I woke to the familiar ache. My cloaca was sore—tender from last night, from Rayan's slit pressing against mine, from the rush of his seed. I shifted on the bed, and the sensation of blanket brushing against my cloaca made me freeze.

I turned my head. Rayan was standing near the window, his voice low and frustrated as he argued with Jane about something. But I barely heard the words. My eyes locked onto his back.

A tail. A rooster tail. Long, curved, iridescent green and black feathers cascading behind him, swaying with every movement. They were beautiful. I felt a surge of... pride? No, that wasn't right. But the thought crossed my mind before I could stop it: What a handsome tail.

Then I saw it.

Something in front of my eyes. A shape. It moved when I moved, bobbing slightly. I blinked, and it stayed. My hand reached up instinctively, and my fingers touched something hard. Smooth. Curved.

What?

I touched my face. My lips were gone. My nose felt strange. The object was attached to my face—protruding from where my mouth should be. I ran my finger along its length, felt the hard, keratin surface, the slight ridge at the tip.

No.

No.

I scrambled out of bed, not caring that I was naked, not caring that Jane and Rayan had stopped talking to stare at me. My talons scraped against the wooden floor as I rushed to the mirror on the wall.

I looked.

A beak. Large, yellow, unmistakably a chicken's beak. It jutted out from where my nose and lips used to be, curving slightly downward. My cheeks were still there, but the center of my face was wrong.

"No," I tried to say. But what came out was a soft cluck.

I gasped, and the sound was a sharp, avian squawk.

My hands flew to my head. Something else. A fleshy, ridged lump was poking through my red hair. I parted the strands. A comb. A bright red chicken comb, sitting on top of my scalp like a grotesque crown.

I thought I might die. Right there. From shame alone.

I turned, my back to the mirror, and looked over my shoulder. A small tail of brown feathers sprouted, fanning out just above my exposed cloaca. The feathers were soft, but they didn't cover anything. My cloaca was still there, still …