Endlessly by C.V. Hunt

in my chest made it impossible to do otherwise. Jason
followed.
    “You remember Jason Zurk from the
store, right?” I said.
    “Yeah, I do.” She stood,
fidgeting.
    As we walked toward her I abandoned my
habitual vampire’s stealth, and let my feet crunch dead leaves. I
didn’t want her to notice anything out of the ordinary. I would
drop my human facade soon enough, but first I wanted her to trust
me. Instead she looked as if she was having a panic
attack.
    “Are you okay with him being here?” I
asked.
    “Um…yeah. I’m just nervous around new
people. You’ve seen that for yourself, Verloren.” She smiled,
shifting her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.
    “Don’t be afraid of Jason. The worst
he’ll do is ask you out on a date,” I said. I glanced at him. He
glared back at me.
    Ash giggled, her eyes darting between
Jason and me. She blushed and looked down at her shoes.
    I watched Jason. Finally he was
accepting the fact that I was not going to let him be with her. He
squinted at me and clenched his jaw. I’m sure he wanted to go back
to town, but I had him there for a reason. He huffed and closed his
eyes.
    I smiled at Ash. “I brought him here to
show you something,” I said.
    “You did?” Jason stared at
me.
    I nodded and smiled, hoping he would go
along. “Yes,” I said. “I did.” I approached Ash, then turned so we
were both facing Jason. I spoke to her while keeping my eyes on
him. “Ash, remember how I told you that once you find out what your
soul is, you can shift into that entity?”
    “Yes?”
    I saw Jason stiffen, and knew he didn’t
approve. Nevertheless, he’d come this far, and it would be
difficult for him to stop now. I was counting on that.
    “Jason, please,” I said. “You do the
honors.”
    “This isn’t exactly how this is suppose
to go, Verloren,” he said.
    I knew he was reluctant to shift in
front of someone who didn’t yet know. It could be terrifying, and
it violated the most basic laws of the Quatre.
    I flashed on Sara. In these visions she
was still a child, though I realized that she must be a grown woman
by now. I took a deep breath, recovering from the thought. “It…it
will be fine,” I said. “Trust me.” I looked at Ash. “You said you
love horror movies, right? You’re about to see what a real werewolf
looks like.”
    “Really?” She glanced at both of us.
“Oh, I get it. You guys are just messing with me.”
    I saw that Jason was pissed at me. That
wasn’t a problem. Anger helped a werewolf change faster.
    “No,” I said. “No joke.
Watch.”
    Jason and I locked eyes. I nodded. He
pursed his lips, gave me a look, then unzipped his coat and let it
fall. He slowly peeled off his shirt. He glanced at me, hoping I
would change my mind. I didn’t.
    “All right then.” He rolled his eyes,
kicked off his shoes, and unzipped his pants. He held them below
his hips so they would not fall.
    Ash averted her eyes. Her cheeks burned
red.
    “Don’t look away,” I said. I touched
her chin. Her skin was ice cold. I coaxed her head up. “You’re not
going to want to miss this.”
    She looked straight at him. As his eyes
glowed yellow, he threw himself into the shift. It happened in an
instant. One moment he was a man, then he was something else. His
skin turned a dark rust color. He raised his wolf-like face to
hers. She stumbled backward.
    His pants were too tight, and if he
moved much they would rip. He lowered his arms to the ground. His
hands and feet still looked human except for his razor sharp claws.
Her eyes widened. Down on all fours he was shorter than her. He
cocked his head. His chest had expanded in size. Always muscular,
Jason now seemed massive.
    Ash touched his shoulder. He bared his
teeth and growled softly. Though she was terrified, she withdrew
her fingers with reluctance.
    Then it was done. Jason shifted back to
his human form and stood upright.
    “Don’t pet me!” he snapped at her. “I’m
not a dog!” He pulled up his pants