Free Change (Kitsune) by Melissa Stevens

it was something that should be happening, and I refused to let it to distract me. It's a little more painful to shift when you do it in purpose, or maybe it was that without the shock from the snake bite I was less distracted and I was now noticing it more.
    When the shifting and tingling finally subsided, I opened my eyes. I didn't feel any different. Wondering if it worked, I looked down at myself and found that I was covered in shaggy fur. Carefully walking over to the full length mirrors attached to my closet doors, and inspected my new body. I was large for a wolf, and the same deep red- brown color of my hair. I definitely wouldn't be mistaken for someone's dog, unless there was some huge, red, cross-breed roaming around that I didn't know about.
    I scratched at the bottom of my bedroom door enough to get my nose in the crack and swing it open as I left my room I marveled at the different perspective of my apartment in this form. I went into the kitchen where I could smell the potatoes that Brandon had started cooking in the microwave and the seasonings he had put onto the steaks that smelled so appealing. I heard him rattling things in one of the cabinets at the other end of the room. I walked over and used my nose to nudge the hand that was resting on the top of the cabinet door and watched him jump as I startled him. He must have really been concentrating on what he was looking for not to notice me come into the room.
    "Oh! You did it! Great!"
    I snorted at him and thought *Thank you, Captain Obvious.*
    "Hey," He laughed, "That wasn't nice!"
    I sat down, shocked. I hadn't intended for him to hear that.
    "I guess we can be pretty certain now about that telepathy, huh? I might as well make use of it…do you have any corn?"
    *Yeah, it's in the cabinet over the microwave*
    "Great, I'll fix that too. You can stay like that for a while if you want or you can go shift back. It's up to you."
    *I think I'll go shift back, thanks. I'll be back in a minute* I thought at him, heading for the bedroom.
    Once in my bedroom, I sat down in the spot where I had shifted earlier and concentrated for a few moments on shifting back into human form, when the tingling stopped I stood up and quickly dressed again. I walked out of the bedroom to find Brandon standing out on my balcony in front of the grill, the scent of the steaks on the grill making my stomach growl.
    "Wow!" I told him, "Those smell really great!"
    "I told you, shifting twice takes a lot of calories and you need to replace them. These are almost done. Can you go grab a plate to put them on? We‘ll separate them and add the rest in the kitchen."
    After shutting off the grill Brandon carried the plate with the steaks into the kitchen, "Just have a seat and let me finish here," he dished the steaks onto separate plates and added the sides he’d prepared.
    "You shouldn't be waiting on me in my own kitchen, Brandon. Hhow about I get the drinks?"
    "That would be nice"
    "What do you want?"
    "Tea would be great if you have any, if not I'll take a soda."
    "You know me, if there's no tea in the house it's almost a catastrophe," I pulled out two plastic cups and filled them with ice before pouring the tea. "You'll have to live with plastic, 'cause I'm not risking handling any more glass for a while"
    He chuckled, "Not a problem"
    I put cups down in front of the two chairs then grabbed flatware and napkins out of the drawer for both of us. I was headed back to the table with them as Brandon set both plates down on the table next to the glasses. We took our seats and started eating. I was surprised at how hungry I felt and how quickly I devoured the food in front of me.
    "Are you feeling more comfortable about your ability to shift yet?" Brandon asked in between bites.
    "Some. I'm less afraid of suddenly shifting and being stuck in wolf form now. That's something."
    "It'll get easier with practice, and if you try, you can learn to shift fast enough to change in