The sound of our blades clashing echoed across the field. The impact sent a shockwave throughout my entire body. Stone Skin was strong, though I felt that he wasn’t using his full strength.

“Not bad little wolf. Not many have been able to stand after a blow like that,” Stone Skin taunted. Pushing against his blade, I jumped back, creating some distance between us. As I landed, there was some slight pain in my legs.

“You haven’t even seen the best part,” I said. Ignoring the pain in my legs, I crouched down before launching at him at full speed. When I was about five feet in front of him, I leaped into the air and brought my feather blade down. There was another clash of metal as he blocked the attack with ease. Not only was he strong, but he was fast as well. This was going to be interesting.

We exchanged a few more blows. None of this seemed to bother Stone Skin as much as it was me. Lying in bed all that time didn’t do me any favors. I knew this was just training, but I felt the need to prove myself.

Jumping into the air, I unfolded my wings and hovered about twenty feet from the ground. Then with a thought, I conjured my bow. Repeating the steps from the fight with the ice guy, I gathered energy forming my arrow of light. As I loosed the arrow, I willed it to become binding ropes. I watched as the arrow shot down towards Stone Skin. It wrapped around him tightly. The was a look of surprise in his eyes for just a moment. Then tensed up and broke the rope.

“That is a neat little power you have there, little wolf, but I am not into S&M. You didn’t even buy my a drink first.” Stone Skin said, laughing. If I wasn’t covered in fur, anyone could have seen just how red my face got from the mention of S&M. I had always been curious about but was too young to experiment with it. Then a thought crossed my mind. I envisioned Taylor tying me up and dominating me.

I didn’t notice the bolder coming towards me with my mind off in dreamland till it was almost too late. When I finally realized it, I had little time to dodge the bolder as it skimmed my back. The pain shot through my entire body. I started to fall.  For just a moment, I saw something for the first time. Stone Skin looked worried.  Doing my best to steady myself, I landed on my paws.

“What happened, Miss?” Stone Skin asked as he approached me. I didn’t want to tell him that I was having perverted thoughts in the middle of training. I was embarrassed enough, even thinking about it in the first place. Taylor and I weren’t even dating. Sure, I had fallen in love with her, and she even admitted that she loved me, but I hadn’t really gotten around to actually asking her out.

“I-I got distracted,” I said as I did my best not to look at him. I was afraid that my eyes would betray me. Stone Skin sighed as he sat down next to me.

“I know that this isn’t something that you are used to. Hell, I was in MMA and Tai Kwan Do, and I still wasn’t prepared for what that storm did. That said, you need to be focused on a fight. You could have died just then.” Stone Skin said. I hung my head. He was right. If this had been a real fight, it could have ended badly for me. I needed this training more than I thought. I couldn’t just fight on instinct for the rest of my life.

“I am sorry. I will do better.” I said, looking at the ground. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder. It felt strange. After the feeling I got when I looked into his eyes, I didn’t see him as the sensitive type. How stereotypical of me. I knew men had feelings, considering I used to be on, at least on the surface.

“Alright, mushy time is over. We got some more time before we can call it a day.” Stone Skin said as he stood up. Standing up, I brushed myself off. “Alright. After that last bout, I think we need to work on dodging. Not all fights are going to be fought with swords, and you need to be able to maneuver away from danger in a split second.”

As he walked to the other side of the area, Stone Skin picked up some rocks from a pile. I guess he had placed them there in advance. “Are you ready little wolf?” he asked. I nodded and changed my stance, ready for his barrage. As Stone Skin threw the first stone, I ducked as it buzzed over my head. The second stone had me jumping about 5 feet in the air. With each successful throw, he picked up the pace. One time he nearly clipped my thigh when a pigeon decided the smack me in the face.

We had been training for about five minutes when a strange urge tugged at my insides. I tried to ignore it as I continued dodging the rocks. Then as Stone Skin picked up a decent-sized branch and chucked it at me, something happened. I felt my body begin to change shape. It sounded like bones were breaking. The next thing I knew, my arms were extending, and my haunches were shifting position.

By the time I was done, I was standing on four legs. As the branch flew past me, an undeniable urge demanded that I chase the branch. I stumbled for the first few steps, but it didn’t take long before I rushed towards where the branch landed. After finding the branch, I found myself picking it up in my mouth instead of picking it up with hands. That’s when it hit me. I had shifted into a full wolf.

“Well, I’ll be damned. That’s something I never thought id see in a million years,” I heard Stone Skin say under his breath. Turning around, tree branch still in my mouth, I walked over to where he was standing and dropped it to the ground.

“This is a first,” I said as I tried my best to look at myself. The only thing that I could see clearly was my butt and tail. Not exactly the best first impression of this new discovery.

“Oh my god, Angel, you’re a wolf,” I heard Ashley squeal. Part of me wanted to point out to her that I already was a wolf, just biped. She flew over and landed on top of my head. This felt really strange because she was wearing a short skirt, and I could feel a little bit of heat coming from her butt.

“I have no idea what happened. One minute I’m dodging rocks. The next, I’m chasing a stick. I just hope that this isn’t permanent. It would definitely make life more difficult.” I said. Looking down at my now paws, I sighed. As incredible as this was, how could I be with Taylor if I was stuck as a wolf. As I thought about my original form, I felt that same discomfort as before as my body shifted back to normal.

“Aww, wolfy went bye-bye,” Ashley said like a little girl. Thes was nothing like the Ashley that I had known from school. She acted more like a child now. I wondered if it had anything to do with being a fairy? “Welp, it looks like training is over. It’s time to go home,” Ashley said as she opened a rift.

After saying goodbye to Stone Skin, I walked through the rift and found myself back in the safety of the tower. And standing there waiting for me was Taylor, a smile on her face. If only she knew just how much her smile made my day.

“Welcome home, Angel,” Taylor said excitedly. Her tail was swaying back and forth rapidly. Instead of returning her welcome, I walked up and hugged her tight. She returned the hug, and we stood there for a minute. Then nature called.

“Excuse me, Taylor, I gotta go to the bathroom,” I said, reluctantly breaking the hold. When I got to the bathroom, I took the necessary steps to sit on the toilet. While I was sitting there, I started feeling a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I wondered if it was because I had eaten a very light breakfast.

When I was finished, I went to wipe and noticed a strange odor—it kind of smelt like metal. A sort of dread washed over me. As I looked at the toilet paper, my fear was confirmed. I just had my first period. I knew that girls had them, but I didn’t expect to have one because I was changed by a storm.

After leaving the bathroom, I went to find my mom. She was in the kitchen with Esme and Taylor. I was going to try to get her by herself. The last thing I needed was an audience.

“Mom, can I talk to you in private?” I asked. She looked up at me with a curious look on her face.

“ I wish I could, Angel, but I need to get lunch out of the oven. I was in the middle of a conversation with Taylor,” mom said. I didn’t really want to wait until later, because I needed something, a tampon or a pad.

“Mom…I got my period,” I said. Taylor, who had been taking a drink from a cup, spit all over me and the counter. Then she just looked at me with a dumbfounded look.

“Well, honey, welcome to womanhood. There are some tampons in my purse. The instructions on how to insert them are in the box.” Mom said with a smile on her face.

After my period fiasco was over and everyone ate lunch, I decided to drag Taylor to our room. There was something I needed to do, and I wanted to do it in private. When we finally got to our room, I shut the door and guided her to the bed. Sitting down, I patted the place beside me. With a curious look on her face, she sat down next to me.

“Taylor, I know it’s only been a couple weeks, and I am probably moving a little too quick, but I have to ask you a question,” I said nervously. She continued to stare at me with those beautiful eyes. Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Taylor Prescott, will you be my girlfriend?”