I should have changed into better clothing for shifting, but I didn't want to take that much time, or risk getting in trouble for being out of uniform. Eric and I strolled into the woods quite a way before we prepared to shift forms. I didn't want to be seen by my classmates naked. Finally, we were far enough away from where any of the students would be able to see us. We each picked a tree on different sides of the trail to strip and shift behind. I was far enough away from Eric that we couldn't see each other, so my modesty was appeased. He was also close enough to come help if trouble came up. Shifters were supposed to get over the whole being shy about casual nudity thing, but these were strange woods, and I wasn't there yet.

I stripped quickly, shivering in the chilly air as I folded my clothes and carefully stowed them under a rock so they wouldn't blow away. The only thing left was my vampire pendant. I was reassured by the grown vampires that it would survive me changing forms. As soon as that was done, I let my hair down, and focused on changing forms, taking in the scent of the forest to help me focus. The change came faster than usual. It had been so long and I was so desperate to change. The pain was terrible as my limbs and bones rearranged themselves. I gritted my teeth and bore the pain. It wouldn't help to scream. Finally, what seemed like an eternity later, the change was completed. I stretched my wolf form, readjusting my muscles to the new form. I shook my coat out and trotted over to where Eric was completing his change. I always shifted faster than my brothers. Most female shifters did.

Once his shift was complete, he came over to me and nuzzled my head in affection. We both looked up at the moon and howled. After a moment, I heard the reassuring howl of my father coming from the direction of our house. We howled again to him, and new voices joined his reply. All of my brothers and mom was with him too. We weren't alone in the woods, just in this section of forest. It was a huge comfort to me that they were all shifted tonight too.

With no warning for my poor brother, I nipped him on the tail and took off running into the forest. Eric growled in annoyance and followed me. The game of chase was on.

We ran through the forest, chasing each other, investigating all of the new smells and noises of the woods. It was a great evening of running and forgetting my problems. They just didn't exist out here. We paused at a steam for a drink when we hear the noise of the deer. She hadn't noticed us yet. I looked at Eric, he had seen her too. He shook his head at me though. We were out of time and there were only two of us. I huffed in annoyance, but agreed that we needed to head back to the school.

We backtracked through the woods to where we had shifted. It took a little while to run all the way back. I didn't want to go back, but I knew that we had to. Even with my special considerations, I was only allowed so much time away from the vampires. The bell tolled from campus. We had been warned we needed to come back when the bell rang again.

We made it back to the spot where we had shifted and both of us were growling when we got there. There were new smells of people in the area. Someone had followed us. When we got back to where we had left our clothes, I realized what they had done. Our clothes were gone.