As panic shot through me I stumbled to my feet. My only hope was to surprise him, duck under his attack and run.
As if I could ever outrun any wolf, much less Sharpfang.
But as I rose up, Sharpfang yelped. He dropped out of his crouch and ran, his tail hanging low, weird frightened sounds coming from his throat.
“RRrrufff!” I barked as he fled the clearing, trying to call him back.
My mind was spinning in confusion. The tingling in my arms and legs was growing stronger, making me want to run and howl. I didn’t know if I felt good or rotten.
But a secret part of me was pleased to see Sharpfang run from me with his tail between his legs.
I looked toward the den. Thornclaw huddled beside Wolfmother, his muzzle to the ground. I growled at him. “Grrrrrrrr!” as if I would do the attacking from now on.
What was happening to me?
I had to get out of there before I did something I’d really be sorry for.
I barked loudly and ran off into the swamp after Sharpfang. He was long gone, but I kept running anyway, full of churned-up feelings and strange, scary questions.
How could my family turn against me like that?
And where did that hard, mean feeling swelling up inside me come from?
I chased after my wolfbrother but couldn’t find him. After a few minutes I realized I was totally alone in the swamp. The woods were silent. There wasn’t so much as a frog croaking.
But something weird was going on—I’d come a long way and never even stumbled in the dark or put my foot into a mud hole. And I wasn’t even slightly winded.
The tingling was stronger in my arms and legs. The strange thing was, it no longer felt unpleasant. It was like an electrical current flowing through me, lighting me up from inside.
I threw back my head, feeling the moonlight on my face. I’d never noticed before how cool and smooth moonlight felt on my skin. As I stood there drinking it in, the moon grew brighter, bathing me with energy.
I felt so strong I wanted to roar. The buzzing in my head had stopped. My wolf family seemed far away, part of another life.
I knew I could do anything.
I breathed deep and the whole swamp entered my lungs.
R-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-P!
The sound startled me. I looked down to see my animal-skin coverings bursting open and falling away from me.
My muscles bulged and rippled, writhing under my skin. I was turning into a monster.
Chapter 9
Part of me knew I should be terrified. There were pains like sharp stones stuck between the bones of my joints, but I brushed off the pain like I would a fly.
I dropped to all fours suddenly, as if I’d been grabbed. The bones in my arms cracked and shifted, then a louder CRACK! and my legs bent in a new way.
Power surged through me like a tumbling flood. The power was greater than any pain. I watched new muscles ripple down my arms and thicken my fingers. Lean muscles stretched along my legs and I felt the urge to run—for joy.
But the Change wasn’t over yet. My face twisted like rubber, my teeth grew long and pointed, and my tongue stretched to fill my new jaw. I ran my tongue along the rows of razor-sharp teeth.
My skin thickened and hair sprouted, becoming a kind of fur although not thick and pearly like my wolf family’s coats.
My ears grew longer and more pointed and filled with the sounds of the night. Suddenly I could hear the heartbeat of a rabbit frozen with terror in its hole. And I could see an owl at the top of a tree, crouched motionless behind the leaves.
And my nose! I could smell Sharpfang’s fear, far away to the west. I could smell the leaves and the water and all the animals in the forest swamp.
My nose was a miracle. Just by scent I could follow the trail of every creature, tell where it had been and even where it was going. Nothing could escape me.
I had become a wolf!
Only better.
I threw back my head, feeling the moonlight flow over me. I stretched my jaws wide and let out a howl of joy that shook the leaves off the trees.
I’d become a monster, and I loved it.
Chapter 10
I howled again, feeling myself at the center of the world. The sound could be heard for miles. I knew it would drive a chill into the bravest heart and I swelled with pride.
But howling wasn’t enough, there was a hunger in me, too. I prowled through the woods, scaring even the ants out of my path. I wanted something. But what?
Hunger gnawed at me. My nose quivered. Every creature in the bog shrank from me.
The rabbit, cowering in its hole!
Saliva dripping from my gaping jaws, I clawed frantically at the ground, desperate to reach the hiding rabbit and devour its tender flesh.
The creature huddled into the earth and didn’t try to escape. It had already given up, resigned to its fate.
But suddenly I stopped. I stood motionless, my mind in strange turmoil. Something was terribly wrong—I had already eaten! I had a full belly, and wolves don’t kill when they’re not hungry.
Revolted, I looked down at my hairy limbs. No longer Legwalker, not quite wolf, what was I?
The wonderful joy that coursed through my veins like liquid light turned sluggish. My muscles itched to be running, my teeth longed to sink into something warm and solid. But my stomach churned with disgust.
Part of me wanted to race through the swamp, part of me wanted to hide somewhere safe, like that rabbit. As I twisted in confusion the moon caught my eye. I threw back my head and howled mournfully.
“Arooooooooooooohh!”
As the lonely sound died away, a snickering laugh came out of the darkness. Something was there. Something that wasn’t afraid of me.
I whipped around. But although I
