“So I suppose your mother and I will head back home now. It’s a long drive, and it’ll be getting dark out soon.” His father said reaching into his front pocket. “…here, take this. Just in case you need it.” He said, offering his son a small bill fold that added up to about $200. “In case we missed a book, or you need a pizza. Not for beer and drugs.” He said, only half joking. “Oh and one last thing son…” he paused.

Jim rolled his eyes and thought, ‘oh boy, here it comes.’ They’d been through ‘the werewoman talk’ more than once, and he knew what his father was going to say. “…dad, I know. Just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t.” Jim said mildly irritated. “I just… at this age I think it’s safe to say, it passed me by.”

“Well that could be the case, but do you remember your Uncle Tony and Aunt Tonya? He was 19 when it happened so it’s not unheard of for it to strike a little later on.” He explained.

Jim crossed his arms. When they’d first had this talk, when Jim was 12, he was excited at the prospect of turning into a woman a few times per month. But as he grew and entered high school, he thought about it less and less. One night, a long time ago when he was only 14, he thought he felt the change happening. But instead of going with it like he’d been trained to, Jim panicked and fought back against the sensation. It happened a few other times throughout his high school career, but Jim was always able to halt and reverse any changes.

‘I’m not a werewoman. I’m not going to change. I can beat this!’ It was his mantra on those nights when ‘she’ tried to tempt him. But that hadn’t happened for over two years now. ‘She’ seemed to have vanished from his DNA entirely. His father’s reminders about the family curse were something Jim would not miss. To Jim, all that werewoman business was already in the past. He’d planned his life out as a regular Joe down to the last detail.

The ‘Uncle Tony’ example is one his father had been referencing a lot over the past couple of years when he talked about the family curse. He wasn’t a blood relative like Uncle Mark, but Jim had met them both at a pack reunion ages ago. Still, for all Jim knew, his ‘late blooming’ story was a load of bull. All his cousins had turned by age 14.

“Got it, I’ll be careful.” Jim vowed. “And thanks for all the help moving in… and for the cash.” He said, quickly changing the subject. “I’ll stay outa trouble and promise to get good grades.” He continued, hugging his mother and shaking his father’s hand.

“See that you do.” His mother said, fighting back tears of pride and empty-nest sadness. “Come on dear. It’s time.” She said turning to her husband before turning back to Jim. “Make sure to call at least once per week. And we’ll see you on parent’s weekend in a month or two.” She said, reassuringly as she closed the door to the van, still choking back mother’s tears.

A moment later they were pulling off into the early afternoon sun, and Jim was officially a college man. As relieving as his newfound freedom was, he also found it rather perplexing. What was he to do now? A decent sized college town to explore, a campus he’d only seen on the tour last year waiting to be rediscovered and thousands of new women to meet. What would he do first?

Walking back into the sterile décor of the dorm lobby, he took the stairs up to his floor and navigated the maze of people and blue plastic pushy carts until he was shutting his door behind the racket. Of all the things he could be doing, Jim chuckled when he found himself playing Titan Fall alone in his dorm.

But the weeks passed and James made better use of his independence. He’d made friends, been to off campus house parties and even become a regular at the bar in town notorious for serving under-agers. He dated, and while he didn’t have a serious girlfriend, Jim had managed to hook up with quite a few of his female classmates.

As the fall wound on, the days grew shorter and the temperature in the air dropped considerably. Parent’s weekend came and went, more money passed from father to son, and Jim was staring midterms in the face.

And that’s when things started getting weird.

Maybe it was the pressure of these huge and important seeming tests. Maybe it was everyone else and not him at all. Had his guy friends gotten grosser over time? Perhaps, Jim mused. Or maybe it was just his reaction to their antics which had changed. When Todd pulled his sack out of his zipper and quipped, “Damn, I sat in gum.” Last week, Jim had countered with, “Grow up dude. Gross.” Loud beer burps at parties now elicited eye rolls where once they’d been cause for congratulations. Jim was paying more attention to hygiene lately too, and had taken a few shopping excursions to the nearby mall to ensure he was the best dressed in his group.

Most disturbingly though were the daydreams he had in class. A few days ago, he found himself staring at Genevieve, the amazingly hot blonde girl in his public speaking class. She was a sophomore, and for all Jim knew, totally out of his league. As he stared at the back of her pretty head two or three rows in front of him, Jim found himself thinking about her clothes as opposed to what was underneath of them.

This evening he had that same class again. And as his eyes wandered from place to place around the room, he found them drawn to Genevieve and what she was wearing. ‘Cute shoes.’ He thought when his eyes met the expensive looking pair of designer heels on her feet. ‘And I loooove that skirt! I wonder what material that is?’ his bizarre inner monologue continued. ‘But she’s so put together, so trying too hard. Maybe it’s to catch the prof’s eye?’

The thoughts came before he really realized it. Jim tore his gaze off of the pretty blonde and his eyes automatically settled onto another female classmate. ‘Boring sneakers. But I like how she does her hair braided like that.’ Chirped Jim’s inner monologue without missing a beat. ‘She’s probably going to the gym after class; she has that toned sporty look. Right on sister! Girl power, yay!’ He shifted his eyes down and stared at his desk for a moment. As Jim drew a deep breath, his friend Doug leaned in.

‘Psst, you OK dude? You look a little pale.” He said slightly concerned.

Jim composed himself, forced a smile and responded. “Fine. Fine.” He lied as he could feel the sweat begin to break the surface of his skin. Attempting to refocus on the professor, Jim looked up at him and froze as the inner voice cut in again. ‘Totally plain, and those glasses, ack! I wonder what that blonde sees in him? He can’t be the reason she’s all dressed up.’ Jim thought, noticing Genevieve stealing glances at another hot girl in class, Jessica a few seats to her left. ‘You don’t think…’ the voice sounded almost hopeful as it rang in Jim’s subconscious.

A bead of sweat ran down the bridge of his nose, and tumbled off the end onto his note paper.

Looking at the desk again, Jim put an index finger on the fallen bead of sweat to wipe it off. But as he made the motion, he saw something that startled him. Was his fingernail longer? Was it growing still, as he watched? It seemed to be, but why? Fingernails don’t grow that fast unless… unless it’s part of a bigger change…

Standing, Jim maneuvered around a concerned looking Doug and made for the exit door. A few heads turned to look at him as he left, but as the door swung shut they returned their attention to the professor’s lecture.

In the empty hall, Jim navigated to the bathroom. It too was empty, he could tell. Standing in front of the mirror, Jim was shocked to see green eyes staring back at him in the mirror. The rest of his face was normal, but his irises had gone from boring brown to an almost luminous green.

Examining the back of his hands, Jim noted that yes; his nails were much longer now than they’d been throughout the day. Turning on the tap to cold, Jim splashed himself with cold water. ‘This can’t be! The curse passed me over. All my cousins changed by the time they were 14, but not me. I’m not like them. I’m not a werewoman. I’m a normal, average guy. I’m not ready for this… I can beat this.’ He told himself as his heart at last stopped racing in his chest.

‘I’ll… be… back…’ A small but fading part of Jim assured him.

Another splash of water, and when he looked into the mirror, normal, brown eyed Jim was staring back at him. A glance at the back of his hands confirmed that his nails were at their normal length as well. Relief washed over him as he wiped off his face and dried his hands with a paper towel from the dispenser on the wall. Sighing with contentment, Jim quietly returned to class.

The rest of the lecture passed uneventfully. Jim took good notes and knew what to study for the upcoming test. As he went about packing up his things when the class was dismissed, he’d almost willed himself to forget about his early in the class freak out. ‘A hallucination. Must be. From all this midterm stress.’ He convinced himself as he zippered up his book bag and stepped outside the building.

Jim was still in a daze as his feet clopped along the sidewalk. He was still trying to put the events in the bathroom behind him. It had to be an illusion, because if it wasn’t then it could only mean one thing… ‘she’ was coming back again. And Jim had spent enough time trying to forget about her. Far too long to let her just take over like that.

Doug came up along side of him as they walked towards the dorm. “Did you boot in there? When you got up to go to the bathroom, I had my money on puke. You looked way better after though. Are you sick man?” he asked as we made our way.

“What? Eww no. I just had to get some air is all.” Jim countered.

“You were sweating like a beast when you left, and your eyes man, they were weird. All greenish and bright. What sickness changes a person’s eye color?” He asked rhetorically with a chuckle. “As if that could even happen, I must be seeing things.” He said as we entered the dorm lobby.

Jim’s heart skipped a beat when Doug mentioned his eye color. But he maintained his composure and chuckled back, “Right man, should I be asking you if you’re OK?” Jim asked playfully with a wry smile.

“Well then, it’s settled. No more smoking crack before class. And that goes for both of us.” Doug laughed at his own joke as he separated from Jim in the direction of his own dorm. “Good luck on that test man!”

“You too!” Jim called out, his voice breaking slightly on the second word. Semi-embarrassed by the hitch in his voice, Jim rode up in the elevator and hustled through the hall to his dorm.

The living space itself was three main rooms. In the middle was a common living room with a small kitchenette. This was shared between Jim and his roommate Chris. On either end of the common room was a bedroom with bathroom on-suite. Nothing fancy, just a 10 by 10 room with a door leading to a closet of a bathroom with a sink, a standing shower stall and commode.

As he entered into the common room, Jim could hear the sounds of Call of Duty erupting from the TV across the room. The scent of stale pot smoke and dryer sheet blow-tube hung in the air like awkward dance partners forced onto the floor together. Hours old Mac and Cheese sat mostly eaten in a bowl on the table. The pan it was cooked in rested in the sink, still cheese-coated and getting kinda gross. Jim fought back the urge to say something about the mess, not quite sure when Chris’s griminess started to bother him. Until fairly recently, Jim had also been a bit of a slob.

“Dude… You want in?” Chris asked lazily from the couch, holding the player 2 controller in his hand.

“No thanks man. Not tonight. I hafta study.” Jim said distractedly as he entered his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him.

Alone in his room at last, Jim dropped his book bag and took a seat on the edge of his bed. ‘Could it be? Why is this happening now?’ he thought. For a long time as a teenager, he’d sat with his cousins every full moon, waiting to feel the change. And one by one, each of his cousins changed in turn. Mike first, Alan a few months later, and then in the same year Jeff turned too. Back then, Jim wanted it to happen and it didn’t.

But when the time finally did come, Jim just panicked. In that moment, Jim wanted to be ‘normal’ like his friends at school. So he fought it back with everything he had when he felt the changes begin. He was rather surprised when the transformation halted, then reversed, forced down by his iron will.

Suddenly, for the first time since his father sat him down and explained the curse, Jim felt like he had a choice in the matter. And he chose not to transform, a decision he stood by all these years. It was difficult at first. Reversing it the first time was tough, but it got easier and easier until the changes stopped coming altogether. Why they were back all of the sudden, he could not explain.

Jim needed answers.

Should he tell his parents? Heck no, Jim reasoned. For one, they’d be excited about it, they’d probably get the pack together and make a party out of it. Jim chuckled at the thought. And they’d probably be a little worried too, want me to come home and all. Jim had become quite fond of his independence since beginning college a few months ago, and wasn’t in a big hurry to re-invite his overweening parents to intervene in his new life.

Jim considered his other options, and realized they were few.

Hopping on his computer, he goggled out the werewoman site he knew of and started reading. It’d been years since the last time he checked these boards, and the site had been through upgrades. He was happy to still remember his username and password.

‘JamieMoon’… and, ‘Girlout1’… the credentials worked, and in a moment Jim was in.

On the newly designed site, there were polls, surveys, questionnaires and videos posted by werewomen and their significant others. Jim started with the surveys.

The, “When did you change for the first time?” thread had a ton of information. Most of the respondents clustered between ages 13 and 15 with less and less falling in the years outside of that range. Jim felt relieved as he poured over the data. But the small cluster of outliers in the 18-20 range concerned Jim deeply. “Looks like that uncle Tony story wasn’t bull after all.” He said as he continued to scan the site.

As he browsed along, a message window popped up on his screen.

Luna1996: “Glad to see you’re back! It’s been a while ”

Jim smiled as a memory came to him of his old pen pal. Back when he was 12, his father had sat him down and revealed that he was a werewoman, and Jim himself might change one day. He’d introduced Jim to this site and told him it was a safe place where he could talk about werewoman stuff with other werewomen. So he registered and read some posts and made a chat buddy through the site’s then primitive chat feature. He’d logged in often for a few years after, but given up and forgotten about the site after his ‘close call’ at age 14.

JamieMoon: “Yeah, haven’t thought about WW stuff in a while. I take it since you’re still here, it finally happened for you?”

Jim recalled them chatting together, analyzing every possible clue, real or imagined, that their change was just around the corner. But then logging on after the next full moon, they’d admit that again, nothing happened. ‘Luna’ seemed to have wanted it so much more than ‘Jamie.’

Luna1996: “Yeah, I finally turned in the summer between Junior and Senior year in high school. Talk about late bloomers, I was almost 17! HBU?”

JamieMoon: “Naw, it never happened. I kinda gave up on it a few years back. I guess you could say I’m reminiscing.”

Luna1996: “Cool, and what brought that on? I mean, it’s a full moon and all tonight, but it’s been YEARS!”

JamieMoon: “Nothing really, I was just studying and decided to pop over her for a break.”

Jim lied, not wanting to really get into what promoted his visit.

Luna1996: “Alright, if you say so. It’s just, last time we talked, you seemed so sure it was gonna happen.”

JamieMoon: “Yeah I was wrong.”

Jim lied again, not wanting to admit he’d been fighting it this long.

Luna1996: “Cool, if you say so, but if you ever want to talk about it, you know I’m here.”

JamieMoon: “Thanks Luna.”

A moment passed, and then a notice popped up on screen asking Jim to accept shared pictures.

Luna1996: “In case you want to see how I turned out ;-)”

Jim clicked onto the notice that led to a small photo sharing album. He flipped through a series of side by side photos, one of Luna’s male side, and the other of a stunning woman with midnight black hair and a devilish grin. ‘Lucky!’ Jim thought despite himself. ‘she turned out wayyyy hot.’

JamieMoon: “Very nice Luna, you turned out pretty hot!”

Jim’s mind wandered through the process of making the male photo slowly feminize into the female version and found himself getting aroused at the prospect.

Luna1996: “I got a video up too, check the section. It’s kinda cheesy, just me and a couple of pack sisters letting our hair down last summer, if that’s of interest ;-)”

JamieMoon: “Sweet, I’ll have to check that out. Thanks hun!”

Jim realized how girly that sentence looked as he hit enter.

Luna1996: “Haha, you’re welcome sweetie. I gtg now, heading out with some sisters. Good to see you back on here too, even if it’s just as an observer. But something tells me I’m not getting the whole story here… keep in touch?”

JamieMoon: “Will do.”

Jim rested his head in his hands, elbows folded on the desk. He stared down at the keyboard as he tried to wrap his head around his situation. Was he changing? He remembered hearing about ‘false starts’ from his family. That’s when the change would begin, only to suddenly reverse itself long before completing. It was a sign that the first transformation was near. ‘But why now? Why again, after all these years?’ he wondered.

But even putting aside tonight’s events, there were other signs this time that weren’t around all those years ago. For instance, the way he’d been acting around his friends lately. Or why he was finding it easier to talk to women all of the sudden, and taking an interest in what they were wearing. This was all new territory.

According to the posts he devoured that night, all these signs pointed to the same thing. Jim’s long denied birthright, the curse of the werewoman, was starting to kick in. And while part of him considered that possibility with dread, a dull throbbing sensation in his groin alerted him to a 4 alarm stiffy.

As if on auto pilot, he navigated over to the video’s section and clicked on the one from Luna1996. The grainy webcam showed a room full of boys wearing white cotton bathrobes and sitting in a semi circle. As the seconds ticked by, Jim watched with anticipation as the boys began wiping sweat off their brow, and tugging gently on their robes.

Jim watched, eagerly pounding away as each of the boys changed in turn. As it happened, they were playing with themselves, moaning and feeling themselves up. It seemed so sensual, watching them change from hard bodied alpha males, to soft, yielding female forms on the screen. The entire metamorphosis had taken only 5 minutes to complete.

The girl in the middle, now completely disrobed, crawled towards the webcam. Her breasts swayed gently as she moved towards it, pulling herself up off the ground and looking into it eye to eye. “Thanks for watching, werewoman.com! And feel free to add comments or PM me at Luna1996 if you want to cam or chat!.” She switched off the webcam and the screen went dark.

Jim grabbed a paper towel and cleaned himself up. Suddenly he felt ashamed to be on the site and he wanted nothing more than to forget about all this werewoman nonsense again. Washing his hands in the bathroom sink, he put on some gym shorts and a t-shirt and opened the door to the common room. The sounds of ‘Modern Warfare’ greeted him as he stepped in.

“Tag me in homie.” He said to Chris, who looked up smiling.

The rest of the night was a blur of MP5’s and frag grenades as the two slackers played late into the night.

The rest of the week wound down plainly enough. Some stray thoughts that could safely be described as ‘girly’ filtered through Jim’s mind when he wasn’t focused, but between studying, video games and drinking, he’d managed to stay busy most of the day. It’d been about 2 weeks since his freak out, and he’d almost put it behind himself completely.

Midterms had come and gone, Jim was pleased to see the results posted the following week too. Straight A’s. Even though his parents had come to expect the high marks from their bright son, Jim put a lot of pressure on himself to achieve them. The relief he felt was palpable when he revealed the good news to his overjoyed parents.

Chris on the other hand was resolved to double down on studying harder and playing less video games. If he wanted in to the MBA program, he would need to really apply himself in undergrad, he reasoned. He’d been more or less of a book worm since the mid-term C’s he was awarded.

Many of Jims friends took a similar approach, and there were less beer benders, video game marathons and trips to pick up women at the bar. With the slower pace becoming the new normal, Jim went about his business as usual, cured from his case of pre midterm jitters and werewoman delusions.

Or so he thought.

Jim was eating in the campus cafeteria when he noticed her again. Genevieve from Public Speaking. She was sitting alone, the other girls jealous and the boys outright intimidated by her smoldering looks, he reasoned. Mustering up his courage, he took the seat across from her at the lonely table. “This one taken?” He asked, coming in for a landing.

“What? Oh no. You can sit there.” She said, not quite dismissively but without any real enthusiasm. “Joe from Public Speaking, right?” she asked, looking to Jim as he took his seat.

“Jim. But yeah, we have Public Speaking together with Dr. Jarvis.” He said with a smile. ‘Holy crap, she is gorgeous today! Look at those eye lashes, and how’d she get her make-up like that…?’ the female voice from last month kicked in again much to Jim’s dismay.

“Oh right, sorry Jim.” She said in a more welcoming tone. “I’m just surprised that someone still actually wants to talk to me is all.” She said somewhat sadly.

“Really?” Jim asked in disbelief. “Why wouldn’t anyone want to sit here with a gorgeous little thing like you?” He continued in genuine disbelief.

“Well, the girls all think I’m stuck up, and the boys don’t come around anymore since I came out.” She went on.

Jim’s heard skipped a beat when she said ‘come out.’ “How’s that then?” he asked. “Came out?”

“Yeah as in, I’m a lesbian, I like other women. Even though I look like date rape Barbie, I’m just as much into pussy as you.” She said, somewhat annoyed as though I’d run off after realizing I had no chance.

But Jim planted. “Really? That’s cool.” He found himself saying casually. But despite his calm exterior, inside, a part of Jim he’d never felt before was elated. ‘She likes girls! I knew it, I knew it! That’s why she kept looking at Jessica.’ Jim’s inner voice boomed. “I can’t believe people would be so uptight about that in 2014.” I continued on, eating plainly. “I guess that’s what ya get in a red state though.”

Genevieve smiled at my reaction, “So you don’t have a problem with it?” she asked in quasi-disbelief.

“Not if you don’t.” Jim said, gobbling down his tater tots. ‘I bet she’s a good lover too.’ The alien stream of thoughts continued to race through his mind. ‘I can’t wait to find out!’ Jim played it off as he moved onto the container of pudding on his tray. “I just always found you interesting is all.. . I love your style, shoes and all. And your make-up.” Jim blurted out before cutting himself off. “And that speech you gave on the financial bailout, so impassioned.”

Genevieve smiled broadly at the compliments. “I uh, thanks. Guys don’t usually notice that stuff I guess. And the speech… yeah I’m sick to death of those fat-cat banksters getting away with robbery. Just because they use a Mont-blanc fountain pen instead of a handgun doesn’t make it any less wrong, ya know?”

“Toats,” Jim began before clearing his throat. “I mean, yeah… totally.” He said a bit more mannishly as he blushed. ‘Gawd could you just back off a little and let us chat?’ the voice was back, ‘we’re really hitting it off and you’re gonna blow it for us!’ it pleaded impatiently.

“Well anyways, I’m glad at least someone was listening.” Genevieve said. “I’m glad you liked it.” She continued sincerely. “I liked your speech too, about how the Canadians will never win another Stanley Cup until they develop or sign a decent goaltender.” She added with a wink. “Betcha didn’t know I liked hockey.” She giggled.

Jim’s heart was aflutter as she spoke. “Yeah, I almost forgot about that assignment. I’ve always been a big Habs fan, we have some extended family up in Montreal so I kinda grew up watching them play with my cousins.” Jim explained. “So I just kinda went with the topic I felt most comfortable discussing.”

“Well you did really good up there. And I totally agree with your thesis. Since Patrick Roy left, that franchise has been in the cellar.” Genevieve stated correctly. “A decent goalie would get them through the first round of the playoffs at least. I’ve always thought that was the most important position in sports period, hockey goalie that is.”

“Samzies!” I chirped cutely before calming myself down. “I mean, how long can the fans watch drek before they migrate over to the Ottowa Senators?” Jim asked lamely. ‘Ugh, fine. I’ll pipe down for now.’ The voice said resignedly as Jim continued his conversation about hockey.

After lunch, Jim and Genevieve exchanged numbers and agreed to hang out over the weekend. They’d see each other in class later that week, so they could plan a night out then.

Jim found himself thinking about that encounter more and more. His fantasies in dreams and during masturbation featured him and Genevieve, but in those scenarios he was a woman himself. The voice began commenting again too. In a trip to the mall the day after his lunch with her, Jim found himself oogling the female clothes on mannequins.

‘I’d look hot in that!’ she’d say about the matching bra and panties on display at VS. ‘Cute top!’ she thought about the blouse at F21. He found himself wanting to go into the stores, but instead his friends dragged him around to Game Stop and the food court. For some reason though, it felt like torture to ignore the impulses to shop. “I’ll meet you guys back on campus.” He said to his friends around the table who were standing to clear their trays.

As they left with their new games and a couple hundred deep fried calories heavier, Jim tossed out the remains of his salad, topped with light ranch dressing into the can and headed back into the mall on auto-pilot. He was looking at a mannequin outside VS admiring the stitching on the bra when the voice popped in again.

‘It’s too small sweetie. You’re going to need to ask for that in a 34DD.’ She cooed in the chamber of Jim’s mind.

In a trancelike state, Jim found himself completing the transaction with a bemused sales lady handing him a bag.

“I know this is for your girlfriend and all, but no returns if she tries it on and doesn’t like it.” Said the store girl as he walked out.

‘Small chance of that!’ Jim thought as he wandered down the hall.

The lady at Forever 21 was more incredulous. “You pick out your girlfriends clothes?” she said mystified as I picked out an outfit from the rack. “And she hates shopping for herself? She’s not like most women I know!” she said playfully completing the purchase.

“Different strokes I guess.” Jim said humbly as he walked out f the store bewildered at what he’d just done.

Feeling slightly ridiculous, Jim dragged himself home and entered the dorm through his private bedroom entrance. Setting the bags down in the back of his closet, Jim shut the doors to it and resolved to forget the experience. The door to the common area was locked, but through it the muffled sounds of machine gun fire and explosions coupled with deep voiced laughter and taunting announced that there was a video game tourney in progress.

But Jim was feeling worn down. Ignoring the inner monologue of girly thoughts, and not letting them slip out accidentally in conversation, had been quite a challenge. The shopping trip was still defying his attempts to explain or justify it. He felt mentally exhausted, and decided to keep to himself that evening. Rather than join in the mass slaughter of digital enemy soldiers, he fired up his computer, pulled up his browser, and stopped. ‘What am I looking for?’ he asked himself.

His fingers answered the question as they typed out ‘werewomen.com’ and hit enter. He sighed as the page loaded, and debated logging in as JamieMoon again. As the site graphic loaded, he felt himself getting aroused. ‘This is madness!’ he whispered gruffly to himself. ‘I’m not a werewoman!’ he insisted.

‘Well, not yet anyways.’ Said his inner monologue weekly with a giggle.

“Not ever.” He said defiantly as the login completed.

Clicking on the video links again, Jim combed through the page watching change after change, becoming harder and harder as he watched the transformation play out on screen. As he absently fondled himself, an impassioned moan escaped his lips, similar to the ones he heard on screen.

He was interrupted by a message from Luna.

Luna1996: “Back again for more videos?”

JamieMoon: “I’m not browsing videos. Just checking the place out again.”

Luna1996: “It’s cool dude, I’m a moderator here. I can see your activity. Not judging, just saying maybe there’s a reason you’re getting in touch with your wereside?”

JamieMoon: “Look I don’t know. Last month, I think I started to change.”

Luna1996: “Whoa really? That’s good, right?”

JamieMoon: “I fought it back again. I think I can control it.”

Luna1996: “I don’t think it works like that, but you know I support you either way. Full moon’s tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see.”

JamieMoon: “I know, thanks Luna. I’ll let you know what happens. Hopefully nothing.”

Luna1996: “Thanks Jamie. Happy browsing and keep me posted. It’s just like old times!”

Jim signed again and resumed his video watch-a-thon. He couldn’t tear himself away as orgasm after orgasm washed over him. In video after video, the men on screen slowly, erotically changed into beautiful women. Working his manhood, he clicked link after link until one time, when attempting to click, he yelped at the sensation of his fingernail bending backwards slightly. Looking at his index finger in distress, he noticed the bent nail was a good deal longer than he normally kept it. All of his fingernails were!

‘Oh God, no!’ a frightened voice inside of him rang out. ‘Not again!’ he let go of his engorged shaft and ran towards the bathroom, flipping on the light.

Like last month, the reflection he saw was his own, save for unmistakable green eyes, longer fingernails, and hair that appeared to be shaggier than usual. It was the same color red, just thicker, more voluminous and silkier than it had ever been before. “What the…” He said, running his fingers through the mop of crimson locks. “…this can’t be happening!” He said in a voice an octave or two higher than usual.

‘Oh but it is. You’ve known this day would come.’

Splashing cold water on his face, Jim again repeated his mental mantra. ‘I’m a guy… not a werewoman. I’m not like my cousins. It’s not in me…’ he said to himself as the water cooled him off, running down his face and soaking into his t-shirt.

‘Would you just let it go?’

‘No. I can beat this.’ Jim reassured himself again.

He watched with relief as the longer hair receded, his fingernails returned to normal, and his eye color even faded to a dull brown.

‘So…. Close. This isn’t over yet…’

Even as his feminizing features faded fully, Jim could read the handwriting on the wall. Another false start. Another step closer to turning. But Jim wasn’t going down without a fight. “I can beat this.” He told himself with bravado. “I am so NOT girling-out.” He said for hollow reinforcement.

Why was this happening to him now? He wondered. What brought these urges on? When it didn’t happen, moon after moon, Jim had pretty much resigned himself to living his life as a fixed gender male, and he’d done pretty well at it. But that life he prepared for was beginning to seem less and less likely now that these strange thoughts were popping up so uncontrollably.

For the rest of the night, until sleep claimed him at last, Jim poured over the internet using various search terms. He used ‘werewoman cure’ and ‘how to prevent a werewoman transformation’ plus a million similar terms. Either he got no hits, or sites pointing out that there was no way to stop it, then advising nervous posters to get used to the idea of periodically shifting genders. Very few hits on cures, and what few there were seemed to be bogus too.

‘Waste of time if you ask me. You know what you are, might as well accept it.’ The inner voice teased.

‘Who asked you anyway?’ he thought, refocusing on his efforts at ‘curing’ himself.

When sleep did come at last, Jim found himself lost in a sexy dream about Genevieve where both of them were female.

Although not at all unpleasant, Jim awoke from his slumber with a start the next morning. Had it really happened again? Was it another false start, or his overactive imagination? He couldn’t be sure. His browser history, the bags of clothing in the back of the closet, it all pointed to the same conclusion.

‘I’ve resisted it before, I can resist it again.’ Jim reaffirmed in his mind. So he showered and prepared for another lazy Saturday.

After toweling off and getting dressed, Jim glanced down and saw his computer was still on. Knocking the mouse to bring it out of sleep mode, he closed one window, then another, until the banner for werewomen.com was up in front. The message of the day read, “Full moon tonight ladies! Be ready for it, and be careful out there.” “Oh I’m ready” a small part of Jim replied as he clicked the X button. ‘No time for such nonsense’ he scolded himself.

In the common room, Chris was pulling morning bong hits in his usual way, clad in PJ bottoms and a lived in t shirt. “Want… (cough)… some.. dude?” he asked, exhaling into the dryer sheet-stuffed zoom tube which was supposed to cover the smell. It didn’t.

“Naw dude. Maybe later.” Jim said groggily, making for the coffee pot. “Fresh?” he asked, gesturing to the machine.

“Made it like, an hour ago man.” Chris said, unpausing the game he was working on. “U want ins?” he gestured to the controller. “This game is SICK!” he bragged through his stoner grin.

“Sure.” Jim sat beside him and seized the controller, sipping his coffee and setting it down gently. ‘Ugh, I hate these dumb boy games.’ Part of Jim objected

When the action cut on, the images flickered across the screen in vibrant bursts of color. For some reason, Jim found it somewhat disorienting as he stumbled into a virtual wall, then got himself stuck in a corner.

“Dude grenades!” Chris said, but all too late. Jim’s character went hurtling through the sky and in a moment he was waiting to be reborn. “Noob.” Chris teased.

“Oops.” Jim said. “I got this.” He said, adjusting his position on the seat and going in again. This time, he was out for a kill. But as soon as an enemy present itself, Jim panicked and pulled back on the joystick. His character in game was looking straight up at the sky, and walking around in circles. ‘I told you these games were silly.’

“Downpad- R2!” Chris exclaimed. “Come on buddy! You’re getting us pwned out there!” he gestured through the screen to the 3d world on the other side.

“Right. Sorry, maybe I’m still too tired for this.” Jim said in his own defense. In reality he was just sick of these types of games. ‘Silly boy toys.’ A small voice inside of him said discomfortingly.

“Too tired for Gears of War? Damn man, what’s up with you lately? You’ve changed brah” He said in his Pacific Coast surfer voice.

“Whatever man, sign me out after this one. I like the old one better I think.” Jim usually found that new games came easy to him, and he typically mastered them pretty fast. They’d been working on Call of Duty all semester long, and he’d even sucked at that lately! It was like his hand eye coordination was suddenly at novice level.

“Alright man, we’ll start on a new game soon enough, no worries if you still suck at this one.” Chris said, it was about as sensitive as the California Coolguy ever got, so Jim took the backhanded compliment in stride.

As the afternoon began, Jim and Chris began to discuss their plans for the evening.

“Actually I was thinking about just staying in and laying low.” ‘Good girl’ the voice cut in. “I got a project to work on and stuff and I…” Jim began but was cut off by Chris.

“Dude! It’s fucking Saturday!” he said in disbelief. “Staying in, working on a project? You should be out raging with us brah. I’m going up to the Delta house, they’re having a mixer and you know they get the best sticky icky buuuuddds.” Chris said, drawing out the ‘u’ sound for effect. “One of their brothers is setting me up with like a lid, and he said I could come down the house during their mixer tonight, bring a friend, and stick around for the Lay-diesss!” he intoned emotively.

“I don’t know man.” Jim hesitated. “What time you going?”

“I was thinking we go like, early evening. You know, a little early so we can take care of the biz.” Chris said looking at his watch. “I wanna make a good impression yo, I’m trying to get a bid there.”

“I don’t know man…” Jim stalled in his objection. ‘Just tell him you can’t go. You’ll be too busy changing into a gir!l’ “Delta House? I hear they’re kinda grimy.”

“Dude that’s the point.” Chris cut in again. “I mean, check me out in my sweatpants and t-shirt. It’s perfect for me dude! Come on, do I have to invoke the bro-code on you? Be a bro, dude.”

“Funny, you don’t strike me as the frat type, but whatever. Guess I’m in.” Jim agreed. ‘Not like they’ll mind another girl at a frat house, eh?’

Chris never stood from the sofa except to microwave a burrito for lunch as the afternoon wore on. Jim paced nervously in his room, half upset at himself for frittering away the day. As the afternoon turned to dusk, Jim found himself becoming aroused as he got ready in the shower. Genevieve was racing through his mind. The dreams he’d had about her, the feel of their smooth, soft bodies colliding in passion.

‘You know, those dreams could happen in real life, if you’ll only stop fighting me.’ Jim blushed at the thought. ‘No deal.’ He answered firmly from the jittery male corner of his mind.

There was no time for relief either, Jim reasoned. And with that, he dried himself off and got dressed. But even in his party clothes, he couldn’t get his arousal to go away. It was as hard as a broom handle, and he wanted to do something about it.

“You’re sporting wood, dude.” Chris teased as he entered Jim’s room. “You might want to take care of that before we go.” He said puckishly as Jim’s face reddened.

“Whatever man let’s just get going.” Jim said, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow.

“And dude, you JUST showered, how do you look so sweaty? Room’s set to 69 dude!” Chris said with a chuckle. “69.. ha.”

“Ugh! Grow up dude!” Jim said defensively as he felt slightly off balance and grabbed the corner of the bed to keep from falling.

“Oh great, and you’re already stumbling drunk too. Bad form, homie!” Chris chuckled, almost seeing Jim almost fall over.

He recovered from the momentary loss of balance gracefully, but Jim felt flush all of the sudden. Underneath his clothes, he could feel his skin burning, chafing, wanting to be free from the stifling garments. Jim fought it back with concentration as best he could. “Chris…” he managed with some effort. “I think you should leave here without me, OK?”

Jim prepared his mind and body to make it’s stand against ‘her.’ ‘This can’t be! The curse passed me over. I’m not a werewoman.’ Jim frantically thought in a loop. ‘I can beat this. I’m not like my family. I’m just a regular guy.’

‘mmm, it’s too late for that dearie. You can’t hold me back tonight. I’ve been trying to warn you.’ A force within Jim intoned in growing force.

“Seriously dude. Are you OK? Chris asked, stepping towards Jim with a concerned expression.

Jim flinched backwards. The heat was slowly returning to his body due to the lapse in concentration. With the ritual mental exercise not working, Jim could feel a wave of tingles washing over his body. The false starts had been one thing, but the feelings welling up inside him tonight were different. Goosebumps covered his body, although covered by his clothes, Jim could feel them there despite his soaring temperature. The hair on the back of his neck, even the top of his head stood on end. This could be the ‘Big One’ he’d been dreading all month. “Just... ah … just go Chris.” He said again with urgency in his trembling voice.

“Dude…should I call someone?” Chris asked concerned. “Holy shit… your hair. What the fuck is going on?” Chris asked, gesturing to longer red locks cascading into view around Jim’s head.

The meditation wasn’t helping this time. Jim had to cool down, and fast. Without so much as acknowledging Chris, he began to strip. “Not now, not now…don’t change… Please God, don’t let me change.” He said in a softening voice as he stepped out of his boxer shorts.

“What the fuck? Don’t change? What are you talking about man!” a freaked out Chris demanded. “And since when do you shave your legs?”

“I ah… I’m a.” Jim said awkwardly in a breaking voice, looking down at his now smooth, hairless legs. Stepping into his bathroom, he closed the door and locked it. “Not now Chris. Just go away!” He said, alarmed at how high his vocal register sounded to his ears now.

‘Reverse it! I have to reverse it again.’ Jim thought to himself.

‘Fraid not hun, not tonight.’

“You can’t hide in there all night, dude. Look just tell me what’s going on. I’ll understand I promise.” Chris pleaded through the door.

‘He’s right you know, you can’t hide in here all night.’

Turning the tap on to cold, Jim ducked behind the shower curtain, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the back of the door. His eyes had an emerald hue about them that deepened by the second. As the cool water hit him, he felt it soak into his longer hair, now touching his shoulders and tickling the back of his neck. ‘I’m not a werewoman. I can beat this…’ Jim thought in vain as his fingernails pushed out to rounded tips. ‘Reverse it, reverse it!’ he pleaded silently to the invisible forces wracking his body.

‘Sigh. Earth to Jim! Not gonna happen, captain. You’re changing. Deal with it!’

“NOOooo.” Jim cried out, his body trembling as the muscles behind his smooth skin began to recede. He was losing height, and his manhood throbbed in time with the beating of his heart. Reaching down to grasp it, Jim jumped at the sensation it provided as his manhood began to wither away more quickly. There was nothing he could do to stop it this time, all his tricks had failed. As his shoulders crunched inward, Jim let go and stopped numbing himself against the sensation.

‘This isn’t a bad thing Jim. Think. Genevieve. That can happen now. So cheer up, will you?’ The thought was directed at Jim’s male side.

‘I guess I… I guess I don’t have a choice. At least… it doesn’t… hurt…’

Jim watched in mute fascination as the features on his face morphed into softer, rounder and more delicate copies of themselves. His green luminous eyes went wide at how beautiful the woman staring back was becoming. A quick glance down showed the tip of his retreating manhood settle in the pink folds of a rapidly forming orifice.

‘There, that’s better.’ Jim thought, sitting up as his hips splayed apart. “Oh my!” he said daintily as his rear end inflated underneath of him. Glancing down, Jim confirmed her femaleness as he felt a throbbing behind his nipples. The areolas and nubs themselves came alive, inflating as the tissue beneath pushed them off of the chest wall. The cone shaped protrusions inflated steadily as the new woman reached up to turn off the shower tap. It had felt like an eternity, but Jim had only been in the bathroom for about 4 and a half minutes.

Jenny saw the knob on the bathroom door turn and Chris burst in, his face awash in concern.

“You’re lucky I know how to do that!” he called out, credit card/lockpick in hand. “Jim?” He asked, his eyes on the shivering buxom redhead on the shower stall floor. “How did you get in here?” he asked, scratching his head in disbelief.

“It’s me dude.” Jenny said in a silky, high voice. “I uh… I changed. I’m a werewoman.” She looked down, eyes briefly widening at the large mounds hanging off her chest, and the flat almost featureless area between her legs.

“A wha.. A werewoman?! Since when dude?” Chris asked in disbelief. Like most people, he’d heard about werewomen in the news over the past few years, but had never met one until tonight.

“Well, since tonight. First time.” Jenny said, standing up off the floor of the shower stall and holding up her index finger like a number one. “Could you hand me that towel?” she asked hopefully, gesturing over his shoulder.

“Uh, sure.” He stammered, handing her the soft, dry towel on the rack behind him.

A moment of awkward silence passed as Jenny toweled off. Chris stood still in the doorway, looking puzzled and deep in thought.

Jenny wrapped the towel around her body, covering up her breasts and mid section as she stepped out of the shower stall. “Jesus Chris, you’re awfully quiet all of the sudden. Would you please say something?” she pleaded at the man in shock standing in her bathroom doorway.

“What? Oh sorry. It’s just that this is so… so…” Chris blathered while Jenny braced for the adjective. “…friggin COOL!” he continued. “And it’s really you in there dude?”

Jenny flashed a relieved grin. “Well I’m glad you think so. Me, I’m not so sure yet. And yes, it really is me ‘in here.’” She said, gesturing at her curvy body.

“That’s why you’ve been acting so weird lately, huh?” he asked.

“Thanks for noticing.” She said wryly, stepping around him and going for the bags at the bottom of the closet. “It wasn’t easy for me, no. But I’ll manage I have a feeling.” Immodestly, Jenny dropped the towel, letting an awestruck Chris gawk as she gracefully slipped into the hot little number from VS. Daintily positioning her breasts within the bra cups, Jenny then went for the Forever 21 bag. “Bra’s a lil tight.” She said looking in the mirror. “And the skirt is a little high cut, but I think it works.” She said gleefully.

“Yeah dude, it’s like you don’t even have make-up on and you’re this hot!” Chris said encouragingly.

“Thanks man!” Jenny chirped happily as she took Chris by the hand. “So you’re really OK with this, I mean, you’re taking this awfully well.” She said.

“I think I’m still in shock. It’s big news brah.. er sis.” He blushed a bit. “But yeah, whatever man, live and let live right?” Chris said sincerely.

“Well, I’m glad you feel this way. I think it goes without saying that we keep this a secret, at least for now.” Jenny said, turning and examining her hemline on the wall mirror.

“Sure dude. Can do. One condition though.” Chris said with a sly grin on his face.

Jenny braced for it again. ’Please be something easy.. please be something easy.’ She thought. “Sure, and what’s that?” she asked.

“You’re definitely coming with me to that Delta party tonight dude! Showing up there with a hottie like you on my arm, they’re gonna let me in for sure!” Chris said earnestly.

TBC?