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It was raining pretty hard. Nanaba glanced outside of the store and sighed, not looking forward to the walk out to the car. At least it wasn’t that dark yet, not that the dark worried her. Not much really did, besides the angry lycan here and there. The sound of the rain from outside echoed softly around the store, though it was louder for Nanaba, since her hearing was pretty sensitive. When the line eventually moved and Nanaba reached the cashier, the door opened and cold air whooshed in. The pattering had turned into a drum beat, and then the doors slid shut and the sound muted.
Nanaba placed her items on the counter and waited as the human rang everything up. She paid and then she strolled towards the door, eyeing the rain with narrowed eyes and a downturned mouth. She hesitated slightly, but decided to rather shoulder her way there and get it over with. Nanaba used her jacket to shield the bag of groceries in her hand and then she quickly ran out to her car. By the time she sat behind the wheel, she was soaked through.
“So much for superior speed,” she muttered darkly as she started the car and then squinted to see through the rain. No doubt the ride back in the college traffic would be fun.
Nanaba expertly reversed out of the parking spot, and then she flicked her indicator on and took a left turn. From there she joined the other cars on the busy street, heading downtown to Adrian’s shop. He was her foster father, and the man that had taught her how to be a cynan despite him being a human. Well, druid. He was a human that could use magic. There weren’t that many of them left.
For a short time the road in front of Nanaba cleared up, allowing her to slightly ease her stiffened muscles. She was a very alert driver. To the point that Nanaba would hurt herself from tensing so much. She exhaled a short, foggy breath, and then reached for the radio. Her eyes flicked away from the road for a second, and when they flicked back Nanaba had to slam hard on the brakes. A dog had suddenly run out into the street. The poor thing must have been frightened stiff. Nanaba cursed softly to herself. She checked behind her, relieved to see that the driver behind her had been paying attention and had braked in time as well. People started to flash their lights and hoot in anger, but Nanaba ignored them. She turned forward, eyes landing on the figure in front of her car.
“That’s not a dog,” Nanaba realized out loud.
Those eyes were wild and frightened, but they were glowing with a beautiful, molten gold. Even though the size was quite small, Nanaba could immediately recognize them as a cynan. She jumped out of the car and ran towards the cynan, shouting over the rain.
“Are you okay?”
The cynan’s eyes shot up to her face, frightened. Nanaba tilted her head in confusion. She spotted patches of blood on the cynan’s fur, and with that observation also realized that the cynan had various wounds and bruises. They were also breathing harshly and shivering so badly that the rain water shook from their fur. Nanaba wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but she knew this cynan needed help. Without asking, Nanaba scooped the cynan up into her arms and then set them gently down in her backseat. She climbed in the front, put the car into first gear and then dialled Adrian—breaking her number one rule. He picked up on the first ring.
“Nanaba?” he asked, puzzled.
“Hey Adrian. Look, I might have picked up an injured stray.”
Adrian didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll get ready. How far out are you?”
“About five minutes.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
XxX
Adrian greeted her in the driveway with an umbrella, much to Nanaba’s relief. Nanaba carried the cynan in, the stench of blood and fear thick in her nose. At some point during the drive the poor cynan had lost consciousness, so at least they wouldn’t go through more fear. They took the cynan through to Adrian’s kitchen, where he had a supply of medical plants and a first aid kit. After Nanaba placed the cynan down on the table, Adrian hummed under his breath and then pressed the pad of his thumb into a specific spot at the back of the cynan’s neck. In an instant the oddly short weredog body transformed in a bellow of steam. When the fog cleared, Nanaba was amused to see that it was a woman, and she was pretty tall.
“Hmm, and you say she jumped out into the road?” he asked.
Nanaba nodded. “Yeah. She didn’t seem to understand me when I asked if she was okay. She looked frantic.”
Adrian nodded. “I remember this one,” he said. “She came to my store not too long ago. I sensed the cynan gene within her, but she hadn’t changed yet.”
Nanaba lifted a brow. “So did she shift for the first time? Is that why she seemed so freaked out?”
Adrian nodded, cleaning up the still bleeding wounds. He passed his palms over them, spreading a herb paste over the cuts, stimulating the cynan woman’s natural healing. In moments all of the wounds healed up, so Adrian instructed Nanaba to carry the woman up to his flat.
“Set her down in the guest room. When she wakes, we’ll need to explain everything to her.”
Nanaba nodded and did as she was told. In human form, the cynan was much heavier, but Nanaba hardly struggled. She reached the room in no time and placed her down on the bed, careful not to jostle her too much in case she woke. She didn’t, so Nanaba collapsed in a nearby chair and rubbed a hand over her face. The cynan’s scent burnt her nose, but not in an unpleasant way. Nanaba’s stomach fluttered with something odd, and her chest was warm and tight. She sighed.
“What happened to you?” she wondered aloud. The cynan woman didn’t stir to answer her, so Nanaba settled back in the silence. Without intending to, Nanaba slipped off into a light sleep.
XxX
Ymir’s eyes fluttered open, revealing an unfamiliar ceiling above her. She furrowed her brows but didn’t move, trying desperately to remember something that would shed light on the situation. Little by little her memory returned, and then she gasped, shooting up into a sitting position. She glanced at her hands, relief washing through her in waves that they were actually hands and not paws. For a moment she wondered if the whole thing had just been a horrible nightmare, but then she heard a slight breath and turned. Someone was in the room with her. No not someone. It was a dog. A fucking huge dog. Holy shit. Was it a wolf?
Ymir scrambled out of bed, breathing harshly and panicking. Unfortunately when her brain went nuts in fear, she lost all sense of balance and coordination, and managed to get immensely tangled up in the blanket. She fell over hard, terrified when the sound of her fall roused the huge fucking dog from its sleep. Big blue eyes blinked open and then turned to her. Ymir was frozen in place. Her chest pulled tight and her throat closed. Suddenly swallowing was a little hard.
You woke up, a voice split into her head.
“What the fuck?” Ymir shouted, eyes wide and wild. “What the fuck was that? Who said that?” She noticed the huge dog get onto its feet, and then those eyes focused intently on her, filled with way too much intelligence. Ymir swallowed.
Relax, that voice said again. I’m not going to hurt you.
Ymir stared at her hands again. “Okay, deep breaths,” she told herself. “Relax. You’re having a nightmare. Someone spiked your drink. Or maybe you’re dead. Don’t freak out.” She closed her eyes, repeating her last instruction over and over again, until an amused snort interrupted her thoughts.
Okay, wait. The huge fucking dog stood up completely, towering over Ymir like a monster, almost making her wet herself, and then the thing disappeared in a huge cloud of steam that hissed through the air and dissipated into nothing. Standing there was no longer a huge dog, but a person. A woman. A naked woman.
Ymir’s mouth went dry.
“H-hello?” she tried.
The woman lifted her hands slowly. “Okay, don’t panic. My name is Nanaba. You ran out in front of my car, remember? You were shifted and injured. I brought you here and we helped you heal up. Do you know why you were in the street?”
Ymir nodded slowly. “I… I just, fucking turned into a dog and then, I don’t know, I panicked and started running and before I realized it, I was in the street. What the fuck happened to me?” She tried not to panic. But the fact of the matter was that this woman—who was naked, and holy fuck those abs and those legs and oh cool she didn’t shave—had just changed back from being a huge fucking dog, made Ymir’s brain scream.
“Relax,” Nanaba told her soothingly. “I know this is scary, alright? Changing for the first time can be like that. Can I come closer?”
Ymir nodded dumbly. She watched as Nanaba took careful, slow steps until she dropped down beside Ymir. “H-how…? Wh-what…?”
Nanaba smiled, and Ymir couldn’t stop from noticing how vibrant her blue eyes were, or how soft her mouth looked, or how warm her body was even though they weren’t touching. Ymir took a deep breath and choked on it, confused when a sweet, intoxicating smell burned deliciously at the back of her throat. After another short inhale, she realized that it was Nanaba.
Ymir couldn’t help but stare at her bare chest.
Nanaba reached out slowly and pressed a hand against her shoulder. Her smile was as gentle as her touch, and both let Ymir ease out of a panic attack. “Okay, that’s good,” Nanaba said. Her voice was just as gentle, but it was low and husky and Ymir couldn’t help that it sent a shiver of desire through her. Nanaba lifted a brow then. “I’m going to explain everything to you, alright?”
Ymir nodded. Nanaba began explaining. At first Ymir didn’t believe her. At all. But as the explanations grew and some of it started making sense, Ymir realized that Nanaba wasn’t lying at all, or pulling a fairy-tale out of her ass. She was telling the truth. She could turn into a huge dog. Jesus, Ymir could too. It was too much to take in. Besides the confusion, Nanaba’s scent was overwhelming. The longer she spoke, the hotter Ymir felt. And it wasn’t just arousal. Her skin began to tingle and itch. She felt her teeth grow without her consent, and even they began to itch. She swiped a tongue over them, surprised to find that the fangs had long, sharp points. Nanaba was still speaking, explaining something that didn’t seem at all interesting. Ymir instead watched the way her muscles moved as she spoke, how her eyes shone bright and blue, how her lips formed around each word.
Suddenly Ymir was overcome with the desire to surge forward, so she did. She stopped Nanaba’s long speech with a hungry, urgent kiss. Nanaba made a sound of surprise, but her arms closed around Ymir’s back, and then they tumbled over and Ymir was on her back, blinking through her heated haze up at Nanaba’s wide, blue eyes.
“Wh-what…?” she stuttered. Pressed up against her now, Ymir could feel that she was sweating too.
Ymir’s lips tingled madly, and she wanted nothing more than Nanaba’s tongue in her mouth. Words were irrelevant. It was only Nanaba’s hesitant gaze that stopped Ymir from forcing another kiss. Instead she ran her hands along Nanaba’s sides, around to her lower back and then forward to her hard stomach. Nanaba’s eyes slid shut and a hard shiver ran down her spine.
“None of this really makes sense to me,” Ymir breathed out hotly. “But I feel really, really hot right now.”
Nanaba bit into her lip. “Yeah, I can tell.”
Ymir grinned. “So can we talk later?” She waited for Nanaba to catch her gaze. “And maybe focus on action instead of words?”
Nanaba’s breath seemed to catch. Ymir could hear her heart beating wildly, and it was the most soothing sound she had ever heard. She focused on it, momentarily distracted from the burning ache between her legs. Before she realized it, she had shifted. When she opened her eyes her body was smaller and covered in fur. Nanaba stared down at her in confusion.
Ymir stared for a solid second, and then she started howling.
What in the fucking fuck—