6 Months Later

"C'mon," Jackie said, peering through the back window. "There's not going to be another full Moon on Halloween until 2077, and yeah, I know this is silly, but gosh it sounds too much fun to pass up!"

"Pff," Ashley said behind us. "You two are weird. Wouldn't you much rather go to a Halloween party?"

She sat on the couch, adjusting her outfit around her tail - she was trying her best to dress like Isabelle from Animal Crossing. She pulled off costumes better than I did - or Jackie for that matter. Despite Jackie's comfort in looking very un-human, she was not a fan of costumes. Most pictures of her trick or treating as a kid showed a very, very unhappy girl.

Jackie laughed. "This sounds way more fun to me."

She gave me a peck on the c

heek - which at the current moment, was missing any kind of fur. Jackie and I, if only for tonight, had decided to change back, albeit briefly, to being human. Though it had been her suggestion, it was obvious that she did not like this much, and was eager to "put on her coat" as she now called it.

"Well get going then," Ashley said, "My date is going to be knocking on the door, and there's going to be questions if my brother and his girlfriend, well known canids - suddenly aren't somehow."

I raised an eyebrow. "Remember back in like March when even seeing a canid made you uncomfortable?"

"Yeah yeah," Ashley grabbed her purse, "this whole thing messed us all up, you two especially."

Jackie and I laughed, and Ashley just rolled her eyes and began walking to the front door. Dad came into the kitchen from the garage door.

"Did you see the pumpkins?" he asked Jackie.

"Yeah," Jackie smiled, "they look really awesome Lucas."

He beamed in satisfaction, but then took on a more serious expression.

"Okay," he said, "you two... just be very careful. Be back before midnight, don't scare anyone, and please for heaven's sake, just... don't push yourselves -"

"We'll be fine Lucas," Jackie said. "We've practiced this in the lab."

"I know...," he said. "I just... I'm getting used to having a family that can shapeshift. Just don't let anyone see you change. The last thing we need is an angry mob coming to our house with pitchforks."

I laughed. "Honestly, you'd probably get an angry mob of people wanting to get pictures with us for their social media. Where would someone even get a pitchfork?"

"The hardware store duh," I laughed elbowing her. She elbowed me harder back.

My Mom came up behind Dad, and hugged him, giving him a peck on the lips.

"You two have fun," Mom smiled.

Jackie and I said bye, went out the backdoor, and retreated into the night. We ran along the bike path as the crisp fall wind chilled our bones, and I felt the anticipation building more and more by the time we finally reached the woods.

We ran eagerly off the path and into the dark trees. I brushed aside the branches, wincing as one snapped me in the nose - my normal human nose. I wished I had my improved night vision from being a canid before we went into the woods. Jackie insisted however that "wasn't in the spirit of the thing." All we had instead were our phone flashlights to guide us.

"I wish," I huffed, breathing hard to keep up with her, "that you'd let me do my idea."

"As fun as it sounds to make a terrifying transformation into werewolves - or weredogs, whatever - in front of some people at a Halloween party, revealing our little secret is a terrible idea."

"Obviously," I said, "it would totally screw things up," I said, "but can you imagine everyone's reaction? And then we'd howl viciously, and go on a full on rampage and -"

"Get shot?" Jackie remarked.

"Okay," I said, "maybe... maybe that doesn't sound like such a good idea."

Eventually we reached the place that Jackie had picked out, and we put our backpacks down, carefully putting our shoes and phones inside.

There was a thrill building in me as I pressed the soles of my bare feet against the crunching autumn leaves.

"You ready?" she smiled.

"Ready."

And we began to transform. Fur grew rapidly across our bodies. My spine lengthened into my tail. I eased myself down to the ground, my hands becoming paws. I let out a guttural growl, panting heavily. Although it didn't really hurt - and I actually was growing slightly used to this, it was fun playing it up to be dramatic.

As I became fully canine, physically at least, I wriggled out of my clothes, and then howled at the Moon, Jackie joining in my call a moment later.

She burst out laughing, then licked my face. I licked her back.

"You ever thought reading all those werewolf novels that you'd ever live it?" I asked.

"Never," Jackie said, "but I remember from a young age that I wanted it. When I was in kindergarten we did a project where we drew a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wanted to be a dog."

"And what a beautiful dog you've become," I said, giving her more little kisses.

Jackie giggled. "Stop it, a werewolf queen isn't supposed to be getting all kissy."

"Oh," I said, "I guess I need to - speak in a super deep voice because I'm the super buff werewolf guy."

"Ugh," Jackie said, "whatever, let's just have some fun."

We ran through the trees. Our vision pierced through the darkness of night, and our howls pierced the crisp air. This was only the second time Jackie and I had gone full canine together, and it felt fantastic. I'd gotten to where I could confidently get this far without going into dangerous mental territory. Mom and Dad were still anxious about it, but why would I want to waste this when I'd literally become a shapeshifter? Besides, I was more concerned about how hungry changing made me, which was becoming quite apparent as we ran through the woods. 

Eventually we tired, and we lounged on the edge of an outcropping of rocks.

"Gosh," Jackie panted, "those werewolves in movies and stuff make running nonstop like that seem easy."

"The mental effort of not crashing into a tree like an absolute buffoon," I said, "is just as tiring."

"It's a shame that it doesn't line up really with the fantasy," Jackie said, dropping her head to lay against the stone.

I walked over to her, and licked the side of her face.

"Oh," I said, "but the thing about this - it's real. It's more amazing than any fantasy could be."

I laid down on my belly, snuggling up beside her.

"I've thought a lot about things," Jackie said, "even just as we've been running through the woods tonight."

"Oh?"

"I feel like.... I feel happy. Very happy. I now get what you must've felt when you went full dog - there's a freeing feeling to it..."

"Careful," I warned.

She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm doing fine. I just... I do feel better as a canid. I feel like that's who I am. It certainly helps me feel more at peace with myself. But I don't think it's why I'm happy."

"Could it maybe be that you're with your super awesome shapeshifting boyfriend?"

She gave me a little lick. "Perhaps. But... when Seth did that to you and Ashley... when I didn't have you there with me... I was forced to be on my own. Stand up to my anxiety, to my self doubt. I had to stand up to the fully realized fear of people mocking me for enjoying who I was."

She shed a tear - but with a smile.

"But through it all... I became stronger. I became a better person than I ever thought I could be."

I licked her. She licked me back.

"And you helped me," I said. "You made me shed my self centeredness, got me to care about someone else more than myself. And... and you got me to realize that maybe being a canid is what I wanted all along too."

Jackie smiled, and nuzzled her snout against my face. We lay there for a while, feeling the cool air blow gently across our fur. We opened our ears to the sounds of the woods, to the rhythms of nature. The birds called, the crickets chirped. We howled along with them, adding our voices to nature's song.

And there we enjoyed each other's company, two golden retrievers, lying beneath he light of the Moon, committed to one another forever.

 

====THE END===