A Heart’s Eternity

After a few moments the girls nodded to each other and Nala said in a serious tone, "We understand and accept the consequences." Crystal stepped forward. "This was my idea, I'm going first." Jay looked at her solemnly and full of love. "This is going to hurt… Give me your wrist." He bit her ever so gingerly making sure not to cause any damage. She gasped and fell to the ground, writhing just a bit. Claws extended in pain, she curled up into a ball and let out a low moan. After a couple minutes she raised her head, looked around wildly and then locked eyes with Jay. A large grin went across his face. "How do you feel?" Brian asked, going to check her vitals. "Colder, tired, and starving, but...I think I'm okay. It's like… like an out of body experience." She looked back at Jay. "Is this what invulnerability feels like?" "Yeahhhh. That's going to take some getting used to."

Diamond was next. She took it a little better and sat up almost immediately, swaying just a bit but laughing meticulously. "This is crazy," she said, acting quite fidgety. Nala was a bit more hesitant when her turn came. Logan held her paw. "You can do this. We've got you," he assured. She tore voraciously at the ground in pain during the transformation, letting out little wails. She finally laid still after several agonizing minutes. "She is unconscious from the pain but is otherwise alright from what I can tell," Brian stated during his examination. A few more minutes later she jolted awake in a frenzy and bolted to the exit. "I got her." Jay said quickly, running after her into the darkness.

He finally caught up with her, cowering beneath a broken tree, eyes wide with fear and confusion. "Hey. Hey. Hey." Jay whispered, approaching her slowly. "Your senses are just overloaded. They're not used to being able to hear and see everything so clearly and amplified. You need to eat, wait here." He dashed off and two minutes later came back dragging a gazelle. "I just punched it unconscious. You'll need to drink it fresh until you build up a tolerance." She looked up at him still unsure, but with trust. She crept up to the creature and bit its throat, groaning as her stomach filled and her amped up senses calmed down. "There you go," he said softly. "Are you feeling better?" "Yes. Thank you." "Good! Well come on then," Jay chirped up. "This body's not going to drag itself, we've got mouths to feed." She smiled at him gratefully, taking her mind off of the experience.

Back at camp, all of the youngins tucked into the gazelle. The adults regrouped at Logan's den. Walking in, "Allllllllright. How's everyone doing now?" Jay inquired cheekily. Everyone just smiled back at him. "Great!" he said. "Now it's important to remember that even if you feel the slightest urge to bite anyone near you, especially loved ones, just run. Run and find actual prey to kill. If at ANY time, day or night, you need someone to talk to about what's going on, your changes, finding yourself, anything at all, you can talk to me. You are not alone."

Crystal walked over to Jay sitting at the edge of camp watching the cubs play in the moonlight. Purring, he put his arm around her as she snuggled up against him. "Looks like you're stuck with me for the rest of time," she chuckled. He smiled and kissed her on the side of her head, gazing fondly over at his family. "I wouldn't have it any other way."