Cur(s)e

It started in the shower. Confronted by the bare pinkness of her oh-so-human body, Katy felt the familiar compulsion to cover herself in fur. Her own, that is. Not now, of course. With a few exceptions, most furred creatures weren’t fond of getting wet and it was a feeling Katy shared when she became one of them. No, she waited until she had finished, standing there, dry after towelling herself down. She peered at her blurred outline in the steamed over bathroom mirror before wiping it down so she could see herself more clearly.

Her human self seemed so fragile. Soft and unimposing, not a hide, whisker, fang or claw in sight. That was when she began to identify that feeling within herself. A dangerous potential that could erupt out of her. With a thought, with an ambition, with a push, she could be something altogether more exciting. A little effort and imagination would make her that much more. All she had to do was decide to become something else.

She’d never noticed her hands clenching before. As she watched carefully, she became aware of the tendons straining in her neck, something she couldn’t recall ever seeing. In fact it was only when she saw her knees pressing together and her thigh muscles trembling that she realised something was wrong.

By now her body would normally have begun to change and she wouldn’t be able to see it straining to transform. Where were the sensations that accompanied her casting off her humanity?

She tugged at her ears, but no points would come. The shiver that would signal her tail sprouting from her coccyx was one of her favourite parts of a shift. She clenched her buttocks, arched her back, but nothing happened. She slapped her butt cheeks. Why hadn’t her flanks twisted and stretched like always? Where was that hidden strength that would be exposed at her bidding? All there was was the feeble twitching of her ordinary thighs. Dropping to all fours and snarling, often an involuntary reaction to the sensuality of transformation, felt forced and unsatisfying now. Gaping and flexing her jaw made no muzzle and arching and tensing her fingers and toes brought no claws. What was usually a moment of abandon, now became painfully self-aware. Being bent over and arching her back seemed ridiculous and she quickly stood upright again. Her nudity, which had never bothered her in the prelude or aftermath of her hairy magnificence, now struck her as awkward. She retrieved her gown and covered herself up. Even so, she couldn’t help but offer her reflection one final challenge. She pursed her lips and scrunched her nose, trying to force a snout into existence, but it refused to appear. There was no sign of the wolf at all.

Katy’s phone chimed and vibrated on the bathroom cabinet. Glad of the distraction, she went to read the new message.

“SHE’S DEAD,” it said. “THE ONE WHO TURNED YOU. THE HUNTERS GOT HER AT LAST. YOU’RE CURED”.

Once, that message would have brought joy to Katy. In those early years, where every bright moon brought a nightmare of pain, fear and danger, where she would feel like she was losing herself and being overwhelmed by something dark and uncontrollable. But she had tempered that wildness, made it her own strength and had thrilled in the freedom it had brought her. Was all that effort for nothing? Was it fair that all she was left with now was ordinariness? Others, less capable than her would be safe now. Surely it was selfish to resent them for their weakness?

No, she had studied hard to learn the techniques that had allowed her to tame the wildness within her. She had made that strength her own and it was right that she should feel aggrieved that it had been taken from her. Katy remembered the first time she had taken control, when even under the influence of the full moon she had transformed from the wolf back to the human form she found herself trapped in now. On that occasion she had had to summon huge reserves of concentration in order to ignore the wolf’s influence and assert her humanity. Mind rather than muscle had reshaped her then. Her current anger recalled what it had taken to tap that power on her own terms and make it do her bidding rather than the wolf’s.

Katy gasped at the spasm that wracked her body. When she recovered she knew something had changed. She stared at her hands, half-expecting to see fur again, or maybe the hint of a claw. Whatever had happened, Katy realised with regret it was nothing to do with the wolf. That was the moment she conceded that that part of her was gone forever. But only because there was something new here.

Katy wiped away the last of the steam from her mirror. Even though she had an inkling what she was going to see, it took her a second to recognise the tall, lean, athletic figure looking back at her.

Her werewolf body had been so much muscle and sinew wrapped up in a fur coat. This was only half as big, half as stacked as that, but it was there and Katy’s mind was racing. The wolf was gone, but had the power she’d trapped through sheer will alone remained? What was she now? A were-woman? Was that a thing?

Astounded as she was at this statuesque version of herself, she quickly calculated the difference in size between it and when she had fully given over to the wolf. If she still possessed that power, that strength, was there more she could call upon? This time it was focus, rather than anger, that drove her thoughts.

No spasm this time. At her beckoning, bones and body mass increased smoothly and gradually. Six feet high, six and a half feet, nearly seven, her face disappeared above the top edge of the mirror. Arms and legs bulked further, but retained their human proportions instead of giving over to the animal. Without the mirror’s help, Katy only became aware of how wild her hair had become when it covered her shoulders and draped over her breasts. She laughed at the joy of it, her success back then translating into this success now. The beast had been her hidden shame, but this extraordinary, magnificent version of herself needed to be paraded for the whole world to see. Katy checked out the reflection of every angle of herself and continued to laugh. It was going to cost a fortune to clothe this amazon, but it would be worth it just to get her out into the world. But since she couldn’t very well go shopping in the nude, she was going to have to revert to her usual self first.

Easy enough, that was the first thing she’d used her techniques for. It was all a matter of concentration…

Five minutes later, with no change occurring, and Katy continuing to admire what was now looking like being her permanent body, she came to a decision.

‘I’m going to have to go clothes shopping online.’