It was a beautiful July night, July 14th as a matter of fact. I was out with my family in some woods in Nebraska. We were on vacation and my dad decided that we should go camping. I liked the outdoors, but not enough to sleep in it. Now that I look back… maybe I should have been nicer.
   “Young lady,” I remember my dad shouting, “can you please be a little more open with the idea of sleeping under the stars? Look it’s a full moon tonight.”
   “Why can’t we just stay in the hotel we passed on the highway?” I whined, “It’s scary out here and I think I just heard a wolf howl.” Little did I know, but I would later meet that wolf.

   I was lying there in the dark in my sleeping bag and I was staring up at the full moon. God, it was beautiful… it seemed to be calling out to me. I don’t know what possessed me to, but I got up and walked into the trees. After walking a short distance I came to a clearing, but stopped and hid behind a tree. There was a bunch of wolves all gathered in a circle… they almost seemed to be having some sort of meeting.
   I watched them a little while, they were beautiful. There was one with flowing, golden fur and deep, black eyes. A couple with black fur and yellow eyes, but the one in front of me was the one that intrigued me. She had shiny silver fur and was the only female in the group. I couldn’t see her eyes, but they had to have been beautiful. Suddenly the wind shifted and all four wolves started sniffing the air. They all looked right at me… almost through me. I felt doomed.
   The silver female lunged at me and I hit the ground hard. I got my first good look into her eyes and I was right, her bright, red eyes were beautiful. The other three wolves gathered around us.
   “What are you doing here?” The female growled. All I could do was stare blankly at her, I was astonished that they could talk. “If I have to ask again I’ll rip your throat out!”
   “I…I…” I studdered, “I’m sorry… for spying on you… but you are all so beautiful.”
   “Get a load of this, Aaron!” she smirked, “A human girl thinks we are beautiful!” Wolven laughter is probably the weirdest thing you could ever hear, it’s kind of a mix between barking and human laughter. Once they stopped laughing, the female looked back at me. “Maybe you’d like to become one of us.”
   “Annika, are you sure about this?” The golden wolf barked.
   “Yes, Aaron,” Annika growled, sarcastically, “you did just say we needed another female.” By then I was crying. All I could think was what was gonna happen to me. Annika ran her nose through my long, blond hair. “You have beautiful hair, and bright blue eyes” she sighed, “to bad it’s all going to be gone.” She bent her head down to my shoulder and opened her mouth. I flinched as her muzzle came over my shoulder. She bit me, but not hard. I barely felt it, but I could feel the blood trickle out.
She stepped off of me and I sat up. I started getting dizzy and my arms and legs got itchy. I looked down at my legs and I could see white fuzz growing out of my skin.
   “I’d take your clothes off, if I was you.” Annika exhaled as they walked away, “Come find us after you’re done, just follow our smell.” What was she talking about? Done? Follow smell? But just then my whole body started to ache. I figured that I should heed her warning, so I squirmed out of my t-shirt and shorts.
   I looked down as my legs, already completely fur covered, seemed to shrink a little. I tried to grab at my aching feet, but my fingers had shrunk into little stubs with claws extended out of them. Little cushy pads formed on the palm of my hands, which had shrunk dramatically.
   I stood up to try and run, but fell, as I was unfamiliar with what was happening to my legs. My feet stretched out and I could only stand on my toes. I pushed myself up on my new hand/paws, but then my face began to hurt. I rolled over onto my back and landed on something soft… it was a tail! I pulled on it and it made my back hurt… it’s mine! I curled up into a ball and placed my hand/paws on my head, but my hair had reseeded to the fine fur that had covered the rest of me.
   As I lay there crying in pain my face began to hurt more, but I stopped fighting it. I opened my eyes after the pain subsided only to see a white muzzle in the bottom of my vision. My nose pulled out and was now a little black spot in front of me. It began sniffing. I was able to smell everything.
   I tried to stand up, this time I was able to hold myself up, but only on all fours. I felt the urge too… I raised my head up at the moon and howled. Wow, my first howl felt good. I sniffed the air, and got a whiff of Annika. I walked straight ahead; because that’s the direction her scent was coming from.

   A short walk was all it took to find them. They stopped and looked back when they heard me coming.
   “Wow,” Aaron breathed, “I think you may be more beautiful then even Annika. I’d mount you any day.” Annika growled at him; his head dropped and tail hid between his legs.
   “Your bright, amber eyes do look stunning with your white fur,” Annika sighed, “but what’s with that black diamond on your head?” I shrugged. Annika just motioned her head to her left and the three jumped into the trees. I followed. These muscular legs kept up with them nicely.

   Sometimes I look back and wonder what my parents did when they noticed me gone. Did they find my bloodstained shirt and assume that I was dead? I hope so, because they’ll never find me again.