The Turning - Second Place Winner: Marrishisrealok 

The Full Moon Challenge

Nora had been quiet the entire walk out into the deep forest. The full moon was reaching its peak– and it was making her nervous. She had just turned seventeen, and it was time for her first shift. Nora had been well aware of it and she expected it; the elders had told her everything about it. Behind her was her father Andrew, who was going to watch over Nora during the shift.

As they walked along the path, it felt like thousands of eyes were watching their every move. Nora looked around; but Andrew paid her no mind. Soon enough they reached a clearing, big enough for Nora to shift on.

Nora continued walking out to the middle of the clearing, while Andrew stopped and stayed by the trees. His arms were crossed over his chest– and Nora turned around and looked at him confused.

"Why did you stop there?" She asked.

"You will see why," Andrew answered, short and blunt.

Nora didn't say anything else. She looked up to the sky, only to see that the full moon finally had reached its peak. It stood high upon the sky; and the stars around it seemed to shine even brighter. Nora was bathing in the moonlight, and something started to feel strange.

Unnatural. Wrong. Like an itching feeling.

It all started with her getting more and more hotter. It came suddenly– like a fever from hell rising. Like fire was running through her veins like poison; and it hurts. Gods, it hurts so much. Sweat started to form all over her body, and her skin seemed to shine in the moonlight. Nora groaned in pain as she started to scratch her arms harshly– leaving marks. She looked over at Andrew who only was watching.

"Father, is this normal? It feels like I'm burning up," Nora whimpered. Andrew nodded.

Suddenly, Nora bent forwards, throwing up a mixture of blood and dinner. She scrunched her nose in disgust; wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. Nora was visibly shaking.

An uncomfortable snap echoed through the forest followed by a loud cry.

"Agh! Fuck, shit, oh god–" Nora shrieked in pain.

Now the real pain begun, and it almost felt like she was going to die.

Nora stumbled forwards before falling down onto her knees as she screamed out in pain. Hot tears started to blur her vision as they rolled down onto her rosy cheeks. She screamed once again, her entire body shaking as her back snapped in an unnatural way. Birds flew away from the nearby trees, as Nora fell onto her stomach. She begun coughing up blood. The pain was unbearable as her legs also started to snap. It felt like someone was breaking everything inside of her body; Nora screamed after Andrew, she screamed and begged the Moon Goddess to put an end to it.

"Make it stop! Please! It hurts so fucking much– It feels like I'm going die– ugh," Nora cried.

Nothing that the elders had told her about the shift could compare to the pain she was feeling in the heat of the moment. She cursed them for making it sound like it was such an easy thing to go through.

More open wounds appeared on her; the dark red fluid pouring on to the ground, filling the air with the familiar irony smell. Her right arm started to snap– shifting into an inhumane form. Every bone she had in her body changed forms and it felt like she was being tortured. Nora rolled onto her back as she looked up onto the sky. Nora's mouth fell open as her normal canine teeth grew longer, sharper– and became a double pair. Same thing happened to her bottom line of teeth– it truly looked like teeth of a monster. Nora's once deep brown eyes now shined a blood red color and long claws formed where her normal nails once where.

Her entire body morphed as fur began to grow all over it. Like a flash it was over; her blood had soaked the grass where she had laid.

There was nothing left of the girl except her torn clothes. In her place laid a huge, black furred beast. Nora was only aware of her surroundings– all of her senses had sharpened. Nora could easily see the tiny details in the trees, she could see the innocent doe eating away, hidden behind the bushes a couple of hundred meters away and she could smell the blood of an fallen prey somewhere far away and she could feel the irony taste on her tongue. But she wasn't in control anymore. The beast that she now was in complete control of her every move as she was left to watch what it was going to do.

The beast stood up on wobbly legs, trying to get used to standing on all fours. It was clear that it was a werewolf standing there, in the forest opening, bathing in the moonlight. She was way larger than a normal wolf– Nora's wolf form reached easily over two meters in withers height.

And she felt great.

The pain had slowly faded away, being replaced with an adrenaline rush that made Nora feel a hundred times stronger than before.

The beast slowly turned around, facing Andrew, who stood there, with a proud smile. His arms fell to his sides as he slowly made his way over to his daughter. Andrew noticed that Nora had the typical blood red Alpha eyes, and he knew that she was truly was his heir. Once Andrew reached Nora, he looked deep into her eyes.

It was quiet for a couple of moments as the forest around them seemed to hold their breath.

"Great job, little one. Now go– scare the forest, and show them who's going to be the next Blood Alpha," Andrew encouraged Nora.

And in the blink of an eye, Nora was gone, a loud, long howl sounding through the forest, almost making the trees shake in fear.

Andrew smirked wickedly as he knew that his daughter was going to be just as ruthless as he was. 

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