Diana Lyall sat on a bench in Shaman Fenris's cabin, trying not to choke on the cannabis smoke that filled that small room. Shaman Fenris bandaged medicinal herbs onto the young werewolf's wounds. Diana tried not to wince as the healing plants and bandages rubbed against her bleeding gashes.
"Oh dear," Fenris muttered, shaking his graying head. "You certainly have been roughhousing, Diana." The old shaman sighed deeply. "Was it Luna?"
"Yeah," said Diana, pushing her red bangs out of her freckled face.
"Who started it?" Fenris asked as he rubbed a healing salve into the teeth marks on Diana's throat.
"Definitely Luna," Diana answered. "She tried to force me into something, but I said no. Then she just lost her shit, shifted, and lunged at me. You might've been officiating my funeral right now if Luna's mate Lucy hadn't come out and shamed my crazy sister into leaving me alone."
Fenris frowned grimly. "I fear for the pack if Luna becomes the next alpha after Caleb Lyall steps down. There's far too much of Artemis in her."
"Inside, maybe," laughed Diana, "but boooooy, do they ever disagree on personal grooming! Luna bathes twice a day, spends hours styling her human form's hair into the latest overly complicated trend, and shaves her body hair! Mom damn near killed Luna when she first started doing that last one."
Shaman Fenris nodded. "Strange for a werewolf to be ashamed of her hairiness. Unhealthy. It's a reminder that our wolf nature is always with us, even when we're in human form. That's why I was so concerned when Selena wasn't growing much hairier than a normal teenage girl by her thirteenth birthday."
"Thing about Luna," said Diana, "she's like a human where she should be like a wolf and like a wolf where she should be like a human. She does this werewolf thing fucking backwards!"
"It's my wish that you succeed your father as alpha," said Fenris, wrapping a sacred crystal over a wound with a bandage. "Just remember to be less reckless and put more stock in long-term planning. That would serve you well."
"I'll do my best, Shaman," said Diana. "Becoming alpha won't be easy, though. Mom's convinced Dad to name Luna his preferred heir. I'll have to battle her again if I wanna be alpha."
"I know," said Fenris. "You'll just have to fight smarter. You rely too much on brute force. Be always aware of your surroundings, as well as your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Your father isn't always stronger than all his challengers to the alpha position, but he's cleverer. You can only beat Luna's agility by being clever."
"I'll remember that, Shaman," Diana said as Fenris handed her his cannabis pipe. She just barely resisted choking, but she found the smoke soothing as it entered her system. Shaman Fenris then said some quick prayers to the spirits and Lady Moon, asking them to heal Diana. Diana experimentally stood up. "Wow, I actually feel pretty good! Thanks, Shaman Fenris. Bye!"
As Diana stepped out of the shaman's cabin, she bumped into Selena. "Hey there, Sis. You're out late."
"I was at a sleepover with the werehyenas and Tats," Selena whispered, "but I had to leave to recharge the Ring of Embraces for tomorrow." Selena suddenly noticed that her sister was covered in bandages. "Oh Moon, what on earth happened to you, Di?!"
"Luna happened," Diana said, rolling her eyes. "She came to me, already pissed that Mom's rank was suspended after she tried to rough up Carmilla—"
"Wait, WHAT?!!" Selena cut in. "Say that last bit again."
"Mom's really mad about you and Tats being so close," Diana said, "so she marched up to Carmilla and Mircalla, and she actually tried to fight them over it! Dad wasn't happy so he gave Mom a week-long demotion to delta rank. She almost got gamma."
"I can't believe Mom would actually do that," said Selena. Her eyes widened with fear. "You don't think she'd actually try to hurt Tats?!"
"Not if Dad or Shaman Fenris have anything to say about it," Diana reassured. "Dad doesn't want a werewolf-vampire war that could get most of us killed, and Shaman Fenris doesn't get why we're supposed to hate vampires in the first place. Anyway, Luna was pissed that her favorite parent got in trouble, and then she smelled werehyena on me, probably from when Abbie fucked me in the gym, and then I stuck around to watch you transform most of the girls' basketball team into pack members. She demanded that I tell her who these new werehyenas in our territory were, but I didn't snitch on you. Then she went totally apeshit and tried to kill me."
Selena's eyes bugged out at her fraternal twin. "Oh Moon, Di! She didn't hurt you too badly, did she?"
Diana shrugged. "Nothing that Shaman Fenris couldn't fix. It would've been worse if Lucy Littlewolf hadn't come out and shamed her crazy mate into letting me go. What I'm worried about is the fact that Luna knows there's a new werehyena pack in the area."
"I'll just have to be extra careful," said Selena.
"At least you've got me to protect you," Diana said proudly, squaring her freckled shoulders and puffing out her bare breasts. The redheaded werewolf winced a bit as she strained her bandaged left boob. "Now you go and charge up that Ring of Embraces. The rest of the basketball team won't want to be kept waiting much longer. I think I'll go hang out with Mona and Juniper."
"Right," said Selena. "Bye, Di!" The young werehyena alpha then darted off in the direction of her family's cabin to recharge her Ring.
Once Selena set off, Diana shifted back into her wolfgirl form. Her ample body hair thickened into a pelt of sleek red fur, complete with an undercoat, and a tail popped out as her feet elongated into digitigrade paws. Diana's muscles bulged as her claws and extra breasts grew in. Finally, Diana's face pushed out into a long lupine muzzle full of sharp teeth while her ears climbed to the top of her head and grew pointed. Now a true wolfgirl, Diana Lyall let out a celebratory howl to the moon before running off to find Mona and Juniper.