I snarled at him, debating whether or not to gift him. Originally it had been so clear; he was my friend and I wanted to let him feel how I felt. Now, however, he was clearly weak. The weak were prey. I stood there for another minute, enjoying the smell of his fear; it was as intoxicating as any drug.
Then nature got in the way again. Another massive cloud bank blocked the moon's precious light from me, and I began to shrink. It felt a bit like dying, really. All of the elation, all of the power, all of it went away in a heartbeat, each second a little more. I fell to the ground, my fur coat retracting back through my pores. My muzzle shrank back into my face. Soon, it was simply me, naked in front of Arnold.
"Dude...you're...you're a werewolf?" he said, a mixture of fear and disbelief.
"Yeah," I replied, a half-smile on my face.
"You're one of...THEM?" he said, "It's all real?" he looked terrified.
"Yeah," I replied again, my voice soft.
Arnold got up, covering his face in his hands. "My best friend is a fucking werewolf. Lovely."
"It's not like all that, Arnold. We're still friends. I'm the same guy you've always known," I said, seeing where this conversation was going.
"Look, stay away from me, alright?" Arnold yelled. "Stay the fuck away from me! You're a fucking freak!" He tore off running towards his house, trying to escape a truth he couldn't deal with.
I debated following him. The moon would come out from behind the clouds soon enough, and then I'd have the power to make him like me. I knew I could simply wish that he was a werewolf, but that would be cheating, in a way. Plus, I was starting to realize that wishing too often, or on too grand of a scale could have consequences I couldn't dream of. I couldn't really let him escape, though. He knew too much; he knew my secret. Lauren Wu's public declaration of lycanthropy was bound to get attention, at least locally. If Arnold spilled the beans about me, things could get very ugly for both me and my family. I couldn't let that happen. A simple bite would make him like myself, but would he really be happy as a werewolf? I could easily see him killing himself over this, judging by his reaction to my new condition.
I pondered my next move.