Night Shift

Later that night, lying on my mattress. I can see the moon rising out the window. It’s odd. You’d think my view would be blocked. I am surrounded by large buildings and living in a damp basement, yet, when I hold my head just right, I can see it up there. Bright, silver, full, it calls to me. I need to get out of this place. I need to feel the moonbeams on my fur. I need to breath in fresh forest air and feel the ground beneath my paws. I need… to run.

I’m not supposed to leave the apartment building at night. I’m certainly not supposed to go out my window--ever. But, I can hear my parents snoring in the next room, my mom softly, by dad loudly. I know that they are worn out and asleep. They need to rest, to forget about the horrors they’ve disclosed to me earlier, that our family is about to be torn apart.

I know what I’m doing is risky, but I can’t help it. Without a sound, I get up and go to the window, carefully pushing it open. It’s narrow, and I don’t even know if my wolf, Ruby, would fit through. I am fairly sure I will, though. It opens into an alley between our building and another apartment building. When we first moved in here, I was worried that someone might try to break in through this window, but then I thought that was silly because you can see the window from the busy street outside and from the other apartment building. It’s a narrow alley, one where it would be hard for two people to pass one another. I should’ve probably put bars over the window or something, but I never have, and now, I am glad that I didn’t. Because I am going out.

It’s not hard for me to leap up and pull myself out of the window onto the alley. I sit and drag my legs out through the window and then close it, hoping that the cold weather doesn’t fill the apartment and let my parents know I’ve opened the window. I close the window behind me quickly, making sure it doesn’t lock so that I can get back in. I doubt that anyone will go inside the apartment now that I have unlocked it, but just in case, I drag a large trash can over and cover the window. 

I am free--at least for the moment. Soon enough, I won’t have any freedom at all. I will literally belong to another man. A stranger. Someone I have never met. Someone I have been raised to think of as a rival at best and an enemy perhaps more accurately. I know it is irresponsible and dangerous of me to be out here, but I rarely do anything that goes against my parents’ wishes, so I don’t feel bad about it now. I feel… light and free and ready to run.

There’s the issue of shifting, though. As I’ve mentioned, I’m not supposed to do it at all, and since there are windows looking down on me, it would be particularly dangerous and stupid to do it in the alley. But… I need to leave my clothes someplace where I can put them back on quickly, so I feel that I should shift somewhere near my own home. 

I decide to go around to the back of the building where there is a wider alley and a business on the other side. The bakery is closed now, so there shouldn’t be any eyes coming from that building, and if I duck down beside a dumpster, no one should see what I am doing. Ruby is not a large wolf; some people might mistake her for an oddly colored Husky or even a particularly furry German Shepherd. I am hopeful that if we are spotted at all, people will assume I am just one of several loose dogs that wander around the city at night and ignore me, especially since I do not intend to go anywhere near anyone.

I haven’t shifted in months, so I know it will be slightly painful, but after that is over, I will feel a release like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Some of the older wolves compare it to having sex--the release of orgasm. I wouldn’t know about that because I am a virgin, but I can imagine it might be similar. I duck down next to a large dumpster, near a pile of garbage bags, and quickly take off my clothes. I haven’t bothered to put on any shoes and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in, so it doesn’t take long. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me in my human form naked on the street, so I do not wait long. Once I’m sure my clothes are hidden away where I can find them, I let my wolf, Ruby, do her thing.

My bones pop and my muscles and ligaments stretch and expand as I go through the familiar process. It only takes a few seconds for my human form to shift into my wolf form, and then, I back away, giving Ruby the lead, letting her take over.

She is careful at first, and I am happy for it. She looks around the alley, using her keen sense of smell to make sure that there is no one dangerous nearby. Sensing no one, she takes off down the alley, instinctively knowing which way to go to reach the large park near our apartment. It is the safest place for her to be.

Ruby is fast. Her strides are long and quick as she flies over the ground, leaping over fences, avoiding all other animals as the air fills her lungs and they begin to heave from the speed and distance she is traveling. It is a good burn, the kind we both welcome. It doesn’t take long for us to reach the shelter of the park. Once we reach the shadow of the trees, we slow down, taking deeper breaths to still our heart.

This place is dangerous for humans at night, but for us, it’s fine. Ruby can smell anyone or anything before they get too close and find a shadowy place to hide behind bushes or between trees. She smells humans up ahead and changes her path. I hear shouting and arguing and imagine the people yelling at one another are not good people. I’m glad that Ruby has steered clear.

She changes direction again and heads toward a large group of rocks we can see in the distance. As we get closer, Ruby starts to sniff, her nose working overtime. It’s an odd scent, one she certainly isn’t expecting here, one that she seems to be having trouble identifying.

I want her to change directions again, to get away from the odd smell. It doesn’t smell bad; on the contrary, it smells quite pleasant. Like the woods. Like a heavy musk. If being safe had a scent, I think that’s what it would smell like. But I am still leery of going closer.

It isn’t until Ruby is nearly to the rocks that I see him. She stops in her tracks, and I am thankful for it, looking up to the highest point of the rock pile into eyes that make me want to run to him and away from him at the same time.

He’s a wolf, but he’s not a wolf--he’s a shifter like me. He has bright green eyes and dark fur, and as he stands there, staring down at me, I feel as if he is judging me, that he knows I am not allowed to be here, that I am not supposed to shift in this city, and that I should be punished for my illegal activities. At the same time, I want to run to him, or at least Ruby does. He has this sense of power about him, like he can command the sun and moon, and if we beg his forgiveness, he will keep us safe always.

I don’t want to wait and find out which of my hunches is right. Is he dangerous or does he want to protect us? “Ruby, let’s go!” I insist, not wanting to take over because shifting here, being a naked woman in the park, would be even more dangerous than being an illegal shifter.

“Fine,” she says, but it takes her a moment to pull her eyes off of him. When she finally does, she backs away several steps, making sure he doesn’t follow us, and then turns and takes off running as fast as she can, back to the shadows, back the way we came.

“He’s following us,” she tells me as she tears through the forest, up over the fences and down deserted allies and backroads. I can sense him, too, even though I can’t smell him like she can. Her nose is so much better than anything I can pick up. He seems to be keeping his distance, though. I have a feeling, a large, powerful wolf like that, if he wanted to catch us, he would.

“Maybe he’s just curious,” I say, hoping I’m right and that he doesn’t mean to hurt us.

“I hope so,” she says, running at full speed. When we get closer to the apartment building, she slows, and I sense that he has backed off.

Quickly, Ruby rushes to the place where I’ve left my clothing, and with the same painful popping and shifting, I turn back into my human form, throwing my clothes on as fast as I can. Once I am dressed, I peek my head out and look around the alley, making sure that we are alone.

I don’t see anyone. I don’t see the wolf. I need to hurry to make sure that he hasn’t followed me. If he sees where I live, he might figure out who I am, and my parents might get in trouble. I dart down the alley, my bare feet not feeling the cold of the concrete beneath them. Moving the trash can aside, I yank the window back open and slide down inside of my room, landing on the floor silently and closing the window behind me. I lock it and try to calm my heart as it beats out of my chest. 

I lay down on my mattress, pulling the covers up over me. My parents continue to snore from the room next door, so I know I haven’t disturbed them. I am glad they don’t know what I’ve done. 

I am just about to fall asleep when I sense a shift in the moonlight. Opening my eyes, I see movement by the window and sit up. He’s here! He’s followed me! Through the window, I can see his dark fur and those green eyes--boring right through me. 

Not knowing what to do, I drop back down onto the mattress and squeeze myself against the wall, pulling the covers up to my chin. It doesn’t take long for him to go, but by then, my heart is pounding in my chest. I should’ve known he could follow my scent. I should’ve gone somewhere else. Now, i may have put my family in danger.

Cursing my stupidity, I lay there, trying to calm my heartbeat and get enough air into my lungs, but something tells me this is not the last I will see of the large black wolf with the green eyes.