Usually Lance could control when and where he wanted to transform but like the cliched werewolves in fairy tales, he would transform during a full moon. As soon as he could feel the change stirring in his bones, he notified his team. What he didn't expect was Allura telling him that the moon and sun on this planet worked on seven-day cycles and that he was going to be trapped in his wolf form for the next seven days.

"Why did we stop here?" He wailed with panic. Allura tried to calm him fruitlessly. He helplessly paced around the bridge of the ship as he watched the sun begin to set behind the planet's clouds. He nervously started chewing on his fingernails.

"Can't you shift before the moon rises?" Pidge asked curiously coming to stand by his side. He didn't stop biting his fingers as he swiveled his head to face her. He shook his head before looking back out of the Castle's screen.

"No, I lose the ability to shift on my own as soon as the sun starts setting before a full moon," he explained. She only nodded and gently patted his back in sympathy.

"Is there anything we should be worried about before you shift?" Shiro asked joining the two of them. Lance thought for a moment before he turned to face his leader.

"Whatever you do don't touch me while I'm transforming, I'll be in a lot of pain because it's forced and I probably won't realize where I am until after," he stated, looking into Shiro's eyes to make sure he understood the gravity of the situation. He gulped but nodded in understanding. Lance turned to the rest of them, waiting for their acceptance as well.

"What's going to happen?" Keith asked. He crossed his arms and stood beside Shiro and regarded Lance with slightly worried eyes.

"I'll probably be disoriented for a little bit, and I might not be able to stand or walk for a bit afterward," he said with a wince, remembering all the forced transformations he had over the course of his life.

"Don't worry though, I'll be good after about an hour," he said trying to lighten the mood of the others.

"I don't like this," Hunk said simply coming up to rest his arm around Lance's shoulders. Lance sighed and leaned his head to rest it on Hunk's chest.

"I don't either but it's a part of my life," he replied with a huff.

"Perhaps we should move somewhere more comfortable?" Coran suggested gaining the attention of the paladins. They looked to Lance, who was busy watching as dusk steadily crept closer. He nodded and started towards the doors. He's done this dozens of times, how bad could it possibly be?

______________________________________________________

Bad.

It's bad.

How could he have forgotten how horrible it really was?

He writhed on the floor of the lounge, clawing at his chest, and arms. Anywhere he could reach. He felt blistering hot and freezing cold at the same time. Tears trekked down his face in agony and broken whimpers and wails escaped his mouth.

"Are you sure we can't do anything?" Pidge asked tears in her eyes as she watched her brother squirm on the ground in pain.

"You heard him, he said not to touch him," Keith grunted back. He wanted to look away from the scene but felt compelled to watch in case something happened to Lance. Shiro put his hand in her hair to offer her some sort of comfort, while the other went to Hunk's shoulder who was already quietly weeping.

They winced when they heard the sounds of bones snapping and clothes tearing. They watched fascinated as Lance's features changed in front of their eyes and fur quickly grew out of his skin. It was only a few minutes later that Lance stopped twitching and laid still in front of their eyes.

"Lance?" Shiro asked cautiously. He inched a bit closer and paused when Lance opened an eye to stare up at him. Shiro slowly crouched on one knee in front of him. Lance's ear twitched and he carefully staggered up on all fours, eyes never leaving his leader. He put one trembling leg out in an attempt to make it to Shiro but as soon as he put weight on the limb he crashed to the ground with a sad yelp.

"Lance!" Shiro exclaimed lunging forward. He lifted his head and placed it on his lap and stroked Lance's head and ears back. Lance's ears perked up and his tail started to thump behind him. Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief and moved forward to collapse around Lance. He looked around excited as everyone put their hands on his fur and started scratching and petting. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

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Keith didn't think that he would be spending much time with Lance this week, not when he wouldn't be able to communicate with him very well. He expected for them to laze around in the Castle all week as they waited for the sun to come back up. What he didn't expect was for Lance to grab his jacket sleeve in his teeth and begin pulling him to the hangers.

"Augh Lance, what the heck?" he growled tugging his sleeve away from the canine's mouth. He didn't give him the chance to grab it again and instead obediently started following him. He led him to Red's hanger and gestured with his head to Keith's speeder. He looked at him with a quirked brow and confused shrug. Lance huffed and grabbed his sleeve again, dragging him closer to the speeder and laid his hand over the seat of it. He looked up at Lance and noticed him looking at the speeder exit instead.

"You want to go outside?" He asked hesitantly. Lance barked and wagged his tail, turning his body to face the large door. Keith gave Lance one last look before he smirked and revved the engine. He sped forward, the hanger door opening automatically for the speeder. He started falling to the planet's floor and cursed at himself. How could he forget how far up the fall from the Castle was? He worriedly looked around for Lance and his mouth dropped open when he found him right beside the speeder, calmly letting the wind flow through his fur. With a cloud of dirt they landed on the ground, Keith immediately fell off the speeder in his haste to check on Lance.

"Lance! Are you okay!?" He cried, not yet able to see through the cloud of dirt. He gasped and stepped back when a tongue wet his cheek. He looked to his left and saw the werewolf sitting, perfectly unharmed. He gave a short bark and got to his feet and faced the plains that stretched as far as they could see. Lance started trotting around Keith and the speeder, ears cocked and tail wagging.

"What? Do you want to race or something?" Keith asked looking across the horizon. The moonlight shone brightly on the surface, making everything visible from the plains to the woods he could just barely make out from this distance. Lance stopped pacing and looked at Keith as he asked the question. He stood straighter in realization.

"Wait, do you actually?" He asked for clarification. Lance barked excited and hopped around the red paladin. He chuckled and climbed back onto the speeder, once again revving the engine.

"I hope you're ready to lose," Keith smirked. Lance snorted and puffed his chest out. Keith let out a loud cheer as they shot forward, kicking up dust behind them.

They didn't let up until hours later when a worried Shiro radioed to Keith speeder. They returned exhausted and Lance slumped to the ground as soon as they made it back inside. He grinned fondly and crouched near the ground and scratched behind Lance's ears.

"You're pretty damn fast, Lance," he admitted. Lance's tail thumped the ground and he let out a happy whine. He leant forward and licked a stripe straight up the side of Keith's face. Keith sputtered and fell back, wiping his face with his forearm. Lance rolled onto his side and watched Keith with wide sparkly blue eyes.

"You're lucky that you're adorable like this," he grumbled standing up and heading to his quarters. Lance barked in farewell and decided to fall asleep where he was laying. That was the beauty of being an animal after all.

______________________________________________________

Hunk wasn't going to lie. He was drained. Emotionally and mentally drained. The worry over Lance's situation was being less and less important. Lance seemed to be coping fine and the only one really worrying about anymore was Hunk. He knew that Lance would probably be fine by the time this week was done but he could help but worry about his best friend. He wasn't the most concerned with his health most of the time. He tended to care more about his friends over himself. He was glad that he was able to spend most of the day with Keith yesterday, maybe they would be able to get along easier after this week was up.

He laid back on the lounge's couch. Since they were stranded here for a week and they were down a paladin, they decided that they would take this week to relax and rest up. He wanted to cook but he couldn't find the motivation to. He honestly just wanted to go to sleep and wake up when the week was over.

"Hmm, Lance?" He asked when the brown werewolf suddenly bounded in and jumped onto the couch beside him. Lance looked at him, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. He pushed his head into Hunk's chest and laid down on his legs. Hunk smiled widely and pulled his hands through the soft fur.

"What's up bud?" He asked even though he knew that Lance couldn't respond. Lance gave him a happy little whine, completed with a wagging tail and pushed his head harder against Hunk's chest, making the paladin topple over across the couch. Hunk went to sit up again when Lance plopped himself overtop of him with his head lying on his chest.

"Dude, you know I can't resist those eyes," he complained when Lance looked down his snout at him. Hunk smoothed back Lance's ears once and groaned when Lance licked the tip of his chin.

"How can you be so cute? You're a werewolf," he stated scrunching Lance's face up. Lance's face somehow went blank, as if to say 'I'm always cute,'

Hunk rolled his eyes with a fond grin and gently began stroking Lance's ears back again. He watched as the blue eyes slowly closed and he began making quiet snores. He wiggled around slightly to try and get more comfortable, trying hard not to disturb the sleeping canine on his lap. He finally understood what cat owners must feel when their pets lay on them.

______________________________________________________

Pidge kept to herself the days that Lance stayed with Keith and Hunk. She took the time from the team to try and improve various programs in Green and the Castle. It wasn't really a surprise to her when Lance finally wandered to her corner of the hanger. She gave him a single glance before turning back to her computer. She thought that he would just curl up behind her like he usually did. He slightly choked when he grabbed the back of her collar and flung her up in the air.

"QUIZNACK!" She screamed. She landed with a thump and felt familiar brown fur under her hands. She peeked open her eyes and saw a smirking wolf look back at her. She gave him an unimpressed glare in return and crossed her arms.

"What the heck are you doing Lance?" she asked moodily. Lance ignored her and took a few experimental steps around the hanger. She sighed but decided to humour him. He walked towards the door and stepped out into the hallway.

"Lance, I need to get back to work," she huffed making a move to slide off his back. With that, Lance bounded forward causing Pidge to twist her hands into his fur. She gave a shriek and tightly held on to his neck. He sprinted up the hallways, taking sharp unexpected turns making Pidge's head spin.

"I'm going to kill you, Lance," she hissed into his ear. He didn't give any indication that he heard her, save from the suddenly drooping ears. She pouted wanting to be mad but sighed and pet his neck, even as they were still flying through the hallways. They passed the other residents of the Castle, barely missing them by a hair. She gave an excited whoop every time they passed someone. By the time the two of them got back to the hanger; Lance was panting and flopped to the floor and Pidge's hair was pushed back and a large smile was splitting her face.

"Lance! That was awesome!" She said excitedly. Lance shuffled over to her and laid down with his head in her lap. She giggled and indulged the teen, happily scratching him on the top of his head.

"We gotta do that again!"

______________________________________________________

Shiro would admit it.

He was jealous.

He was jealous that Keith, Hunk, and Pidge had gotten to spend so much time with Lance. He pouted as he carefully brushed Kaltenecker, he promised Lance that he would take care of her while he was indisposed. He leaned down to put the brush back into the galvanized bucket and yelled when he was suddenly flying over the bucket and onto his back in the grass. He stared up with wide eyes and let out muffled cries when Lance flopped his front legs and chest over Shiro's face.

He yelped when Shiro grabbed around his chest and rolled him onto the grass. He hopped up and leaned forward on his front legs, tail wagging in the air. There was a split second of hesitation before Shiro jumped up and started chasing him around Kaltenecker's pen. They playfully circled each other and when passed the bucket, Lance grabbed the brush Shiro was using before. He trotted up to him and dropped the brush at his feet.

"No way," he grinned looked down at the brush at his feet. He picked it up and watched Lance's eyes follow it as he waved it in front of him. With a grunt, he threw it as far as he could. Without further ado, Lance broke into a run after it. Shiro let a wide smile come across his face as Lance practically pranced back to him with the brush clamped in his jaws. Every time Lance back the brush Shiro would obediently throw it again until Lance dropped the brush and instead flopped onto his side in front of Shiro.

"You're gonna kill me one day Lance," he commented immediately dropping to his knees to pet Lance. Lance yipped and squirmed on the ground to rest his snout on Shiro's knee. Shiro bit his fist in order to stop the strangled squeal that wanted to escape his throat.

"Hashtag blessed," he whispered into the meat of his knuckle. Lance groaned and happily wagged his tail at the attention he was receiving from his friend. This time with Lance may have had him miss Koko more but at least he wasn't feeling jealous anymore.

______________________________________________________

Honestly, Allura didn't think that Lance would go to her for any sort of werewolf bonding time since Altea never had any myths of the creatures like Earth did. So he didn't have to reassure her of anything. However, she was curious about what it would be like to look through his eyes. So when he wandered into the kitchen, where she was getting a late lunch she took the opportunity to circle him with inquisitive eyes. He quirked his head in confusion and kept his eyes locked on her form.

"Hm, I wonder," she hummed putting her finger to her chin. She kept her eyes on Lance's form as she started shifting down closer to his level. She saw the blue eyes widen in shock as her form started morphing. As she finished her transformation, she shook the now white and brown fur that covered her body. She grinned as she looked over her body, not noticing any problems with her form. She looked over at Lance and laughed at his wide open mouth and staring eyes.

"Are you alright Lance?" She asked. He shook his head and excited bounded over to her.

"I didn't know you could do that," he barked. She jolted in shock but let the grin widen.

"Lance, I can understand you," she said excitedly. She felt her tail wagging and saw Lance's was doing the same.

"Oh man, I'm so glad I finally get to talk to someone," he said with a relieved sigh.

"Now, then," Allura said seriously. Lance looked at her, the tone of her voice setting off alarm bells in his head. His tail stopped wagging as he focused all his attention on her. She grinned slightly at the concern that Lance was showing.

"Teach me all about being a werewolf," she said. At that, all the excitement that Lance was feeling before came rushing back.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" He asked sitting back on his haunches. "The behaviour of werewolves are most like dogs on Earth, which would probably be a yupper," he admitted. Allura thought for a moment.

"What did you and your family do with your free time?" she asked. Lance had to search through the many memories that he had with his family but the ones that stuck out the most were the ones where he was playing with his siblings in their wolf forms.

"Um, me and my siblings would play a lot, you know chasing, play fighting, that sort of stuff," he said hesitantly. Considering how well put together Allura usually was, he wasn't sure how willing she would be, even though they had gotten closer over the past months.

Allura could see how anxious Lance was and she felt a sort of sympathy for both Lance and herself since he didn't seem to believe Allura wanted to spend her time with him.

"So, what are we waiting for?" She asked exuberantly.

"R-really?" Lance asked with wide eyes. She huffed out a laugh.

"Of course, Lance," she said fondly. He hopped up with a howl.

"Let's go!" He cheered running out of the kitchen doors. He looked back expecting Allura to be struggling with her now four legs. He yelped in surprise when he saw that she was right beside him with a cheeky smirk. He huffed and pushed himself harder, skidding around the corner that led to Kaltenecker's pen. The cow barely acknowledged them and they barrelled in. They raced around the pasture, barking and nipping at each other playfully. Lance thumped to the ground when Allura bumped into his side, her Altean strength still remaining even in wolf form.

"Oh, Lance! I'm sorry!" she said worried stepping closer to him. He lifted his head off the ground and shook it to get rid of the grass that stuck to his fur.

"It's fine Allura, I've been worse," he said. She sighed fondly and laid beside him. Side by side, Allura looked quite a bit bigger than Lance. When he noticed this, his ears flattened and it almost looked like he had a pout on his face. Allura only puffed her chest out slightly and gave him a wolfish smirk. He ignored it and laid his head down on his paws, he wiggled slightly to press against Allura's side.

"It's almost like I'm laying with my big sister again," he said quietly. Allura's breath caught in her throat as she looked at him in surprise. She noticed that he was tense as if waiting for her response.

"Well, I am older than you," she started. She watched his ears swivel back slightly to listen to her, "and I do see you as a little brother," she said affectionately. Lance turned to look at her and said nothing when he nuzzled under her chin before quickly laying back down in embarrassment. She said nothing and laid down beside him, with her head laying over his neck in a form of protective embrace.

______________________________________________________

It was nearing the end of the week when the prolonged form he was stuck in began to catch up to him. He felt tired, and nauseous and didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything. He wandered through the halls and peeked into the lounge, he saw Coran trying to hook up the GameFlux that they bought in the mall. No one had been able to play it yet and he wanted to set it up for Pidge and Lance when he was back to normal.

"Oh, Lance," he said with a smile when he heard a whine and felt a head being pressed against the back of his leg. He turned and frowned when he saw the sad state he was in. He was trembling where he stood and swaying unstably.

"I heard what Allura did yesterday," he said gently stroking Lance behind the ears. Lance looked at him in confusion but once again found himself in shock when Coran started transforming before his eyes. He almost choked when he noticed that Coran still had a bit of his moustache even after transforming. It wasn't especially noticeable but one his uncle back home had a handlebar moustache just like it so he knew what it looked like.

"How's that?" Coran asked proudly. Lance looked at him with envious eyes. If he thought that Allura was big than Coran was gigantic. He easily towered over Lance and looked down at him with big blue eyes.

"Honestly, I forgot that shapeshifting was an Altean thing and not an Allura thing," he deadpanned. Coran cocked his head at Lance's tone, not used to the teen being this blank.

"What's wrong my boy?" He asked with concern. Lance seemed to deflate in front of him.

"I'm not supposed to stay in this form for so long," he admitted. "I feel disgusting, my head hurts, I'm tired, I just want to human again,"

Coran looked at him with pity and walked around him to lay down against the couch. Lance looked at him curiously. Coran gestured for him to come over with his snout, which he did after a brief pause.

"Lay down, Lance," he said quietly. Lance curled up in front of Coran, letting the warmth of the other wolf surround him.

"I know that your mind is plaguing you just as much as your body, you can confide in me, son," he said. Coran licked a stripe up between Lance's ears, calming him slightly. Lance slowly relaxed laying his snout on his paws and letting Coran groom him quietly as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"I miss Earth so much, I miss my family and my other friends," he finally said. Coran didn't stop, letting Lance continue his train of thought on his own.

"I'm angry at myself because I don't miss them as much as I thought I should," he admitted, which shocked Coran a bit. "Especially because you guys help me forget a lot of the time,"

"I'm glad that I can be of assistance," Coran replied honestly.

"This whole week or movement I guess, has shown me how much everyone cares about me and that means so much to me," he whispered. Coran wanted to say more to the paladin but it seemed like the restlessness finally caught up to Lance and he was out like a light. Coran laid his head down over top of the smaller wolf and curled around him tighter. He was glad he had this time with Lance, even though he would have a mouth full of fur when he transformed back.

______________________________________________________

They were all glad when the last night started ticking by. Lance wasn't able to get himself up off the ground anymore, he was trembling too violently to attempt it. He had already thrown up everything in his stomach and they suspected that if he was human right now, he would be bawling his eyes out.

"Don't worry bud, there's not much longer until the sun rises," Shiro said stroking the fur on his neck. It was worrisome that his tail didn't even wag anymore, usually, it wagged just at his friends being nearby.

"Here buddy," Hunk said throwing a blanket over top of him. He whined and tried to throw it off of himself. They didn't want to cover him until they were close to sunrise, knowing that he would be overheated. Keith leaned over and weighed down both sides of the blanket, earning a snarl from Lance.

"Hey! Do you want everyone to see your dick?" He asked annoyed, scowling at the wolf. Lance huffed but didn't try to remove the blanket again, even though they knew he had to be uncomfortable. His writhing suddenly came to a halt and he relaxed as he began shrinking and losing hair. They watched with relieved eyes as he reverted back to his human form.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Shiro asked brushing his hair out of his face. He could feel that he was soaked with sweat. He looked up at him with bleary eyes and gave him a small smile.

"Better," he said with a raspy voice. They all let out sighs of relief and stood up from the ground.

"I'll go get you some clothes," Keith said looking at the blanket that was covering Lance's now shivering body.

"You must be starving; you did throw everything up, I'll get you some food goo," Hunk said with sympathy taking note of Lance's pale face.

"I'll go with him and get some water pouches," Pidge said nudging Hunk with her arm. She got a smile from Hunk and they turned towards the door.

"Coran and I will get the Castle off this quiznaking planet," Allura said crossing her arms. Both Alteans nodded at each other as if they were about to destroy the planet for the hurt it brought their paladin.

"I guess I'm on Lance duty," Shiro said. Lance huffed but didn't stop him from smoothing his sweaty hair out of his face. Only when everyone was making their way out of the lounge did he perk up.

"Guys?" He called out hoarsely. They turned to him in question.

"Thank you for spending time with me this week and taking care of me," he said gratefully. They all gave him soft smiles in return.

"Dude, you're our family you don't need to thank us for that," Hunk stated softly. Lance leaned back with a smile as they left. He felt the ship start lifting off shortly after and couldn't help but give a wide smile. As Shiro's hand continued to card through his hair, he couldn't help but be grateful for the people around him. Even though he was billions and billions of light years away from his biological family, he still had the family he made for himself.