Excerpt: Sweet Valentina

“Who are you?” she inquired, still quite hostile.
Ambrose snarled. I patted his head.
I stared into the orange sky, my skin burning already beneath the rays of the sun. It was so early, but I knew I must. My boy whined as I formulated the thought.
Ambrose was clearly annoyed with me.
But she must be told.
He dug into the ground with his enormous paw. He clearly disapproved. If only he could have scoffed to display his exasperation!
I returned my attention to Tanis, ignoring the pup.
“Pay very close attention,” I instructed her. “This will be brief.”
She expressed her familiar silent response and curious gaze.
I growled. My incisors transformed into two sharp fangs. From my dainty nose sprung a muzzle. My eyes narrowed and darkened, and ears sharpened at the tip, the lobe disappeared, pinna softening, canal widening. I heard her breaths before they expelled from her lungs. My luscious pout became a vicious snarl and whiskers erupted from my face. A soft, sheen coat of fur surged through my pores and blanketed my face, then my hands. Sharp nails protruded from my fingertips. I gasped at the pain of the transformation under the light of the falling sun.
Ambrose pounced on me, forcing me down to the ground, his massive columbianus frame towering over me as he shielded me from my source of torture. I strained, and he lay upon me, licking my fur-covered face.
As abruptly as this semi-complete metamorphosis occurred, my face reverted to its natural human form. The fur shed, the claws reverted to fingernails, and I lay exhausted and week on the dirt at Tanis’s feet. Ambrose licked my face one final time and whimpered, nudging me with his muzzle.
I formulated a now-you-know expression and panted.
She was so quiet that she was loud.
“Welcome to Paradise,” I said.