Shifting Under The Moon (Part One)

Prologue
Vienna grunted and suppressed a groan of pain, her entire body felt as if she was experiencing numerous uncontrollable spasms. She glanced up at the full moon. "I don’t have much time" she grimaced. The change was slowly dawning upon her, and she was nowhere near the safety that the bush lands provided. A sharp piercing pain shot through her stomach, forcing her to double over in tears. Vienna knew it was her stomach rebuilding itself to suit the creature’s appetite, but that knowledge didn’t give her any comfort. Her spine pulsated with an indescribable, yet familiar pain.  The shifting was beginning.
   No. No. No, not yet. Vienna prayed with a small sob. It couldn’t happen yet; she was still a great distance away from where she needed to go to make sure no humans would be harmed after she changed. Straightening herself up, Vienna took another couple steps and felt like she was on fire. It was as if she was walking barefoot on tar on a scorching hot day, and her feet just wanted to hop and get away from the heat. That entire feeling was surrounding her, and she was yearning for it to end. But this was only the second night of the full moon, when it was the worst of the worst, and she still had another night of this hell left, before she was free for another month.
   Vienna has been a werewolf as a total of three months. And it wasn’t getting any better towards any of the following months from the first time she turned. If anything, it was getting worse. Vienna had been taking a short cut home through the bushland the night she was bitten, when she heard a howl, she wasn’t stupid, no wolves lived in Australia, so she wanted to check it out, assuming it was some sort of prank. But once consulting what was actually a huge black wolf with bright gold eyes. She did the one thing her instincts said to do. She ran. Of course, running from a predatory species which the wolf was, she should of realised it would of chased after her, commencing the hunt was on.
   The wolf had tackled her to the ground and bit right into her shoulder, leaving a nice giant bleeding scar. At that time it was the third night of the full moon, and so the last night for the month. She woke up in hospital; nobody had seen her dropped off, only out the front with blood pouring in floods. Vienna wasn’t a strong person when it came to blood, so the sight of the blood, the pain of the cut, and the intense shock of seeing the wolf coming towards her. Knocked her out pretty good.
   Grumbling from the pain as she reached a smaller area of bushland, not the usual one she runs in—well, lets her wolf run wild in—but it would suffice for the night. She hissed as her hands form began to shift, the bones breaking and re-sizing and changing to the shape of a wolf’s. Collapsing to the ground, she crawled as quickly as she could—which wasn’t particularly fast—to the cover of the bushes. Feeling a scream coming on from the pain, when she opened her mouth, and let the roar out, it wasn’t the sound of a wolf’s howl, or growl, but more of a lion’s roar. Ferocious and malice.
  But the roar was no longer being controlled by her; it was the wolf inside of her. She could feel it pushing at the sides of her subconscious, pushing forward in her mind to take control. She fought it back as hard as she could; needing time to get to cover, so nobody else could see her change. And nobody would get hurt again either. She thought with a small sigh to herself. She opened her eyes, feeling their shape changing, her sight heightening. As good as heightened senses were in human form, in wolf form, they were even better. And the smell of the bush, the kangaroos, echidna and rabbits, were overflowing her sense of smell. And she knew not seventeen metres away, there was a wombat walking towards its burrow.
   Vienna swallowed and continued crawling towards the shadows of the trees. So no cars that would drive past would see her when their flashlights beamed along the sides of the bush. She supressed another cry as her legs began to change, whimpering as she heard her clothing rip, and knew soon she’d be sporting a Vienna and be running around on four legs. She liked the animals in the bush, she did, they were something she always thought were cute, and would never want to harm. But when it came to the natural instincts of the animals, or the safety and survival of the people who she went to school with, worked with and were friends and family. She just couldn’t take the risk. She just hoped she didn’t get a rabbit or baby kangaroo again, she always felt guilty over those, they were some of the cutest things she’d ever seen, and her wolf thought they’d make a tasty snack.
   Another rush of pain shot right through her, sending her body into a state of immense pain and she could feel the fur sprouting out of the skin of her torso. After a few shrieks and whimpers, she slowly attempted to crawl towards the bushland that was right before her. The sounds of wildlife slowly started to die down, as nearby creatures began to acknowledge that there was a newer, stronger predator around, and that this predator was about to start hunting.
She grasped onto the golden pendant around her neck, the one her cousin Nadine had given her. It held back the transformation for a while, giving her a few more precious minutes to resist until she was able to keep control of herself, not giving into the wolf’s wishes. She had been in such a state of worry, that the clasp of the golden locket was digging into her skin, piercing it, and letting loose a great deal of crimson blood, which her powerful sense of smell had assured her that it was her own. Nadine had warned her it couldn’t possibly work against the power of a full moon, for the Moon’s magic was stronger than any protection magic her cousin could ever give Vienna. She groaned and pleaded with her inner wolf, trying to resist the inevitable change.
   Deep down, she knew it was too late. The change was coming and it was far too late for resisting to have any real effect now. Her voice turned into a growl, and her teeth ached as they changed into a sharp set of canine teeth. It only took another ten minutes before Vienna felt herself as a big and furry wolf. She let out one last bellow of pain that turned into a fierce, recognizable howl. She kept her eyes forced shut, fearing for the safety of others. Her clothing and pendant were all in a pile at her feet. She knew that she didn’t need to worry about the necklace, because Nadine had a tracking spell and returning spell marked on it. If Vienna ever lost it in a shift, she could always get it back.
Slowly opening her eyes, Vienna felt the last shred of her self-control slowly fade away as the eyes of a predator looked out upon the bush lands before her. She took an involuntary step forward, and she knew that her inner wolf was in control now. She unleashed another howl in protest, as the wolf climbed its way through the inner sanctum of her mind, and she slowly faded back into the darkness of her subconscious mind.