Gabriel stood under the hot spray of the shower water, hoping it would make the itch under his skin go away. Nothing seemed to be working lately, and he ran out of that damn tea Aldrik had made him a week ago.
He was losing what was left of his mind. Between the itching and the freaky-ass dreams, Gabriel hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours in the last several days. His eyeballs ached. Every time he closed them, strange visions filled his head.
They all started out simply enough with Gabriel walking through the woods. Before he knew it, he was running. The sounds and scents of the forest filled him, made him feel joyous in a way he never experienced before.
Then the dreams took on an even stranger bent. Gabriel stood close to the ground, almost hovering over the dirt and bushes. He could smell something floating on the air, a sweet musky scent that made him want to growl, to roar into the night sky.
It was a scent that drove Gabriel crazy and made him feel so aroused that he found himself waking on several occasions with his hard, aching cock in his hand, moments from a mind-blowing climax.
He hadn’t once been able to stop himself from stroking his cock until he gained his release, no matter how many times he tried to remove his hand from his body. Just thinking about those strange dreams made Gabriel’s body shudder as his cock filled.
“Fuck!” Gabriel shouted as he shut off the water then stepped from the shower. He grabbed a towel and quickly dried his body off, feeling confused and angry and frustrated. His symptoms were getting worse, more intense, and he still didn’t have any answers.
Gabriel hung the towel over the towel rack on the wall then walked over to lean his hands against the counter. He wiped the steam away from the glass mirror and looked at himself. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin pale.
He looked like shit.
It matched his mood. He felt like shit, too. Even if he put the lack of sleep and the itching under his skin aside, the cravings for raw meat were getting out of control. Last night he’d eaten an entire steak without cooking it. He’d been totally disgusted the entire time, but the red meat tasted so good Gabriel couldn’t stop himself until he licked his fingers clean.
Gabriel started to close his eyes when a flicker of something black behind him caught his attention. He inhaled swiftly and jumped around, but found nothing. Thinking it was another step in losing his mind, Gabriel turned back around to face the mirror.
His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Gabriel was positive his heart stopped beating as horror filled him, stealing his breath away. A long black tail swished back and forth in front of his face. His hand trembling, Gabriel slowly reached out and touched the black furred appendage.
“Oh, fuck me!” Gabriel exclaimed when he felt the touch of his hand on the black fur. He tugged, his eyes widening when he felt the tug, not only where his hand touched it, but on his ass as if someone was pulling on him.
Gabriel swallowed and slowly followed the length of black fur around his naked body. The moment he felt the tail coming out of the small area at the top of his butt crack, Gabriel screamed and jumped back, dropping the tail.
He fell backward, hitting the wall, and slowly slid down until he sat on the floor. The offensive tail quickly swished back and forth, almost as if angry. Gabriel was reminded of a cat when it was pissed off, usually right before the claws came out.
He quickly looked down at his hands, letting out a deep breath when they resembled normal hands. No claws. Gabriel dropped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. This was it. He’d finally lost what was left of his mind. Any moment the guys with hug- me jackets would show up to take him to a padded room.
Feeling something soft on his leg, Gabriel opened his eyes and glanced down. The black tail was wrapped around him, almost as if trying to comfort him. Gabriel laughed roughly. He didn’t think he’d ever be comforted again.
He did, however, think that he needed to get dressed and head back to the crazy old man that owned Hide-Away-Books. Aldrik clearly knew something about what was happening to Gabriel.
Gabriel grimaced as he climbed to his feet. As delicious as it sounded to eat some crow, he didn’t really want to when he went back to the bookstore with his tail literally between his legs.
With no idea how else to find out what was happening to him, Gabriel climbed to his feet and headed into his bedroom to dress. The quicker he reached Hide-Away-Books and Aldrik, the quicker he’d get some answers.
