Chapter 8

Setting her backpack down beside ‘Old Reliable’, Natalie breathed deep the fresh pine scent of the forest around her. Even with the sun setting over the mountains to the West and casting the woods into darkness, it was clear as day to her. The closer it got to the full moon, the sharper her senses became, though oddly enough, her taste didn’t. They’d always reasoned that wolves probably didn’t experience flavor the way humans did, because honestly, who would want to know what fresh brains tasted like?

Natalie arched her back, reaching out in front of her and stretching her shoulders. Curling her back inwards, the muscles in her lower back stretched pleasantly, that tingle flowing down all the way to her calves.

It was always an unpleasant experience changing. There was nothing to be done about the cracking of bones, that would just always suck. Muscles, though, could at least be stretched and given some flexibility so that they didn’t tear as much. Yoga was a great way to ease the pressure of the change ahead of time, turning a horrendous experience into a merely horrible one. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but any little bit helped.

Going through her entire routine, she felt as limber as possible, being able to neatly fold herself in half with ease. Maybe Kal would find that a useful skill of hers when they finally...