The Black Flame Ch. 04 (Patreon)

The final chapter!

Emily ducked her head as she passed a pair of female students.  And still she turned to follow them while breathing in their scent.  Growling, she forced herself to keep walking.  The early morning sun did little to warm her but, as she walked, she began to sweat despite the snow pelting her.

Goddamn fur, she snarled before adjusting her path to avoid more students.  She grabbed her hood, holding it in place when wind swirled around her.  She wore a beanie beneath to hide her ears but it didn't cover the hairs on her jaw and neck.  Not for the first time that morning, she chastised herself for not shaving.  She'd just been in too much of a hurry to leave and find a way to fix everything.

And to get away from Tia.  She growled again and shoved her hands into her pockets.

Tia, she thought and she sighed.  She couldn't stop thinking of their time together.  Of the girl's tongue against her.

Humping her.

She'd talked to her briefly before leaving and she'd been both grateful and horrified to learn that Tia could understand her just fine.  Tia had tried to follow her until Emily commanded her to stay behind.  The woman had turned and whipped the air with her tail before climbing up onto the couch to lie down.

Facing away from Emily.  Tail to the side.  Leg stretched out over the edge of the couch, allowing her glistening black spade to show in the overhead light.  It had taken every ounce of Emily's willpower to leave her house.  Her entire body howled at her to fuck the woman.  Creature.  Whatever the poor girl had become.

She'd brought her backpack with her but emptied it to leave nothing but her wallet, keys, and the book June took from the library.

Emily waited on the grass in front of the library.  She wore no shoes - none of them would fit her expanded feet.  They were swollen from the padding as well as the thick muscles winding throughout her entire body.  Instead, she wore dark stockings to try to match her claws where they pierced the front.

Her tail twitched within the confines of her stockings.  She'd almost used medical tape to hold it in place, but she hated the idea of having to rip all of it off afterwards.  Off of the fur covering it.  Her fur.  The spade tip squirmed against her ankle, bulging awkwardly against the black fabric.

When she'd first stepped out of her house, she expected to freeze on her walk.  Soon enough, she learned that the dense padding protected her feet from the cold and any trash or thorns hidden in the grass.  Nobody seemed to notice the difference, especially as they rushed through the freezing wind to get to their next class.

She hid near a marble column at the front of the library until it was clear.  As she stepped from the grass onto the building's façade, her foot compressed to leave the outline of her paw from the snow melting on her foot.  The wet prints continued until her feet were dry and she stepped inside to walk along the edge of the enormous interior in order to avoid everyone else.

Her pupils narrowed to slits while the fur stood on the back of her neck.  Emily raised her head and her lips pulled back to flash her fangs.

Something bad existed on the second floor.  Something she'd never noticed in all the times she visited the library.  Something rank and diseased that made the skin wrinkle on the widened bridge of her nose.

She ducked her head to hide her face.  Everything was itchy.  Everything fit wrong on her body.

A twinge shot up Emily's back, causing her to growl and then immediately clamp her mouth shut.  When she leaned over a table, the pain vanished - her body trying to force her onto her hands and feet.

Her tail tried to lift, to curl, and she was suddenly intimately aware of the position she held herself in.

Shit.  Shit shit shit shit! she thought to herself.

It felt good to be bent over.  Almost on all fours.  Her thoughts flashed to Tia as she leaned further to rest her forearms on the table.  Tia, in her mind's eye, sliding to the floor from the bed.

I won't, she growled at herself.  I won't do it.  I won't-

Emily shivered.  Wood curled away from the tips of her claws when she raked them over the surface of the table.  She gasped and pressed her forehead against the cool surface.  An image of Tia presenting herself filled her thoughts.  The other girl's scent flooded her suddenly.  Her hips jerked.  Thrusting against the table.  Humping it.

Nooooo, dammit! she cursed while clenching her fists.

She stood straight, winced, and brought her hand around to rub her back before continuing on her way.  Wandering through the library, she continued to curse at how strangely busy it was.  Students milled about, leaving her with no corner to hide away.  She stopped.  Her head swiveled towards the second floor.  Fur lifted on her nape and her fangs flashed.

With no other options, she made her way to the second floor.  Her eyes tracked the miasma the entire way.  She hated it without knowing why and the closer she got, the worse it became until her knuckles whitened on the bannister.  The wood groaned while her corded forearm muscles flexed and her fingers sunk into the wood like it was clay.

Its very existence was anathema to her without even knowing what it was.  The sparse fur over her back raised, pushing against her shirt and hoodie.  At the top of the stairs, she took a step towards the area.  Her head throbbed while her hands clenched at her sides.  Ready to fight. Ready to kill.

The book, a quiet voice whispered.  Her ears twitched beneath her hood.

It took physical effort to pry herself away from that strange section of the second floor. She hated having it at her back, as if it were a deadly creature stalking her, looking for weaknesses.

Emily lost herself in the maze of shelves.  The books muffled the sounds of the students whispering around her even to the point where her heightened hearing caught nothing but her own breathing and heartbeat.  She pushed her back into a corner, dropped her backpack to the floor and slipped the book from where she'd stored it.

Whatever that thing was, it had to be related to the book.  Her claws hooked into the pages, turning them carefully as she once again read the explorer's account.

The story was the same, but her eyes strayed to the unknown script. It felt familiar to her in an undefinable way.  Soothing, almost.  The words gave a subtext to the man's travels that didn't exist before.

They detailed his descent into madness.  There was no comfort in his descriptions and, instead, he wrote of dreams filled with darkness.  Of twisted creatures spying on him from alcoves.  Taunting him.  Whispering promises of power with chittering teeth and shadowy fingers that stretched over walls and floors to burrow into his brain.  They needed a host to finish their corruption of the fallen civilization. An agent of disease to infect the living heart chained in the depths.

Latin gave way to the unnamed language as their demonic influence increased and the explorer plunged into the depths.

He fought them at first but soon came to desire the power they offered.  Living descendants, hiding in terrified, isolated groups, ran from his approach.  But not fast enough.  He caught stragglers.  Experimented on them while the voices guided his hand.

They banished him. An entire clan sacrificed themselves, burning themselves alive to expel him from their realm.  The blowback burned Innsmouth, leaving only the library.  The man found hidden records that showed the owner dabbled in the occult, creating a weak point in reality for the clan to exploit with their magic.  His own personal charms of protection, painted on his body from the bloods of innocents, protected the library itself.

He spent hundreds of years finding a way back while hiding from the advancement of civilization. No longer entirely human, he hunted his prey in the area while changing those around him - kidnapping women, children, men, all who he would transform into monstrous beasts to aid in his plans.

It ended with him finding a cave on the outskirts of town.  He perverted the clan's own magic, murdering a neighboring town to fuel the inverted spell and break through once more.  The shifting, labyrinthian civilization waited for him.  It would take decades for him to find the way once more, but he-

Footsteps.  Emily's ears twisted.  Movement through the shelves around her.  She hid the book in her hoodie and dropped low, crouching before reaching her hands out to crawl on all fours as if it were natural for her.

"... said he's not going!"  a woman's voice said with clear anger.  A cheerleader, Emily noted, admiring the girl's bare legs and toned ass beneath the short flared skirt.  "My own birthday party!  I broke up with him.  No. No, we'd only been dating for a month anyway.  The whole party is for me tonight and he can't be bothered to make it?  Fuck him."

Emily could hear the other person's voice through the tiny speaker in the phone.  She froze when the girl turned to pace while ranting to the woman on the other end of the line.

"At the library, yeah," the girl continued.  "Waiting for them to find a book I need. It's creepy on the second floor.  Have you ever been up here?  There's like, nobody around.  Ever."

The cheerleader turned to lean back into a shelf with her back to Emily.  Emily reached up, hand against the shelf, claws clicking quietly on the metal surface.  Staring at the gap between the girl's thighs.

She could smell her - the other woman's clean scent.  Emily growled quietly as she inhaled.  Her hand reached down just as her clit stretched outward, pushing forward while the furred hood slipped down.  She moaned when she touched her engorged clit and the slick, furry pussy lips beneath.

The other girl had masturbated that morning and the aroma of her sex swirled around her.  After being surrounded by nothing but ancient books, the scent slammed into Emily's nose.

Need- need to- get away, Emily panted as her short claws stroked between her lower lips.  She clenched her thumb against her clit and gnashed her fangs with her head bowed.  Claws plunged into her pussy while she stroked her swollen clit, pulling the hood up over the sensitive pink nub.  Her other hand pawed at her hoodie to massage her breast.

The stockings she wore beneath her sweats reached up to her waist.  They were too tight, making it awkward to touch herself.

Off, take them off.  The thought wasn't her own.  It was a feral animal urging her on.  A creature prowling through her subconscious, permanently a part of part of her now and growing larger.

Sweat dappled her skin.  Emily panted as the heat bloomed within.  She prayed the girl would leave, but the cheerleader simply bounced against the shelf while talking on the phone and Emily stared at her ass the whole time.  At her hidden pussy just barely out of reach.

Fur spread lazily from the middle of Emily's back towards her sides. She gasped and took her hand from her pants in order to pull her hoodie from her body, dropping it to her side.  Emily grinded back against her heels, pulling at her sweatpants.  Her tights scratched against the fur creeping over her legs.  Annoying her.

She stood while hooking her thumbs into her pants.  Her claws marked her skin when she shoved her sweatpants, panties and stockings down and off.  Now free, her tail curved behind her and she moaned from the way it pulled at her body.

And it wasn't enough.  Emily grabbed the neck of her shirt.  Her biceps tightened, shifting the fur growing over them.  The fabric ripped down the front and she was finally free.

"Wait, hold on," the cheerleader said, pulling the phone from her ear.

Emily dropped to her hands and knees.  Alert and watchful once more.  Her hand slipped between her thighs, through her shaggy fur to push her clit with her palm, rubbing it back and forth before gripping it once more and touching her claws against her pussy.  They lengthened, sliding between her slick lips until she could clench them.

Deep within Emily's womb, her ovaries vibrated and detached.  She grunted.  Growled.  Licked her lips and leaned forward, slipping her shortened muzzle through the books to sniff at the other girl.  Her smooth, puffy outer labia grew wrinkled as her ovaries retreated.

She could feel it coming.  Her head buzzed while her face burned and she stroked faster.

Skin parted on the rounded tip of her clit, creating her urethral opening.  It grew longer in her hand.  Sliding slowly against her palm.  Sending shivers down her spine as new nerves formed and connected beneath the stretching flesh.  She grunted.  Snarled and gnashed her teeth.  Her burning face popped as it began to pull forward again, forcing her miniature muzzle outward.

Emily bucked when she came and she raised her head into a silent howl with her lengthening ears tilting at an angle.  Her short fangs widened as they grew again, curving outward just as her nose pulled flat on the front of her snout.

Pre-cum dripped from the slit on the tip of her clit while juices dribbled liberally from her clenching pussy. Tendons stood out on her reddened neck before the skin was devoured by blood-red fur.  Sable hairs grew between them.

With a pop, her ovaries pulled into a sac formed by the loosened skin of her outer labia and her pussy clenched in response.  Her claws were forced out and the soft lips pressed together.

Thick ropes of drool hung from Emily's tongue when she bowed her head.  She felt drunk. Senseless.  Her hand gripped her clit as it continued to expand.  When she reached down to finger herself, her claws met solid skin.

"Wha-" Emily moaned.

She leaned back while spreading her knees to stare at the bulge of flesh hidden by fur.

At the three inch long throbbing clit with the strange hole and the clear cum welling from the tip to slide down to the thick, furry sheath pulled back by her padded hand.

Her testicles latched into place and Emily's eyes widened at the alien pinching sensation.  She clawed at the ground when a sudden wave of hormones crashed into her.  Red hairs spread from the base of her ears with more piercing her cheeks.  Black hairs spread over the bridge of her nose.

"Oh god," Emily whispered when she gained control once more.

She touched her pussy to find testicles instead.  Her hand tightened against it and pain radiated outward, causing her to snarl.

"Is someone there?" the cheerleader asked.  After listening for a few seconds, she spoke more quietly into the phone.  "I don't know.  I keep thinking I'm hearing something.  Maybe I should go check on the book."

NO! Emily thought.

"No," Emily moaned, shaking her head.

It ached.  Ached to be touched.  Pressure was building within and it throbbed in time with her heartbeat.

She stared in horror as her clit - a cock now, even as small as it was, continued to grow.

"No, please, I'm-  I don't want-" she said but her hand reached for it .

Squeezed it.

Stroked it.

The girl's long, split tongue bounced against her chin while her unfocused eyes stared down.  Skin separated beneath the tip of her cock, flaring to create the head as it stretched out to a rounded point.  Her padded palm slid her sheath up and down and she jerked when it rubbed against the new head.

It was less sensitive than her clit but, barely, and she snarled at how uncomfortable her hand was against it.  How rough her leathery padding was.

I need- I need- she thought to herself, chest heaving with her brow wrinkled confusion.  Stop.  I need this to stop.  This- this is wrong, I'm not- I don't have-

Her testicles swelled and she groaned at how full it made her feel.  The pressure was almost painful.  Two lumps formed at the base of her cock.  She watched, with her lips parted and strange desire painting her wolf-like muzzle, as the lumps inflated.  With one hand stroking her cock, she reached down to squeeze her knot.  And growled.

"This- this isn't funny," the cheerleader said.  "Angie, I gotta go.  There's something here."

Emily's sheath stretched over the knot before being pushed down, leaving her massive, throbbing cock bobbing in the air before her with her furred, bloated testicles beneath.

I'm a freak, she whined.  I'm a- a- that- that smell...

Emily raised her muzzle.  The cheerleader had her purse clutched against her chest.  She spun in a slow, anxious circle as she looked around.

Stretch marks appeared on Emily's body when her muscles expanded and her bones grew more dense.  Her shoulders popped from their sockets, broke and healed, longer and longer as her narrow frame widened.  The stretch marks healed nearly as soon as they appeared.  Power pulsed through her body.

Soft, Emily thought to herself while staring at the girl's thighs. At her pussy. She snarled and squeezed her cock.  Soft and wet.  Around me. Around my- around my-

She moved with her tail high, crouched and walking on her feet with her hands touching the ground.  When the cheerleader turned to leave, Emily moved.  Her feet were nearly silent even with the thin layer of padding but her claws ruined her stealthy movement.

"What-" the cheerleader turned and opened her mouth to scream.

Emily's hand clamped to the girl's face.  She leaned in and her forked, broad tongue licked the curve of the cheerleader's neck, up to her jaw, coating her in drool.  One hand gripped the girl's blonde ponytail.

"Quiet," Emily growled.  "Be quiet.  I need.  Release.  I need it.  I won't.  I won't make you."

Emily wrapped her arms around the girl.  A pure, golden flame guttered between the stumps of her horns.

"Please, just let me- mmph!" the girl cut off when Emily kissed her, shoving her tongue deep into the girl's throat.  Her claws tore at the girl's skimpy cheerleader's outfit, ripping it to shreds while marking her body with red lines on her pale skin.  She tasted blood, briefly, and pulled away with a snarl.

"S- sorrrrrrry," Emily growled while wiping the back of her mouth.  She staggered backwards and the cheerleader fell to her ass.

"Please, please just let me go, I swear I won't- won't- I- haaa-" the cheerleader pressed her lips together and breathed through her nose.  "What's- what's that- nnngh!"

The girl clutched her stomach while pulling her knees up.

"GOD!" the girl cried out. She threw her head back with her mouth open wide.  Her canines were sharp points beyond the surrounding teeth.  Raising her hands to her temples she shook her head.  Sweat dotted her brow.   "No no no no Gooooood I'm burning up!"

The cheerleader grabbed her top.  She pulled and pulled while grunting and growling until she'd freed her breasts.  A fine spray of blonde fur covered her sternum.

She leaned forward onto her hands and knees, staring at Emily.  At Emily's cock.  Slits appeared at the corner of her nose when the flesh separated from her face.

"I can smell you," the girl whispered.  "I- I can feel you.  In my-  In my head.  That SMELL."

The cheerleader growled and pawed at her breast.  She dropped her hand and moved, rocking her hips as she made her way to Emily.  Emily groaned and grabbed her cock.  A thin string of pre-cum dangled from the head.  The cheerleader reached her and arched her back, raising her head with her tongue out.  The flesh stretched while the tip split when it touched the pre-cum dangling from Emily's dick.

"D- Don't," Emily groaned while staring down at the girl.  She would lose herself, she knew. As soon as-

The long tongue stretched until it touched Emily's cock and Emily snarled.  The cheerleader's tongue flattered around her while dragging up, licking the rest of the pre-cum until she got to the tip.  Here she swirled her tongue around the tip and reached up, gripping the monstrous cock with one hand to pump from the tip down to the swollen, bulbous knot.

Emily stared at the girl's back as muscles pushed against her skin.  Bones tore through flesh as they traveled within her body, forcing the petite, athletic girl's body to stretch and grow.  Her ribs groaned before the bones fractured and healed, painlessly breaking several times to make room for her expanding physique.

Blonde fur gathered over the kneeling girl's nape, growing dense as fine hairs escaped down her back and a bulge appeared above the split of her taut ass cheeks.  Emily growled and reached down to stroke the girl's hair.  Her claw snapped the hair band holding her blonde hair into a ponytail, freeing all of it.  The girl's loose hair settled against her spreading fur.

When Emily's claws caressed her, they scratched against hardened keratin on the side of the other woman's head.  She gripped the cheerleader's horn, rubbing it with her thumb as it slid through her hand.  When it was long enough, she held both horns to keep the girl in place.

The urge to thrust became compulsive. Her hips moved around the other girl's cracking jaw.  Drool slid down the cheerleader's muzzle and she moaned as she pushed forward until her pebbled nose touched the wild fur at the base of Emily's massive cock.  The tips of her fangs brushed the shaft and she adjusted with a whine when Emily snarled at her.

'NO!" Emily yelled, shoving her away.  Her cock was slathered with slobber, thick enough that it ran down her shaft when, freed from the cheerleader's mouth, it bounced upright.  Erect and throbbing for release.  "No.  I-  I can't still-  I can still stop this."

Emily leaned into the shelf next to her.  Panting with her ears down.  Pain shot through her back.  Bones shifted within. Trying to force her down to the ground.

"Burning up," the cheerleader whined.  Patches of blonde fur covered her body.  She whined and licked her nose while squeezing her tits. Her whining was high pitched - bestial.  "Need it.  I need it in me.  Need your cum in me. Need you to breed me like a good bitch."

"I don't- nnnnrrrrrrrrr- I don't have-  I don't -" she shook her head.

Muscles spasmed in Emily's back.  She fell with her spine popping in a wave that forced her to hunch.  Her hips popped and her thigh bones grated in their sockets when her legs were pulled inward.

She clenched and her cock bobbed beneath her, bouncing down and then up to smear pre-cum into the fur covering her belly.  More dripped down to the floor beneath her and smoke wafted from where it touched the ground.  New layers grew over her horns.  They swept backwards, spearing through her hair.  The black growths were ringed with gold that matched her eyes.

"M- mount you," Emily panted.  She growled and a small gout of white flame shot from between her fangs.  It was getting harder to talk.  Her thoughts swirled as her jaw widened and pushed forward.  Yellow lines fractured her emerald eyes while the limbal ring devoured the surrounding white to leave brilliant golden irises with vertical pupils surrounded by onyx.  "Brrrrrrreed you."

"YES!  YES MOUNT ME!" the cheerleader screamed. She turned and bowed, presenting herself with her chest against the ground and her ass up.  Her skirt slid up and she reached beneath herself to pull her thong to the side.

As Emily stalked over to the woman, a flame ignited between her horns - a ghostly, golden crown that guttered from a non-existent wind.  She stared at the swollen, dripping pussy before her.  When she was close enough, she huffed at it and gave it a quick lick before continuing forward.  The cheerleader's short tail dug into her stomach as Emily pressed herself down, probing the other woman's pussy with the flared, pointed head of her cock.

The cheerleader was snarling and snapping and thrusting back.  Her muzzle was complete, stealing her speech.  She reached back but whined when her arms refused to work properly.  Her fingers popped and cracked as they shortened with her thumb pulling backwards while the other fingers jolted forwards.  Joints melded in her thumbs while the nails grew dense and curved into dewclaws that mirrored the changes in her big toes.

Frustration grew within the blonde-haired girl until muscles tugged at tendons and bones, shifting her pussy into a proper position for a bitch.

Emily's cock spread the girl's pussy lips apart.

Feels so good, feels so fucking good, I had no idea, no fucking idea how good it would feel with her wet, hot little tight pussy clenching against me.  Against- Against my- my cock.

Emily leaned into the girl, licking her ears as they stretched and expanded.  Licking the fur spreading over her shoulder before biting into the skin to hold her in place.  Her hips rocked as she thrust into the girl and her tail waved behind her.  Powerful muscles tensed.  Her breasts swayed beneath her until the fat was consumed to fuel the growth of her muscles.  Fur shifted on her chest as her breasts retreated to lay flat on her chest.

Mount her like a dog.  Like a bitch. Mount her and- and cum inside her little pussy.  Knot.  Knot her.  Knot her.  Locked into her.  Wanna. Want to knot my bitch.

Her growl was harsh and continuous as her testicles slammed into the cheerleader's clit and wet crotch.  The girl screamed when Emily's knot threatened to split her apart, but she still shoved back, desperate to feel it inside of her.  Desperate to be locked together with Emily.  To feel her cum filling her womb with no chance of escape.

The cheerleader snapped at the air when she came and her claws tore into the floor.  Her pussy clenched around Emily's thrusting cock, but Emily continued pounding while her tongue swirled around the fur covering the cheerleader's shoulder.  Creamy juices slid down the girl's pussy lips towards her clit before dripping to the floor beneath her.

Her tail slid against Emily's stomach.  It curved as it dragged through fur and the skin beneath.  Skin sagged at the tip before filling out and hardening into a dull, rounded spade.

The thin lips greedily gripping Emily's cock stretched out around the red shaft.  They began to fill out, bulging as they steadily pushed away from her crotch and past her furred outer labia.  Her hood gathered and flowed, covering her exposed clit before pushing it inward towards the rolling, swollen lips of her pussy.

The girl's glistening pink lips folded and tightened, nearly crushing Emily's cock when her spade formed in place.  Emily grunted.  Growled.  Tensed.

The cheerleader's muzzle tipped back while her ears angled downwards.  She howled, pure and clear when Emily came inside of her.  She shoved back as hard as she could while praying that she could relax enough to take the knot but her pussy resisted.  Emily tried to join her howl but her still pulsing cock left her oddly winded.

Thick white cum gushed out of the other girl's pussy, spurting past Emily's knot to cover their fur.  Emily licked the mane of fur on the cheerleader's back before raising her hips and stepping backwards on all fours.  The other girl snarled and snapped at the air when Emily popped free with a loud, wet sound that echoed in their corner of the library.

The cheerleader forced herself up on trembling legs.  She was huge - nearly twice as large as a gray wolf.  Even so, Emily loomed over her, a  powerhouse on four legs, covered in red and black fur.

Concerned voices called out on the first floor.  A few more spoke on the stairs.  Various people asking if they heard the same thing.  The two hellhounds turned to stare towards the sounds.

Julie pressed herself against Emily's side. Everything was strange and overwhelming, but she knew that she held an incredibly deep bond with the other woman now. She tried to parse what was happening to her - what had happened to her body.  What had happened to-  She whined and bent, turning her muzzle towards her ass. Inhaling.  Her pussy ached, but she felt so incredibly empty.

And hot.  She sat and rolled, bending her chest until her muzzle was between her arched leg. As Emily listened for the slowly approaching students, Julie licked herself with long strokes of her tongue. She savored the taste of Emily's cum while shivering when her rough tongue dragged over her swollen spade.

Emily held her breath while ignoring the incredibly loud and incredibly distracting sounds Julie was making.  There were tethers attached to her.  One connected directly to Julie and the other girl's muted emotions traveled over the glowing, ghostly rope until Emily thought she'd lose her willpower and mount the girl again.  Another reached into the distance towards Tia, who woke when Emily focused on her.  The third was dull.  Thin.  She tried to follow it, but it slipped away from her.

With a stern growl, Emily nosed Julie's side.  The other girl stopped and licked Emily's muzzle submissively before standing properly.

They wouldn't survive in public.  And now, fully changed, she felt a pull and she turned to the south to stare at it.

The cave, she thought, certain that she was right.

The festering miasma on the second floor made her want to vomit.  She marked the scent permanently in her mind and her tail flicked angrily.  A wound on the world itself.

Emily padded through the library until she reached the enormous windows covering the east side of the second floor.  She stared down at the snow covered grass below and the campus beyond.  The students were coming closer.  Whispering nervously to each other as they wondered whether someone was playing a prank on them or not.

Come to me, Emily thought towards Tia.  There was a sensation of acceptance that pleased Emily more than she'd like to admit.

She prayed that Nicole and June were spared their fate - that by not spending the night, they weren't changed.  Unfortunately, a part of her suspected she knew what the dull tether was.  Or, rather, who it was.

Emily bowed her head to tap her horns against the glass with a dull thonk thonk before taking several steps back. Julie glanced between Emily and the window with her tail wagging slowly behind her.  Comprehension dawned slowly in her eyes and her ears folded backwards when she whined.  And yet, she turned and followed.

Emily pawed at the ground.  She hunched, tensed, and ran, leaping with every step before bowing her head.  The window shattered on impact, barely slowing her as she sailed through the air with Julie seconds behind her.

A black flame streaking through the snow storm.

Students screamed.  Emily's legs absorbed the impact with her padding cushioning her paws.  She rocked her ass back and ran as Julie rolled behind her.  The other girl slid on her side before catching herself and popping up on all fours to follow Emily.

They raced through the scattering crowds, snarling and snapping at those who didn't move quickly enough.  More screams echoed in the distance as an enormous black hellhound pounded over grass and concrete in a direct line towards Emily.  Tia smiled as she ran - as she pushed her new body to its limit with her tail streaming behind her.  There was power and freedom there that she'd never experienced before.

They joined together outside of the campus.  Leaping over fences and cars, Emily led the other two until they left the edge of town.  For a moment, she worried they would have to run the entire way to Mt Katahdin, but she sensed the cave nearby and they angled towards it as one.

The three hellhounds slowed as they approached, leaping from boulder to boulder to climb to a clearing above.  Beer cans littered the ground along with old campfires and other trash.  Emily huffed and sniffed but none of it was recent.  A part of her hated that she knew that based on smell.  The larger part of her was grateful for it.

Tia approached and bumped her side into Emily before wrapping her tail around the top of Emily's rump.  Emily turned to her.  Inhaled.  Smelled her arousal.  Her need.  Julie whined and licked Emily's muzzle as she had before.

Oh no, Emily groaned.  Blood rushed down between her legs.  It throbbed and moved.  Skin sliding against her smooth cock as it grew erect.  Her furred, fleshy sheath retreated when her knot hardened.  The sensation made her gnash her teeth and her tail trashed behind her.  She tried to ignore it, but it ached and the pressure built while her testicles tightened and begged for release.

Her thoughts grew muddied and then vanished in white static when she turned to see Tia presenting herself with her back bowed, chest to the ground and ass up. Julie trembled as she tried to resist but soon found herself mimicking Tia's posture, panting with her tongue out and her eyes closed.  She tried to picture her ex-boyfriend fucking her but her mind was filled with Emily's red, pointed cock.  She whined and her hips trembled.

Emily growled before shoving her muzzle against Tia's spade.

---

Nicole huddled into herself where she sat in her seat at the back of class.  Periodically she would jerk to look behind her, certain that Emily was standing right there.  Only, she wasn't.  And then a few minutes later, she would look again.  Sometimes she'd look behind her, other times she'd look to her side as if the woman's ghost were moving around.

"Shi-!" she gasped in the middle of her silent class.  There was a jolt of something that felt like a gut punch.  People turned to her and her professor scowled in her direction, causing her to cover her face with her hand.  Her nails scratched her bad enough that she hissed in pain.

"Oh, what the fuck?" Nicole whispered when she brought her hand down.

Her nails were pure black - a shiny darkness that reminded her of obsidian.  Her tongue swept out and up, barely touching her nostrils in the process.  The nails were bent with a large hump in the center and they curved over the tip of her fingernail, ending in sharp tips.  A single drop of blood slid down her cheek but no wound remained.

Nicole's brow furrowed.  She spread the fingers of her left hand to stare between them.  At the brown hairs sticking out from the skin between her fingers.  Sure that it was a trick of some kind or simply random hairs stuck to her hand, she pinched a single strand between her nails.  Her skin bulged around the follicle when she pulled.

"The fu-" she whispered again.

She turned her hand around to get a different angle and nearly screamed.  Her eyes bulged and she slapped her hand down against her lap while looking around her.  And then she jumped and stared to the left when she felt Emily's breath on her neck

"Goddammit," she growled quietly.

Licking her lips and the very tip of her nose, she stared down at her hand where it was hidden by the desk.

At the hairs scattered around the vague, gray outline of a dog's paw print.  The skin was raised slightly like a large callus around her palm and the bottom of her fingers.

Nicole's stomach dropped.  She stared at it.  Dumbfounded.

Emily moaned in her ear and Nicole twisted.

And barked.

Like a dog.

"Christ, what the fuck, freak?" someone whispered.  Others added their own voices while staring at her.

Nicole pressed her palms to her ears while curling against the desk.  Prickly hairs tickled her palms.

"No, please, no," she moaned while touching her ears gently.  Her fingers bumped over the studs in her ears and up.  To a rounded point, longer than they should be.  "No no no no."

Still covering her ears, she slid out of her desk and walked as quickly as she could towards the door and then outside the classroom.  Another moan.  Not her own.  Shivers down her nape.  Hairs lifted and Nicole groaned while sliding her right hand down to touch a thick tuft of fur that covered the entire back of her neck.

Despite her predicament, she stumbled and gasped and leaned against a nearby wall.  Arousal pulsed towards her.  Into her and through her.  For a moment, she swore she heard Emily's voice.  She panted with her tongue bouncing against her chin and her hand trapped between her soft thighs. Fingers touching her pussy through her clothes. Whimpering as she thrust her ass out.

Hairs slowly pierced the sensitive, soft skin around her areola.  They spread outward with the sensation of a lover's nails lightly scratching her breasts and she moaned, loudly while pressing her claw harder against her clit.

"Nicole?" a familiar voice asked.

"M- June?" Nicole said.  She blinked rapidly as she tried to walk away from the ledge of her orgasm while the beast twined with her soul growled in the back of her mind in frustration.

"I came to bring you your phone," June said while her eyes searched Nicole's face.  Nicole turned away from her in shame.  "Hey.  Are you okay?"

"N- no, and I- Jesus!" Nicole winced and grabbed her stomach while her legs trembled.  She turned to her right to stare into the distance.  "Em- Emily..."

"Emily?  What about Emily?  And what's wrong with your- Nicole, is that- is that hair on your ears? Why, why do they look like-"

Nicole whined like a kicked dog.  She glanced around and then grabbed June's hand to pull her out of the hallway.

"Ow!  Hey, watch your nails!" June yelled.

Five minutes later, June sat very still as Nicole finished speaking.  Her clenched knuckles were white.

"I did this," June said finally.  "To you.  And Tia and Emily.  I found the book.  I did this to all of you. We have to find them."

June dialed Emily's phone.  When voicemail picked up, she hung up and dialed Tia instead.  When that went nowhere, she tried Emily again.  Nicole touched her hand lightly with a claw.

"I- I don't think they can answer," Nicole told her.  "I think they got more than claws and funny ears.  A lot more and- mmph."

Nicole hid her suddenly bright cheeks.  Waves of pleasure struck her and she squirmed. She bent forward to rest her breasts on her knees with her arms up and hands against the back of her head.  Her feet, outside of her shoes now since she realized how cramped they were - and then realized they had paws and claws like her hands, drummed against the floor.

She wanted to tackle June. To grind against her.  To press her clit into June's pussy with their legs wrapped around each other.  To lick her face and mouth and tits and nipples and-

"Nnnrrrrrrrrgh," Nicole growled while clawing at her sides.  "I- I can feel her. I- I know where they are.  I can track them. Like-"

"Nicole, don't," June said softly.

"Like a dog," Nicole finished.  "We should go before it's too late.  I don't know if I'll keep changing.  God.  My- My connection to her is so dull, but I can still feel how turned on she is.  The passion.  Sex.  Oh fuck, oh fuck me it feels so fucking good."

Nicole looked up at her friend and whined. Her hand slid beneath her pants. "I- I want to touch myself so bad, June. I want- I want to lick you. Mmmph, to lick- lick your pussy."

Fur spread down from Nicole's ears towards the back of her jaw.  Her face popped and her lips pulled back to flash her teeth.  Hairs slowly spread over her stretching cheeks while she slipped her claws into her pussy.

"Nicole!  You- you're changing again!  You have to stop!" June yelled while grabbing her friend's arm.  Nicole snapped at her and thrust harder.

"M- mount me, I want- I want Emily- I want her- to mmmmmount me," Nicole growled while hunching over.  The cartilage in her nose crunched and her hair parted to show the dull tips of her horns.

Nicole cried out and fell forward when spasms wracked her back, forcing her down. She grunted and shoved at her pants and panties, exposing her dripping, soaked pussy to June in the process. There was no hint of shame in the girl's eyes as she plunged her fingers into her pussy with abandon. Her hand's thick padding smacked against her crotch, splattering her juices over the fur spreading over her fur.

"You have to- have to- June, you- you have to gooooo," Nicole raised her head. Vertebrae shifted, re-aligned and adjusted her head now that she was properly, permanently stuck on all fours.  "Can't- can't stop it. She feels too real.  She feels too close. Too good!   I want her!  In me!  Mounting me!"

"Nicole!" June cried out.

"G- go!" Nicole snarled.

June ran from the old lab where they'd taken refuge.

Nearly an hour later, after giving herself countless orgasms, Nicole lay on her side, trembling, lying in a pool of her own cum and drool.  She twitched and then growled while her ears bent.

Footsteps outside.

June's scent.

I told her to go, Nicole thought to herself.  She moved, weakly, to stand on all fours and face the door.

June glanced into the room through the vertical window set in the door.  She frowned at the sight of her friend before firming her expression and stepping inside.

"Are," June swallowed.  She held the doorknob with one hand, ready to bolt if necessary.  "Are you still there, Nicole?"

Nicole nodded, awkwardly before growling as politely as she could.

"Holy fuck, you're huge, Nicole," June gasped.  It was difficult to estimate her size, but June guessed, roughly, that Nicole was nearly four feet tall from her paws to the top of her head.

Nicole huffed loudly before sitting back on her ass with her tail slowly waving behind her.

"Can you- can you still find Emily?" June asked.

Emily was gone, but Nicole still knew exactly where she'd been right before their strange connection dropped.  She stared at June and then nodded again.

"Okay, don't freak out," June said while reaching into a plastic bag at her side.  "I- I bought a couple things so we can try to get out of here.  It's late but there's still people around."

She hefted the backpack on her shoulders.  "And I got a bunch of meal replacement bars and  water and other things, too.  So, umm..."

June pulled a collar and leash from the bag.  Nicole stood and growled loudly.

"I know!  I know," June said.  "But, listen, campus security will straight up shoot you if we walk out there. If- Maybe I can buy us a couple seconds if you're leashed."

Nicole's eyes narrowed.  She huffed again and sauntered over to June to shove her head and curling, narrow horns gently  into the woman's stomach.

"Alright, one second," June said as she brought the studded, faux leather collar around Nicole's neck.  She smiled weakly and laughed.  "The great thing is, you can still wear this when you change back!"

Even at the last notch, it just barely fit.

"Good gir-" June cracked her teeth together while blushing furiously.  "S- sorry."

Nicole's tail wagged lazily behind her as June hooked the leash to the collar.  She stretched her neck up to lick June's mouth and face while June laughed and stroked her neck. The touch made her growl quietly.  She tensed the muscles inside her pussy and her glistening black spade tightened around the slick pink within.

She desperately wanted June's mouth on her.  Licking her.  Letting her lick inside of June's mouth.  Fingers inside of her.  Sucking on her teats. Anything.  Anything to ease the ache and emptiness she felt. Instead, she stepped back and waited.

Maybe eventually, Nicole thought to herself before closing her eyes and cursing herself.

They left the lab.  The hallways were mostly empty.  Scattered shouts, screams and curses followed them from the few who remained as Nicole walked beside June.

More curses when they were outside, along with shouts - from people moving far away - questions asking if Nicole was a wolf.  A few people threatened to call the police and campus security but June ignored all of them.  She zipped her heavy jacket up and stomped her feet in her hiking boots while Nicole waited patiently next to her.  The snow didn't even begin to touch her.  If anything, she welcomed the freezing wind due to her dense fur warming her a little too well.

The ones who were close enough to them asked why Nicole had horns.  Rather than answer, Nicole snarled at them and they ran.  It pleased her greatly to see the effect she had on them and her sable lips pulled back in the hint of a smile to show the rows of fangs filling her jaw.

They walked through the campus, down sidewalks and, finally, on the side of the road out of town.  June began to suspect she knew where they were going but was still surprised to find a cave not too far from the local hang out spot.

"I've been before," June said.  Snow-flecked wind whipped her hair around her head.  "There's no way we would've missed a cave around here. What the hell?"

Nicole huffed. Steam puffed away from her muzzle.  She took a step while pulling her head away from her friend and June stumbled.

"Oh!  The leash!  I'm so sorry!" June said.  She unhitched the leash but Nicole growled and stepped sideways when she reached for the collar.  "Really?  Really, Nicole?"

Rather than answer, Nicole's tail swept behind her and she padded towards the cave.  June walked quickly beside her.  Darkness wrapped itself around them and the howling wintry wind faded to nothing. Ancient, rough steps led down, far beyond their line of sight.

"Oh, shit, that's creepy," June said.  She unzipped her jacket when the cold faded.

Nicole looked up at her and her ears twisted.  She could feel Emily again, but the connection was strange and distorted.

"Lead the way." June told her.

In a pocket within her backpack, her phone woke and buzzed with a text from Michael, asking if she would be at the party.  As soon as they crossed the threshold, the screen went blank and the phone died.

---

Hours later, a bonfire blazed outside the cave.  College students yelled to each other while music played.

"It's too fucking cold for this!" one girl shouted.

"Then get close to the fire, April!" her boyfriend yelled back.  "Yo, Eve, tell your bitch ass boyfriend to grab more beer from the car!"

"Get it yourself, asshole!" Eve shouted back.  She held her hands up with only her middle fingers showing through her fingerless gloves.

"Hey!  Hey, guys!  Check it out!  There's a cave here!" Hannah said.

"No fucking way," her boyfriend said before walking over to look where she pointed.  "Oohhh fuck, there is!  Guys!  Yo!  Check it!"

The seven of them clustered around, staring into the cave.

"It's got stairs and everything," Hannah said.

"I'm going," James told her.

"No, wait!" She said, reaching for his arms.  He laughed and slipped away from her.  "Dickhead!"

"Whoa, it's warm in here, seriously," James' voice echoed back to them.

The other six students looked at each other.  As one, they shrugged and stepped inside.

The wind howled in their absence while the bonfire danced, fluttering and guttering with vague animalistic shapes swirling through the flames.

When the fire burned out, snow sizzled on the remains until even they grew cold.

Three days later, police cars filled the area with flashing lights while investigators marked the scene and others taped off the area.

"So, where the fuck did they go?" asked one of them.

"There's nowhere to go," came the answer.

The first turned in a slow circle around the clearing, staring into the distance while his eyes swept over and past the cave without registering its existence.  "Jesus.  What'll we tell their parents?"

"Way above my paygrade," the second said.  "They're just... lost.  Fucked off to wherever."

"Yeah," the first one said quietly while frowning. "Lost."