He’d been practicing when the Alpha was out fucking the new female, Alicia, making her howl. He’d seen others do it, and the Dead One, April, she’d told him he could too, maybe Riana, too. So he’d been practicing, using the light that seeped into the cave to help him focus on the wires of the cage. It was colder in here than in the old cave, but lighter, not so deep. He’d learn to change and let himself out of the cage, then figure how to get Riana out of this cave. His sweet lady. He knew it, like he knew her name. Riana. He shivered, tongue lolling. No. No, focus. Fingers. Fingers. Not paws. His body tried to howl, but he didn’t let any sound escape. He had to do this. Fingers. Fingers. Slowly he began to shift, to change. Hurt. God, it hurt. It felt like his bones were bending, breaking, stretching. His head felt swollen, splitting. Then he was cold. It worked. Oh, god. It worked. He scrabbled across the cage, limbs flailing. Everything looked so different, smelled so wrong.
