Free Wolf Asylum by Mark Fuson

Khan
.” Teddy chuckled.
    Darwin laughed. “You Trekkie fag!”
    â€œInsults are highly illogical” Teddy shot back with a hint of sarcasm under his tongue.
    â€œOkay Mister Spook, that’s enough!” Darwin said, still chuckling himself.
    â€œIt’s Spock!” Teddy barked back, beginning to laugh harder.
    â€œWhatever! Geeze, beam me up anytime,” Darwin said, returning to his stool.
    â€œYou’re telling me you never watched an episode of
Star Trek
in your entire life?”
    â€œNo,” Darwin said bluntly.
    â€œDon’t tell me you’re a
Star Wars
dork?”
    â€œSuck my force, you Trekkie bitch!” Darwin spouted off in defense.
    Teddy replied in a Yoda-sounding voice, hoping to poke Darwin a little more. “I knew it! Brain little, this one has.”
    â€œOh, so you know Master Yoda?” Darwin said, quickly reversing the game.
    â€œIt’s not difficult to sound retarded!” Teddy replied.
    â€œOuch! That hurt!” Darwin grasped his chest, laughing as he did so. “I guess there are no werewolves in
Star Trek
?”
    â€œNo, none come to mind. They did have a shape-shifter in a
Next Generation
episode. She wasn’t really a werewolf, but she could change into some kind of hairy monster. Why?”
    Darwin asked, serious now, “When we were younger, didn’t you ever want to be something supernatural—a vampire or a werewolf?”
    Teddy looked up at the ceiling. “I guess I did like some of the vampire flicks. The geeky friend in
Fright Night
who becomes a vampire, I always wanted to be that guy. Never gave it much thought in being a werewolf.”
    Darwin looked down into his hands and said softly, “I always wanted to be a werewolf. I don’t know why…something inside of me always made me want to rip my clothes off and howl at the moon. I remember when I first began to realize what I was. It was surreal, a dream that couldn’t be, but it was. Part of me was frightened and another part of me longed to let go and run wild. I didn’t know what to do with my power.”
    â€œHow did it happen?” Teddy asked.
    â€œI don’t know. I just changed one night, and every full moon after that night. I wonder if I was infected, or if I was marked by the underworld. I wasn’t bitten or scratched—like in a classic werewolf movie. I wanted it, I almost wonder if my prayer was answered. It truly is a gift.” Darwin said, continuing to find comfort in his palms.
    â€œWhat does it feel like?” Teddy inquired with genuine curiosity.
    â€œAn orgasm that builds and intensifies across your whole body. Imagine your muscles expanding in size and strength in seconds. Imagine feeling weak and soon it’s gone and you begin to feel powerful. You can’t stop it, and you don’t want to. As your body transforms, the clothing begins to tear away from your body which adds to the immense supremacy that you feel. Your human mind lets go and the thought of killing and eating takes over. You fight it at first, but eventually you give in and then it becomes a pleasure, not a burden. The act of killing recreates the feeling of transformation, which drives you to do it again and again. It’s beyond sexual. It’s not about the food or nourishment, it’s about the high. There are the powers too; the hearing, the strength, the psychic…” Darwin became lost in his description of the power he could barely explain.
    â€œPsychic?” Teddy prodded.
    â€œWhen you drink the blood, sometimes you can watch the person’s past. Intimate stuff…secret things.”
    â€œSo it doesn’t hurt?”
    â€œYou can experience pain, but not from the change. Being caught in the snow and freezing in your human form hurts, but it won’t kill you. Anything that can hurt a human might also hurt as a lycan.”
    Teddy asked quietly, “can you