interesting idea. how about true transformations - say shapechange of the wizard himself? turning into an animal via thaumaturgy? if i got this right, you think I just have to go against the endurance score but not against endurance defense (which involves the dice). fine by me.
you may want to check out the stickied thread on thaumaturgical shapeshifting. but the answer appears to be fairly abstract. As i understand it. unlike with many other systems you start with the end result so to use your example of turning into a wolf, you have to first ask yourself well what is "being a wolf" going to give me?
If all you want is to be shaped like a wolf then that's probably doable as a temporary aspect via simple actions through thaumaturgy. Essentially you'd be using thaumaturgy to assess yourself as "a wolf" and the aspect would last as long as those rules say that it should.
Method one Complexity will be determined by the gm based on how hard it is to "appear as a wolf" if such a thing where normally possible
Now if you want the same benefits that the alphas get while shape shifted into a wolf you can buy the relevant powers with refresh and use your magic as the "justification" for it, even doing so during play if you have the fate points to pay for it,[ this might make you an npc though] or you may use the "temporary" power rules on pg 92 of "your world" as explained in the previously mentioned sticky thread. if your low on fate points you could spend several actions creating appropriate aspects to then tag in liu of those [ how this works in your game is likely to change radically depending on your gm].
Method two Not even gonna try to explain/represent this as a spell. i tried it wasn't pretty and i deleted it.
If your "wolf form" is somewhere in the middle of purely cosmetic and template then you can break it down to the specific changes you want. you want to effectively have an alertness and fists of 4, and move a bit faster. well that;s a base complexity of 9 [4+4+1] as per all spells[ i think] its base duration is determined by your st and then you can use the duration chart to add to that with higher complexity.[ or in one example given on the boards by LCDarkwood he inflicted a consequence on the character with the duration he wanted the affect to have and added that as an additional cost to the complexity: so a moderate consequence lasts a game session and eats a 4 stress hit thus costing 4 shifts of complexity]
Method three: Temporary combat wolf form Complexity 11[20] [add your endurance and physical stress track to the base complexity if your st wants you to instinctively resist]
Gain the mild aspect of
wolf your fists and alertness are treated as 4 and you can move one additional zone per move as per sprinting as long as this aspect remains on you.
if you don't want it as an "Consequence" then you've put two shifts into duration, you'll need to consult your dm and the chart to figure out its duration from there.