Episode Five Unexpected Side Effects

C haska

What the fuck? Shanna's shriek could wake the dead. The first thing I do is turn toward her, but the look on her face tells me she's terrified of something. When I follow the direction of her gaze, I see… Alex?

"What?" he asks, looking behind him as if there's something more frightening than a humanoid wolf standing at our bedroom door.

"Alex?" I'm still too dumbfounded to believe my eyes.

"Look in the mirror," Shanna has the presence of mind to say.

One second after he strides into the adjoining bathroom, he howls. Not a human howl of fear or anger. No. This is a wolf noise.

"Shan?" His voice is barely-human, and terrified.

Shanna and I join him in the bathroom. For a swift moment, I wonder if I should grab a carving knife before I get too close to him. I give a long, hard look at Shanna and me in the mirror above the counter. It's with relief I realize the two of us still look normal.

Alex's hand, his decidedly wolf-like hand which is covered with black fur, his fingers tipped with claws , is cupping his chin.

His blue, lupine eyes, more rounded than they were this morning, are positively terrified as he whimpers his wife's name again.

"Am I hallucinating?" he asks, forming the words around fangs.

"No."

Ever the scientist, our wife is not, nor ever will be, one to sugarcoat the truth.

As Alex chuffs and whimpers, it dawns on me that when I feverishly flopped on the bed earlier, our fourth mate was also in it. Glancing through the bathroom doorway, I see him curled on his side, facing away from us. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see everything looks normal from this angle.

Shanna squeezes around me to grab her phone from the bedside table.

"All circuits are busy," she says after a moment. Her eyes are wide in fright, but she says nothing else. Her gaze flicks to her husband. She covers her mouth with her palm as if she's stifling a scream.

"Hungry," he growls.

I love this man. He's the calmest of us, a gentle soul, unless he's arguing in court on behalf of a client. Right now, though, I'm figuring out how to edge to the kitchen to grab a carving knife to protect myself in case he lets his wolf side off its leash.

"What can I get you?" Shanna asks sweetly, as if our world hasn't just spun out of control.

"Meat."

"Meat. Right," her voice is calm, placating. "Let me just go make you a steak."

Five minutes ago, she was too sick to do anything but lie in bed. Now, she's marshaled her resources and is on her way to feed her husband. Or maybe it's a clever ruse to grab a knife for protection from the big, bad wolf.

He doesn't seem deadly, though. He's so focused on the wolf in the mirror, he's barely aware there are two other sentient beings in the room with him.

"Don't cook it!" he snarls.

Oh shit. Out of the four of us, his dietary habits are the closest to vegetarian. Raw steak?

He's growling continuously now, saliva dripping from jaws containing a mouth full of teeth that could rip my jugular out of my throat.

"Did you hear him, Shanna?" I practically scream. "Raw!"

She hurries back in with a raw steak, a knife, and a fork on a plate. Did she give no thought to whether this… I don't even know what to call him, should be within ten feet of a knife?

His hand reaches out so swiftly it's a blur. I'm poised to run, but thankfully, all he snatches is the meat. He's gobbling it now. Raw steak. No utensils. My what big teeth you have.

Shanna is trying her phone again, but shaking her head. She grabs the remote for the bedroom TV and flips through channel after channel. Nothing live is on the air, just old movies and cartoons.

She finally finds a station with no picture, but the sound is livestream. The male announcer keeps repeating the same thing.

"Today's shots seem to have some unexpected side effects. Do not worry. Government officials recommend staying indoors and getting a good night's sleep."

A loud bellow from the street outside punctuates these obvious governmental lies. I can't even imagine what type of beast made that sound. Nor do I want to picture why its bellow is pierced by a shriek, a heavy thump, and the unmistakable sound of an animal eating lustily.