"It is your canines, they are the issue."

Dr Steenbok switched off the fluorescent dental inspection light, leaned back from Lupin's mouth and tut-tutted at the X-rays on the screen.

"What have you been doing with your mouth Mr Lupin?"

Lupin grinned at him sheepishly and stroked his long bushy sideburns. "I have a varied diet."

"'I should hope so, a man in your condition. I have told you before your teeth are your life, you need to look after them…"

"I know it's just. . .the transformations, wear things down."

"It's the fillings isn't it? Too much wealth these days. I miss the days of the villagers and their poor dental hygiene. Too many people these days going around with gold and silver filings. It must play havoc with your mouth."

"It does Doctor, it gets in their blood and it burns. I have not been able to change for weeks."

"I can see that Mr Lupin, those canines are positively ulcerous. These are beyond my repair I am afraid."

Lupin felt fear kick in his stomach. Why had he not been born in a different age? A golden age of innocence, of moonlit nights and plenty of sustenance to be found. He knew others who were now surviving by eating dog food. He could not live like that. He needed the hunt.

"Try not to worry Mr Lupin, I can recommend someone. A place that deals in special requirements. A place that can repair your mouth. Your last chance. A last chance filling station if you will." The Doctor chuckled at his own joke. Lupin could not see the funny side of anything at the moment and instinctively let out a low growl.

The Doctor ignored the threat, very common to receive with his patients, and out of a creaking drawer retrieved a pamphlet.

"This is the place."

Lupin looked at the pamphlet in his hand. It was headed in gothic type, 'Dr Emperatriz dental practice and retreat'; it promised, on further reading, to repair all dental issues caused by the lifestyle you have to suffer in the twenty-first century. It promised many more centuries of life and, most importantly a return to the Hunt.

"Dr Emperatriz is an excellent dental practitioner. She will look after you. She has centuries of experience in her field."

*

Dr Emperatriz's clinic was located in a dark green building on the edge of the forest. For some reason Lupin had expected a gothic castle. The forest around the building was alive with animals and humans, he could sense them. Oddly, however, to his senses the building appeared empty. It also seemed to float in and out of his vision. Sometimes only visible in the corner of his eye when he was not looking at it.

As Lupin crunched through the forest, aware of how much noise his human form was making, he saw that the clinic stood alone in its grounds, it looked very suburban. It even had some sprinklers currently watering the lawn, which had dark marks scattered across it. Presumably to let these places regrow the lawn was marked with 'Do Not Stand on the Lawn' signs at various points.

Lupin walked through the door and into the reception area. His senses were assaulted with the usual sounds and smells of a hospital, noise mixed with the smell of disinfectant. The two or three other people he could see in the waiting area appeared to be despondent and lost in their thoughts. A tall, elegantly dressed figure walked past him and out the door, crying. Lupin clearly saw the gums where the woman's teeth should have been.

"Alas there is no hope for some, this time is too much."

The voice came from the receptionist. A glamorous blonde with a 1950s hair style dressed in an off the shoulder red evening dress. She smiled widely at Lupin and he immediately saw her vampiric fangs. He growled before he could stop himself.

"Now, now," she admonished him, "let us be civil. This is a neutral space, to help all with their problems. We are in the twenty-first century after all."

"Thank you, Esmeralda." The voice came from behind Lupin. As he felt a tap on his shoulder, he spun quickly, he always knew when someone was behind him. How had he been sneaked up upon! He bared his teeth in a half-hearted attempt at a snarl. Always hard to do when not transformed.

In front of Lupin stood Doctor Emperatriz. He blurted it out before he could stop himself,

"You're a Zom..."

"We do not use that word here, thank you," interrupted Esmeralda. "We use, if you do not mind, an experienced at life and death individual."

"Thank you, Esme," said the Doctor as she staggered towards Lupin. "I apologise for my outstretched right arm. It springs up sometimes, always wanting to grasp brains. Silly really.  It's a by-product of my condition. You must be Mr Lupin, how nice to meet you."

Lupin shook the Doctor's offered left hand. He winced as a creak signalled the Doctor pushing down on her right arm until it was parallel with her body. Where she proceeded to strap it to her waist with the help of the attentive Esmeralda.

"Please do follow me Mr Lupin, let us see what we can do for you. You have come at a reasonably quiet time.!

Lupin followed the shuffling, stumbling Doctor down a long corridor; a scream interrupted him mid-stride.

"Oh dear," said the Doctor, "someone else decided they cannot face life without teeth. Never mind that is what the holy water and silver infused sprinklers are for."

Lupin then realised what the dark marks had been on the otherwise pristine grass.

*

Dr Emperatriz peered at Lupin through her opti-visor. Lupin noticed how much more efficient things seemed to be here. The X-Rays had been done very quickly. No hanging around waiting for horrible tasting moulds to set in your mouth for casts to be made. These were all done via a scanner and 3D printing. Although her head was lolling to one side, another side effect of her condition, as she told him, the Doctor had been incredibly quick in her examinations. There was however one concern he still had.

"Doctor… How much is this going to cost?"

"Oh, Mr Lupin. . . only your soul."

Lupin stared through the dead eyes of the Doctor, through the lenses of the visor, whose face then broke into a grimace, which he thought was supposed to be a grin.

"Just my little joke Mr Lupin. Once everything is working, we may ask you to do some jobs for us. And the people that fund us, but nothing that wasn't in your, how should I say this, in your nature. Now please, open wide once again."

Lupin nodded his assent. Immediately mini robotic hands hanging from a spider-shaped implement hanging above his head, and controlled by the Doctor, lowered and began working on his teeth, making disconcerting clicking sounds as tiny tools opened and closed inside his mouth. He could feel tiny spurts of air.

"You will not feel anything Mr Lupin, I assure you. The latest technology we use here numbs the exact spot we are filing or drilling. It will feel like a new mouth soon. The same technology gave me some vocal cords, not mine I grant you and the donor wasn't willing but are they ever? Your reconstruction will take longer of course, most of my clients tend to only need a couple of fangs to be made future proof. We do get your kind a few times, but you are rarer."

Lupin lay back and opened wide, thinking of the moon.

*

Lupin was very pleased with his teeth, they worked wonderfully. The implants were magnificent, a combination of new metals and nano-tech. They grew into fangs when you needed them and retreated when you did not. They even made a very satisfying sound when they retreated, a lovely quiet swoosh, like a new car door closing.

Lupin basked in the glow of the moon as it shone on him and he transformed. The first time for a long time he had done this without pain. It felt so good to stretch, to feel his transformed mouth extending forward into the jaw and to feel his teeth fill his mouth. He had to howl. His tongue, now extended, explored his new canines. He howled at the moon, this time with pleasure and not pain. He watched as his hands extended into claws, these were a bit worn he really needed to get these fixed also. Dr Emperatriz had given him his first task in payment for her work. To supply dinner for her and her staff. Now where was he going to find an innocent villager in this day and age? He saw from the undergrowth, where he stalked, a couple walking hand in hand through the forest. Dinner was served.