If somebody had told me that this day was my last day as a human, I probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed.

  That morning, I opened one eye, halfway. My godbrother, Jayce, stood over me wearing a dumb grin on his face. We shared a room in my godfather's house—had for fifteen years—but that didn't make it okay to yank me out of bed on a Sunday.

  "Go back to sleep," I groaned.

  "I've been planning."

  "Oh, really?" I said, pulling the comforter tighter.

  "I think it's finally time for Lake Mulligan."

  Lake Mulligan was a ten-mile, three-thousand-foot elevation gain hike, promising panoramic views of the entire Kookumchuk River Valley. It sounded good, in theory. We'd talked about it for years. But it would require me to leave my bed.

  "Maybe tomorrow?"

  Jayce sighed, then plopped down beside me on the bed. "Today. Let's do it. It'll be good for you."

  I refused to move.

  "Alex." Jayce shoved my arm rhythmically. "Get up and let's carpe some diem! The weather's going to be epic. Perfect for hiking. I already got everything packed. Breakfast is steaming in the kitchen. All you need to do is put on boots."

  When I still didn't move, Jayce touched my forehead. "Are you still feeling sick?"

  I'd felt like I was on the verge of getting sick for three weeks. It would fade in and out but never progress into full-blown sickness. I didn't want to push myself too hard, so I'd been taking every opportunity to rest. That, and I was terrified about the future. Until this point, my life had been on rails. Home, school, home, school. But the rails had ended, and all that was left was normal life. I had no idea what that meant.

  Mid thought, the comforter jerked away and I went from perfect to freezing. Goosebumps erupted on my exposed skin. I gave Jayce the stink eye. "Not cool, bro."

  Jayce crossed his arms. "What you need is a strong dose of adventure to reset your brain."

  "Bro," I said, wiping my eyes. "I'm tired, okay? Let me rest."

  "You've been resting every opportunity you've had for three weeks. It's not like you. Let's get out there and hike. I promise you won't regret it."

  "I regret it already," I said, leaning upright.

  "I've even got clothes for you. Voila!" He gestured toward a stack of crumpled clothing at the foot of my bed.

  "I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

  "Nope." He turned toward the bedroom door and grabbed the knob. "Dressed. Breakfast. Hike. In that order." Then he disappeared into the hallway.

  I threw on the outfit Jayce prepared for me, then shuffled to the bathroom, avoiding eye contact with the mirror. For the last week, I'd woken up each morning with a weird, metallic flavor in my mouth. Brushing seemed to hold it at bay, so I loaded up my toothbrush with mint toothpaste and raked it over my teeth. After spitting, the metallic taste was still there. Stronger.

  I shrugged it off, racked my toothbrush and walked down the hall into the kitchen. Jayce had already taken his seat at the table behind a bowl of scrambled eggs and two mugs of black coffee.

  "These were warm a few minutes ago," he said, spooning eggs into a bowl sitting at my spot. He pushed a mug toward me. I grabbed it and took a swig. The coffee was strong and dark, just like we liked it, but the flavor was off. Energizing… but unsatisfying.

  "Is John still asleep?" I asked. "Did he get that thing fixed at the mill?"

  "Yep," he said between bites. "Took until like two in the morning but he fixed it." His shoulders sagged.

  John was my godfather, Jayce's father. The closest thing I had to a dad. He worked at the town's lumber mill. Way too much.

  "He'd always said he was gonna do Lake Mulligan with us," I said.

  Jayce looked at me. "I got tired of waiting."

  I nodded slowly, then stirred my eggs. They were the same yellow mushy things I ate every day, but something about them wasn't appetizing at all.

  Jayce forked another bite into his mouth before he noticed I wasn't eating. "Need salt? Or are you not hungry?"

  I looked at him then back at the eggs. "Not really hungry."

  "You still angry that I bombed you out of bed this morning?"

  "I'm getting over it," I said with a smile.

  "You've been acting weird for weeks. We've talked about doing this hike forever. I thought you'd be happy."

  I yawned and patted my cheeks trying to wake up. "I am. I promise. Just… tired."

  "You slept ten hours last night. How can you be tired?"

  I shrugged and stirred the yellow lumps in my bowl. "We're all good at something."

  Jayce finished his bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then leaned toward me. "I know you pretty well. You're in your head about the future. Everybody goes through this the week after graduation. It's a huge life change. For both of us. But what if we just forget all that today and pretend we're kids again, then go get lost in the woods. Okay? I promise you won't regret it."

  I knew he wasn't going to leave me alone about it, so I rallied myself. Sure, I didn't feel great, but I also didn't feel horrible.

  "Fine, fine!" I raised both hands. "Let's go be kids."

  Jayce grinned then punched me in the shoulder.

  "Ouch," I muttered beneath my breath. To Jayce, a punch meant affection. The more feeling I lost from a punch, the more affection. It made sense. To Jayce, at least.

  I sauntered to the garage and found my hiking boots from last year. When I tried to shove my feet in they were too small. Of course.

  "Jayce, I'm taking John's boots. Don't tell him."

  John's boots rattled around on my feet like clown shoes, so I doubled up my socks. Last thing I needed was blisters eating my heels alive ten miles from civilization. We strapped on the backpacks Jayce had prepared, did a quick inventory, then we opened the door and stepped into the cool morning air.

  Spring in the Cascades was volatile. Weather could swing from moody mist to bright sunshine in a matter of hours. Today the sky was radiant blue above the canopy of tall fir trees that surrounded John's house.

  The Kookumchuk Valley Trail snaked its way from the town of Rockport past John's house, then up the valley floor between the mountains to a high ridge. Just beyond that ridge was Lake Mulligan, our destination.

  Jayce tugged the straps of his pack a little tighter. "I'm planning to sleep outside. Forecast is nice. Should be a ton of stars out tonight."

  I walked beside him listening to the songs of birds when something inside my stomach twisted. Not painful, but like a moving warmth. Intestinal, maybe? I'd never felt anything like it before.

  Jayce noticed I stopped. "You alright, bro?"

  I pressed my hands to my stomach and the feeling subsided. "Yeah."

  Jayce looked me up and down. "You think you can keep going? Please say yes."

  I twisted right and left, trying to shake off the strange feeling. I didn't want to get sick. Not now.

  "Yeah. I'm fine," I said, although I wasn't.

  The smell of pine sap warming in the sunlight hit my nose and I breathed deep. The woods were still. Cool. Fresh. Jayce was right. I needed this.

  We followed the trail up the valley, moving toward a ridgeline above. The path crested to a large flat area with a prominent sign: Entering Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Caution: Wildlife. Warnings about bears and mountain lions were plastered beneath.

  "I'm half surprised they don't have a Bigfoot sign," Jayce snorted.

  I looked at him. "Sasquatch, bro. Get the name right. You did bring the bear spray?"

  He faked a nervous look, then pulled a canister from his pocket. "Never used this and never will. You know everything in these hills is more scared of us than we are of it. Sasquatch included." He stowed the canister and pulled out lunch. Ham sandwiches on white bread. Jayce tore into his. I held mine. Staring.

  "Something wrong, bro?" Jayce asked.

  I looked at the sandwich. Nothing about it felt appetizing. I peeled the bread back and pulled the three meager slices of meat out. They didn't seem too vulgar, so I chewed them carefully. The flavor was off. Not horrible, but different.

  "Is this meat… good?"

  "Dad brought it home yesterday after work. It's fresh."

  "Huh," I said, turning it over in my hand. I sniffed the last bite before I put it in my mouth. The smell of smoked ham wasn't horrible, but a part of my brain begged me to keep it simple. Raw.

  *Raw?*

  I didn't tell my brother what I was thinking. I was pretty sure eating raw food was diagnostic criteria for some mental condition that'd make him baby me even more than he already did. I shoved the uneaten slices of bread into my pack then stood. My head swam briefly before clearing.

  Jayce frowned, watching me move.

  "Come on, bro," I said. "Adventure awaits."

  Jayce stood, chewing his last bite slowly, then followed.

  The climb beyond the sign got brutal fast. We'd seen a few other hikers up to this point; some we overtook, others coming back down. But from here forward, we saw fewer and fewer. The ones we encountered seemed to be the serious type, often looking at the two teenagers trekking uphill with amusement.

  The path turned into a series of tight switchbacks that zigzagged uphill. The movement in my stomach returned and breathlessness invaded my chest. I wiped my face with my sleeve, trying to keep the sweat out of my eyes. Jayce flashed worried looks at me. With less than a mile to go, we could hardly turn back now. Could we?

  At sunset, we arrived at the ridge and dropped our stuff. Jayce stood on the ledge overlooking the valley, which was bathed in deep purple as stars peeked out above us. The spot was as good as any, although I didn't pay much attention to the view. Jayce noticed.

  "You sure you're fine?" he asked.

  "Yeah," I said, stretching.

  "You sure you're sure?"

  I forced a smile. "Yeah. I'm fine."

  My head felt like it was floating an inch above my neck. If I passed out up here, I'd never live down him carrying me back.

  "You look clammy."

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  "I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth.

  Jayce flashed quick glances at me as he pulled the camp stove out of his pack. "Some food will perk you up," he said.

  Minutes later, he held a plate of cooked SPAM—a Carpenter family favorite for camping trips. I took one look at it, remembering how much I loved the taste and how he'd always have to open a second can when I'd eat too much. When my face turned pale, he knew something was up.

  "Alex. What's going on?"

  "I feel silly," I said. "But something… doesn't feel right."

  "Like what?"

  I pressed my hand against my chest. "Something… inside me… feels claustrophobic. Tight. Restrained. Like I need to stretch."

  Jayce's brow furrowed. "Like when you wake up?"

  "Yeah. But more."

  I stood and raised my hands. The feeling inside got exponentially worse. Then the world tilted sideways and I collapsed to my knees.

  "Alex!" Jayce rushed over and put his hand on my back.

  I pressed my fingers into the ground. The dirt felt different. I turned a hand palm-up and my heart skipped a beat. My fingers were changing. Dark, raised ridges bloomed from my skin where fingerprints had been.

  "What the—" I stammered, but my voice was dry, gravelly.

  Jayce had gone quiet.

  My fingers were shifting. Getting shorter. Wider. New tendons began to form beneath my skin. Then a new sensation: stretching in my spine like someone had stuck my entire body in a taffy puller and yanked me head to toe. It touched that need to stretch. I tried to raise my arms, but I couldn't move—my muscles weren't obeying me.

  My pulse shifted from a beat into a low thump that shook the ground through my hands. Blood surged through the veins in my arms and legs. My ears pounded, then a sharp crack and the volume of everything around me became painfully loud. Jayce's mouth. The wet sound of saliva when he'd open it. The clacking of jaw cartilage when he'd clenched his teeth. All that high-pitched, wet noise. Sounds you'd never want to hear. I heard them. Intimately.

  Jayce's hand began to tremble. I couldn't see his face, but that's when I started to smell it: a sweaty-fear smell. Things in my gut felt bouncy. Wrong. Muscles changed, molded, swelled unevenly, pushing each other out of the way. My legs kicked out as different muscles contracted, then lengthened beneath my skin. My torso, arms and legs kept getting longer. Flashes of horror movies I'd seen snuck into my mind.

  *What is happening to me?* Nothing made sense. Everything was moving. Skin. Bone. Muscle. Ligaments. Parts of my body went numb while others exploded with alien sensations. Amidst all of this, a deep satisfaction like an exhale after held breath tingled throughout my body. Something about my face was changing. My head. My neck. Every muscle clenched hard.

  I held my eyes shut, and then it stopped.

  When I finally opened my eyes, everything was different. I could see clearly. So much farther and in greater detail than ever before. I was warm and comfortable, the way you'd feel after a massage. I tried moving my elbows, but they bumped against my sides awkwardly.

  I lifted my head, which felt heavy and wrong, and looked for Jayce. I saw him, hand trembling on my back. The terror in his eyes said he didn't recognize me. My brain tried to put the pieces together. All I could guess is that I'd changed somehow. Absurd. Impossible. But I felt it.

  We sat there, not moving. Barely breathing. The remnants of daylight faded into darkness. His hand trembled violently, like he was being shaken by high voltage. I kept expecting him to run, but he stayed. Maybe he was too afraid to move?

  My mouth felt different. Alien. I licked the roof of my mouth. It felt long. Wrong. I crossed my eyes and saw a golden snout where my nose should be.

  "Oh mah," I said. My voice emerged from whatever was on my face with a thick lisp.

  "Jaaace?"

  I flexed my cheeks—what should have been my cheeks—and spoke again, trying to enunciate clearly. It worked only slightly better.

  "Yoo… ohkay?" I asked.

  Jayce's hand jumped, then pulled back slightly, still trembling. "Nope," he said. "Definitely not."

  "Caan you tell… ooat jus' ha'ened?" I asked. My mouth refused to obey me. I licked my lips, then tried again.

  "Yep," he said.

  "I'nn… di'erent… aren't I?"

  "Yeah."

  "Hoow di'erent?"

  Jayce was quiet for a moment. "You're kind of a lion, dude."

  "A lioom?" He must be joking. Pulling my leg. But he wasn't laughing. I knew he wasn't. And his arm was still shaking. I licked my lips again and tried to speak clearly.

  "You're serious, aren't you?"

  "Yep. Big ol' lion. Paws. Claws. Fur. Kind of terrifying. Please don't move."

  "I 'on't," I said. I hated that my mouth refused to obey me. I sat, letting Jayce process, silently mouthing the words watermelon, bubblegum on repeat until my lips felt like they moved more naturally on their own. Then a scent drifted into my nose. I recognized it instantly.

  "Are you afraid?" I said slowly. My voice was an octave lower than it should have been.

  "Yeah," he said. "Terrified."

  "Please don't be," I pleaded.

  "Kind of hard not to be."

  "What can I do?" I asked. "To help you not be afraid?"

  "I don't know," he said. After a long pause, he timidly asked, "Are you… safe?"

  I didn't know how to process that question. "It's me, Jayce. No different."

  "A little… a lot different, actually," he said. "Just… tell me you're safe."

  I breathed. My lung capacity was ridiculous now. "I'm safe."

  Jayce's hand steadied. "Okay. I'm going to walk around a little. Just… stay."

  "Okay," I said.

  Jayce's hand left my back and I heard his feet scurry against the ground. He circled behind me, then I felt a twinge of pain somewhere outside my body.

  "Ouch!" I yelped.

  "What?"

  "You stepped on something."

  He circled around me in the dark. "Found it. I accidentally stepped on your… tail."

  "My tail? I have a tail now?"

  "Most lions do, bro," he said.

  "Could you just… not step on it again, please? That really hurt."

  He circled around behind me and eventually came into sight, kneeling slowly down before my face. When he spoke, his voice shook. "Dude, you're huge."

  I breathed, not knowing what to do or say. With how badly he was shaking, I didn't want to scare him into running away.

  "Can I—" his hand trembled as he extended it toward my head. Slowly. Carefully.

  "Yeah," I whispered.

  His hand met my head, fingers trembling. He spread his fingers wide through what I could only assume was fur. They traced circles, pulling and kneading against my scalp. His hand steadied again.

  "Dude," he said. "You feel like a big cat."

  His fingers continued to explore the top of my head. Then, as though driven by instinct, he started to riffle through the fur between what I assumed were my ears. The most radiant feeling of bliss bloomed in my chest—pure relaxation.

  I think my expression shifted because he asked me, "You like that?"

  "Oh, it's amazing," I said, voice sleepy.

  He continued moving the hair back and forth. "This is crazy, bro," he said.

  He stood and pulled his fingers away.

  "Where are you going?" Was he going to make a run for it? He walked to his pack and came back with his sleeping bag. Slipped the elastic straps off, unfurled it, then stood staring.

  "If you promise you're not going to eat me. I was… going to sleep. I figure if you're not going to eat me, sleeping beside the terrifying apex predator will keep other predators away. You know… if that's alright with you." His words squeaked out. I could tell he was fighting the urge to run.

  "Of course. I won't move," I said.

  He slowly set his bag down next to me, not quite close enough to touch. Then he lay down on his back, never taking his eyes off me, and tucked his arm behind his head. He stared at me for a few minutes, still shaking.

  "It's okay," I whispered. "I'm still me."

  He nodded slowly, but kept staring. After a while, his eyes shifted upward and he rolled slightly farther onto his back. "The stars really are beautiful, aren't they?"

  "I'm really freaked out. And you're really freaking me out," I said. "I hate that you smell like fear. Can you please… not?"

  "Bro," he started, then he took a few deep breaths. "It's kind of a big adjustment. You're a lion. Who knows why? Maybe we're both having some kind of shared hallucination."

  "I don't think that's it," I said.

  "Me neither," he sighed. "We need to sleep. We'll figure this out in the morning. Just… don't move. And don't eat me."

  "Deal," I said.

  He adjusted against the sleeping bag and closed his eyes, blinking them open every once in a while. He was watching me. Seeing if I'd move. I hated he had to, but I got it. I turned away and laid my head on the soft dirt. My eyes were different. I could see so much more. So many stars dotted the sky. All on display. No moon to spoil them.

  I heard Jayce rustling, then he bumped up against my side and stayed there. Even if he was still terrified, knowing he was right beside me meant a lot. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but couldn't. The sounds of the forest kept me awake. Physically, I felt great. Strange and new, but overall great. Mentally, however, I had more questions than answers. My entire future had just been thrown on its head.

  Then in the darkness Jayce's hand found my head. He wasn't shaking anymore. His fingers found the soft fur behind my ears…

  And then everything was alright. Jayce was there, and I knew he wasn't leaving.