"They say this sort of eclipse is rare," May said to James as they went out into their backyard, the scent of steaks cooking a the family's backyard grill.
"It's a total penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon is going to be totally in Earth's shadow and at the darkest point of Earth's shadow," James answered with a smile, "It's the nature of the moon's orbit that makes this rare. It commonly does pass through Earth's shadow... but that's usually only partial. Not total."
"Will we still be able to see it?" Michael, or Mikey as his parents and friends called him.
"Of course," James replied, "the moon doesn't disappear, it's just dimmer than normal... though it does change color at times. It's sometimes called a blood moon because it takes on a rusty red color."
"Dad..." Hunter grumbled at fake spooky voice that James used for the last part of his answer. Mikey only laughed and bounced a soccer ball in the grass. James rolled his eyes and checked the grill. He carefully flipped the steaks and and then returned to his wife's side. She was beautiful and despite the fact that she was nearly forty years old, she was fit and limber. She didn't have anything in the way of gray in her blonde hair, and if she had any wrinkles appearing, they actually made her look even better. She smiled to him as he placed an arm around her shoulder.
"It's amazing how well you know all these things about the moon," May commented, "I only know what the news told me and it was somewhat of a fun-fact report."
"Well... it's been a private of interest of mine," James gave a laugh, "always was... the full moon and things that relate to it... I can't really say."
The watched quietly as the full moon rose above them. Hunter paid a little interest, though he was soon kicking his brother's soccer ball back to Mickey. Soccer was another of the sports the two boys played. Slowly the moon began to move into what astronomers called the umbra. As it did so, the light from the moon grew slightly dimmer. James watched and held May to him the moon slowly moved further and further. Soon it began to take on a reddish color, like that of rust as it moved deeper into Earth's penumbra, but would miss the umbra.
"It's beautiful," May commented and rested her head against James's chest.
"Yes," James commented as he looked at it, transfixed by it, "it is..."
"James?" May asked, catching an uneasy tone in her husband's voice, she glanced to see that both her sons had stopped passing the soccer ball between them and were starring up at the orb above them. She turned her attention back to her husband, "James, what's going on with you?"
"I... I don't know," James said slowly, clutching May tightly to him, "It's just... I... I... need... I need to..."
May looked at him with some nervous worry James gave a sudden cry of pain and swung his arms to grip himself. However, his right arm was still around her shoulder and when he swing his arm, May found herself stumbling into a tight hug from her husband. The hug, however, was not a friendly one. By the strength that he was using to apply pressure with his fingers, it was clear that he was in pain and was trying to apply pressure, as if he was trying to stop himself from bleeding and she simply happened to be in the way.
"Aaarrrrrrrrggghhhh!" James gave a pained cry, barely hearing his sons giving a similar cries. His whole body suddenly felt like it was on fire, though at the moment, the worst of the pain seemed to be in his hands and feet, particularly in the fingers and toes. "It... it hurrrrrrrrrrts!"
May was somewhat surprised by this, but was also afraid. Not out of fear for her life but for her husband and sons. She could hear them crying out in pain too, and she didn't didn't know what it was. But the love of her life and her babies, regardless of whether or not Hunter was nearly through puberty and that Mikey hadn't hit it yet but puberty couldn't be too far off for him, her sons would ALWAYS be her babies. To see them all in pain and not knowing how to fix it hurt her. Not that her want to help them helped her. James held her tightly and his fingers were actually beginning to dig into her. The tips of his nails felt pointed and like they were growing longer.
"James!" May cried.
"Aaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!" James cried out again and bent over in pain, taking May off her feet. He continued to hold her tightly.
"Ow... ow... James you're hurting me!" May protested as James continued to hold her.
James cringed and actually whimpered and let go. May fell to the ground and looked up to her husband and her eyes grew wide. Claws had sprung out from his fingers. They were great in size and slightly curved. She watched in horror as the sound of bones snapping and lengthening as James's hands grew slightly longer, becoming more muscular and somewhat paw like. A heavy black callous, a pad, began to form where his hands met his his fingers and similar pads formed at the tips of his fingers. Reddish brown fur was also beginning to grow out of his skin, or at least out of the skin she could see.
"James?" May asked.
James only looked up while still bent over and gave a pained growl, revealing lengthening fangs and the fact that his eyes had become a feral yellow. May only cringed in fear, but it was now a different type of fear, and she couldn't move. She was too terrified. Too terrified to move or to notice that James had accidentally scratched her when he dropped her to the ground. Too terrified to notice that the claw marks in her skin were already healing. She could only watch as James continued to go through what appeared to be a very painful transformation.
"What's happening to you?" May actually whimpered softly.
James couldn't answer. The pain was great, now not only from the changes in his body, but in the constraints that his shoes and clothing was placing on him. His body was growing larger and his cloths were rapidly becoming too small. His shoes were the first to lose the fight against his changing body as the bones in his feet snapped and crackled as they grew longer. Soon he could easily hear the sounds of ripping showed material and he looked down to his feet. As he did so, he felt himself rising up onto the balls of his feet as his foot bones continued to lengthen. As he looked down he saw his shoes, totally ruined and pulled apart. His socks were in much the same condition and he could easily see the digitigrade feet he now had. They were covered in reddish brown fur and tipped with sharp looking claws.
"God... what's... what's happening... to... me...?" James half growled half groaned as he then arched his back and tried to stretch, as if doing so would free him from the confines of his clothes which were becoming painfully tight as he felt muscle groups growing larger and larger and larger. He already felt he had surpassed most body builders. He barely noticed his son's transformations, but they seemed to mirror his. Hunter's was almost identical, though Mikey's was slightly different. It wasn't that he wasn't changing into something like his father. It was that he wasn't putting on as much bulk muscle mass. He was beginning to look more like what would be expected from a twelve year old who spent his life working on his parents farm/ranch. Fit and trim with no real fat on him and while there was muscle there, it wasn't bulk muscle. It was like Mikey was becoming a juvenile version of what James was becoming.
His own pain soon took his attention away from his sons and gave a near roar and brought his hands up pulled at his shirt. He was growing too big and his clothes would cut off his circulation if he didn't get them off. His shirt came off easily with a rip and he revealed a heavily muscled and fur covered chest and he dropped the destroyed garment as he felt the seems of his jeans begin to pull apart around his legs. It gave him some relief, but didn't ease the pinching in his crotch. Letting out a pained roar he brought his hands down and literally tore his pants off of him. The torn denim then fell apart and fell to the ground. A part of his mind told him he was nearly free.
"James..." May gasped in surprise at seeing her husband disrobe in front of her in such a way and in front of their children as well. She barely noticed the triangular ears on the top his head, as something disrobing in such a way seemed inherently wrong and out of character. Despite the fact that James and his sons shared the same gender, James had only let May see him without clothes. Now he was tearing off his clothing as if it didn't matter and he had to get out of them. It was out of character, and May was trying to process everything that she saw. Though a part of her also noticed the growing bulge in her husband's underwear, normally a pair of boxers, but with his growing size, James was now big enough that they were more like tight fitting boxer-briefs. His muscles weren't the only things that were growing, and May, to her own great surprise found herself growing slightly aroused at that prospect. "No... cool yourself, May... your husband and sons are turning into werewolves..."
That made May blink as she finally realized what was going on. Her family was turning into werewolves. Part of her wondered how this could have happened, but she had no time to fully wonder or worry. Her husband's transformation continued before her eyes. James pulled his boxers off just as he had his shirt and pants. As he did so, May got a full look at his body, covered in reddish brown fur. The bulge that she had noticed in his boxers turned out not to be his penis but his balls. They had at least doubled in size and directly above them was furry sheath with a small opening at the top of that sheath. May tried look away, but found she couldn't as she heard James give several panting breaths, now sounding like he was trying to finish the transformation. She didn't notice that her skin itched a little where James had accidentally clawed her.
The transformation had now begun actually feel good for him. He was free of his cloths and his muscle was free to expand even further and align so that all the muscle groups worked well and didn't impede his movement by their size. He now actually gave an almost aroused moan and felt a strong stirring between his leg. He looked down t watch as his penis rose out of his sheath and grow erect. It grew hard with much greater length and girth than he ever remembered having before and there seemed to be a great knot at its base. There was still a little pain, mostly in his face and his spine, but something in his mind told him he was nearly done... nearly complete... nearly free. And that felt good.
"Oh... oh... o-oa-ark... aarrrk...arrrrk...aaarrrrrk... aarrff... aarrrff," James gave a great groan that then transferred into a series of barks as the bones in his face began to push forward in spurts until it lengthened into a very wolf-like muzzle. Once his muzzle was grown, he felt himself smile confidently as he somehow knew he had one more thing to do. The pain in his face was gone and all that was left was along his spine, where he could feel a small nub there, lengthening. At first it was short, but in a matter of moments it rapidly lengthened into a very fuzzy wolf's tail, and as he felt his whole body orgasm at the completion of the transformation, James raised his head and howled to the blood moon above him. Two more howls, one in a slightly higher register joined him.
"James?!"
He then looked down to see May siting on the ground where he saw his wife sitting there wide eyed and looking somewhat fearful, though his now canine nose also picked up a slight touch of arousal in his wife.
"I'm still here," he said, his voice sounding gruffer with almost growling edge to it, "just... better... bigger..."
"What... how...?" May managed to ask.
"I don't know," he answered and then noticed something on his wife's arm. It was then that he remembered clawing her by accident when his transformation began, "I'm sorry, May."
"Sorry? Sorry for what? Did you cheat on me with some werewolf hooker or something?" May actually gave a demand.
"What? No... May... your arm!" James insisted.
May glanced and saw her transformed sons. Hunter had blonde fur while Mikey was reddish brown, like his father. Both of them were looking at her with almost puzzled looks with one ear lowered and with wide golden eyes. She didn't fully understand and then looked down at her arm, which she had begun to absentmindedly scratch at. And there, growing out of her skin where James had accidentally clawed her was a patch of blond fur.
"Oh... oh my," May managed as she realized that when James clawed her he had passed the condition on to her. She was starting to change as well.