This old man seemed friendly enough. I wonder if he is the person Wolfie was going to ask for help from. I had decided to call them Wolfie in lieu of a name for now in my head. This old man must know something at least, so I figure I should start somewhere. A question had to be asked for the sake of my sanity. “So, are you a werewolf?”
The old man’s expression turned a little sour, which concerned me. “No, not quite. Please, take a seat at the table over there.” He pointed to a small, circular dining table with seating for four, at which sat Wolfie. “We will talk shortly.”
Alright, the ‘not quite’ part led me to believe that there was more going on than just werewolves. If he was willing to talk at all, then I shouldn’t look a gift wolf in the mouth. Or, gift something at least.
Trying as hard as I could to not overanalyze the kitchen right now, I joined Wolfie over at the dining table and sat across from them. They had their arms crossed and directed a glare towards an arbitrary corner of the room. Wolfie refused to look in my direction at all. I figured I would take the chance to see if I could at least get their name so I can stop thinking of them as ‘Wolfie.’ “Hi again.” They visibly stiffened up and their glare intensified at nowhere in particular when I spoke. Maybe I should save that for later.
The awkward atmosphere of the table thankfully didn’t stick around for too long, as mere minutes later food was being delivered to the table. A lovely assortment of crispy bacon, over-easy eggs, sourdough toast, blueberry waffles, and seemingly-homemade maple syrup was set in the middle of the table between Wolfie and I. My stomach betrayed my appetite by growling loudly.
The old man started filling our plates that were brought as well with heaps of breakfast delight that made my mouth water. I hesitated to start eating though, given the gravity of the situation that I found myself in. Hunger could wait for a moment while I waited on the supernatural pair to at least start eating first.
Wolfie only spared a glance at the delightful spread, still intent on boring a hole in the wall in the distance. The old man finished filling up everyone’s plate with a hearty portion and poured some orange juice for the three of us. There was still a large amount left on the serving plates that he set at the empty part of the table to my right as well as a half-pitcher of the orange juice. He then removed his apron, placing it on the back of his chair, and sat himself down to my left.
He knitted his fingers together on the table like some fancy gentlemen, which I guess he probably was with a house like this, and looked pointedly in my direction. “I know that there are many things that we must discuss, but we will leave that for a moment as I am sure that the both of you are famished after last night’s… events.” Ah, crud. The way he said that made me feel like he knew what kind of compromising ‘event’ that I had been a part of. I found that my hands sitting on my lap were very interesting right now, and I should really look to see what’s going on there. Yeah. It had nothing to do with the powerful blush that I could feel rushing in my cheeks. “In any case, please eat your fill so that we can focus on the matters at hand with a full stomach.”
Not one to ignore a good excuse to change the subject, in this instance at least, I grabbed the nearest piece of bacon and munched on it to hide my embarrassment. A single bite of the stuff did a great job at distracting me at least, because this was probably the best bacon I had ever eaten in my life. Bacon wasn’t something that I would mark anywhere near the top of my favorites, but this was really good. I ignored all the previous embarrassment and dug into the superb food on my plate. Every morsel I took a bite of was scrumptious, each food nearing the pinnacle of what one could achieve with a typical breakfast spread.
While I ate, I was vaguely aware of Wolfie getting scolded for not eating in a language that I didn’t understand. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was since Wolfie finally started eating right after the scolding, albeit reluctantly.
…
Some time later, I had eaten my fill. It was… honestly way more than I could have ever been able to eat in my life. I had seconds, and even thirds. I wasn’t keeping too close of track, but I think Wolfie ate even more than I did. After the old man scolded them, Wofie really went to town. It took a great amount of restraint to prevent an outburst of laughter when I realized that they were really wolfing it down. Seriously though, they acted like they were starved with how ravenously their plate was emptied. Although the old man didn’t seem to have the same gusto, he still ate a hardy portion himself.
There was some risk in the back of my mind of a food coma or something, but the rest of me could only feel satisfied. I wiped my mouth with the nearby napkin and sighed in delight. I don’t think I had ever eaten that much, not without feeling sick at least. For some reason, I was insatiably hungry once I was given the opportunity to eat. I kinda wished that I could have taken more time to enjoy the quality. Still, I was no less satisfied for having eaten my fill.
The old man, already finished, addressed me stiffly, “Very good, now that you two have filled your bellies we can move on to our necessary discussion. Let us move to the sitting room.” In saying so, he stood up and immediately walked towards one of the rooms adjacent to this one.
I hardly even had the chance to mutter a “yeah” before he was out of earshot. Wolfie looked resigned and still not too happy to get up and follow, but still did so. I don’t know how they could still be so grumpy after a meal that good. Well, unless this is the typical fare around here, which I’m certain is likely with the kind of budget this place must have.
I stood up and walked behind Wolfie to the sitting room. Wolfie was quite tall, now that I had a chance to stand near them. It was hard to judge before, but now with a point of reference I would put Wolfie at just over six feet tall. Wow, even in human form Wolfie has a pretty dominant physique. The pleasant scent that they emanated trailed behind them, and it only served to distract me further…
Clearing my head once again of lewd thoughts, we passed through the doorway into the next room. The sitting room was just as fancy as the rest of the place. Ornate woodwork, decorations that must be worth a mint, and furniture that screamed ‘I’ve got money.’ I only really succeeded in not getting completely lost in the artful, gorgeous space that was- No, I need to keep on track.
The old man had sat regally in a large chair staged in front of a grand fireplace that was burning nicely. It gave the room a very comfortable feel as well as some light that wasn’t the sunshine that entered where there were gaps in the curtains. A couch was placed on either side with a table down the center. This looked like some kind of medieval council chamber, with the old man as the leader of the bunch.
Wolfie sat on the couch further away from the doorway we came through and went right back to looking off to the side with their arms crossed. I sat on the opposite couch to the left of the old man.
Nodding to himself, the old man knitted his fingers together again and met my eyes. “Thank you for being so collected. It would have been immensely troublesome if you were to have lost sense of reason while we tried to get together here.”
I didn’t really know how to respond to that, so I just nodded uncertainly and replied, “Oh. Uh, no problem? I think?”
Ignoring my reply entirely the old man continued, “At any rate, introductions are long overdue. I am Damian Demitrius Douglass. You may call me Damian. Beside me is Elizabeth Douglass. Elizabeth, introduce yourself to your guest.”
Wolfie - well, Elizabeth now I suppose - crossed their arms tighter against their chest and looked loosely in my direction. “Call me Liz,” she muttered, sounding rather downcast. Alright, Liz. That was cool. It really fits, I think. Also, it seemed like Liz was related to Damian somehow since they shared a last name.
I looked back and forth between the two supernatural entities in the room and found the confidence to actually speak. “Hi, I’m Sam. Nice to meet you both. Also, Liz, I just want to be sure about um… What pronouns do you use?”
Liz’s grumpy demeanor faltered briefly, giving way to a more confused look which was honestly pretty cute. “Oh. Uh… Girl ones, I guess.” I could see the barest hint of a smile on Old Man Damian’s face, which was the first trace of positive emotion I had seen off of the guy. I nodded at Liz in understanding. I guess I could ask a werewolf her pronouns.
A silence hung in the air for a few seconds until Damian broke it. “Good, now that we all have introduced ourselves, we can move on to the more pressing issues. Namely, the fact that we have introduced you, Sam, to the realm of the supernatural.” He took a deep breath before going on. “As you have suspected, and experienced, Elizabeth is what would be commonly known as a ‘werewolf.’ This, however, is not an entirely accurate term. You see, while she may take the form of a wolf, there are others that-” Damian cut himself off and stirred in his seat. A strange movement of his arms caused ripples in the air around him a few inches away. When they stopped, his arm had visibly shifted to look more bestial up to the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn’t the same as the werewolf-style hands I had seen, albeit somewhat similar. These were red up high that slowly faded to black at the clawed hand. I couldn’t quite place it, but it wasn’t a wolf at least based on his words. “-take the form of a variety of different creatures. For instance, I am an example of what is known as a Were with the aspect of a fox.”
Huh, a fox. That makes sense with that coloration. I tried to get my thoughts together on this. “So, the term used for a shifter of your type is a ‘Were’ just the same as ‘werewolf,’ but Were is a catch all for the different types that use different animal forms?”
He gave a so-so gesture, which was kinda weird to see come from a vulpine shifted hand. It even had little paw pads that looked really soft. “You are quick to catch on, but that is not entirely the case. There are other types of shifters that still use animal traits for their shifting, but are not able to be in the same category because of the way that their abilities work. That is likely far too complicated to talk about at this time though, so for now just know that the type of being that we all are is called a Were. As far as how many kinds there are, be aware that the term covers a little bit of everything when it comes to animal aspects, but not all shifters as a whole.”
My interest was piqued, and I was really curious about all of that, but it fell a bit short compared to the fact that he had gestured at me when he said ‘we all’ a moment ago. Voicing my concern, I said, “Wait, so you’re including me in the ‘we’ part of being a Were? Does that mean what I think it means?”
He nodded seriously. “It means exactly that. When I went to recover Elizabeth last night after your… encounter, I found that you had been awakened. I took responsibility for bringing you here so that I could properly explain the situation and prepare you for the life that you now find yourself in.”
Ah, there goes my dignity. This man has seen me naked, unconscious, and sleeved on wolf cock. I would truly never be able to salvage my image after this. And apparently, I’m not even human anymore. I wasn’t even ready to process that yet. I dejectedly looked down at the thick, soft rug under my feet and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of curling my toes into it.
As if my internal dilemma didn’t exist, Damian continued on, “Unfortunately, even while asleep Elizabeth was quite… attached to you and refused to release you in any fashion that I could manage. That was why you had woken up in the state you did. I did what I could to remedy the situation as best as I was able, but you both likely had an unpleasant shock to be in such a compromising position. Not only for that, but also for my incapability of controlling the actions of my pupil while she was not in control, I offer you my deepest apologies.” Damian bowed his head to me.
This felt strange. I had never received an apology that was so formal and sophisticated. I reflected on the situation, and came to the conclusion that this was way more than I was giving it credit for. Riding the terror-induced adrenaline high and the following heated passion of last night, I didn’t even really consider until now that I had basically been attacked, maimed, transformed into some kind of Were creature, sexually assaulted, and kidnapped. That… that was way too heavy for me to really deal with right now.
Being so caught up in the euphoria of getting my body changed and being part of some fantasy sounds great on paper, but the reality of it setting in caused some very conflicting feelings. I raised my head to look at Liz, who refused to even glance in my direction. She seemed even more tense than before. Should I… should I be angry at her? She had done some pretty terrible things to me afterall. And to Olive! Oh my god, was Olive okay?! I thought that I might have been living out some kind of fantasy, but in reality what Liz had done should probably be unforgivable.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts out a little bit. I don’t know. I had a hard time seeing the girl on the sofa as the one who could have done such things. That wolf from last night appeared more primal, with little in the way of humanizing qualities. What did Damian even mean that she wasn’t in control last night? Was it like some kind of high? If she really was no different from a wild beast while she was in that form, what then? Did I still fault her? Should I hate her? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. That was too much to think about. The implications of all of this were such a tangled web that I couldn’t hope to unweave it.
“I’m sure that you have many things that you must want to know. Do you have any questions?” Damian drew my attention back to himself. He had shifted his arm back to normal while I was distracted it seems. Well, a more immediate concern of mine should come first I think.
With a small voice, only just audible even to myself, I asked, “What does this mean for my life? Will I have to leave it behind and start over? My friends and family, will I be able to see them again?” By the time I finished, I was on the verge of tears. Wetness threatened to spill at any moment.
Damian directed a gentle smile at me. “No, you will not be leaving that behind. You will have to dedicate some time to learning about your abilities and how to use them properly to defend yourself if need be, but that will be something that is doable from the comfort of your own home. So long as you have privacy, that is.”
I felt relief wash over me. I would still be able to live my life. It would be different and come with its own unique difficulties for sure, yet I will still be able to have my friends there with me. Besides with the supernatural stuff. I pat my eyes and cheeks with the t-shirt I was wearing to soak up the tears that had split.
Though I couldn’t see him while getting the tears out of my eyes, Damian spoke again softly, “There will be some long-term challenges that you will have to overcome, but we will provide the guidance necessary to prepare you for them. For now at least, a freshly awakened Were is not much different than before they awakened. You will likely not notice any differences until you have reached at least your first year since awakening.” Reaching into his pocket, Damian retrieved what looked like a glasses case. “Pardon me for not remembering to give these to you sooner, but it slipped my mind until now. You must be having a tough time seeing without these with a prescription as strong as this. I picked them up from near where I found the two of you before transporting you back here.”
Reaching my hand out, I took the offered container with a little uncertainty. Surely enough, inside it were the familiar wire framed glasses that I had worn last night. Unsure of myself, I reached up and touched my face where my glasses usually would be.
“I apologize if they are a bit bent. I tried to get them back into some semblance of shape to the best of my abilities. They were rather warped-” He stopped speaking when I started shaking my head slowly, looking curiously at me.
“It’s not that. It’s… I don’t need them. I can see just fine.” Damian looked visibly unsure about how to respond to that.
“Then, why did you have them with you at all?” He eventually stumbled out his thoughts.
“I needed them before, I have since grade school. Right now though… I can see clearly. Maybe… even better than with my glasses.” Damian’s face scrunched up in bewilderment, and my own was ponderous. I wonder what the heck else could have changed.
“There’s no way. It is normal for a Were to achieve excellent vision in time, but never so soon after their awakening. Did you notice anything else different than it had been before you were awakened last night?” He spoke frantically, which was a huge difference from the calm demeanor he had shown before.
Oh boy, were there changes. Well, no sense in hiding that fact. Even if it did make me blush. “Well… I uh, was born with a male body. Not the one that I presently have. My body had… different anatomy before last night.” My blush only grew as I spoke. I played absentmindedly with my hands to distract myself a bit.
Damian’s expression faltered, eyes blown wide. “No, that can’t be. You're a man?”
I winced. I hated that implication. “No, I’m-” I didn’t get a chance to finish, because Liz had risen to her feet and stormed out of the room with a hard look on her face.
Damian stood up as well. “Elizabeth!” It was no use, she had already bolted out the front door that was just outside the doorway from the sitting room without even putting any shoes on. “Damn it! I’m sorry once again, but I must go make sure that she doesn’t do anything regrettable. Make yourself comfortable. I will return.”
After that, Damian hurried away to the foyer. Already wearing a pair of dark brown loafers, he wasted no more time leaving. The door was shut behind him, slamming a little more forcefully than was needed.
Could she have been that revolted, thinking that my body was different before? Was she going to hate me because I was trans? This has gone from complicated to downright ridiculous. One of the two people who could act as guides in this magically charged situation I found myself in could very well entirely reject me because of who I am. Maybe even both. Damian seemed a little taken aback as well, but that might have been related to what he said about me changing right after I ‘awakened’ with the way he put it. Great, I could be some sort of freak even to the supernatural.
With a deep and tired sigh, I leaned back against the couch cushions. Well, all I can do for now is wait and see what happens.
Could she have been that revolted, thinking that my body was different before? Was she going to hate me because I was trans
Hmmm nah I'm pretty sure it's Damian she's mad at.
I definitely read it as Liz being upset with herself. If she already sees herself as the monster, sam being a cis boy beforehand would make everything much worse, had it been true.
If they were to actually talk this might get cleared up. However talking means Liz opening up to someone they just "deeply wronged".
Liz isn't looking ready to own up to their actions despite understanding that she messed up, and Sam being oddly composed.
@venna
So… is Liz also trans? It’s hard to know what she’s thinking until she actually says something, but boy do I have theories!
Won’t know until she actually gets some lines that aren’t panic or offscreen. Or saying her own name. She will get to speak for herself soonish. I love theorizing! Makes me excited when I see cool theories
Ooooo, dramaaaaa, you all better be nice to Sam... or.. else? She's probably like super powerful now or something, totally!
I think having it not be word-for-word normal werewolves and more were-brings adds more variety, plus the partial transformation thing is cool
Drama 🎭 Sam could be wildly powerful, or she could be totally lame. Who knows?
The question is, if she isn’t a werewolf, then what is she? 
I really like the enjoy the things I have planned so far, and I’m looking forward to how well it is received once more details get revealed. Very excited 
@MegaSuperKami Were-Pomeranian
Also very excited to see how the " -And now I'm her pet" part comes in given the current situation, lol.
@RaelDeer were-meerkat. Gain anxiety and the ability to dig holes.
Sam is a total sub. Hardly a spoiler, really
@MegaSuperKami Oh I mean I totally got that, I just meant more the uh... *tension* and, lets be fair, complete absence of any kind of relationship so far... especially with the... *reactions* so far, it makes me wonder how we get from here to there in terms of relationship, very interesting~!
@RaelDeer Wish me luck. My first written romance arc. I’ve got a good idea as to how it’s gonna go. Now let’s see how well the characters let me guide them before they get their own will.