Lance Wei - 10 Years Post-Bite

by K9Lupus

A lot of people believe that the most influential times of our lives reside within apex moments, occasions when the rest of the world stands still, time frozen, and we gaze out at the grandeur of our accomplishments laced with rumbling hopes of cultivated possibility: starting a new job, graduations, marriages. But the truth is those occurrences are just the most noticeable. It's in the day-to-day affairs that a real life is made, and more aptly in my case – the month-by-month.

Since surviving the bite that led me into my new life of exploring the edges of what it means to be man and beast, I found that the initial waves of crippling despair which had replaced my overflowing anger at the world, both outside of and within myself, had subdued themselves to a relative calm. I would even hazard to say these days I generally felt a tepid sense of joy and fulfillment, even when bringing home a longer shadow than usual with me through the door. When you experience the nerve-wracking pain of the molding of skin, muscle, and bones each month, it puts the rest of the bullshit in perspective.

And it was exactly this passage of time which granted me visceral insight into the exact nature of my condition. Although years had already since passed from my fateful encounter at the bar, I still found that the slow and steady filling and emptying of the moon, and subsequent seasons rolling on by drawn in by its month-long heartbeat, continued to bring with it new reminders that the distance between myself and the unbridled realm of verdant nature beyond the carefully sculpted walls of man was shrinking.

The wolf in me was growing.

Etchings of my wild shape were becoming more vivid and emboldened across my body. What at first ha been humble check marks of my time spent roaming in four-legged strides across the land had now blossomed into bold exclamations of the wolf's active spirit burning a bright constant as it found increasingly reluctant refuge from the moon's call. The changes swept over my body gave me pause when I looked back on old photos from Before or really looked at myself in the mirror. I had to remind myself that others didn't have the end of their spines jutting out behind them like flexible flag poles, or their faces lengthened out into the tentative beginnings of a forming lupine snout.

It would be foolish of me to say that living this way was always sunshine and cattail fluff. I missed being able to go out and really enjoy myself without carrying the vigilance needed to keep me and the knowledge of what I was safe. I found myself traveling out to more and more remote areas just so I could remove the cloaks disguising my most severe wolven features to exist comfortably for a little while. Sometimes while laying awake at night, a creeping sense of dread would funnel its way into my thoughts, and I wondered if this transformative process should continue as it had, what kind of life would be waiting for me on the other side. But then I would remember the gifted memories I had accumulated along the way: seemingly endless nights contrmplating the stars, wondering if I ran just a little faster, could I catch one in my fangs, the chilled, tired sting of frigid air in my throat from an evening of ululating night-song, the splashing away of pristine mountain water off my skin and fur after a swim.

Yes there were challenges, shortcomings, and misgivings to finding myself in the position I was in. I wouldn't blame someone from running away from this kind of life. However, I wouldn't lash myself down with berating thoughts of pity and woe. No life is ever perfect, and this one was mine, so I planned to make the most of it – one clawed and padded footstep at a time.

END

*******

I'm actually really happy with this little story blurb I had written out as an accompanying piece for the recent commissions of Rotting Hound's Chinese-American werewolf character Lance Wei! I imagine this bit of introspection taking place ~10 years past the night of his first transformation. By this point Lance's body is riddled with hallmarks of his werewolf heritage he is having increasing difficulty cloaking as he continues to just barely operate within typical human society. However, a nomadic band of other werewolves may be able to offer the safety net needed to help Lance establish himself in a new life free of his currently imposed restrictions. ;)

Please check out more of Rotting Hound's amazing work over at: Rotting Hound's Twitter Page

*******

Interested in getting a story commissioned by me? I am currently open! I'd love to get the chance to bring your ideas to life. My commission info can be found here:

K9 Lupus Commission Info

If you'd like to gain early access to more work like this and other transformation stories/illustrations, please check out my Patreon page at the link below where you'll gain access to exclusive content and story updates before they are publicly released by choosing to support my work for as little as $1. Every bit goes towards me continuing to do what I love and sharing it with all of you.

Click here to check out my Patreon page!

Would love to have you join "The Wilderness" Discord Server to chat and share your work with others here on FA.