Something Wrong with the Howl
When I change into a wolf, it usually feels like
a good kind of change.
Like my human skin is just falling away, and I
become something wild and free.
But tonight, it felt sharp and wrong.
It started with a shaky feeling deep inside me,
the kind that usually means the wolf is
coming. But this time, it was like a shaky
feeling of being super angry.
My skin didn't peel off nicely. It felt like it was
being ripped off by something I couldn't see.
My bones popped and changed in a bad way
that made me whine – a human sound that
the wolf sound quickly covered up. But the
wolf part of me… it felt bad.
Usually, the wolf is like me, but wilder and
faster. Tonight, it felt like a mean stranger had
taken over. My howl, the happy sound I make
when my nose gets long and wolf-like, got
stuck in my throat. It came out as a low, angry
snarl that echoed in the woods. Even to my
wolf ears, it sounded scary.
I jumped. Not like a playful wolf ready to run,
but like something means getting ready to
hurt.
My claws, just out and super sharp, dug into
the tree I always say hello to. Pieces of wood
flew, and the tree made a sad noise. What's
happening to me? The thought, a scared
human whisper, almost got lost in the loud
anger of the bad wolf in my head.
My senses are usually super clear and
exciting,
were now full of angry red. The smell of dirt
and pine trees, which I usually like, now felt
bad. The quiet sound of leaves moving felt
like mean whispers. I felt like a bomb about to
explode.
I turned around fast and jerky. My teeth
showed, and a low growl came from my
chest. I saw something move – white fur.
Luna. She's in my group, gentle and shy. My
heart – or whatever was beating in my wolf
chest – jumped with a scary feeling. Hurt her.
No. No! The human part of me yelled, a small
voice against the loud anger. Luna is family.
Luna is… safe. But the mean anger had a
strong hold on me. My legs got ready to jump.
Luna made a small, scared sound. She could
tell something was wrong with me, the bad
feeling coming off my fur. She slowly moved
back, her big, shiny eyes full of fear. That fear
made the mean anger even worse. It was like
putting fire on dry leaves.
I jumped at her.
Everything went fast and blurry with mean
anger. Luna made a yelp, moving out of the
way. My claws scratched the ground where
she was just standing. The smell of her fear,
sharp and bad, went into my nose, and the
mean wolf inside me growled happily.
Stop! Please, stop! My human mind was stuck
in my own body, just watching this scary thing
happen. I tried to take control, to make my
legs listen to me, but it was like trying to stop
a fast train with a string.
Luna, quick and scared, ran behind some
bushes with thorns. I crashed through them,
the thorns scratching my fur. I could feel the
pain a little, but the strong anger was
stronger. I could hear her quiet crying on the
other side, a sound that should have made me
sad, but it just made the mean anger stronger.
Then, a sharp, stinging pain went through my
ankle. The feeling of the chip, which usually
just reminded me that we were being
watched, now felt like it was burning. A jolt of
something… else… went through me, a weird
energy that seemed to make the anger worse,
to make the mean wolf stronger.
The chip… it's doing this. The scary thought
hit my human mind, a clear understanding in
the middle of the anger. The government's
"safety thing," the small computer in every
werewolf since the "Bad Thing," wasn't just
watching us. It was doing something else.
Something really bad.
My jump stopped a little. The burning feeling
in my ankle got worse, and for a second, the
angry red I was seeing went away a little. I
saw Luna, her eyes big with fear, making a
small crying sound. Seeing her like that,
without the mean anger in my eyes, hurt.
Luna…
But it didn't last long. The burning feeling
came back, stronger this time, and the mean
anger came back too, like a big wave washing
over me. My snarl came back, lower and
meaner.
Luna, seeing that I was still angry, finally
turned and ran away into the dark. A part of
me, the real me, the Elara who loved her
group, felt really bad. But the mean wolf just
felt angry that its food ran away.
I turned my anger on the trees, tearing off
bark, pulling up small trees. The ground
became messy with my anger. Being rough
didn't make me feel better, it just made the
anger stronger.
Then, I heard something else – a quiet, high
sound. I could barely hear it, a sound my
human ears would never hear, but my wolf
ears could. It sounded like it was coming
from… the chip.
The burning feeling got worse with the sound.
It was like the chip wasn't just watching, but
sending out something… something that was
making me feel bad.
They're controlling us. The scary thought
became real in my head, a cold feeling that
cut through the mean anger. The government
wasn't just watching us; they were making us
do things.
The high sound stopped quickly, and the
burning feeling got a little better. The mean
anger, though still there, felt… quieter. For a
few seconds, I almost felt like myself again. I
looked at the mess around me, the broken
trees, the smell of Luna's fear, and I felt sick.
But it didn't last. The high sound started
again, a little louder, and the burning feeling
came back, stronger. The mean anger came
back too, taking over me again. My snarl
echoed in the woods, a sad sound of a mind
trapped and a body being controlled.
This wasn't just something wrong with my
change. This was a weapon. And we were all
wearing it.
At the edge of the woods, hidden in the dark, a
pair of human eyes watched the mess. Jax,
his face serious, held his jacket tightly. He'd
heard the strange snarl, felt the wild, angry
feeling in the air. It was different from the
usual wolf howls, angrier, more… bad. His
hand went to the old scar on his arm, a
reminder of the night his life changed, the
At night he started to really not trust
werewolves.
He didn't know what he'd just seen, but it was
cold,
worried feeling started in his stomach.
Something was definitely wrong in the woods
tonight. And it felt dangerous. He took a step
forward, his police feelings telling him to
check it out, not knowing that the answer was
stuck on the leg of the angry creature he was
about to find.