Nate was taking a walk at night after feeling antsy, restless if you will. As he walked along, enjoying the cool spring air. The night was quiet with very few people around. After walking a bit, he realized he was thirsty. Almost simultaneously, he noticed a vending machine in the distance under an old, flickering street lamp.
"Ooh, that's convenient," Nate said to himself. He jogged across the empty lot to the vending machine.
Expecting a Coke or Pepsi machine, he was surprised to find it was actually offering sodas from a company he had never heard of. Never one to shy away from trying new things, he was even more intrigued. He studied each item, gathering that they were using various mythical creatures as mascots for their sodas. Although he was tempted by the Satyr Cream Soda, the Bacchus Brew, and Bull Boost energy drink, he decided on the Citrus Moon since he was a sucker for both werewolves and anything citrus. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar and a couple of quarters and fed them into the machine. Nate pressed the button for Citrus Moon and after a couple whirring noises, the correct bottle fell out the door at the bottom.
He twisted off the cap and took a good, long gulp of the drink. He had to admit, it was good. He replaced the cap and continued along with his walk. As he went along, he took continued sips until pretty soon he had finished the bottle. He spotted a garbage can ahead and was about to toss the bottle in when he noticed his previously hairless arm and hand had a light coating of brown hair on it. He checked his other arm and found the same on the other.
"What the hell..." he muttered, slightly alarmed, but at the same time, excited. He looked at the bottle in his hand, quickly deducing that it had to be the cause for this sudden change. He turned the bottle over in his hand, scanning the label until he found what he was looking for:
"Citrus Soda: Guaranteed to bring the beast out of you!
Mythic Soda Co. is proud to bring to you a new line of sodas designed to allow our customers to bring out their deepest desires, to experience being a mythical creature. Our Citrus Moon soda allows the consumer to transform themselves from human to lupine beast in the manner of a few minutes..."
Normally, Nate would not have believed what he was reading if he didn't witness his fingernails slowly grow out to claws from the corner of his eye as he held the bottle.
"Oh my god," he whispered, excited beyond belief. "I get to be a werewolf!"
He felt an itching sensation ripple through his body which he realized was his fur growing in. He dropped the bottle in the trash and ran over to a car parked on the street and checked himself out in the side view mirror. He was shocked at the image that appeared. His face was framed in a thick, brown fur. His eyes had changed from their usual blue to a deep amber color. His teeth had grown to long, sharp fangs. He felt a tugging at his ears and turned his head to the side to see them grow to long points and shift up on his head.
Nate's heart raced with excitement. After years of fantasizing, the unthinkable was actually happening. He was becoming a real werewolf. Thoughts raced through his mind. How far was this going to go? Would he change back? If so, would he be able to become a werewolf again without drinking the soda?
These questions were thrown from his mind as the more dramatic changes overcame him. He felt a strong tension growing in his shoes. He quickly pulled them off, along with his socks and watched in awe as his feet stretched and reformed into digigrade paws, tipped with sharp claws. He started to feel a strong tension in his chest an watched in shock as his chest started to barrel out and arm muscles swell with several loud popping noises, tearing his t-shirt the shreds in the process.
The final changes overtook Nate as his face slowly pushed out into a lupine snout and his fangs slid into place. Once the changes stopped, he looked over himself, still shocked and excited at what happened. He looked at each hand, his palms now rough and resembling paw pads, each finger tipped with a long, sharp claw. He was covered head to toe in a rich, thick brown fur.
He noted that not only was he a werewolf, but what he always imagined he would look like as werewolf. He stood there under the street lamp, admiring himself a little more, a beautiful werewolf wearing a pair of tattered blue jeans and remains of a t-shirt. Nate marveled that physical appearances aside, he was still largely himself, rather than a slobbering monster. He tore off the few remains of his t-shirt and deposited them in the trash.
Nate ran off into the night, the cool air running through his fur. He had no idea how long this would last, but he was going to enjoy it while it did.