Arctic Roots - 20. Epilogue – The Polar Cub’s First Change

The enclave in Atikokan was a buzz of activity. Not only were Axel and Adam home once again, but Max, the youngest of the former monsters and the last Cub to bond with a Papa and be turned, had finally reached the day of his first change.

Max had been resistant to befriending any of the bears for the first few months after coming to Atikokan, remaining wary of the creatures that reminded him of Christopher, the werebear who had transformed him into the monster. Over time, Erik, one of Atikokan’s two resident polar bears broke through the metaphorical wall Max had built around himself, and the two became friends and then lovers.

Just a few weeks before Adam’s first change, Max had let Erik know that he was ready for the next step and asked the polar bear to turn him.

This morning, Max had come into the dining hall for breakfast scratching himself like mad, and Ezekiel announced with pride that today would be the first change day for the last of the village’s latest batch of cubs. Since it was late spring and warm outdoors, the bears planned to use the traditional changing circle rather than setting up inside the common building.

The changing circle in many ways was like the challenge circle in a wolf pack, but rather than a ring of stones in which two lycans would battle to the death, it was a ring of stones in which a Papa helped to guide his Cub through their first change. After breakfast, all the bears in the village gathered at the changing circle, most barefoot and shirtless, wearing only a loose pair of shorts.

While they waited for Max to begin his change, Axel and Adam stood with a group of bears, catching them up on their adventure on the road and showing off both Adam’s new ink as well as the silver padlocks they wore around their necks as the symbol of their commitment to one another.

“Very nice,” Joel said, turning Axel’s padlock over in his fingers, “Rather than adapt the human marriage tradition, you’ve taken BDSM symbology and have elevated it to a level of elegance.”

“This scene,” Jacob said with a grin, running his fingers along Adam’s chest tattoo. “Where have I seen it before?”

“Oh, ha-ha,” Adam replied, “We know you’ve all seen our pictorial spread in Scientific American Magazine. It’s not like you haven’t seen the two of us fucking before. If they were going to pick a gay bear couple to feature in their pseudo-science bear porn centerfold, of course they’re going to choose the biggest, baddest, Kodiak bears around!”

“Or,” Jacob replied, teasing, “They chose the only two bears dumb enough to start fucking in a mountain lake without checking for hikers with cameras first!”

All the bears had a good laugh, including Axel and Adam over that comment.

“Well at least the last picture was a really good non-graphic portrait of the two of us in our bear forms,” Adam said. “Human spies or not, I wanted to remember that day forever.”

“I agree,” Joel replied, “It’s a great portrait of the two of you. It’s probably the most… relaxed I’ve ever seen Axel in his bear form. In fact, since you two have gotten back home, this is the most relaxed and happy that I think I’ve ever seen Axel!”

“Yeah,” Axel replied, “I worked through a whole lot of personal shit I’d been keeping inside while I was on the road with the Cub. I think you’re going to see a whole new bear from now on.”

“Does that mean the big, mean, badass bear who used to kick ass and crack skulls is gone forever?” Marcus asked, “Lost to a life of domestic bliss?”

“Fuck no,” Axel growled, “But now I’ll save the ass-kicking and skull-cracking for the ones who really deserve it, not just the annoying assholes who get on my last fucking nerve… Marcus.”

Marcus grinned and backed away in a sudden hurry, not wanting to be the one to test out the big Kodiak’s newfound patience.

“Everyone!” Erik called, “It’s time!”

They looked over into the circle. Max’s nose had turned into a black and leathery bear’s snout, and his Papa was helping him out of his shorts. The rest of the bears around the circle shed their shorts as well, and Axel hugged Adam close as they watched Max double over in pain, his bones grinding and skull stretching as white fur sprouted all over his body.

This was a momentous day for the whole village, because it marked the first recorded change of a polar bear in over a hundred years.

Max screamed in pain as his teeth fell out and his face stretched, and his hands and feet changed into broad paws with sharp claws in place of his lost fingernails. His body began heaving and expanding to its new size as his skull flattened and settled into a handsome polar bear profile. He fell onto all fours as his shoulders and hips shifted and the bones in his limbs popped into their new position.

Finally, his screams turned into a mighty roar as his genitals swelled to their new size and the baculum bone formed in his penis. His body spasmed as he ejaculated the last remnants of human sperm onto the ground in the middle of the circle and then all was quiet.

The onlookers all silently shifted to their bear forms as well and when Max opened his eyes, he was looking at his Papa, another polar bear just like him.

“Max, can you understand me?” Erik growled to his cub in the bear-language.

“Yes!” Max replied. “I feel so big and powerful! Is the pain over now?”

“Yes, Cub,” Erik said. “No more pain, only pleasure. Are you ready for your Papa to claim you in his bear form?”

“Yes sir!” Max replied, lowering his front-end and lifting his ass provocatively, “I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day you first bred me! Come and claim your Cub!”

As Erik mounted Max in the traditional bear-style, Adam nuzzled his nose against his Papa Bear’s silver collar, knowing that it was he who had captured his Papa’s heart and had transformed him from wild untamed beast into loving and protective Mate. Axel licked Adam’s muzzle before moving behind and mounting him, claiming him once again within their group of friends as he had done a few months earlier that cold winter’s day when it was the time of Adam’s first change.

As Max and Erik finished their first mating, and Ezekiel joined the pair in the circle to help instruct the Cub on his first shift back to human form, Axel and Adam continued to enjoy their lovemaking amongst their brothers, slowly building to their bellowing release and shifting back to their human forms.

They finished just in time to see Max complete his transformation. Just like the other ex-monster cubs before him, Max was now a near clone of his Papa. A handsome and colossal man, rivaling Axel and Adam in sheer size, with naturally tanned skin and a full head and beard of flowing, wavy white hair. Even his thick chest and pubic hair was snow-white.

“It’s a little strange to see someone so youthful-looking and so immensely muscular with such pure-white hair,” Adam commented. “They’re like a pair of super-sexy, fuckable Santas!”

“Yeah,” Max boomed out in his new baritone voice and grabbing his thick swinging cock, “Well this Santa has a gift for a certain cocky Kodiak Cub that he’s going to shove into his stocking the first chance he gets!”

“Eek!” Adam exclaimed, playfully hiding his ass from the pair of big polar bears who crept up on him with wicked grins on their faces. “Papa! Help!”

“You need help?” Axel said with a chuckle, “Here’s some advice, Cub. Don’t let your mouth write checks your ass can’t cash.”

“But Papa!” Adam laughed as he was chased around the changing circle. “Your beloved Mate is about to get tag-teamed by a couple of enormous polar bears! What should I do?”

“What would Grand-Papa say at a time like this?” Axel asked.

Adam stopped running and sighed as the polar Papa and Cub pair playfully tackled him to the ground and began kissing him all over.

“Grand-Papa would tell me not to be such a damn pussy and to take what’s coming to me like a real bear,” Adam replied.

“That’s my Mate!” Axel exclaimed proudly as the whole werebear village of Atikokan cheered and joined in the celebration.