Club Luna

=::= Melanie's PoV =::=

I did my best not to fidget too much as I sat anxiously in the waiting room. I tried yet again to distract myself with a game on my phone, but every ten seconds I was checking the time and looking at the door for any sign of my girlfriend.

And for the thousandth time in the last hour I wished they'd have let me stay with her. Thinking about that too hard threatened to turn my stress into anger, but the whole situation was crap. It didn't make any sense that it'd be ok for family to be with her but not her girlfriend. Especially when it was her family that put her in this situation in the first place. I was literally the only person in the world she wanted by her side, but instead I had to stay in the waiting room because I wasn't 'family'.

I wondered if they'd have let me in if I was a guy. Like if they treated straight couples differently and they were just being picky about the rules because me and Cerys were lesbians. Thinking about that had me clenching my hand into a fist, and when I caught myself I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

The anger was all just a distraction anyways. I was mad at the doctors and nurses because thinking about that was easier than worrying about Cerys.

She had a really bad dizzy spell this morning when we were setting out for school, bad enough she lost her balance and fell as we were heading up from the basement. I tried to catch her but she was behind me on the stairs, and even though I stopped her from falling back down them she still managed to bump her head again. And that led to another really bad headache, so I ended up taking her to the hospital instead of going to classes.

I was just about to get up and start pacing when the door swung open and a weary-looking Cerys emerged. I was on my feet and at her side quicker than any human could have managed.

"How are you doing?" I asked as I gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What did they say?"

She leaned against me and gestured towards the exit, "Can we just go home? We can talk there. Or on the way I guess."

"Sure Cerys," I nodded, and the two of us set off. I couldn't wait that long though and as we left the hospital I asked "Are you going to be ok?"

She shrugged slightly, "They did some x-rays and um, other imaging stuff. They said I'm ok for now, but the headaches and dizzy spells are probably going to keep happening. It might even get worse? The doctor said these are um, chronic long-term problems. He said it's because of how serious my concussion was."

That was the last thing I wanted to hear, and she definitely felt how I tensed up with the news.

"I think it's because I was unconscious for so long after he hit me," she added softly. "They talk about how being knocked out for any time is bad, and minutes is worse than seconds? I have no idea how long I was out. It could have been an hour? Long enough for him to beat up my mom then drag all my clothes and Touhou stuff and everything else out into the backyard and douse it in gas."

She continued, "The doctor used a bunch of medical terms like 'traumatic brain injury' and stuff, but the bottom line is the headaches and dizzy spells will probably keep happening. And um, I don't know if you've noticed this but I've been more forgetful lately? The doctor said that's another effect of the concussion."

"That's another reason I haven't tried doing magic since then," she added with a sigh. "It's not just trouble concentrating. I sometimes can't even remember the Words, or how to do the spells."

My stomach lurched a bit at that news. There was a lot I wanted to say, but it could wait till we were back at home. For now I just held her a little tighter and said, "I'm sorry Cerys."

We weren't walking at our usual speed, I was taking it easy for my girlfriend, so it took us a good forty-five minutes to get home. My phone buzzed with a few text messages along the way, with the alert tone I'd set for Club Luna group texts. I ignored it though, if there was some sort of club emergency on a Tuesday afternoon they'd have to handle it without me and Cerys.

Once we reached the house I took my girlfriend down into the basement and made sure she was comfortable on one of the sofas, then I ran back up into the kitchen to grab us a couple drinks. I offered her food too but she wasn't hungry.

Then when we were both sitting together on the sofa with a couple cans of soda I quietly suggested, "Cerys I think we should talk to Cass's moms about healing you. If their holy magic can cure incurable diseases then they can definitely help you."

She sighed as she cuddled against my side. "I don't want to turn to Cass or her moms for help. I don't want to talk to Kaylee about healing magic either."

"But why not?" I asked softly. "If the option's there why not take it?"

She was quiet for a few seconds before answering, "The September full moon was more than a week ago Melanie. You said we'd talk again after that, right? I forgot for a while, but now I remember we were going to talk more."

After turning to face me she continued, "I don't want anyone else to heal me. I want you to do it. I want you to turn me. That won't just heal me, it'll make me stronger too, so nobody else can hurt me again. I won't ever have to worry about my dad hitting me. And it'll bring us closer together, we'll be like family. So you won't ever be alone anymore."

I felt myself tensing up again as I suppressed a sigh. I'd kind of hoped she'd forgotten about that, but now that I knew she was having memory issues I felt like absolute crud for thinking that kind of thing.

So I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves before responding, "You know I'm not comfortable with that Cerys."

"I know Melanie," she nodded slowly. She leaned against me again and sighed, "I know I'm asking you to break your oath, I know it's a big request. I still want it. You can heal me, you can make me stronger, and it'll bring us both closer together. I know there's downsides, I know things will be rough at first, but I accept that. It's a trade-off."

Rather than respond right away I just sat quietly with her. I held her a little tighter as we cuddled, and I thought about what she was asking and what it would mean for both of us if I gave her what she wanted. I weighed the pros and cons, I thought about the stuff my wolf-tutor taught me. And what she told me a couple weeks ago, after I texted her that my girlfriend wanted to be a werewolf.

I was probably quiet for five or ten minutes as I thought all that through, before finally speaking up again.

"If I bite you," I said quietly, "And that's only hypothetical right now Cerys, then you're right. After the next full moon, after you've changed then changed back, you'll be fully healed. You'll be stronger and tougher than a normal human. You'll have enhanced senses too, better hearing and smell anyways. Eyesight's kind of up and down, it might get better in human form but in wolf form you lose some colour detail but gain slightly better night vision."

I forced myself back on topic before I got too far off on that tangent, "Anyways, if I turn you, then after the next full moon you will be a werewolf. That's for life, nobody can ever take it away. And you're right, it'll bring you and I closer together. Plus you'll have the benefits I didn't, since I'll be here with you to teach you all about it. But this is a life-long commitment Cerys. If we do this, there's no going back or changing your mind afterwards."

She started to respond but I shook my head and kept talking.

"It's not all good news," I continued. "The first six to twelve months are going to suck. For up to a year, you're going to spend full moons as an animal. And even during the daytime around the full moon, you'll feel like you're not in control of yourself. You'll be moody, irritable, you'll want to pick fights with everyone. We'll both probably have to miss school at every full moon, a day or two before and a day or two after. Your grades will suffer."

"Another thing I warned you about before," I added, "Your human form may change. After your first night as a wolf, when you change back to human you might not end up looking like you do now. For a trans girl like me that was the only good thing, I got my instant magical transition. For a cis girl like you, I have no idea how it might manifest. Maybe you'll be the same, maybe not. It's an unknown, which is why I'm warning you about it."

She sighed, "I get all that Melanie. Is that everything?"

"No," I shook my head. "The last thing is, I texted my wolf tutor after we talked about this before? I had some questions for her, since I've never looked into this before. And she sent back some answers, plus a few other tips and things I didn't know."

I continued, "The most important thing for you to be aware of is about the actual bite? Even though turning you will heal all your mundane injuries and stuff, my bite will stay with you. It'll fade, but you'll always carry that scar. Sort of like a mark, to show how you were turned or who turned you I guess."

Cerys stayed quiet after I finished giving her all the warnings and stuff. In fact the two of us sat there cuddling in silence for another few minutes. I figured she needed the time to digest it all, while I tried to imagine what it would be like if we actually went through with it.

I had my own experiences to draw on, but things would be very different for her. I had to get through the worst of it completely on my own, with no support from anyone. Less than zero, because my family was basically imploding at the time so instead of being able to turn to them I was caught in the middle while they were both freaking out about me and letting that tear their marriage apart.

If Cerys and I went through with this, she'd have me with her pretty much non-stop. Not just to teach her stuff, but to help her through every step of the way. I'd be looking out for her, I'd do my best to keep her from getting suspended or expelled, even if that meant the two of us had to cut a bunch of classes. We might even end up flunking some of our courses, but that'd still beat expulsion. If we had to make up some classes at summer school or even needed to do another year of high school that wouldn't be the end of the world.

The two major hurdles I could think of were going to be my dad and our friends. If dad flipped and kicked us both out we'd be stuck. Maybe we could go live with Cerys' aunt and uncle, or at least she could. And it would really suck if our friends turned on us. I was pretty confident Cass and Nina would understand. Maybe Melody too. Kaylee definitely wouldn't. And I figured Brooke and Paige could go either way.

In the absolute worst-case scenario, we might end up having to drop out of school completely and start working full-time, except we'd still need to miss several days a month around the full moons. And without a proper education we wouldn't find good jobs. Maybe in a year or so, after Cerys was used to the change and could control it, then we could finish our education and get better jobs, but it was a long shot.

So there were definitely hurdles, and some risks. On the other hand there was my girlfriend and how much she'd suffered and was still suffering, because of her parents. I hated to let her down, and not just because of our relationship. I felt like I owed her. Both her and Cassandra, the two of them practically saved me. They cared about me and wanted to get to know me. Because of them I was back in school again. Thanks to them I had a whole group of friends. I didn't have any way to repay Cass for all that, but maybe this was how I could repay Cerys.

My phone suddenly buzzed with another club text message, which snapped me out of my thoughts. I pulled it out and shut it off without looking at it, so it wouldn't disturb us again. Then I asked my girlfriend, "Cerys? What are you thinking? After all that, are you still interested?"

She was cuddled against my side but I felt her nodd, "Yeah Melanie. I still want this. I get that there's drawbacks and stuff, I get that the first year might suck, but then it'll get better. I know you really don't want to do this for me though."

I sighed again and held her a little closer, "I don't want to do it. And if it was anyone else asking, I'd have said no and never given it a second thought. But it's you, so I've been thinking about it a lot. And if this is what you really want, and you're absolutely positive..."

My voice trailed off for a moment, then I took a deep breath. Finally I nodded, "Then ok Cerys. I'll do it. For you."

She froze briefly, like she almost stopped breathing for a second after I agreed. Then I felt her heart rate pick up, as she gulped "Seriously? For real?"

"Seriously and for real," I responded quietly. "So um, I guess a couple more things. First off, where do you want to be bitten? Because it's going to leave a mark, and it's going to scar. And uh, second thing, it's going to hurt. This isn't just a little pinch or a hickey Cerys, I'll have to draw blood."

"I figured," she replied with a grimace. "But they gave me some good pain meds at the hospital, for my head. I took one while I was there, and I can take another later if I need it."

After another gulp she added, "Are we going to do it right now?"

"Whenever you like love," I replied softly. "Absolutely no pressure from me on this."

Cerys took a couple more deep breaths then said, "Let's do it now. And um, I figure on my right side, like above my hip? That'd be covered up by clothes all the time, so nobody will see anything."

I nodded, "Ok. If you're sure, and if you're ready, then I guess you may as well strip down to your undies? No point having me ruin your clothes."

"Yeah. Good thinking," she replied.

It still took another two or three minutes before she finally started to move. She let go of me then stood up, and slowly started to remove her hoodie then her t-shirt, before kicking off her shoes then finally undoing her jeans.

While she did that I ran upstairs to the bathroom and found our first-aid kit, then grabbed a bottle of water on my way back down to the basement. I left that stuff on the coffee table, then looked to my girlfriend. She was standing there in just her socks panties and bra, and she was blushing a bit.

I gave her a sympathetic smile then pulled off my jacket shirt and bra in one move, then pushed down my pants and panties in a second move. I stepped out of my boots and just like that I was stark naked.

Then I grimaced at her, "This is another thing you'll get used to in a hurry. Public nudity? Or I guess, just being naked in front of people? If you shift without getting undressed it'll ruin your clothes and feel really uncomfortable."

She blushed brighter but avoided staring at me. Instead she just nodded, "I get it. So um, this is it? Are you going to...?"

"Lay back down on the sofa," I suggested. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to shift now, but I won't do anything until you tell me to. And you can always back out. We don't have to do this if you aren't ready or you change your mind."

She lay down on the sofa with her left side against the back cushions so her right side was exposed. Then she pointed to the top of her hip and closed her eyes, "Right here please. I'm ready, let's do it."

I was on all fours by the time she'd finished talking. My senses were more alive than ever, and I could smell my girlfriend's anxiety and desperation almost as clearly as I could smell her sweat and breath. My heart raced as I quietly padded closer, till I was close enough to rest my chin on her belly.

"I'm ready," she repeated in a soft voice, then closed her mouth and clenched her jaw.

Her hands were closed into fists, resting out of the way over her chest, while her eyes were squeezed shut. I could tell her heart was racing too, but she wasn't afraid. She wanted this and she was prepared for it. Probably a lot more than I was. Still, I promised and now she was ready and waiting. There was no point prolonging it any further.

I said a mental prayer asking for forgiveness first. I didn't even really know who I was praying to, just whoever applied. Or maybe to Cerys herself. Then I opened wide and clamped down hard.

Cerys let out a whimper of pain as her body flinched, reflexively trying to pull away. That tore the wounds slightly, and a moment later I got my very first taste of human blood.

Not just any human blood though, this belonged to my girlfriend. And unlike the sheep last summer, I wasn't driven by hunger or animal instincts. This was a solemn and deliberate act, but one that involved sinking my teeth into the flesh of the girl I loved. My emotions threatened to overwhelm me as her blood filled my mouth, but I pushed everything down and focused all my senses on Cerys.

She was still and quiet again, but her breathing was coming in short gasps. I knew she was awake, and probably in a lot of pain. I held the bite for about a half minute, then after I released her I licked at the injury. Partially that was to help clean it, but also I wanted to be sure after all this that the werewolf thing would definitely take hold.

My licking actually seemed to relax her, although I wasn't sure if that was because of something in my saliva or she was just relieved that the worst part was over. My teeth left several holes in her delicate skin, and most of them were still bleeding. The wounds were already looking red and I knew there'd soon be bruising and swelling along with the actual punctures. The whole area would be sore and tender for some time, I figured.

After some more licking I noticed the bleeding was starting to slow, so I pulled back again then shifted to my wolfgirl form.

"It's over now Cerys," I half whispered as I moved to sit crosslegged on the floor next to her.

I grabbed the bottle of water and first aid kit from the coffee table, then started gently tending my girlfriend's wounds. It took a few moments to clean away the rest of the blood, then I carefully applied gauze and medical tape over the injury I'd given her.

When I was finished I suggested, "You should probably get some rest now. I can grab your blankets and pillow, or I could carry you over to my bed and you can sleep there if you like?"

"I'll rest here," she mumbled. "Can you get my purse and my drink? I'm going to take another pain pill."

"Of course," I replied.

I helped her to sit up so she could get the pill bottle out of her purse, then while she was doing that I brought her blankets and pillow. When she was ready I helped her lay back down again and made sure she was comfortable, then I headed over to my bed in the opposite corner. I lay down as well, and buried my face in my pillow.

Then I cried, as quietly as I could.