right?
“…I’m going to make a cake. For M-… for my friends,” Dare replied. “I was just making sure I had what I needed before I went to buy the ingredients.”
“Sweet. Am I one of your friends, Dare?” Max shot back right away. “Promise to bring me a slice and I’ll give you a little tip~…”
“I don’t need tips from you. I’ve been baking since I was a kit,” Dare said, flinching a bit as the words slipped out of his mouth without him even realizing. “I-I mean, since I was a kid.”
Max raised an eyebrow at Dare’s slip of the tongue. He usually left this sort of thing up to Stripes, but Max was technically an RA and it was his job to help out the students who seemed to need help.
“You sure? Daryl didn’t seem like much of a baker, to me. Only pie I thought you’d ever bake would be grum-pie…” Max said. “Y’know, like ‘grumpy’, except-“
“I get it. The joke about threatening to eat me was funnier.”
“Point is, the guy I met a few days ago didn’t seem like the kinda guy that’d bake a cake for his friends,” Max continued. “And the fact that you are doing it makes me think that ‘Dare’ is a lot better of a person to be than ‘Daryl’. His attitude still kinda stinks, but I’d rather live in a dorm with Dare.”
“You’re just saying that so I’ll bring you a slice of cake, aren’t you?” Dare sighed with a smirk on his face.
“Guilty. Now, do you want that tip or not?”
“Deal. What do you have for me?” Dare replied, curious to know what Max had to offer him.
“There’s a grocery store on Mane St. where you can get what you need. Don’t go there, it’s all generic brand-name crap,” Max said. “Two blocks east of the grocery store is a general store, and they’ve got high-quality flour sourced from local farms. Fancy imported chocolate, too. Even the kind that’s treated so canine anthros can eat it without barfing their guts out.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“Aaaaand~,” Max said, relishing every word. “They give a student discount. I do a little baking now and then, so I know where to get the good stuff.”
“Sounds perfect,” Dare said with a grin. “Max, I already like you a lot more than Stripes.”
“And I like you a bit more than dental surgery, bud. Have fun, don’t let Milo eat the whole thing before you get that piece over to me, okay?”
“No promises, a pig’s a pig after all,” Dare said, then he blushed. “I never said it was just for Milo, you know…”
“I know. But I’m not dumb. And you remind me a lot of my Stripey-Pie back when all this started, all the way down to the stripe. So maybe I’ve got an eye for spotting gloomy, moody romantics,” Max said with a giggle. “The best of luck to you, young lover. Trust me, you’ll need it… That oven’s a piece of shit, believe me.”
----------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, over by the lake the wolf party was still going strong. Sam was hanging back, letting Todd do all the socializing he could handle. And it seemed to be working; Todd still seemed a bit nervous meeting so many people, but something about the fact that they were all wolves just like him seemed to help him open up a bit more than usual.
“You ready for this one, Todd? You were a little quiet on the last one,” Dan said, sensing another group howl was coming.
“J-just getting used to it, I guess…” Todd said. He’d been there for a few hours, and his last few changes hadn’t happened yet. He was starting to worry that he’d never change all the way, and he’d be stuck as a bald-faced half-wolf for the rest of the semester.
Dan seemed to sense Todd’s unease and patted him on the shoulder. “Here, lemme give you a tip, little guy,” he said seriously. “Next time you feel a howl coming, don’t look at the ground. Don’t look over at your tiger boyfriend over there, either. Just look right at that full moon and let loose. You might have been a human once, but now you’re a wolf. Embrace it, and it’ll feel great. Trust me.”
Todd’s ears perked up at the advice, though he was still a little unsure if it would really work. But, for some reason, he felt like he could trust Dan. He could trust the other wolves at the party. He’d give it a try. He glanced around and spotted another wolf raise his muzzle to the sky, a senior who had been leading most of the howls that night.
“Here it comes…” Dan said excitedly, glancing up at the moon to get himself hyped up.
One howl rung out over the lake, followed by another and another, until nearly all the other partygoers had lost themselves to the moment and were howling their hearts out. Todd nervously listened to them for a few moments, then he took a deep breath. He raised his head to the sky, staring straight at the moon like Dan had told him, and…
“AWOOOOOOOOO~!!” he howled wildly. It wasn’t just the loudest he had howled all night. It was the loudest noise he had ever made in his entire lifetime. The sound flowed out of him, reverberating deep inside him before bursting forth from his lips. Todd could feel his whole muzzle vibrating with the sound, spreading out from his lips and down his entire body. The corners of his mouth began to itch, and he looked down his muzzle to see a tiny patch of black fur begin to sprout. He pressed on, howling over and over again, and with each new howl the fur spread farther, sweeping up his cheeks and down his neck, swirling across his entire face to coat every last inch of exposed skin. His muzzle pushed forward a few inches and a couple final teeth pushed their way past his gums, giving him a handsome wolfish grin.
He was done. He was a wolf, just like Dan and the rest of the anthros at the party. And yet, something was missing…
“Todd? That was great, buddy!” Dan said with a huge grin on his face. He pulled the smaller wolf into a tight hug, pounding him on the back with one of his paws. “Just one more thing, and you’ll be all done.”
“One more… W-what is it?” Todd asked curiously.
“Come here. This won’t take long… just a formality more than anything,” Dan said, pulling Todd over to a table that had been set up near the lake.
At the table was a bowl, and Dan reached in and withdrew a small strip of cloth in the school colors. He carefully wrapped the strip around Todd’s bicep and tied it off tightly, then he took a step back.
“Todd, you’re now a member of the Claw Valley pack,” Dan said solemnly. “We look out for our own, and if there is anything you ever need, you can come to your pack for help. You’ll make a fine wolf, Todd, trust me.”
Todd felt a swell of happiness at the older wolf’s words, and the little armband he had been given to mark him as a member of the pack felt almost magical in its significance. The feeling that something was missing even after his changes were complete had disappeared now that he had been given what every wolf needs: a place in the pack. He looked back at Sam with his face positively glowing with happiness, and Sam pumped his fist and gave his boyfriend a thumbs-up to congratulate him.
“T-thank you, Dan,” Todd said sincerely. “So… N-now what?”
“What do you mean? This is a party, Todd, and it’s barely 9:00!” Dan replied with a big laugh. “We’re gonna be here until we can’t see the moon anymore! So go on! Get to know your new pack and enjoy yourself! Scoot!”
Dan gave Todd a light shove in the direction of the other wolves at the party before heading off to get himself something to eat. Todd once again glanced back at Sam, who was still standing out of the way and letting Todd enjoy the party without him. Todd smiled and waved to his boyfriend before nervously joining in on a conversation with a few of the younger wolves, who gladly introduced themselves and tried to get to know their new packmate.
Thanks, Sam… I’m really going to have to think of a way to thank you once we get back to our room later, Todd thought, a devious grin spreading over his face…