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Chapter Text

James looked out the window on the unusually warm October day" ten more minutes ." That was the only thing that crossed his mind. His Astronomy teacher was going on another tangent about Halloween for the umpteenth time. James was officially bored, he kept twirling his pencil around his fingers. Someone's phone rang, it was the classic iPhone text tone, James hummed the tone to himself . 

"Bring your phone here!" Mr. Gold said assertively , Mr. Gold had two rules for class; No Talking, and no cell phones out of buzzing. If you have a text on the screen  he is going to read it out loud.  The student whose phone had rung was towards the front of the class so it was a short walk of shame for her. She got up and handed him the phone. Before handing it to him she tried to plead with him."Please don't read my text." ignoring her He shooed her back to her seat.

He cleared his throat. "Forget Mr. Gold, sneak out of your classroom so we can hangout." He pushed his glasses to the edge of his nose and peered over them. "Well I guess you won't be meeting," He looked back at the phone. "Dylan, for your bathroom break." He laughed at his own joke. 

Nobody joined him,  but they all groaned at his joke.

"Alright that's enough." Me. Gold shushed the class. "Back to what I was saying about the moon." James instantly lost interest in what Mr. Gold was saying and went back to twirling his pencil.

James found Mr. Gold to be a boring teacher, he doesn't do anything fun for class, they barely used the telescopes that he brought for the class, and that was the only reason why James wanted to sign up for the class. In James's opinion Mr. Gold was average in every aspect he didn't have any features that stuck out to make him ugly and none of the other students talked about how hot he was. It's rare for anyone to really talk about him outside of class.

 The only thing that stuck out was that he is Filipino but he was born in California. He never talked about home life or his time in California to the class unlike the other teachers that James has had. James figured that he lived on his own and didn't do anything fun outside of school. 

"...Don't forget tomorrow is a super blood moon," Mr. Gold reminded everyone, he was walking around the room making sure no one was on their phone." Strange things have been happening during full moons lately so make sure you take a friend for Halloween." He Spoke in a clear and even tone, typically James wasn't paying attention to Mr. Gold but these words stuck with him like glue. 

Before being dismissed James shifted in his seat, hitting knees into the chair-desk, forgetting that he had grown over the summer he wasn't good at judging distances of classroom furniture. A couple of students turned and looked at him.

"Did you need something," Mr. Gold coughed, it sounded like he had a cold. "Or are you disrupting the class?" He asked. James didn't want to get into an argument so he apologized. 

"Any one coming to the star party night?" Mr. Gold glared at the students. The class started to buzz like a beehive but they weren't talking about the star party they knew it was the end of class.

Mr. Gold thought that if he held star parties for astronomy class that people would get interested in his class but the truth is only a handful of students showed up. James'  friend Karen was one of them, but this time she didn't raise her hand. This was odd because she usually tried to get James to go, he tapped her on the shoulder. "Why aren't you going?" James asked softly. Karen moved a couple of loose blond strands out of her face to behind her ear . "I'm going to be busy with my mother." She whispered at him. 

She seemed more irritated today than normal, But Karen was always touchy about her mother so James thought nothing of it. "Oh she doesn't want you out for two nights in a row." James realized. Karen and James had planned to hang out for Halloween since the beginning of October. Karen's mother put up a fight but James won her over with his charm. 

"It's going to be a fun night." Karen giggled as she put down her pencil and packed up her items on her desk. They both couldn't stop laughing until Mr. Gold cleared his throat and stared at them.

"Looks like someone is a buzzkill."  "James whispered to Karen when Mr. Gold looked away from them. 

"And he wonders why nobody comes to his party." Karen whispered back, and they started laughing silently to themselves.

13

The final bell rang that released the students out of their last class, the students flooded into the hallway. James was happy, it was Friday and it was the night before Halloween. He weaved through his classmates to his locker which was towards the end of the hallway, he had a locker closer to the floor. He got on one knee and opened his locker, he stuffed all of his books into his locker and he made sure nothing was in his backpack that shouldn't be.

He most likely wasn't going to do his homework this weekend so he didn't bother to bring his books. As he was reaching for his Nintendo 3Ds, His phone vibrated and he got excited it probably was Karen that texted him. He rushed and shoved everything into his backpack, he slammed his locker door and pulled out his cellphone swiftly and unlocked it. The message read: Meet me at the fire station, and don't forget your bestiary. We are going to need it tomorrow. 

With quick nimble fingers. He texted back: I won't forget it, NERD! 

He walked into the back of the school to retrieve his bike. He walked to the bike lot, he unlocked his shiny red bike that he got for his birthday which took a lot of convincing to get. 

He hopped on and rode from the back of the school to the front. He didn't feel like talking to anyone he just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

He rode through the city weaving through people. He didn't care that they changed the law years ago so people couldn't ride their bikes on the sidewalk. He stopped in front of a dirt road that led to a one story house in the middle of the woods. He pedaled as hard he could, the wind enveloped his body cooling him off, his leg muscles started straining. James was too tired to pedal so he cruised his bike to the front door of the house. He left it outside; he wasn't planning to go out before it got dark. 

"Anyone home?" He yelled out, as he slammed shut the front door. 

"Yeah I'm in the back room.' A high pitched voice shouted back at him . It must have been his sister. He realized that he wasn't going to be able to relax, so he kicked off his high top shoes. He cursed to himself, this dampened any chance of him listening to music loudly. 

He slipped on his house shoes. James slid over the carpet through the living room and into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator and pulled out a juice box out of the side of the refrigerator. He didn't care how old he was; he loved juice boxes. James sat at the table and drank down his juice, he pulled out his phone and unlocked it. He hopped on to Twitter and to check the trending section. He saw that #Fullmoon was trending. He instantly started to perspire, people came up missing every full moon, it had been happening for years. He had been raised to never be outside on a full moon, his parents were making an exception for Halloween and allowing him to go out and that was  only because of Karen. 

James slid his way back into the living room and turned on the TV trying to keep the bad thoughts away. After watching some cartoons for a while, he couldn't shake the idea that these disappearances were not the cause of something supernatural. This made him want to get his bestiary to get to the bottom of this. James' mind started racing, James went into the room that he and his sister shared to get his book. 

James opened the door, and he saw that his sister was stretching across his bed "What do you want?" His sister asked, as she quickly pulled her phone from her ear.

"Who are you talking to, Sam?" James asked a question of his own. "You know mom and dad don't like us talking on the phone after 8 when they are gone he didn't allow her to answer." James stated matter of factly, he didn't care too much for rules but he likes messing with his sister. 

"Like you weren't supposed to be calling your girlfriend last night and I am older than you anyway, you are 14 and I am 18, so I make the rules while our parents are out of town." Sam responded coolly, he hated when she talked about Karen like that.

 "She isn't my girlfriend, we are just really good friends." He said.

 "Okay, so talking on the phone everyday for more than two hours only means you guys are good friends, yeah right" she said..

 That had struck a nerve with James. He silently grabbed his bag from the side of the bed and went back into the living room.  

He sat down on the couch and opened the bag carefully. The bag held all of his drawings and books on mythical creatures in it. He shuffled through it tentatively to not rip anything in the bag. James pulled out a plain black leather book, which had the name bestiary on it in gold lettering. He opened the book, it still smelled like fresh paper, to a section that he already booked marked. The title read; Werewolves; He skimmed to a highlighted section Werewolves are Known to transform during the full moon, but they can transform at any time they choose, though they are physically weaker when transforming before a full moon. They are powerful beings even without the aid of the moon. The full moon is a blessing and a curse for werewolves depending on the closeness of the moon affects how much control that they have over their bodies and minds. 

As he was putting the book back in the bag, James recalled that tomorrow was supposed to be a super blood moon. He closed the book, he knew if werewolves were real he would find out tomorrow but it was going to be risky.

13

James was sitting at his parents desk, he was sketching a drawing of a werewolf out on a piece of paper. He liked drawing supernatural creatures. He was really concentrating on his drawing when a tap on his parents' window made him roll back in the leather chair he was currently sitting in. James rolled his chair slowly back to the desk. 

He peaked through the blinds and saw Karen. He opened the window. 

"What do you want?" James whispered through the window.

"Pop the screen out." Karen demanded, the moon was bright, he could perfectly make her out. He popped off the screen letting a cool fall breeze in. "Why do you have me do that for?" He said through chattered teeth. She threw a duffel bag on his parents desk. 

"The gear came in," she sounded excited." Our hunting gear." 

James quickly grabbed the bag off the desk and he noticed that it was heavy. He put it on the ground and bent down on the carpet, and slowly unzipped the bag. 

It was everything he wanted. The first thing he pulled out a dusty grey leather jacket. He turned it over, and silently screamed. It had an embroidered logo of a werewolf skull and crossbones on it, James designed it himself. "You even got our logo on it, you are the best Karen." he stood up and said out the window. 

"Yeah I know I'm the best." she said smoothly. He looked out the window and noticed that she had it on. He squatted back down and pulled out a solid black headlamp, he stood back up and turned off the lights to his parents room and turned on the headlamp to the lowest setting, it emitted a low focused light to the desk it weakly illuminated the desk. He turned it to its highest setting. It was really bright, almost as bright as a full moon. "This headlamp kick ass." James was stoked about tomorrow. 

"Yeah, you're right," Karen giggled, she stepped up to the window. "I'm going to get going, remember to sleep." She started walking away. 

"See you later." James walked out the window. "And no promises." He yelled out.

He switched into his pajamas, he had repacked his bag. James was still smiling really hard, but as soon as he laid in his parents bed. Then he started dreaming...

Chapter Text

"Uh I think we should wait a bit longer." James was nervous. He looked up at the sky and watched as the sun was eclipsed by m the trees. They were at the edge of the city. The last bit of civilization was an old rusty fire hydrant. James paced in front of the fire hydrant for a bit trying to calm his nerves.

"It will be fine, we don't have long until the moon is out at full strength." Karen said.

James didn't know how she could be so calm. "Ugh how could you be so confident when we could literally make history or die tonight." He grumbled to himself, he stopped pacing and checked his phone making sure he didn't have any messages. It was the only thing that kept him from bolting off. He sat down on a fire hydrant and unlocked his phone.

"Well let's get going we don't want to be out there all night." Karen said a few minutes later slapped him on his back making him almost jump out of his skin.

He instantly shot up. Saying James was nervous was an understatement, he was like a loaded gun ready to shoot off at any time. 

"Jeez you shouldn't scare me like that," James rubbed his neck, and turned to her. "Yeah let's get this night started." He agreed after taking a few moments to clear his head.

They started into the forest. James looked at the moon as trekked through the trees. it had an orange hue to it, he turned on his headlamp. "Tonight is the night we find the beast." Karen whispered, breaking the silence. But she wasn't talking to him. He looked over to her, she was holding on to a small camcorder. 

"Please don't tell me you're going to shoot a video." James joked, she pointed the camera at him.

"This is James," She flipped the camcorder to herself. "And I'm Karen, and this is our first beast hunt, " Karen started walking again.  "We are tracking a werewolf tonight." 

"Wait we don't know where it's at," James had to jog to catch back up with her. "Do we?" He could not help but have a bit of skepticism in his voice.

"Maybe, we will follow this trail until it ends. I've heard some rumors." 

The trail started to slope downward so James slipped a couple times trying to keep footing. A cloud covered the moon so they relied on their headlamps for light. "Do you think Mr. Gold hands out candy for Halloween ?" James asked, laughing at the thought of his astronomy teacher handing out candy, as they walked across a log next to the trail. 

"He probably one of those people who leave out a bowl of candy on their porch." She joined him in laughing. 

There was a long and deep howl, it quickly silenced their laughter. The only sound was the trees creaking and groaning from the wind. James started to shiver. 

He reached for Karen hand. "Well we are going in the right direction." She whispered. He sighed and dropped his hand, guessing that that she was talking to the camcorder again. He hugged himself as they went deeper into the forest. 

He looked at the ground as they passed some bushes, he started noticing paw prints on the ground. He tapped Karen's shoulder. "Uh... I think I found some tracks." He whispered.

"What did you say?" She got closer to him. "Say it louder so the camcorder can pick it up. He balled his fists and sighed and relaxed them. "I think I found some tracks." His voice shook a little bit. He stepped back and shone his light on the wolf like tracks. He was starting to regret looking for the werewolf he didn't think that they would actually find a werewolf. 

"I think..." before he got to tell her that they should turn around he looked up and saw Karen light disappearing deeper into the woods. He had to speed walk to catch up. He closed in on her but before he took another step a bone chilling howl rang through the air. It sounded as if it was behind him. He turned around and gasped, but there was nothing just the leaves rustling. He sighed in relief that his imagination was playing tricks on him.

James turned around and didn't see Karen anymore. His palms became sweaty so he wiped them on his jeans. He knew that he couldn't freak out or he would get lost further into the woods. James pulled out his phone to call her but his phone didn't have any bars in the top left corner making his phone a useless brick. "And of course." He sighed as he  desperately held his phone up trying to get any sort of service, but to no avail. He kept peering over his shoulder making sure that the werewolf wasn't really behind him. James could think of the only sensible thing to do which was to continue following the paw prints even though he knew it was a bad idea, he couldn't just leave Karen on her own.

"I've always wondered why black people died first in horror movies and now I understand." He chuckled to himself, joking was the only thing keeping him running off. He bent down real low to inspect the dirt trail. He stomached, churned, splotches of blood stained the brown dirt. it was glistening  under his light, giving him the perception that it was fresh. The wind picked up, it felt as if it didn't want him to continue following the trail but he knew that if Karen was found dead he would have a lot of explaining to do.

Once he walked around another set of trees he knew where the trail was taking him. With each step he felt his heart rate quicken. The trail ended at an old construction site, it was supposed to be a library but they realized it was an old Native American burial site. The cold didn't stop him from sweating. He was getting a bad feeling about this. He started walking down the steep incline. 

He took a step, he felt his ankle twist, pain erupted from his it making him fall over. He sat up and dusted the broken sticks and dead leaves off of him. Could things get any worse. He got up with the aid of a tree that was near him. James tried to put some weight on his bad ankle but almost fell over again. He yelled out, he covered his mouth with his hand instantly regretting that decision. He leaned against the tree, at best it was twisted at worst it was broken. 

He heard a howl still sounding as if it was behind him, and started to hobble down as fast as he could but it was slower  than his normal walk.

He finally reached the end of the trail, he peered around where he was standing. He was surrounded by old construction equipment, there were grey cement tubes littered in the lot. 

"James!" He heard a voice call out to him. "Come over here quickly." He recognized Mr.Gold's voice. His face scrunched up, but he quickly limped over to the grey tube furthest from the lot. 

"What are you doing out here?" Mr. Gold got real close to James. He looked around for Karen but he didn't see her.

"I wanted to see if the werewolf was real." He answered not trying to reveal that Karen was out with him.

"Not a smart Idea." He heard the anger rising in his teacher's voice. "You could have been seriously injured or killed." 

Before James could answer a howl interrupted them, it sounded close to them. 

"We have to go now." His astronomy teacher started to creep forward. James copied him and kept his head under the grey cement block. 

"We run on three!" Mr.Gold whispered, he peered his head around the tube. "One...two...three..." He took off running. James followed but the second he put down his left foot he was painfully reminded about his hurt ankle. His vision became splotchy.

Something to the left of him shifted, he started panting as hobbled behind his teacher. He forced himself not to turn around, but to limp faster. 

He saw a pair of lights turn on. Hope flooded his body as he made a beeline to the lights. "Behind you!"A voice shouted. He moved his body out of the way. He felt something sharp swipe across his cheek, something wet splash on his face. dared not to turn the side and look. He was almost to the point of tears. 

The car honked and continued to honk, he heard a whine and heard leaves crunching going in the opposite direction. He finally reached the car. It was a grey car that looked like a newer model. "Get in, " James was relieved to hear Karen's light hearted voice. "you can ogle the car later." 

He opened the door and hopped in the back. He didn't realize how cold he was until he stopped shivering. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm his body down. Pain hit him like a slap on the face. He groaned and closed his eyes as a wave of pain rolled over him coming from his ankle. 

"You okay?" Karen asked as someone turned on the light for the backseat. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

He shook his head no. "All I did was twist my ankle." 

"And what about the cut on your face?" She asked

James slowly opened his eyes and felt his face. "I must have cut myself when I tripped." He lied as he remembered the claw slashing across his face. "I must have been cut by a branch." He barked a short laugh. He touched the cut on his face and it was still wet with blood. "I just want to go home." James quietly muttered to himself.

"What were you two thinking?" They were cruising down the street going towards James' house. You could have been killed!" They remained silent. "Answer me this isn't a rhetorical question." 

"We thought we would see a werewolf." Karen sounded proud.

"A werewolf!?" Gus sounded defeated. "They aren't real, it was a regular wolf that's been killing people at that burial site and you were going to be its next victim." 

James decided it would be best if he stayed quiet.

"Well why has no one caught it yet?" Karen asked.

James' mind went back to getting slashed by the wolf, the wound throbbed in response. Hopefully it wasn't a werewolf, High School was already hard enough. He looked up and they both were staring at him. He had no clue what was going on. 

"What?" James asked, tilting his head at them. Then he looked outside and saw his front porch.

"Oh, see you later Karen. And thanks Mr.G see you Monday." 

He raced out the door and inside.

Chapter Text

He woke up with a start. Fear instantly coursed through his body it felt as if someone was in the room. Rather than call out he put the cover over his head, a few moments had passed and nothing happened so he pulled the cover from over his head and took a peak around the room. To his surprise he could see around his room even though it was pitch black outside. He rubbed his eyes blinking a few times making sure it wasn't his vision playing a joke on him. He felt where the scar should have been he felt nothing. 

"No way." His voice came out shaky. There was no way he was a werewolf, that was his last thought before going back to sleep.

He woke up again this time the sun was shining through the window. He sighed and got out of bed which seemed closer to the floor then he remembered. That was odd the human body only grew a couple of centimeters while sleeping, he learned that fact in biology class, he remembered they were not actual inches. He shook his head and continued his morning routine. As he put on his pants they flooded at the bottom. James started panicking, this couldn't be happening. Could I be a werewolf? He shook his head laughing at his silly idea. 

He looked at his clock realizing that he had no time to wonder what was happening to him. quickly rushed into his father's room throwing on a pair sweats and a black t-shirt to match. He  rushed into the bathroom and tried to quickly brush his teeth snapping it in half shattering the plastic into a thousand pieces. He felt the power behind his muscles and he truly was scared of what he could do. 

He rushed out the door and began sprinting before his brain had a chance to think about the fact he was about to run 3 miles. Even though it made no sense to go that fast, he felt comfortable feeling his body cut through the wind. The streets passed by in a blur as he felt adrenaline being pumped into his body. Faster was all he could think. His heartbeat raced as a smile spread across his face as he sped across the city. the building zipped past him in a blur. He smelled the school so he slowed down to a light jog, he didn't want any unnecessary attention. He checked his watch barely any time passed. 

He paused, he did it again the lack of weight on his back meant one thing. James sighed he didn't have his backpack. He wished he reset the day but he couldn't worry at the moment. He'd have to deal with Mrs.Myers. He groaned as he joined the mass of students in the hallway. Hopefully today would pass without incident.

He walked through room 113 door and the green wall was covered in history posters. James could smell the fresh marker coming off the board. He scrunched his nose at the terrible scent. And other sticky sweaty smells attacked him from all over. He quickly made his way to the back of the class room trying to get away from the smell. Everyone smelled especially strong today like everyone hadn't showered since Halloween. He covered his nose in the crook of his elbow. 

He thought about faking sick but that would mean that he would have to get his parents to sign him out, he put his head down and closed his eyes. Mrs. Meyers shrill voice interrupted his thoughts when she started her morning announcements. It was weird though from where James was sitting he usually couldn't hear her but today she was actually being loud and clear. 

"Today we will begin to read the Great Gatsby in class and I will be splitting y'all into four groups of five." 

The classroom collectively groaned. This was the worst outcome she always paired students that didn't like each other together. 

"Mrs. M just let us pick pleeease ." Jewels begged, he was basically on his knees. The class was also whining  except for James who covered his ears to keep from being overloaded. Again everything was extremely loud. His eyes darted around the room to see if anyone else noticed the noise. They continued to plead oblivious to the sound. 

"No I already told you at the beginning of the year that I pick so people don't get left out. " 

"The first group is going to be James, Skyler, Sammy, Ash, Charlotte F ." 

James grimaced at all the names. Of course he got the stupid and loud students at least he had Francis, it was worth it to work with a really good friend.

"Mrs. M Francis isn't here today she is out with a stomach ache." Zhari said. 

"Oh okay Then Charlotte White will be in that group." 

James was crestfallen, he knew that it was over, no work would be done just talking. The more he thought about it he the angrier he got. He gripped his desk in an effort to calm down but his hands crushed down on the wooden desk splintering it. James coughed trying to cover the breaking of the desk. But he had no idea how convincing it was.

A touch scared but he looked down and saw the wood splinter. he looked at his hands, something was wrong or right. he shook his head. He couldn't wait to run into another desk quickly abandoning the one he broke

"No way."  I muttered to myself. 

"What happened?" a voice asked snapping him back to reality.

"Huh, oh I think it was already broke." James responded as he saw it was that asked him. The smell of axe assaulted his nose mixed with anxiety, something was troubling the boy.

"That's not what I meant." Austin bent down to James's level. "You seem upset that you have to work with us more than usual."  He placed his hand on his shoulder.

James raised his eyebrow, why was Austin actually being nice, something had to be up. Sammy still looked as if the sun had never hit him; he also had wild fiery red hair, he was still wearing cargo shorts and a white tee which never changed during the seasons.  He had to get to the bottom of Austin being nice to him. They had never gotten along in the few years that they knew of each other just words in passing.

"Nah, I got attacked by a dog on Halloween." James sat up, he was having a hard time focusing on Austin, everyone was shuffling around and his eye's kept  darting around the class.

"Are you okay?" Austin asked as his eyes went soft. Something was definitely wrong they never got a long but James was more inclined to answer him, it was like he understood what he went through.

"Are you actually getting along?" Ash asked as she brought her desk forming a circle with the rest of the group. 

"Uh, kinda." Austin rubbed the back of his neck. 

"And did you get taller?" Ash asked another question looking James dead in the eye.

James was glad that Mrs. Myers decided to clear her throat and shot lasers at them. They put down their heads and began whispering and not about work. James and Austin broke off and started talking between the two of them. 

“Yeah me and Karen visited the rich neighborhoods and someone’s dog got loose and scratched me. James was careful to leave the full details out. He really didn’t know what happened that night.

“Sounds rough, though it looks like it healed.” Austin put his hand out but quickly dropped it. Almost as if he wanted to touch it. James brought his own palm to his face and there was no wound. Austin sounded like he couldn't believe it. Or maybe he knew something.

“Well I guess it must have healed already.” James looked into the teenager’s Hazel eyes but they looked sorry. “Uh let’s just finish some work so it doesn’t look like we were talking this whole period. You know how la bruja is.” James joked.

Austin legit gave a hearty laugh which made James smile. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. Anyone that could laugh at his bad jokes James consider them a friend even if that meant that it was only for a class.

"Hey uh can I talk to you after school?" Austin asked as they packed up once the bell rang releasing them from class. Mrs. Myers made some comment about how the bell didn’t release them but they ignored her as they walked back into the hallway back into the thrum of students.

"Sure meet me at the courts."  James took off towards the cafeteria. He couldn't shake feeling like Austin saw him differently. He definitely was curious about what he could possibly want to talk to him about. 

He walked into the cafetera it was weird having a different vantage point instead of having to weed through everyone he presence made people dart around him. It felt good, the florersent bounced off the white Linoleum flooring it seemed brighter than usual. He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he crossed the room. He nervously waved not knowing what to do, he just hoped he wouldn’t get any unwanted attention. 

As he was grabbing breakfast he was approached by Giana who called herself the Queen Bee. But having every boy and some girls attracted to you and captain of the volleyball team she could call herself anything that she wanted. 

“Hey James, I’m having a party this weekend and I am inviting you.” Her golden brown skin seemed to glow under the artificial light and the jasmine scent seemed to press into him; it was almost overpowering. Giana’s parties where next level when they did happen anything could happen at her parents mansion and you would be considered a fool to turn down an invite and James considered himself to be a lot of things but not a fool. 

“S...sure I don’t think that I have ever been invited to a party.” James lamely put. He was torn, he liked having this new attention but at the same time knowing that this new attention was based on appearance and not personality but he did enjoy it.

She walked off pulling her black leather jacket close to her body as the rest of her followers which was mainly made up of the varsity basketball players closed around her, blocking anyone from looking at her. 

He had to literally rip himself away from the other students who were trying to tell him to join other various sport programs and clubs. He just wasn’t interested; he wanted to continue what he did before Halloween night. Drawing and gaming.

He met Karen on another clear but cold morning outside in the quad, it eerily quiet. She just stared at him. 

“So what happened to you?” She asked, accusingly sitting down on one of the concrete ledges, he couldn’t wrap his head around why she would be mad. 

“Well I’m not quite sure but I think everyone else has also taken notice.” James laughed. 

Glad we find this funny, but look you got scratched and we both know what that means.”  She tugged on the hem of her blue hoodie. 

“Look I don’t know what this means but I am trying to make sense of this situation.” He knew what the tugging meant. He looked around at everyone either looking cold but putting on a brave face or wearing some sort of long sleeve. He actually wasn’t that cold wearing just a black t-shirt.

“You are a werewolf and I want you to change me. You can’t just pretend that this is not what you are.” Karen looked like she was to the point of tears.

“I can’t say for sure what I am but I know what you can do, calm down, Karen I don’t know what would happen if I bit or scratched you. For all we know I just went through a freak change.” James just shook his head; he didn’t want to speculate and get his dreams ruined. 

Karen didn’t say anything but stalked off. James reached out but let his hands drop. It felt like she was asking him to do the impossible, he wanted to do more research on what could be happening to him before he made a final decision. Right now he would have to deal with P.E. and the dreaded pacer gram test.  

Chapter Text

Finally what James thought would never happen the final bell rang letting him out for the day. Everyone spilled out of the classrooms and quickly filled into the hallway. James gumbled to himself about the amount of homework he had to finish by the end of the week. And he just had to do good on the P.E. test and now they wanted him to join the cross country team he groaned even harder. Being a teenager was hard all he wanted to do was draw but that would have to wait. 

"Hey James." a raspy voice came from behind him.

"Hey?" James said, turning around noticing Austin’s pine-like scent. "What are you doing here?" 

"Looking for you," Austin was glancing around. They were probably the two tallest students in the hall at the moment. “Remember we were supposed to meet after school.

"Right, I knew I was missing somethin" James said as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"Okay my dad should be here any second to pick us up, if that’s fine by you." 

"It’s fine, l guess.” James couldn't quite think of why this boy was so interested in him all of a sudden not like they got along outside of today. They weren’t actual enemies or anything crazy like that but they just had different personalities, James thought of himself more reserved and Austin as more outgoing and whenever it came to projects he would have to manage their group to keep them on track. “Just one thing why now?”

“Well I can’t tell you right now but you are going to have to trust me. I know we didn’t get along but it will all make sense soon.” Austin said, leading him through the crowded hall. James had no reason to trust Austin but he did, he probably just wanted to hangout. Even though Austin was popular among the sophomores he never really heard about anyone hanging out with him outside of school. So why did he all of a sudden want to hangout with him, he watched as Austin's lips moved but James did not really catch much.

Austin was cooler than James thought as they talked about their classes, he even asked James about his drawing which nobody ever did. James wasn’t sure if anyone noticed the work that he did on class posters.

They marched through the main doors, James started to panic a little bit he just went through a horror movie like night a few days ago he was hoping that he wasn’t doing it again for all he knew it would be a Get Out like situation. He shivered at the thought. 

They arrived outside and a grey Range Rover was waiting outside for them. James followed Austin jumping into the back of the car. 

"Welcome young James." A gravelly voice spoke from the front seat. Classic music played from the front seat

James sniffed the air, he had a pine like odor coming from him he smelled like fresh tulip trees. This smell demanded respect. 

"Thanks for having me sir." James said.

"I do have to apologize as you know, Austin doesn’t get to have friends over. So our meeting means that I have failed." 

“Failed what?” James asked, getting more confused by the second. He made eye contact with Austin’s dad. He had the same fire red hair as Austin but one huge difference was that his eyes were orange. Something that was supposed to be a werewolf trait.

"Oh that was you?" James asked as he felt where the scar was supposed to be.

"No but I am cleaning up after my brother. I thought Devon would have found him before anyone got hurt or killed .” He mumbled that last part.

"I really should have stayed home." James sighed. He could have died. “Wait does that mean that our teacher is a werewolf?” James' popped eyes opened.

"But we are glad you here young James." Austin’s dad said wiping away any doubt that James had. “And yes I have to keep tabs on what’s happening at the school, it wasn’t his favorite thing to do but I couldn’t leave y’all to my brother’s pack.”

“Yes it could have been anyone but I’m glad it was a classmate even if we don’t quite see eye to eye. I dunno maybe you might help us solve this problem.” Austin eyes lit up like an excited puppy. James just looked on; he was skeptical of what was going on.

James looked out the window as they turned off the main road and started down a trail that seemed to spiral downward. Nature had a funny way of showing his true emotions. 

"So what exactly am I doing here, are you going to tell me about some secret Avengers initiative." He looked around for any landmarks that he knew but this was uncharted territory for him.

The car rocked to the side before he got an answer. He looked out the window and there was an unmarked SUV he could smell the fresh overturned dirt. He looked at Austin. 

"What the hell?" James asked as he felt the car shift closer to the edge.

"Don't look at me. This has never happened before." 

James looked over as they got rammed again, his hands started shaking. They were closing in on the side of the trail that went down in a blanket of trees. His heart beat faster, it felt like someone else was trying to take over his body. He was shivering hard but he was not cold.

“Dad, we have to get James away. I don’t think he is ready to shift yet.” Austin stared at him with unblinking eyes. “Just relax, it's nothing serious.” 

James' heart was pounding in his ears, his vision felt like it was going in and out but as Austin was talking to him he locked on to the red headed boy. He was cold and hot at the same time. Austin was saying something to him but he couldn’t hear.

“It hurts.” was all that James could groan out before the pain was too much to bear. 

He opened his eyes and he was in a doctor’s office Austin was looking at him with a worried expression. It felt like one of those bad dreams he would wake up any second. But as he rubbed his eyes they still were staring at him. 

“Wha happened?” James asked as he looked down and saw he was shirtless and covered in wires alternating between green and red. 

 “We are doing some tests Mr. Bucannon” a lady voice coolly said as she checked his heart rate machine. “My name is Doctor Williams and I specialize in werewolfism and getting the new werewolves accustomed to their new bodies.”

“You can actually study that in college?” James asked sitting up. “Why am I hurting so bad?” He groaned as he held his ribs.

“Well to answer your first question I just combined Vet and actual doctor work together so no I made up the title. And to answer the second your body isn’t ready to turn yet you are not strong enough yet.” Her pale face had a few wrinkle lines on it but other than that she looked young for her position. As she looked at her chart James came to the conclusion that she looked around his mom’s age.

“Not strong enough?” James repeated back at her. 

“Yes, being a werewolf is not easy and that’s why we are careful on who we pick to be a werewolf. Changing into a wolf for the first time can be very damaging to the body.” Austin said. 

“You are going to need to bulk up to 230 and be able lift over that. You are going to have to work hard if you want to live.” she tugged on her blonde ponytail.

“Good news I have a workout routine for you. And you have full access to our gym.” Austin’s dad came into James’ view, James’ mouth fell open a bit as a mountain of a man approached him. He was like a heavyweight UFC fighter; he looked like he was going to hulk out of his green dress shirt.

 “This is my dad, yes he is buff as he..heck  but that is what it takes to be the strongest.”

“Yup, I am dad, Dallas to be perises.” Austin’s dad rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Okay if you are ready to go you can, just take it slow we sedated you but the wolf will wake soon.” The Doc said, as she started to unhook him from the wires. Her hands were warmer than he was used to. He glanced around the room the cement ceiling let him know that he was in the basement but other than that it looked like a normal doctor’s office especially with tiny chairs crammed in the corner. Once he was unhooked he gingerly got off the table. Austin was the first to his side supporting him. He could feel the power in his grip as he easily lifted him up. 

“Man today is crazy.” James said as he put his dad’s shirt back on. Almost forgetting that he couldn’t fit any of his other clothes. 

“Yeah and it only gets crazier with this family hopefully you get to meet them soon.” Dallas said opening the door for them.

James just stared not only were they helping him out but they were inviting him over for more visits. James felt his strength slowly come back as he walked the grand halls of the house. The white and gold walls loomed over him as he walked through the hallways.

“You might be the youngest person to see the inside of this house.” Austin said as they zig zagged through the main portion of the house.

“We do have a few rules like any communal space, this space is open to you at any time, since you and Austin go to school together most likely you will be traveling with him after school here. You can explore to your heart’s content just be careful avoiding my area which is upstairs in the main house. Don’t break anything that looks antique because it probably is. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. but seeing that you are a minor and live with your parents that won’t be a problem, you can’t tell anyone where we live. A lot of people are trying to kill me.” Dallas said.

James just gulped it was a lot of information to take in. Dallas just looked at him with a large grin on his face. James gave a half smile back.

“Thank you sir.” James’ voice cracked. 

“Oh look dad you broke him. Let’s go to the gym. I want to see how much he can lift.” Austin said quickly, taking off deeper into the mansion.

“It feels good to share this house with new people.” Dallas chuckled as they walked towards the back and into another part of the building. This was amazing, it was a full fledged gym with all of the machines, weights  , James was running a list of jobs that Dallas could have that possibly pay for a legit mansion. 

“Come on James, let's see what you can do.” Austin said, he ran over to a bench and started setting up.

James looked at Dallas for some help, he wasn’t strong in the slightest and really wasn’t keen to embarrass himself in front of the leader of the pack.

“Well we do need to see how much you can lift so I can put together a workout routine.” 

James grumbled to himself. This wasn’t what he was expecting being a werewolf meant. The bestiary needed to be seriously updated. But that could also mean that other entries might be real he would have to ask Dallas later. 

He approached the bar that Austin had set up and looked at him with bright eyes and a smile on his face. Well time to embarrass himself. 

“It’s 145 so take it nice and easy.” Austin said as he helped James lift the bar up.

As he let go James felt gravity take over and drive the bar towards his chest. He pressed upwards and started fighting back. It was hard at first, he felt his muscles screaming in protest but he lifted up.

“Nice, looks like you should be able to comfortably lift that much. Alright change and let’s see what you can do on the mile.you should be able to run it under 4:30” Dallas said as he wrote down some other numbers on a clipboard James now understood how Austin and Dallas where so large. 

James was drenched in sweat. It felt like his body was on fire, when he checked his phone it was somehow 8 pm. Austin worked out with him and somehow he looked unfazed like he could do the whole workout again with no problem. 

“Are you sure there is no way to change me back?” James asked wiping the sweat off of his forehead not like it actually made a difference. 

“No you are stuck like this forever.” Dallas sounded defeated. “Let’s get you home before your parents freak out.”

They went into the kitchen so they could get something to eat and drink. They gave him some fruit and some type of recovery drink that he had never heard of, it tasted good so he couldn’t complain. 

“So what’s next then?” James asked as he crunched into an apple. It was really sweet his taste buds felt like they were turned up. 

“You continue working out and training for your first shift and if you make it past that date you will become a member of the pack and all of the perks.” Austin spoke before his dad got a chance.

“ When you make it,” Dallas stared at his son. “you will continue training and keeping a look out for your schoolmates with Austin there is belief that they have converted some of your classmates and are trying to get a bigger following. But for now I want you to focus on training and not looking for trouble.” 

James couldn’t believe that he might be part of a family feud and was going on at his school. What else was he missing out on. 

“Well let’s get you home, It’s a school night and you are probably going to be hurting tomorrow so take it slow.” Dallas said cleaning off the counter of their junk.  

As soon as James got home he took a shower and fell asleep in his parents bed again opting out of sleeping in the same room as his sister especially since she had not seen what he looked like. Once his hit hit the pillow he went in a dreamless slumber. 

Chapter Text

It was the day of the party he knew that he probably shouldn’t go because he wasn’t sure who was part of Death Song. but he was still going anyway he had picked an outfit out when I clothes shopping with Austin and Dallas he was sad that he couldn’t bring Karen but that was okay she was still upset at him.

He checked his phone ignoring the new phone numbers that he didn’t bother to save, still no new message from Karen. He was worried he would have to get to her before Death Song could, she was probably looking for them without her knowing. He shook his head, he needed to get ready before the party started.

James wore a red and white baseball jersey and camo shorts. He understood why Austin always wore shorts. He was always way too hot and shorts were the best he could do. He left out the house being as quiet as possible trying not to alert his sister.

He jogged to the party taking it slow his body was still aching from earlier in the week. He still had to work out annoyingly because the threat of him dying from shifting was real. He would be sad if he didn’t get a chance to enjoy being an actual werewolf. He practiced his breathing technique as he jogged something that helped him dull out his extreme senses.

When he got to the party it seemed in full swing music thumped from the inside and the white noise of voices leaked out from inside. James climbed the steps he must have missed judged the step because he stumbled in. And everyone just stared at him.

“Hey everybody.” He nervously chuckled. The dull sense really made him feel off. Everyone greeted him, he felt like the star of the party, he actually didn’t know what to do at events like, he made sure to avoid the alcohol and anything that looked unhealthy even though it made his mouth water. His special diet that he was on was tasty but he had to avoid sugars and he wasn’t a fan of that.

“Wow you look nice.” Giana speech was slightly slurred and her honey brown skin had a slight red tinge. She looked relaxed.

“Thank you, and thank you for inviting me.”

“Are you bulking up as well?” Even with James’ dulled sense he smelled the liquor on her breath.

“Yeah the doctors told me I had to get bigger if I didn’t want to be underweight.” He looked down at the floor it was technically a lie but he still felt bad.

“Well it's certainly working for you.” She squeezed his tender muscles. “Don’t forget to grab a drink.” with that she disappeared into the sea of people.

He was still glowing from the compliment, maybe he would get a drink, as he poured himself a drink from the water cooler that was filled with some kind of red drink he could smell the different types of sprites used.

“Don’t drink it James.” He felt something touch his mind, he looked around to see if anyone said anything, but everyone was moving to the living room to dance. He put the red cup to his lips.

“James if you drink you could be leaving yourself vulnerable.” This voice was starting to sound angry, he wondered if it was his conscious. Either way he put the cup down.

“Turn around.” James slowly turned around and was face to face with Austin and his red curly hair he had this half smile like he was happy to see him but sad that he was there.

“Why are you here?” James asked, he felt like he got caught cheating on a test.

To make sure you don’t do anything dumb, for all you know is this could be an enemy pack and they are trying to get you to join.” Austin took James’ cup and poured it down the sink. “And we taught you how to dull out your senses for emergencies not to weaken yourself.”

He didn’t know how Austin knew but what he did know is that it must have made Austin mad because he was really giving it to him. All James could do was put his head down and listen.

“My dad doesn’t know you are here but we need to leave before he checks in with me. So let's get out of here before we get in trouble. And trust me my dad does not play around.”

“Well, Well, Well looks like we have a two for one special.” One of the basketball players that was part of Giana’s crew stopped them in their tracks. His eyes were red. “I had an idea it was you but now seeing you with the leader's son proves it.”

James started to back away. He allowed his senses to come back. The smell of motor oil was overpowering. He really messed up this time. The bald headed basketball player cut off their only exit. He looked around for an exit and couldn’t find one. His blood felt like it was running cold.

Calm down don’t let him sense fear. Austin thought at him. It was harder to do than think.

“Just let us go Will. You don’t want to do anything that you’d regret.” Austin said. James watched as Austin brown eyes started turning orange. This could be a fight between wolves and James couldn’t do anything about it.

“I Can’t do that the boss would kill me if I let you go.” Will said, his coffee brown arms crossed in front of his tank top.

“Well I’m sorry to hear that.” Austin said as he reached into his shorts pockets in the blink of an eye a syringe was stuck in Will's neck. “Aconitum a werewolf supressinet or in a high dose a powerful sleep agent.” Before Austin finished Will had thumped on the ground.

James jumped over him and raced out the door. A lot of thoughts were swirling through his head. He really couldn’t trust anyone at school. Only person was probably Karen but they weren’t talking. He turned to Austin who was running beside him, this didn’t look like this was his first rodeo.

They stopped somewhere near the trail where he got bit. It was dark and cold but he felt so alive.

“Dang that was close.” James panted. “Will they follow us?”

“No they don’t know that you haven’t shifted yet and a young recently shifted werewolf is like a baby scorpion, deadly.”

“So wolfbane huh?” James paused and looked at Austin; he couldn’t believe that it was actually useful. Maybe there was more that was true.

“Yeah it’s how my dad got rich. Though it isn’t used in that way it is more of a suppressant and helps with retaining the mind while shifting but also can make you sleepy. I just keep it with me.”

“That’s actually really cool. It was always theorized that it would kill werewolves but the fact it's a useful tool amazes me. I wonder what else is wrong.”

“Hey James I would love to listen to talk about your book but I need to get home before I get in trouble, just stay safe and uh looking great.” Austin said as he took off into the dark.

James didn’t know why but that compliment made him blush harder than Giana did. He just shrugged his shoulders. He was working hard and it probably was because Austin was overlooking his workout. He started back on home following scents rather than sight; he didn’t want to rely on his vision only.

“You know that you are going to be in trouble right.” His sister said as he walked into the door.

He just looked at her questioningly, he had been avoiding her but they technically didn’t have a curfew.

“You know that there have been a series of murders late at night and I didn’t know where you were so I called mom.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” James whined, his life was over, his parents were strict and that probably meant he couldn’t hang out with Austin or his dad and he would die. ‘

“I did James, you can’t disappear like that even though.” Sam paused eyeing him up and down. “You are huge like god damn James what have you been eating? Must be those GMOs” she gave him a crazy look.

“Do you know when they’ll be back?” He knew that he wouldn’t actually be in trouble till they got back, hopefully after the full moon.

“The 25th most likely. They said something about securing a deal and that needed more time. They did send money for groceries so let me know what you need.”

“Will do, I’m going to get some sleep and I’m sorry for scaring you, I just went to a party.”

“Stanky Giana’s? I told you to stay away from that fast girl. She’s going to end up knocked up and mom and dad won’t be pleased if you do.”

“I know but she invited me though, I was just checking it out, didn't stay long.” James wasn’t technically lying.

“Alright just stay away from her and her crew they seem fishy.”

James could always trust her intuition on matters like this like she knew what people's true intentions were. He nodded his head at her and headed into their parents' room. He did like 300 push ups and sit ups until he was tired, he knew he would have to work hard before his parents got home. His body ached as he got into bed but he knew he was working hard.

Dallas showed him the training room it was massive and covered in blue padding and claw marks the smell reminded James of the only time he tried out for a sport because his friends thought that since he was skinny he would be slippery in wrestling but they didn’t tell him that he would be pulverized into the matt, His neck wasn’t the only thing he hurt that day.

“Okay I know you’ve been begging to see some type of transformation and today is your lucky day.” Dallas said, walking into the center of the mat. “I am going to show you the three types of shifts that we can do. Pay attention. I only want you doing the first one for a couple of months. Austin come and show him the first level.

Austin joined, James watched with hungry eyes putting everything he saw to memory. He wished he brought a notepad. He would just have to commit everything he saw to memory and draw it. He looked on as he slowed his breathing and closed his eyes. He watched as a layer of fur covered the sides of his face and claws extended from his nails his ears extended back. He opened his eyes and they went from blue to orange like his dad’s. James gasped he couldn’t believe it.

“What do you think Young James?” Dallas asked as he watched on.

“What do I think? When can I do that? What are the other two stages?”

“Well I can show you the second one but first I need to tell you how this works.” Dallas stood back in the middle. “This is a give and take system. When in human form you have slightly heightened abilities and full control. In stage one you are on par with any actual wolf when it comes to speed and power but the beast is awakened that can lead to rash decisions. The second form is very powerful and has a feral like brain it only wants what wolves want but with enough training and control you will be able to think outside of it and not give in,”

James just nodded his head, he was ready for the next full moon he wanted to do it all.

“Now before you get ready to take on the challenge your first shift in each phase will leave you feral and dangerous to everyone you will have to learn to control it and not the other way around.” It was like Dallas read his thoughts.

“So will you just lock me up?” James tried to picture it but it felt like those pictures of slaves and he didn’t want that.

“No that’s cruel we will start with breathing training and introducing tea’s, CBD oils, and Wolfsbane and hopefully that will help your transition.”

Dallas fell over, brown fur began covering his body slightly tinged with red, his face extended into a muzzle and his hands became paws and claws. As quickly as it started it was over he stood back up he was a fully realized werewolf.

“Woah. he coudn’t believe that he was face to face with a real wolf, he understood why he had to be strong. It looked painful without the strength. Dallas was a beautiful red wolf, James couldn’t wait for the day that he could do that.

Before he could even do anything Dallas had him pinned under his paw. James tried to struggle out but couldn’t even move him.

“What if Will did this, you would not have escaped so easily, my brother and sister won’t play so easily.” Dallas growled. “They see you as prey, they will dominate you, don’t get caught again or you will pay.
“Dad I think you are scaring him.” Austin came over to defend him.

Dallas just pushed his son back clearing him away. “He has to learn that he can’t move without you until he can defend himself from me. And you have to learn to work together.” Dallas said as he finally let James up, who quickly scooted away from the Red wolf. The cold and hot feeling returned.

“Come on James, you have to manage your feelings too much of any emotions will cause you to shift and you can’t shift right now.” Austin said as he stalked his dad.

After what felt like six hours of fighting multiple times being pinned down and swatted. They finally stopped. James felt the sweat pour off of his face. It was a more intense training exercise. He looked at Austin who was face down on the mat. His chest rising and falling. James felt bad Austin was protecting him and caught a majority of the blows.

“Alright its recovery time.” Dallas said he was back in his red sweat suit and didn't even look like he broke a sweat. He had a snake-like grin stretched across his face. James hung his head in defeat, Austin’s dad was on another level
Like a zombie Austin rose up his clothes slightly torn but for the most part he looked okay.
“Sorry wished I could have done more.” James said as he helped him from the seated position off the mat. He really needed to get faster and stronger.

“Well we didn’t get shredded so I count that as a win.” Austin patting him on the back. We just have to work harder. In the meantime it’s CBD and wolfsbane time.”

James had a lot to reflect on but he was excited to do the next thing. They went into this suna like room. It was warm but not uncomfortable. He sat on the wooden bench as he relaxed under the warm air.

“Oh man you are not ready.” Austin said as he laid on the bench.
“Well kids get comfortable and clear your minds.” Austin’s dad closed the door as laid down as well.

A thick white cloud came down like a curtain and blanketed the room. Every breath that James took he felt him relaxing more and more, his body became heavy, then his eyelids. He tried to struggle to stay up but he didn’t last long.

He opened his eyes to a grassy field, nothing around just a blue sky, the warm sun on his back and a breeze that was strong enough to cool him off. He started walking. It felt like a dream but he was aware like he was in a lucid state.
A black werewolf over 8 feet tall approached him. James knew he should have been scared but instead he stared the wolf down.

“Welcome to my domain little one.” The wolf growled.

“Are you my inner wolf?” James asked.

“Yes little one I am. I am the black wolf or as they say the loner wolf. The protector of the lands and your inner wolf.”

“Are you going to work with me?” James asked, staring into the wolf’s lavender eyes.

“As long as our goals align, I want peace on this land you must not choose side but be on the side of the land.”

James nodded his head. This made sense because he didn’t quite belong to either group.

“We will uncover the truth together. Thank you for lending me your strength.” James bent a knee to the wolf, to his surprise the wolf bent copied him and their foreheads touched.

His eyes opened as he looked at Austin and Dallas. There must be something that they are hiding and he would have to uncover the truth.

Chapter Text

He hated school now more than ever; he just needed to get outside and run. Even though it was cold and raining it felt like the perfect opportunity to workout. For the second week Karen was missing, he looked over at her empty desk in their astronomy class. He missed her because she hasn’t been around to share his journey of growth. It was the last day before Thanksgiving break and this the time that they would spend talking over what they were going to do over the break.

“Hey James I know you are sad that Karen is gone but relax your eyes are changing.” Mr. Gold whispered into his ear as he circled the room making sure that everyone was working. He went back to finding the distance between the sun and Venus which he had to continous go back to his notes and back to his work.

“James I need you to stay after class.” Mr. Gold said as they packed to leave for the day. The whole class just stared at him probably wondering what he did. They all looked back at each other like they couldn’t figure it out. 

“Alright Mr. G.” James sat back down, it would take awhile for everyone to leave. He wondered what the school protector wanted. They did warn him about Will and possibly the basketball team as part of Death Song.

Are you coming today? Austin's voice broke through his thoughts. He still wasn’t used to it. 

Um, no Devon is holding me back I’ll text you when I'm free.

Alright J-dog see you later. 

James could feel Austin smile, which made him smile; it felt like they were connecting on a deeper level. There was five days before his first shift and his parents came home tonight. After not seeing them for the better part of a month he was ready.

“Hey sorry to keep you I know that you are missing out but I wanted to update you about Karen.” He paused in his usual speech pattern he smoothed back his jet black hair that was pulled into a ponytail. “I checked for her at home and she wasn’t there. I spoke to her mother and she said she went to go stay with her dad so I was going to swing by. Do you want to come?” 

James nodded his head. They headed out. James was quiet; he was thinking about everything he wanted to say to Karen when he saw her. Explain to her how she hurt him and how he was sorry for not telling her the truth.

“You can’t tell her the truth.” Mr. Gold said it was like he could read his mind. He pulled out his umbrella covering them. 

“But I will feel bad if I don’t say something I lied and she left.” James said as they crossed the campus. He felt eye digging to his back, he wanted to tell them he wasn’t in trouble but he knew there was nothing that he could do to stop rumors from spreading. 

“Look son I have been doing this for a while just stick with the pack and everything will work itself out.” He placed his tawny beige fingers on his green Honda Civic. 

“So whose car was that on the night of the attack?” James asked, raising his eyebrow at the downgrade. 

“One of the boss' many cars. Just get in.” Mr. Gold sighed as he got behind the driver's seat. 

“Whatever you say Mr.G.” James sat his backpack between his legs as they took off down the road.

“So how did you become a werewolf?” James asked as he watched cars zoom by them on the highway. He figured that Austin and Dallas it was hereditary but unless they were Koren no way that would be the case for Mr. G. 

“ selected me because of my knowledge of of astronomy and how the moon affects the different stages of being a werewolf like right now I bet you noticed the coarse hairs that is steadily been growing now that we are in the finally phase of Waxing Gibbous in two nights it will be a full moon.”

“Does that mean we get stronger as the more exposed the moon is?” James asked, it reminded him of when they did the different phases of the moon. 

“Yes it is, good observation we are directly tied to its phases, and its eclipses.” For the first time in James’ life his teacher smiled at him.

As they turned into a suburb styled city, with all the same cookie cutter houses stacked right next to each other like they couldn’t breathe. James looked on as people on their porches stared at them, he knew that you don’t accidentally wander into the suburbs. And being a black kid in America they probably thought he was up to no good. 

They turned into a Cul de sac the same yellow houses surrounded them that he had seen when they entered. James came to the conclusion that if you saw one suburb you’ve seen them all. Mr. Gold got out of the car with his nose turned up like he smelled something wrong. James got out and followed suit. Something acidic was hanging in the air like a bad omen.  James did not get a good feeling from this, something in the pit of his stomach made him want to hurl and run as far as he could. 

“James we need to leave now.” 

James looked at Mr. G he looked terrified, his tawny beige skin looked paler than usual. James almost followed but he approached the door. His heart thudded in his chest as he got closer, he was breathing heavily out of his mouth he just had to make sure she was okay, he did not like the air that was coming from the house. His vision shifted to ultraviolet everything looked blue. He looked down and saw black splotches on the ground and the smell of iron attacked his nose. It was blood, she must have been injured by something. He reached for the door knob half wanting to run the other wanting to run. He gulped and opened the door. 

His heart sank. There was a white wolf in the living room staring back at him; it was like one of those terrible Twilight movie wolves 7ft tall on all fours. Their eyes were the bluest that he had ever seen. He was frozen, he wanted to run but couldn’t, he knew it was Karen but she wasn’t present. The werewolf was towering over something that was hidden by the blue sectional couch, blood was around their snout.

“Sorry.” James backed out of the house and closed the door and he heard something hit the door. 

James almost jumped when Mr. G placed his hand on his shoulder. “Next time listen to me boy. The white wolf is the most dangerous wolf.”

“What are we going to do, that's  my friend.”James whined as they got into the car. 

“I’ll contact Dallas and I’m taking you home. You need to get ready to shift. So pack an overnight bag and be ready to come over tomorrow. And bring your homework.” 

Mr. G spent most of the trip talking to Dallas leaving James to think about how he probably was going to have to fight his friend at some point. He would try to save her if he could. He needed to have a conversation with his wolf about it. Which meant that he would have to visit Austin’s house.

He grimaced as he fingered his bracelet that Karen got him. What have you done?  

His phone vibrated. It was his mom. He hit the answer button.

“Where are you?” His mom asked before he could say anything.

He had forgotten that they were coming back today. 

“Uh on my way home, my teacher held me back.” James stammered.

“Okay sweetie be home soon we have presents for you.” 

He hung up the phone. He cringed, their gifts were never really cool just t-shirts or magnets from where they visited from. His thoughts were already swirling on how he would have to react. He would go back to strict schedules and homework checks every night he knew it would be worth it to be on his best behavior.

As he was getting ready to get out of his teacher car Mr. Gold reached into the back of the car and handed him a piece of paper.

“This is a thanksgiving break slip for your parents. It sounds like you need this.” He smiled at James for what felt like the first time ever. 

“Thank you, see you on thetrip.” James smiled back.

Maybe his teacher wasn’t that bad, he could never let him know that though. He was worried about him getting a fat head or worse him trying to be friends, gross.

“Dang you have grown boy.” His mom patted his cheek. Her  He was now towering over her. Hopefully they wouldn’t notice the muscle growth and how right now he felt like he looked like an adult with the amount of facial hair he had grown.

His parents seemed to have gotten darker since they had went on there trip they both were a darker umber. His dad’s jet black braids looked like they needed to be retouched..

The thing about his mom was she was trans. But she was still his mom. He didn’t find it weird or anything she had always been his mom and nothing else. He would have to keep this secret from them like he did his sister. 

“You get bit by something?”  this time his dad asked. As they hugged.

“Nope just a growth spurt.” He laughed, he hoped it was convincing enough. Because if they caught who knows how’d they react.

“How was the trip?” James asked. 

“Italy is beautiful this time of year. I wish we could have taken you two.” He clasped his hand on his back. “We’ll just have to go as a family another time.” 

“Oh I have a school trip that I’m going on.” James blurted out. Real smooth.

“Oh, where?” 

“Camping trip with my astronomy class.” James gave the biggest smile he could give.

“Can we chaperone?” His mom asked as she brought bags into the living room.

“Nope, they have enough chaperones and don’t y’all want to relax. It's been a month since you have been home.”

“Yeah hun leave the boy alone we still have to unpack.” 

“Oh alright, here we got you a wolf’s tooth necklace, we now how much you like werewolves thought you would enjoy it.”

The inner beast in him cried out in pain. Something wasn’t right when he picked it up, it was almost like he could feel a connection with the tooth and who it belonged to. He wanted to grill his parents about where they got the tooth from but he knew that he wouldn’t get a straight answer. 

“Thank you, it's perfect.” placing the fakest smile he could muster. 

James was kinda freaking out about the tooth.He had escaped into his room and was pacing around a bit trying to gather his thoughts. it could be a werewolf tooth, but who did it belong to? How did his parents get it? He had so many questions to ask but he didn’t know who to ask. He picked up his phone and called Austin. 

“Hey bud what’s up, ready for the week?” Austin asked, answering the phone.

“Yeah, weird question, but are there werewolves in italy?” James whispered his question. 

“Yeah that’s where our quadrennial meetings are held, why?

“Well my parents brought me a wolf’s tooth and I feel as if it isn’t a regular tooth and it belonged to one of us.” 

“Okay bring it tomorrow and we can ask the doc, she’ll love it. Gotta get back to working out Jayman talk to you later.” 

James hung up, it was a bit of a bust he was hoping for a quick answer but he would have to wait. He looked at his phone so maybe he could try and narrow it down. He opened google and began his search on his tiny iphone SE

A few hours later he couldn’t find a single lead not even through various subreddit forms. He uncrossed his feet and laid down in his bed with his phone hanging inches from his face, he should probably sleep but he just wanted to know it was like a burning sensation in his body. He locked his phone setting it down, he would have to continue later.

Chapter Text

It was another cloudy day. They had been traveling all day. He paused the vine compilation that he and Austin were watching together. He handed Austin's air pod back, maybe he would ask his parents for a pair. He climbed out of the SUV. His jaw hit the floor he was thinking that they were going to be sleeping in tents and sleeping bags. He finally understood why they laughed when he brought a sleeping bag and a spare tent. It was a cabin house but like the size of a mansion.

“16 bedrooms complete with everything you need and more, all courtesy of our pack.” Dallas said as he carried his two suitcase down the gravel road.

“Sorry they do this to everyone it’s the only hazing they do.” Austin said as he grabbed his suitcase.

“Well I’m glad I was wrong,” James laughed. “So where am I staying because I know there are more than sixteen of us.” James said counting at least 20 cars parked in the grass.

“Oh with the K.I.T crew. There’s a couple of other high schoolers that come.”

“Oh what does kit mean?” James asked as they started down the path.

“Kids In Tow. Oh I can’t wait for Kas… Redwing to meet you, she loves newbies especially teens.” Austin gushed.

“Sounds like you are sweet on her.” James chuckled.

“It’s not like that.” Austin shoved him. “She's just really cool.”

Good he thought but he couldn’t quite figure out why that was good.

As Austin started to walk through the door James gave a little shove. Austin gasped as he fell in. He dropped his stuff as he locked arms with Austin. He felt the power behind Austin’s grip this time he felt like he could win, now that he was lifting around 250. He felt himself pushing Austin back. His heart started racing and he could finally beat him. A smile spread across his face, then he felt himself stumble back. Welp at least he made austin slip. But James was still falling back.

He was surprised when he didn’t hit the floor he was just suspended in mid fall.

“Well it looks like Sliverpelt is still cheating.” the person who was holding him up had a sort of raspy voice.

“And it looks like Redwing bailing them out.”

“Cheating?” James asked as he was hanging out in RedWIng’s arms.
“Yeah he boosts his strength when he starts losing, it's very subtle.” She stuck her tongue out him.”

She lifted James back with ease. When he saw that she was taller than both of them James was a bit starstruck.

“Sorry I just never met someone so tall .” James said. Her hair was the reddist he had ever seen; it was the color of a hot Cheetos.

“I’m 7’0 even so I’m probably the tallest person here.” She laughed.

“I’m BlackSky by the way.” He stammered getting his werewolf name out of his mouth. They had him choose one but it was hard for him to remember to use it.

“Well met. Let’s kick this party up stairs and meet the rest of the crew.
“

As they walked through the cabin he saw the sheer friendliness of everyone. He met so many people that he couldn’t remember all of their faces and names. He laughed at jokes that he couldn’t hear.

Once he got up stairs he was greeted by more teenagers his age. They were playing Mario Kart on the switch. James placed his stuff under the couch. And they all introduced themselves to him.

He was currently lounging watching them race on a nice black leather couch stuffing his face with fruit. When Redwing sat next to him.

“How are you joining the spot?”

“Actually having a good time, y’all are really cool.” James said in between bites of an apple.

“Well a few of us are going to ditch the adults later tonight and hangout at this natural warming spring you wanna come?”

“Uh sure I guess.” James said.

“Come James play with us before we have to leave. “ A tan looking kid said, James couldn’t quite remember their name.

He nodded his head and grabbed the Joy-Con. He hadn’t played Mario Kart in years but he was familiar enough with the controls. Austin smirked at him when they started the race. James felt his hands go into overtime as he controlled Yoshi around Mario Circuit, he easily beat everyone they just stared; he did the same for the next two courses. On the last course he felt like he was moving 5x faster than everyone else. They decided to gang up on him but he was dodging out the way out of their attacks. A blue shell flew towards him and he waited till the last frame to use a mushroom to zip across the finish line before it could hit him.

“Finally found something that you can beat me at.” Austin he chuckled.

“Well it looks like we have a new champ, crown this man.” Redwing lifted him up. Austin brought out this burger king plastic crown and placed it on his head.

“As my first order free pizza every week.” James laughed as he was carried out of the room.

They were laughing until they were outside on the grass. They brought out their phones and turned it into an improv photoshoot. He posed for multiple photos he felt like he was at one of those outdoor festivals.

Finally it was the night of the shift he felt good sitting out in the wild. He let out a meaty howl feeling the earth beneath his toes felt especially good. He looked over at the many pack members that he had met over the last few days. It was a big pack over at least twenty members but he liked hanging out with the minors who were close to him in age.

“Are you ready Jayman? Austin asked as his fangs had already begun to grow.

James' body was still feeling hot and cold. Like when he had first begun to shift something felt off. But he was too nervous to say anything so he just nodded his head. He looked down and his nails started to turn into claws, patches of black fur began to grow on the back of his hand. He felt his vision sharpen to where he could clearly see at night through the trees and to almost the edges of the forest. His short hair lengthened and covered his face. He pulled out an elastic band and pulled the loose coils into a ponytail. He was prepared for anything.

He looked around him and he was surrounded by wolves, various shades of slivers,reds, and browns. Dallas was the biggest one with the brightest coat, the white and silver in his coat seemed to sparkle under the night sky as he stood on a rock.

“Congrats for making it to another meeting, I'll keep it short so we can truly experience this beautiful November night. I have to introduce another member to our pack. He goes by BlackHawk.” Dallas beckend James to where he was standing.

James walked over to where Dallas was standing. He would have to lead the howl out being a new member and all.

“Thank you for giving me sh..elter.” He knew his voice was shaking but there was nothing that he could do he would have to persevere. “And thank you for showing me how to be a werewolf.” He let the wolf inside him give out a very powerful deep howl, every one joined him. They could have been howling for minutes or hours but it sounded so beautiful and in harmony.

“Come on. I gotta show you our favorite spot.” Austin said as they broke off. James had taken off with the KIT crew.

He ran with them, well James wouldn't call it running with them he more so trailed them but with his vision he kept up with them. They probably covered a few miles in a matter of minutes but when they stopped they were in the densest part of the forest. As they kept walking it seemed to open up to a large pool steam rose off the top of the water.

“Man finally hot spring time I hate that I never find this place in human form. HalfMoon growled as he lowered himself into the water. James sat down and watched as Austin who had a pelt that could rival his dad’s for how beautiful it was and how the moon light caught his coat. It was an inverse of his dad's; it was silver with and black that went down his back. And his coat puffed out around his neck resembling a mane.

“I see you have taken a liking to Spottedpelt.” Redwing patted James on the back with her paw.

His eyes went wide, he shook his head. “No, he's just a friend. He helped me make it out alive without his help. I think I would have been dead.”

“Ah I forgot that you have been a werewolf for only a month. How were you changed?” She asked, her intense orange eyes stared at him making him feel as if he couldn’t escape.

“Oh uhhh,” he stammered.” “Me and my friend thought that it would be a great idea to try and go “werewolf hunting” in the woods that lead to the unfinished library actually not too far from here.” The realization hit him. “We were going to be attacked anyway. We were just lucky that our teacher helped us.” James’ voice faded out.

“Oh so that’s why your scent is familiar.” RedWings wolf voice was gravely.

He sniffed the air to remember the RedWing scent but something smelled off , the scent of humans invaded his nose. He looked up when a blinding light flashed through the air blinding them and a loud bang rang through the air. Making so he couldn’t see or hear

“Where is Spottedpelt?” James growled this must have been a planned attack. He rubbed his eyes still not being able to see as well but he was doing considerably better than the actual wolves who were bumbling around. He didn’t get a precise answer.

He reached out again to see if he could feel or talk to Austin. He just felt some turbulent thoughts but he wasn’t able to communicate with him. But he was able to see three heat signatures hiding in the woods. Someone was aiming at Austin he rushed and took a crossbow bolt to his shoulder, it was laced with something because he felt his strength being sapped. He groaned from the pain. He ran towards their attackers. He started with a dead sprint that quickly turned to him on all fours like he was going up the stairs at home. He was galloping towards their assailants. He tackled the smaller one he raised his claws towards her throat, when he noticed her hair, it was like his sister's signature bun. Then he looked at her face and she looked terrified, he was about to kill his sister.

His blood ran cold, no way they could be Werewolf hunters. He didn’t have time to worry about being werewolf hunters. He could feel his parents step getting closer.

“Any closer and she dies.” He said, turning his eyes from his parents and sister.

“Okay okay, just let her go please.” The amount of fear and worry in his dad’s voice almost broke him. But he had to remind himself that they were trying to actively kill him and his pack.

“And leave us alone or we will hunt you down.” James growled his final warning letting his sister fall as he faded back into the dark. His shoulder was killing him as he walked back to the he gripped the bolt and tried to pull at it but he couldn’t pull it out it was like it was lodged in him.

James?!? Austin’s voice broke through his head.

James smiled at least Austin was okay, he felt under his shirt blood started to soak through it. He didn’t know if he hated his parents more for not telling that werewolves were real or hunting them down and killing them. He just shook his head.

Yeah Austin I’m headed back. He started jogging back. His mind went back to a few moments ago and wondered if he would have really done it if his parents walked any closer. Could he have killed to protect the pack and as he pulled back up to the pack he was still unsure if he could.

“Dude you saved us.” One of the wolves could remember what his name was.

James slumped down. His breath started to come out labored as his shoulder started to hurt him more as time went on. He let out a low growl as he gripped the bolt that was still leaking out the painful toxin into his bloodstream.
“I’ll run and get some help.” He heard the panic in Austin's voice.

“Don’t.” James struggled to “Don’t worry about me.” He huffed then his vision went black.

Chapter Text

James rubbed where the bolt was once lodged into his right shoulder. It had been a few days since he had been shot by his sister. He was still indecisive if he wanted to go back home or not, his sister could have told his parents or she could do it herself to prove herself to their parents. He grimaced as he focused on his drawing for his class. He was glad that his teacher made them draw in silence if he didn’t know if he could fake having a good Thanksgiving break. He was still working on his self portrait making sure that his lines were nice and straight. He felt the tension in wrist he just wanted to go to Austi’s already. It was the third day back from Thanksgiving break and he just wanted to be anywhere except for school.

Calm James I can feel your anger and so can the others. Austin entered his headspace. James shook his head and pushed Austin’s mind out of his. He wasn’t ready to have someone enter his mind but he did take several deep breaths as continued to draw. \

He looked around the room and waited to see if anyone was looking at him but for the most part everyone was working. Though he wasn’t sure what he could be looking for. He had a very generic idea what “Werewolf powers” were and there could be more to it than what he thought.

The bell released him, he quickly ran out of the room as he was released for their regularly scheduled lunch break, and with his new diet it felt like he was eating at all times of the day. As he was walking towards the Gym where he ate lunch with Austin he felt 10 pairs of eyes on his back the pure power and hunger he felt coming from them were almost overpowering but he kept walking even if it felt like he was walking through thick syrup.

“You alright?” Austin asked as James grabbed his stomach and doubled over in pain, he flinched when Austin rested his hand on his shoulder. James felt cold and when he tried to talk his lip just kept quivering

“Did you run into the other pack?” Austin said as he rubbed James’ back.

James nodded his head as he shivered. He wasn’t sure what they did to him but he felt like it was the coldest winter that he had ever experienced.

“They have some Wolves with special abilities, 95% of werewolves are techainaly just wolves but some have rare talents. Like me I can communicate with anyone in the pack. They must have a mind walker. They must have done a number. Do you want to go home?”
James nodded his head no as he felt like his brain was defrosting. He could do this; he just needed ten minutes. He shared food with Austin, today’s lunch was roasted buttermilk chicken with herbs.

“Oof that was delicious.” James finally said after finishing his food as he basically licked the juices off of his hand.

“Are you okay now?” Austin asked.

James was still trying to gather his thoughts because he didn’t know if okay was a good way of explaining how he felt.

“Who did it?” Austin asked cutting James off.

“Well I-”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?” Austin had a pained expression on his face.
“Austin stop,” James placed his hand on Austin's shoulder. “ I’m okay, I promise it just scared me is all and no I do know who did it. I felt eyes on my back then it felt like I was walking through molasses and then it just got cold.” He didn’t know how else to put it.

“Please don’t push me out of your mind. I can protect you.” Austin said with a soft voice and he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

James could almost laugh he had this lengthy white kid being soft towards him if any one needed protection it was him. He allowed their minds to touch again the rest of the frost instantly melted and he was back to being warm again.

“Is there a way to test for these abilities?” James asked as started his homework for his history class.

“No, you either show it or you don’t.” Austin shook his head at him.

“What I forgot to do it.” James said. He sensed a group of people heading towards him. He looked around. “Is it those girls again, we should talk to them.” James said as he scanned his textbook for the answer.

“Yes, but they won’t because they are passively getting charmed by our powers.” Austin so matter of factly as he waved at them.

“Yeah well they think we are cute I mean who are we to deny them.” James said as he raised his eyebrows at Austin. “I like your sweater today Alise.” James said as he waved at her. She blushed in her oversized salmon pink wool sweater.
“Yes nice sweater but we can’t hangout today James has to finish his homework.”

They all groaned as they left them alone. James looked down back at his homework; he shouldn’t have entertained them. He has to do better than letting a couple of girls distract him, not telling when the other pack would show up. Hopefully Austin didn’t think less of him for being swayed by their followers.

“Come on James you can’t lean into it, remember when I dated Case and how bad that went. We only lasted 2 weeks and I was miserable. He was obsessed with me wanting to see me all the time. It's not worth it, your best bet is to date another werewolf we aren’t affected by.”

“Jeez that makes sense, I always wanted to know what happened between the two of you. I guess Giana is off the table then” James gave a weak laugh.

“Unfortunately.”

“Eh, it's fine.” James rubbed the back of his neck as he packed his homework back up and put it

“But RedWing is single and i saw how you were looking at her.” Austin wiggled his eyebrows back at James.

He shook his head at Austin.”Nah she's too cool and I don’t want to mess up our relationship.

He was just interested in being friends with her not wanting to really date. He was really worried about Karen to focus on being with anyone. He waved bye at Austin as he headed to class. He hasn’t heard from her in almost a month and no telling if she actually shifted back or she was still a white wolf, he had to stop himself from letting out at a somber howl. He placed his headphones into his ears as he lined up for P.E. he put on Stay by Riri.

He was playing basketball distracted, the ball slipped through his fingers once again. His teammates looked at him like he killed their favorite dog. At the moment he was tall and large for no reason he couldn’t shake everything that was happening to him at the moment. He didn’t know what he should focus on first.

“Come on James, get your head into the game we can go to the finals.” Alex said as another person just blew past him.

“Sorry.”

He threw everything that he was dealing with out the door as he checked the ball at the top of the court. He mimicked what he saw basketball players did when they played defense. He still got beat off the dribble and he had to sprint to chase down Maliq. As the ball left Maliq’s hand James jumped and palmed the ball out of the air and passed the ball to the top of the key. He ran parallel with the baseline and set a pick for Alex and rolled with him towards the hoop, Alex threw it up and James jumped for the ball again and dunked it in the hoop sending them to finals.

“Wow I can’t believe you can actually dunk. I had a hunch but dang man that was freaking cool. We can run that again tomorrow ”

He turned around and mentally face palmed himself, he did it again, everyone stared at him like he was a freak of nature. He would have to explain that he had a medical condition that prevented him from participating in sports. He escaped out of the gym he would go change at home he hated changing in front of his classmates. As he ran out the side door he ran into someone, he fell over. It felt like he ran into a solid wall. He looked up wondering who could possibly knock him over. It was this olive skin girl with white blonde hair, she was decked out in a black leather jacket.

“Sorry James I didn’t know you would be coming out so fast.”

“Karen?” James said as stared at her she was glowing and looked like she got taller but nothing to the point that he was growing.

“It's me.” She laughed.

The last time he saw her she was a huge white wolf that he later found out that her dad was severely injured from her attack. A low growl escaped his mouth before he had a chance to stop it.

“That hurts me..” Her eyes had changed to red coloring that probably to the human eye seemed amber.

“I can’t believe that you attacked your dad.” James said, shaking his head.

“He wasn’t supposed to be there but here we are, I’ll tell you what met me after school at the basketball game and we can talk freely about what happened to me.”

He knew that she was trying to trap him and get back into his life. But he nodded his head. He would ask if Austin could come with him.

“I’ll be there.” He gave a final nod as she walked away, he would figure out what she wanted and why she was back then leave her alone forever. After a few minutes of processing what just happened he still ran home a lot faster than he should have. He was lost in every situation that he was dealing with. When he got home his sister opened up the door and was dressed like she was going to be gone for the day. He put his hand to wave goodbye but he quickly dropped it.
“Hey sis.” James muttered

“Hey, how was school?” she had hair pulled into a ponytail that went down her back.

“It was okay, my basketball team won at P.E. and we get to play in the finals tomorrow.” He didn’t know if he should address the elephant in the room or not.

“I didn’t tell mom or dad.” She spat out. He sighed and looked around to make sure that one was around.

“Oh thanks for not telling them, are you going to continue hunting me down?” James asked.

“I don’t know, maybe? You are a hulking monster that terrorizes the city.” She said so matter of factly that he almost questioned himself.

“Oh come on you three are werewolf hunters and weren’t going to tell me that they were real. Of course I would get curious and search for an answer and because I got scratched we are now mortal enemies and not siblings.”

“That’s what Mom and Dad told me no matter who is a werewolf we have to hunt and kill them.”

“And you believe them?”

No I…” Sam stuttered. “Yes I believe them and the last full moon proved how dangerous you are and how serious of a threat that you are to this community.”

James just stared at her. He was frustrated but he couldn’t show it. He was absolutely giving her the business in his head. He shook his head. “But why do you believe that I am some type of mindless beast I never considered killing you but I know you, mom and dad would have no problem killing me.” He finally managed to squeeze out between gritted teeth.

“I can’t deny that you are my brother even if you are a beastman. I’ll keep your little secret but if you injury someone then I will come after you, and I’ll tell mom and dad

“Fine, that sounds fair, also no hunting my friends as well.”

“Anything else?” She said it sarcastically but he looked at her face and could tell that she meant it. “I can’t promise that mom and dad will understand but I’ll try my best. Any way off for more training with them.”

He just shook his head, as he entered the house to shower and change his clothes, as he walked in he soaked in the house the once vibrant house looked dark and evil he went up the stairs and quickly hopped in the shower as he washed the day off of him while listening to The Resistance. He threw on a white pullover he put on a jean jacket for maximum warmth, and finished the look off with a pair of ripped jeans and white shoes .

He texted Austin to meet him at basketball. He jogged his way to the game going at a 5 minute pace or that was according to his phone. When he arrived he quickly sniffed out Karen, he didn’t want to waste any time trying to squeeze by people. As he got closer to her location he could hear the sounds of multiple voices overlapping one another he ran behind the office to find her lip locking with the sophomore’s biggest geek, Stanley.

“It’s fine Stanley.” James said as he saw the kid turn beet red, “Remember I was the one to set you two up in the first place.”

“Yeah but have you seen my girlfriend? She is a total smoking.”

“See Stanley gets it, let's get to the game.”

James heard Austin approaching. “Hey y’all sorry I’m late.”

Karen's face lit up, and her mouth dropped slightly. “Oh so this is who you have been hanging out with lately, I didn’t know you where gay.”

James went hot with embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his head, Well i’m bi and not seeing him but we have been hanging out since you've been gone for two months.”

“Y...yeah I just been filling in the void.” Austin stammered as he fiddled with his shirt sleeves.

“Well anyways let's get to the game.” Karen shrugged her shoulders and took her boyfriend's hand while they walked towards the gym. James followed behind her still trying to figure out her angle and what she wanted from him.

As they sat in the corner of the gym under the bright lights, it was packed as expected if not for his super hearing he would not understand what Karen was saying to him.

“Can you hear me?” Karen's mouth barely moved but he could hear her clearly.

He nodded his head, James looked at Stanley who was smiling unaware of what was going on.

“Okay so what I wanted to tell you is that I have joined the other pack.”

James stared forward at the game that their school was easily dominating. He watched them run down the court. “Why? You know that they tried to kidnap Austin and I when we went to their party.”

“Well they offered me a chance to be changed and I wasn’t going to let you be the only one but little did I know that Austin was part of this as well.

“Why haven’t you been at school?” James asked as he watched their basketball team dominate.

“Well it was a more painful transformation than yours I was in and out of the hospital for like a month and when you caught me in my dad’s house that was when I had escaped the hospital.”

“And now you are back at school like nothing happened. How many of them are watching us right now”

She thought for a second and glanced around for a bit. “10 not including the basketball team.”

James blinked, this wasn’t good he was frozen in place. He gripped Austin's knee as he tried his hardest to continue looking at the game.

We need to get out of here, get your dad. Was all that James communicated to Austin as.

“What do you want with us?” James asked as he prepared to jet down the hard plastic bleachers.

“They just want their territory back and you were just a way to get-” James never got a chance to hear what she said as he sprinted down the stairs and leaping the last four down as he shifted gears and sprinted through the door he turned his head slightly to see if Austin was following.

Keep running, he is on his way here. Just listen to their steps.

James kept up his pace as he reached the main road. He listened closely and he could hear their footsteps slowly fading away as he ran harder. He just didn’t want them to catch up, he didn’t know how long he had to run but he was prepared to run to the next city which was around 10 miles away. He saw a pair of headlights approaching from behind him. As the car drove beside him. He looked inside to see how fast he was going and the speedometer was clocking around 30 mph.

“Looks like you guys need a hand. The back door opened up and James slowed down enough to be angled with the door and dove in. He looked out the door and saw Austin sprinting as he dove in as well. James reached over him and slammed the door close.

“Thanks sir.” James panted as he rested his head back.

“No problem son. Glad I was able to make it in time no telling what they wanted from you two.”

“They said something about wanting their territory back dad.”

“Ah I see this is starting up again well, young James your training is going to have to pick up then. We have to be ready for anything.”

James looked out the window. He couldn’t believe what he had got himself into and it seemed like it wasn’t going to be ending anytime soon.

Chapter Text

James put down the Controller as he sat on the edge of his bed, He was shirtless after his workout and tired but he couldn't quite sleep so he was playing Witcher 3 for like the third time, during the Christmas break he had been working super hard if he wasn’t doing actual workout he was doing pushups. They put on a new diet that had him thinning out so he was on the leaner side of things much to his disappointment but he was still as strong. He flexed his muscles and as they popped up he gave a smirk.

“Stop playing with yourself.” A voice said coming from the door.

James almost jumped out of his bed, he was so accustomed to his hearing and sense of smell that he couldn’t believe he didn’t hear or smell Austin who was standing in his doorway with a goofy expression on his face.

“What’s poppin?” James asked as he slipped a T-shirt on.

“Nothing just bored, what are you doing.”

James just looked at his controller, and then looked back at Austin. “Nothing, I was thinking about baking but then I remembered the rules.”

“Well if you bake with me then it should be fine.”
James' eyes lit up. He turned off his stuff and quickly made a mental note of the things he would need for some Holiday Cookies. It was two days before Christmas and six days before the full moon. There was a reason to celebrate.

“So do we still go to the camping site even if it’s snowing out there?”

“Yeah but it rarely snows.”

James nodded his head as he searched high and low for cinnamon, nutmeg and any other holiday seasonings, it was a massive kitchen that could be two rooms rolled in one. He found what he needed pressed in the far corners of a cabinet.

“So what does your dad do actually to afford all of this.” James said as he mixed his dry ingredients together.

“You know I really don’t know, all I know is that he gets on the phone for about seven or eight hours, screams at people and writes emails, nothing really exciting.”

“Well be careful because I had to find out the tough way that my parents aren’t exactly the business people that I thought they were.” James rubbed the tooth that rested around his neck; it was his little reminder that his parents weren’t who he thought they were.

“I know my dad isn’t doing anything illegal or potentially murdering anyone he would tell me.”

James just nodded his eggs as he mixed in the wet ingredients and formed some cookies. He looked at Austin and he looked a little conflicted.

“I’m sorry, most likely your dad isn’t doing anything to harm anyone.” James said as he slid the cookies into the oven setting them for 17 minutes. “My parents have destroyed my trust of people that I consider secretive. I hope I see them go to jail for their crimes. But I can’t go to the police and claim that my parents are killing people out of state.

“Maybe they’ll slip up. Or we can set them up.” Austin’s eyes brightened up mentioning setting them up.

“That’s not a bad idea but i’m not sure how to set them up.”

“Well have you seen car bait?”

“I have.” James squinted his eyes.

“Well what if we call the cops on them while trying to hunt us down.”

“But they will claim that they are hunting wolves, fool.” James laughed.
“They'll have all types of special equipment no way that works.”
“Yeah but you forget “wolves” have been killing people for some months and now we have to deal with Karen. This will make all of that plausible.

“Dang your parents are good yeah. We just need to find who is killing people and maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

“That might work. If I can do a full shift we should look for them.” James said as watched Austin’s brain seem to work overtime. His friend was smart in the sense of being a werewolf and knowing his stuff but that was usually it. But that was why he liked him bright in some areas but still needed help in staying alive.

Finally the cookies were done and the heightened senses also affected his sense of taste and the cookies tasted glorious. He had to stop himself from taking another cookie. He heard a car approaching around five miles away it sounded like Mr.Dallas’ car they both looked at each other and looked in the kitchen was wrecked. flour and cookie batter covered the counters They somehow managed to get some on the ceiling, they quickly rushed and cleaned. Once they finished it looked better then when they found it.

“That was close.” Austin laughed. “Alright get out of here ill talk to him about the cookies.”

James nodded as he skipped up the steps his phone rang, when he saw who it was he cocked his head to the side, maybe she was calling by mistake.

“H-hello.” James muscles tensed

“I didn’t actually expect you to pick me up.” Karen southern drawl came out clearly.

“Well, you're still my friend.” James said as he closed the door to his temporary room. “So what’s up?”

“Can we meet?” Karen almost sounded sorry.

He felt like this was a set up but not the same as the basketball game.

“Are you trying to trick me again?” James said glaring.

“Nah I’m going to show you something that I think that you should see for yourself.”

“Alright hold on let me get dressed first because something tells me this is going to be illegal.” He shook his head at himself. He was getting himself caught up in some white bullshit again but he always had trouble saying no. Worst that could happen is that he gets attacked but he was stronger now so that was unlikely and he was pretty sure that he could still out run them.

He opened the window and jumped out, he landed on his toes. He looked up to see how far he jumped. He was surprised that he made that jump with ease. Not everyone could say that they could jump off of the fourth floor and come out fine. He turned his attention back to the task at hand. He took a sniff of the air to see if he could catch Karen scent. Her tar like scent was faint but he locked in on it, he took off in her direction.

At some point he was going down multiple trails breaking off and on them he could see her scent trail. It was white in the air as he got closer the more clear it was. He turned into this massive field. The field was a deep purple from the petals. He felt himself starting to shift he was trying to fight it.

“Don’t fight it.” A deep growl came from behind him.

He jumped and quickly turned around to be face to face to a white wolf.

“But it’s not a full moon.” James taking a step back.

“Do not allow these peasants control you. We don’t play by their rules.”

“But why did you bring me here?” James asked as he continued to fight it.

“You had to see what Texas family is up to.”

“And What am I looking at exactly.” James was now on the ground still fighting against himself and losing, his vision was starting to go blurry.

“This is a farm for wolfbane, and using it to sell to other packs and he created banks so he can profit off the suffering of other packs.”

“How did you find this out we are only 15?” James groaned.

“The other pack leader, his brother Frisco.”

“Ah the one who tried to murder us, a he must be a nice guy.” James tried to laugh off the pain that seemed to radiate around his body.

“Do you know how to create wolfbane?” Karen asked.

“No but I’m guessin you are going to tell me.” James said through clenched teeth.

“They soak the soil in werewolf blood and it has to come from somewhere. They kidnap werewolves on the full moon.”

James didn’t have a response to that the pain became too much and felt his head split and he let out the loudest howl. After that he felt clarity, he stood up but something was off he felt like a skyscraper.

“They weren’t lyin when they said the black wolf was a beast.” Karen almost sounded normal?

“Huh.” His voice sounded like two boulders grinding together. He put his hands up. He shook them when he realized that they were paws.

“How do you feel?”

“Weird.” He closed his eyes and he could feel heart beats he could feel two coming in the direction from the big house. “I can feel werewolves’ heartbeat.” even though he was excited his voice just sounded monotonous.

“Good, now team up with me and we can control the packs.” Karen said nosing his side.

“I can't. I’m meant to restore the balance. Not control the balance.”

“But what about this.” She turned her muzzle back to the flowers.”

“That is a part but not the whole there are still things I need to figure out.”

“Whatever, just remember who was your friend first.” Karen took off. He watched her go until he could not see her anymore.

He was confused and he didn’t know what was right anymore. He didn’t know where to start, if he told Austin What he did or what his dad was doing he didn’t know how that would affect his relationship with his dad or him. He would see if they were actually kidnapping werewolves. He took another sniff of the air to see where Karen was going but another scent caught his attention. It was a nice lavender scent, his ears perked up. That was a cool feeling. He took off in the direction.

It was deep in the forest and it was a azilarating to run this fast. He closed his eyes and he felt a heartbeat; it was racing, maybe somebody was in trouble. He ran faster.

He was not prepared for what he saw. His sister was over a wolf it looked like it was Her first shift he still had human features. She was petrified, he was still a few meters away.

“Stop.” His voice came booming through. He stopped next to them grabbing his sister’s arm, he looked down and saw he was too late.

“What did you do Sam.” James growled.

“J-James?” She stammered. She looked terrified. He realized that he was lifting her up with ease.

“Yes sister. What the hell have you done.” He growled he felt his anger rising.

“S-she trying to kill someone.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know, Mom and Dad told me to.”

“Congrats now you are a murderer. He let her go. “What are you going to know now that the contract is void.” He wasn’t sure if he shouldn’t smite her where she stood. He let out a somber howl.

“Are you going to kill me now?”

He thought and didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure he couldn’t kill but he couldn’t allow her to roam free. “No you have to leave, move out of the state, get as far away from here as you can tell mom and dad that you are going to college.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t think that I am sparing you because I want to, there's more at stake than me getting revenge.” He growled. Things were starting to spiral out of control. And he was the balance then he needed to start balancing. He would start with his family.

Chapter Text

James pressed down on Austin wound it was bleeding and with the only lighting coming from the pregant moon that floated above them. Austin’s gray fur was matted from the blood coming from his abdomen. From what he could tell from the thick tree of the forest that they were sourrened, he felt the other wolves heartbeat.

“Well it looks like we won’t make it out of this situation alive.” James laughed as he continued to press his heavy black paw down. He should have known that hanging out on their own would have ended terribly.

“Oh come on it’s not over yet. I’m healing as we speak. Just buy me three minutes.”

“Just don’t die on me, your dad would have my pelt.” James grumbled. “Just follow my scent once you're fine to move.”

James dashed into the woods and past a group of wolves who instantly started to chase. He looked back and saw that he had gathered everyone. Now he needed Austin to heal up. He still wasn’t sure if he was right in leaving Austin on his own. For all he knew there was another wolf to finish off the job. He should have never involved Austin and figuring out how big the other pack had gotten.

Alright I’m back, keep running there’s a lake house that belongs to an old werewolf that they wouldn’t dare mess with.

He smelled for the water once his nose had locked on the scent. James made a beeline for. He felt the wolves get more frantic in their attempt to get to him but he knew that he could outrun them. He gradually picked up speed just going fast enough that he stayed out of their grasp but close enough to keep them on his trail.

“We just want to talk.” one puffed as the trees started to thin out. He continued running ignoring them.

“You know if you go to him he’ll just kill you.” Another puffed as the mansion came into view like an old castle.

Then everything went silent as he stopped and bent over to catch his breath. He looked around to see if he could see anybody or hear anything, but other than the trees and animals making noise he didn’t hear anything.

Austin? James thought as he started to look around. Maybe the old guy died or went on vacation. He didn’t hear anything back, he felt his power start to be sucked away, He was quickly changed back into a human.

His t-shirt and pants were ripped but his bag survived. Usually when it was cold he wasn’t really cold but now he was freezing. He unpacked his bag, putting on shoes and a jacket. He checked his phone, his LTE was on and he had full service but he didn’t know who to call.

“Hold up J-man. Austin was also back in his street clothes as well and sounded out of breath. He looked healthy other than his clothes looking as if he went through war. James held out his clothes and turned to give Austin privacy as he changed.

“So what is this?” James asked as he could barely make out anything in front of him and his hearing wasn’t as good either.

“I don’t know actually but let'ss go in and figure out.”

“You want me to go in.” James laughed. “Now why would I do that?”

“Because you love me.” Austin said as he passed by.

“Okay and I’ll still leave, you know what black people do in situations like this.” James paused in dramatic fashion. “Go home.”

“Yeah but have you thought about this,” Austin turned towards him and walked backwards. “You go back and the other pack tries and kills you or you get to meet a legend in the werewolf community.”

“Fine but only because I don’t actually know where I am.”

They approached the older house, James frowned at the door it had the old wooden wolf heads that doubled as a doorbell, Austin walked up to it and used the doorbell, and instead of a regular doorbell noise it was the sound of a wolf howl, James found himself holding on to Austin’s arm. They just looked at one another. And James shoved him anyway.

“What ya want Austin.”

“Well we need to come in for the night Uncle Frisco is looking for me.”

“Oh that boy is still mad that I gave your dad control of the farm and is actually making into a cash cow.”

“Yeah he’s out for vengeance. So can we come crash for the night?”

“We?”

“Oh I was hanging out with a packmate James when I got attacked.”

“Alright come on in.”

The door swung open, He was shocked to see that it was a modern house on the inside. The lights were on, finally he saw the owner of the house and his jaw almost hit the ground instead of a werewolf or a human he looked like the cross between the two. He had reddish fur and was dressed like he was going on a vacation on some type of island.

“Hey Pawpaw.”

“Hey Grandson. whats new?”

“Well I made a new friend and I aced all my test that’s pretty much it.”

“And how is your daddy?”

“He’s fine still trying to run the farm, How have you been pawpaw?”

As they were talking James took a look around the house Austin’s grandpa really loved plants because they seemed to be everywhere. Though it did make him feel calmer.

“Come on James.” Austin said as he grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Austin zipped them through rooms and hallways James barely had time to admire them, they trekked down the basement steps. James' eyes widened as he tried to absorb everything. It was like a mesum. But a small scale version. He rubbed the claw that hung around his neck.

“I wanted to show you who was the last person to harness the black wolf inside of them.” Austin said as he led him past the many displays of different artifacts and then he looked down and Austin was still holding his hand James just smiled as Austin talked more about werewolf history.

“This is him he stopped the town from burning but unfortunately he did not make it.” James looked at the picture he was still walled off. But the man in the picture had soft orange eyes and he looked like they had forced him to sit for the photo. He read the newspaper article. He pressed his forehead to the glass. He wanted to protect the packs from the outside threats.

“I know what I need to do.” James said.

“You can count on me to help.”

“Well first we need to clear your dad of all wrong doings and prove your uncle is terrorizing for no reason. Then figure who is killing the folks in town.

“Okay I think I can help, but I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Will you ah? Will you go out with me?” Austin asked as he looked him in his eyes.

James smiled and promised himself that he wouldn’t date while he was in school. But he would have to let himself down. He kissed Austin on the cheek and his cheek tasted a bit of the woodsy, and made him warm and fuzzy. “Yes.”

“Alright but seriously what is with your gramps. Like he is really cool.”

“Oh he’s been alive for about forever dating back to the early 1800. The reason why he can stop us from using our werewolf powers is because this house is one of the oldest hunters houses and comes with some special wards.

“And why is he a furry?”

“Something about being a mixture of both, it’s one of two ways to enter the house.”

“Well let’s hope that they aren’t waiting for us in the morning.” James laughed as looked at other things in the museum.

As they did James kept looking at Austin where he got sliced open. Worry was an understatement Austin literally had a life threatening wound but he seemed to be unbothered by it.

“What wrong,” He followed James eyes down. “Oh that, it's nothing. I swear this isn’t the first time this has happened. It's scary at first but ya know we are just built different.”

“Whatever, glad you’re okay though” James said as he gave Austin a hug.

Chapter Text

James hummed the lyrics to the rock song as They worked out his body was screaming at him to stop but he pushed past it, he needed to be stronger. Austin convinced him to start crossfit training. After what happened to them last month they knew it was important to learn how to fight. They had been watching a lot of MMA fights and practicing fighting, They also brought in RedWing because they weren’t going to be able to do it on there own.

“Crossfit really?” RedWing called from across the room as they stopped lifting and started to run.

All James could do was groan in response. He had never been so tired in his life, the Saturdays were usually a full workout day.

“Join us.” Austin gasped as he caught up to James.

“No thanks she said as she watched them run in the doorway. She had this smirk on her face as he passed by him

RedWing fully shifted and attacked James, he put his arms up blocking her attack, then he went under her thick red arms and hugged her and folded her down. Her fur felt soft in his arm as he landed on top of her. Good his movements were quick enough to react. His smile quickly faded as she threw him off and got between his legs. His heart started to race as her reddish muzzle coming inches from his face and her teeth snapped towards his neck. He took a breath, it wasn’t over yet He crossed his legs around her waist and brought her neck down. She tried to wiggly her paw out but he adjusted his arm back as they fought for positioning.

After a few minutes when she was nice and tired he used his finishing move and he wrapped his legs around her neck in a triangle choke.

“Alright babe seems like training is paying off.” Austin said after Redwing tapped out.

She stood up and handed Austin 20$. She rubbed her neck. “I thought that you were kidding when you said he could beat me without landing a single blow.”

“See that’s why you should have worked out with us.”

James nodded his head as he drank his weight in water. BJJ was intense,but he loved it.

As they cooled down in the hot tub James had a feeling that something was wrong, he quickly hopped out of the hot tub drying himself off and putting on some clothes.

“What’s wrong hun?” Austin asked as James walked out the door.

“Somebody is here that isn’t a werewolf.” James said as he smelled the air l but he didn’t want to alarm.

“But nobody should know?” Austin said as he followed James.

James tried his best not to freak out but he smelled his mom’s perfume scent, he tried the breathing training that Austin had taught him but he was filled with too much rage. His thoughts were sprialling but he could only think of why they were here, he hadn’t told his parents where he was and he hadn’t been home in months.

“James Buchanan, why haven’t you been home.” His mom stood with her arms folded her leather jacket and wind blown hair made her look more menacing.

“Mom I-” James stopped, she gave a look that she didn’t want to hear any excuses.

It seemed as if his secret was safe, he took a breath and gathered himself, She motioned to her motorcycle. He sighed as he got on and put on his helmet.

“So this is the Texas’ house, its house.”

“Yeah but can we keep this between us?” He asked.

“Of course son, but only if you get some take out with me.”

“Of course mom.”

They drove off as turned his head looking at Austin’s house as it slowly disappeared. They took the dirt road back to the main road. They stopped at a red light.

“So your sister has moved out and decided to go college.” From the tone that she took she knew that mom wasn’t happy with this development.

“She didn’t even tell but you are never going to leave me right?”

Before he got a chance to answer the light turned green, He breathed a sigh of relief. He honestly didn’t know if he had the ability to lie to her. His phone buzzed in his pants multiple times but he wouldn’t risk checking it.

James knew that once he got home he would be closed off from the pack for a while. He looked back he could run away, but maybe he was overreacting.

Once they got to the chinese restaurant. They took a seat across one another. Austin and James texted back and forth, Austin was worried and he tried his best to soothe his partner’s worry.

“So mister why haven’t you been home?”

“I thought y’all would have had a business meeting.” James gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Well we have some things to take care of here so we will be here for a while and we expect you to be home as well.”

James felt a black feeling rise up, he took deep breaths and when that seemed not to work he excused himself for the bathroom. He went through his breathing exercise. He stared himself in the mirror adjusting his white jacket.

When he walked back out there was good waiting for him, he dug in forgetting that he just had an intense workout.

“How’s school going?” She asked as she wiped her mouth.

“I’m actually passing all of my classes. Austin has been really helping me out with my studying.”

“And who is this Austin kid.”

“Well... someone that I’m dating.” He couldn’t help but give a toothy smile.

“Can I meet him and his dad?”

“NO.” was his first response. but seeing his mom look like she was on the verge of tears. “I just have to make sure his dad is okay with it, nobody is supposed to know about where they live.”

“Okay, I know if you picked him that he must be a good boy.” She did her favorite thing was gush about someone that she didn’t know.

“Come on mom you don’t even know him.” He laughed.

“What my little man is all grown up with a boyfriend.” She smiled at him.

“How is Sam doing?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Well after her sudden disappearance we haven’t heard a word from her.” His mom said it so nonchalantly that he almost forgot what Sam had done to that werewolf 2 months ago.

Good she was listening to him. He knew the best place for her was away from mom and dad’s control. He still wanted to ask how they found him because he knew that he got a new phone and removed any traces of his location, yet they still knew where he was. He wanted to be honest with them but he knew him or Austin would be on the opposite end of the barrel.

***
Once he got settled back at home everything felt off. His parents were home and his sister was gone. He wasn’t surrounded by workout equipment or his boyfriend. He slowly opened his sketchbook and drew Austin’s werewolf form and his snuggling, it wasn’t much but it made him feel better. His mom asked if he was hungry but he never responded. He just vibed in his room laying on his back listening to music.

James tried to find enjoyment in his hobbles but he felt like he was going through the motions not really enjoying much. He would probably never enjoy anything ever again. He avoided coming out of his room; he even finished the rest of his homework. He finally looked at the time and didn’t realize that it was already 11 pm and his parents were softly snoring above him. He knew that he should probably sleep.

Sunday was worse than Saturday he just laid in bed all day scrolling on his phone. He knew he needed to workout but he just didn’t want to, the gravity of his bed just didn’t want to release him. He tried to motivate himself to get up but that wasn’t even working. He listened to his parents moving around. Cooking and cleaning he knew if he got up he would have to talk to them so he continued to lay there.

“Son are you hungry, I know you don’t want to miss out on my chili.” His dad yelled from the kitchen.

James sniffed the three bean chili with onions and other seasoning came wavering over his nose. While he was over the texas’ he missed having food with flavor that he didn’t cook. He started to get up, then he stopped. “No dad, I'm cool. Thanks though.” He yelled back as he got comfortable in his bed. He texted Austin again, he didn’t want to seem like he was blowing him up but he didn’t know who else to go to.

“Okay I'll leave the pot on so you can get some when you are ready.

He didn’t feel like there was anything that was anything that could save him from this feeling. Once he heard his parents go up stairs he entered the now sparkling kitchen. The red crockpot was sitting there like a prize, he gently lifted the lid and smells came attacking him. He made himself a bowl and scarfed that down. He felt better but he was still stuck inside and with the hunters it was hard for him.

He went to his room and knocked out 500 pushups and situps he knew he couldn’t allow himself to fall out of shape he would not be another number he still needed a way to stop them. But first he needed to know how they tracked him down.

He called his sister.
“Hey sis.”

“What’s up?” she asked. He could hear her heartbeat racing from across the phone.

“Nothing much just checking in on you, how is college.”

“It’s fine, UC Davis is great, but obviously you aren’t checking in on me for the fun of it. What’s up.”

James rubbed his neck. “Was it that obvious? Well I was wondering how mom and dad would track me.”

“Oh they placed a tracker in us when we were small.”

“Like dogs?”

“Yeah, they wanted to make sure we didn’t get attacked.”

“Ah I see, well any way to take them out?”

“No I don’t think so.”

“Alright thanks anyway.” He hung up maybe he should hit Dr.Jones she might be able to take it out of him

He set an appointment with her on wednesday. Once he would have to figure out how to explain why he went back to the Texas’ but he needed to remove his parent’s from the equation.

Chapter Text

James joined the weight lifting class because it would be the only place he could lift weights now. Austin switched classes so they could lift together. It was weird but funny as they out lifted the football players who seemed like they just wanted to show off to the girls in the class. His muscle burned as he bench pressed 200 pounds even the gym teacher looked impressed. They traded sets, he finally felt back to normal and after getting the chip removed from behind his ear made him feel even better.

“Son why aren’t you on the football team?” The teacher asked as they were doing chin ups.

“Because I like gaming.” James grunted through his teeth.

“Well if you ever get bored of playing your little video games you could be a D1 prospect.” The teacher said as he watched on.

James stopped his chin ups and went back to doing pushups. It was the day after his surgery, he couldn’t wrap his head around why he was chipped in the first place. it was something else to confront his parents on. He flipped over to situps. He needed to catch the killer werewolf before it was too late.

“James you are on fire.” He heard his ex-friend’s voice call from across the room.

“And I didn’t know you were in this class.”

“Well we all don’t have state of the art gym in our house.” Karen’s angler face came into view.

Austin gave a tiny growl that only they could hear or so they thought, a couple of the football players started to get up. James was tired of being surrounded by the werewolves.

“And who are these attack dogs.” James hissed as he stopped working out.

“Well as their Queen they are here to protect me.” She smirked.

The tension thickened in the room. James looked at the teacher but he was hiding in the back of the room near the weights he looked nervous meaning that he would be no help to James.

James quickly stood up and his heart was racing, he sized up the four other werewolves. They looked like pale walruses, probably weighing around 250 he would wait till they attacked he would tire them out then take them out. He raised his fists.

I’m contacting my dad. This is starting to get out of hand.

Alright hopefully we don’t get suspended for this. James thought back.

Once the boys started to attack them everyone ran out of the door, James used his speed to dodge their punches. He caught a couple hits they hurt but he was still dodging a majority of them. He didn’t realize that he was close to a wall and got slammed against it. The football player's arm was wedged against his throat. He quickly shoved it away and punched him in the face, making him stumble. James smirked as his training was working.

“What the hell is going on in here?” James knew that monotone voice from anywhere. It was the security guard that seemed to have muscles that bulged out in every direction, and his eyes were red in hue. It seemed like everyone at the school was part of the other pack.

The one that was built like a NFL level linebacker spoke first. “Sorry, we just wanted to mess with them.”

“Yeah and what if you shifted and couldn’t hold back?”

They were all silent in response. And when he walked by they flinched away.

“Well someone is going to have to get in trouble and you know how Frisco he won’t like that you attacked them because of Karen. He looked her in the eyes and she glared back.

“Wait you can’t take him, take me instead.” Austin said as James felt his arm getting tugged at.

He tried to rip away but the iron grip didn’t show any signs of letting go, and he would be a fool to try and fight an adult but the idea did cross his mind. Austin looked at him and all he did was shake his head. Don’t worry the worst that is going to happen is a suspension.

Yeah but it's not right, I think we need to talk to Karen and see what she knows.

“Alright cut the chatter and get back to weight lifting that's what you five are here for. “ Mr.Tuffin said as he dragged James along. He wanted to run but running meant that he was scared or couldn’t handle himself and he wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. He knew his parents would be disappointed especially since it was their anniversary but there was nothing that he could do.

“So why are you dealing with the family? Money, drugs, or future employment?

James didn’t say anything because he didn’t quite have a response. He knew that the family was wealthy and was in the pharmaceuticals but he just liked them. He gave a slow shrug of the shoulders.

“Come on kid there has to be a reason.”

James just shook his head.
“I’ll give this one warning, stay away from them boy or you will lose everything.”

James just glared at Mr.Tuffin, he didn’t have an idea what James had been through for the last couple of months.

“I think i’ll be okay but thanks for looking out for me.” He said flatly.’

He was uncomfortable in the plastic chair. He looked at his mom who stared at him, as they went over what happened in the weightroom which was for the most part a lie but he would explain why he just hung his head down in shame. He just wanted this meeting to be over already.

“We are going to put him on suspension for the rest of the week because this is his first time and he isn't a kid who would repeat this again.” The vice principal looked over the top of her glasses and gave him the mom look. He glup and nodded his head.

“He is a bright young man and brought his grades around so nothing to worry about just going by the book.”

“Thank you ma’am we will make sure he is never in here again.” His mom said as she collected her things.

“Stop by my office if you have any more questions.” She smiled as she walked them out.

He quietly did his walk off shame out of the building. His mom trailed him. She didn’t say anything to him but spoke a thousand words. He got on the bike.

“You’ll be grounded for the rest of the night.” That was the only thing that she said before taking off.

The good news was that he was on his own for the first time since his parents came back.

Later that night he heard the front door close. He quickly got up and checked to make sure that they were leaving, he felt their heart rates quickly fade as he heard their car drive away.

He knew he had a few hours to figure out what they were up to. He made sure to lock the bottom and top lock. He started his way into the attic, it was a place that he hadn’t been since he was younger. He placed the brown ladder against the attic and pushed it open.

It was cold and dark. His vision quickly adjusted, it wasn’t as scary as he thought but there was a whole lot of dust. He sighed if there were any secrets or hidden rooms it wasn’t here. He climbed back down. He would try the basement but he knew that there was nothing down there because his parents hated hoarding and keeping anything in there.

He went down the stairs and flicked on the lights and it was what he expected. Empty but it wasn’t covered in dust. The walls were hollow. It was painful but he started to shift so he could see better, it was so far from a full moon that the shift left him tired. He saw some footprints in the ultra violet lighting he rubbed his handpaws down the wall towards the end of it he felt a nook he pressed on it and the wall slid away revealing their base of operations there where weapons hanging on the wall and various pieces of werewolf laying around. He took pictures and wondered if the nails, teeth, skull and other various parts were from the same werewolf. He hopped so if not his parents were the real monsters.

“Well son, welcome to the family business.” He heard his mom from behind him.

His heart thudded. He was careless and made the biggest mistake, he slowly turned around.

“Can’t say that i’m surprised.” This time his dad said something.

James was speechless. They looked good in their date outfits but they were pointing something at him that didn’t quite look like a gun but the coarse hairs on his arms stood up.

“I was hoping we could get to you before you found out about werewolves.”

“W..what are you going to do with me?” James finally stammered. He tried to look around them but they had the entrance completely blocked off.

“Well we are going to try and cure our little man.” His mom said as she pointed her weapon dead at his chest.

“And what if they doesn’t work?” James asked. He took a deep breath

“We will figure that out we can’t have a monster for a son.” His dad said.

James sprinted around them and he heard a sonic blast that stopped him in his tracks and he dropped to the ground it hurt, thinking hurt. He tried to crawl but didn’t make it far. He fell over and panted.

“Good now let’s go take you to the doctors.” His mom pressed something towards his chest and that was his last memory.

Chapter Text

He was tired, they tried everything but the wolf was not leaving and it was the only thing keeping him alive. He was laying on the cold stone floor after another round of tests. These weren’t regular tests, they were trying methods to cure him. But nothing worked, flipped on his back, if only he had some strength to break out of his cage, the dull metal bars seemed to mock him.

“How is he still alive?” He heard one of the doctors whisper as he laid there thinking about his escape.

“I don’t know we should shoot him or something his parents won’t miss him.”

James used a deep growl. They quickly quieted down. He wondered how long he had been inside, being inside a brick building with no windows and the lights never turning off made him lose his sense of time.

“You heard that kid, we are going to kill you.” The doctor laughed.

From what James could tell he was still in the south somewhere probably Tennessee. He needed to get out. He still didn’t know what Austin’s dad’s brother was planning but he needed to get to the bottom of it before it got worse.

“I’m hungry, can I at least have a last meal.?” James asked. He got up and pressed his forehead against the cold metal bars.

“Ha the wolfboy thinks that we are going to feed him.”

“Well your mom and dad aren’t here so no.”

He sat down glaring at them. He knew the answer already, if they would have approached him he would have tried to injure them. He continued to try and contact Austin. Nothing… It was the sound of his own thoughts. He studied his arm hairs and they seemed to be getting thicker. He smiled, it would be a full moon soon and he could break out.

“Don’t worry I’ll make sure you're my first meal after my pack breaks me out. “ James mentally kicked himself, they could kill him right now and there would be nothing that he could do. They had extracted enough of his blood that they could kill him without hesitation.

It felt he was playing chess with them and he sucked at chess.

“How about this? You tell us where your pack is located and we release you?” one of the “doctors” walked close to his cell but out of arm's reach.

“And you kill me before I leave the building fat chance.”

James turned away; he was not interested in carrying the conversation with his kidnappers. He just wanted to go home, but there was no home for him to return to, no one to rescue him and he was alone with these men that he didn’t know.

He bawled his fist he held back his tears; he wouldn’t let them see him cry. He was strong; he needed to continue to workout even if it hurt, he started off with 100 pushups and situps. His body ached but he pushed past the hurt and kept going. Once he was done he laid down and got comfortable on the stone floor again and went back to sleep.

When he awoke again he was back on the table again under a bright light he had to shield his eyes from the light.

“Prep him for surgery” was all he heard. He tried to move his body but he was lethargic and couldn’t move fast enough he felt hands force his arms to the side and were cuffed, he knew he should have had the strength to break out but he was trapped. He struggled, his vision went blurry with tears. It was happening too fast, if he had a second then he would be able to escape.

He heard a bang like a semi truck slamming into the wall. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the far wall. James had to strain his neck. Finally Austin found him but as for a connection he felt nothing, maybe it was his dad then. Finally the wall gave away revealing a white quadapedal wolf. James didn’t know how to feel it was someone that he would never work with, but she was rescuing him. He feared for the hunters though, they may have run tests and collected samples they still didn’t deserve to die. He looked over and the people that were planning on operating on him were face down.

“Can you move?”

“No.”

“Yeah it looks like you haven’t eaten in days. Hold on.” Seeing her real face made him smile, she crushed the cuffs between her hands.

“Well I’m glad you rescued me.” He said as she lowered down so he could get on her back.

He sunk into the softness of her white fur as they raced through the forest and town.

Babe! He heard Austin. James heard Austin’s faint voice break through

Hey. Was all James could think he just wanted a good burger. “Hey where in Nashville right? Take us to Brown’s Diner.”

Meet me at Brown’s Diner.

As he was munching on his second burger he was going over in detail what happened to him as Karen and Austin watched him.

“Do you want a third one?” Austin asked as he watched James slam another burger.

“Nah its fine I haven’t eaten in like a week so this should be good.”

“And what about your parents?” Karen asked as she cut her burger in half then started to eat. “Do we go after them?”

“Can’t it'll look suspicious especially after what you did to the hunters.” James said as he stuffed his face with fries.

Austin just glared at her. It was so weird to have both of them together.

“She was just supposed to rescue you but you know the white wolf just does whatever it wants.” He sighed.

“Well you should have expected this ya know, if it wasn’t for me no telling what they would have done to him.”

“Hey now i’m right here,” James complained. “We need to figure out what the hell is going on at the school.”

They both looked at Karen.

“What,fine all I know is that they are building up their pack numbers. Though they are having a hard time keeping a wrap under things.”

“Let me guess they gravitated towards you because the whole white wolf thing huh? James asked as he took a big gulp of soda.

“Yup, I was only working for them because they were payin me.”

“So can we trust you?” Austin said as he took some of James’ fries.

“I won’t interfere.”

“That’s better than nothing I guess.”

They finished their meal in silence. He looked at his friend and boyfriend. Everything was going to turn out alright. They just needed time to train.

“What are you smiling for silly?” Austin asked James.

“I think we can do this, we can take on your uncle’s pack.”
After they finished their meal. Austin took James’ hand as they walked out. They got in the back of Austin’s dad car. They waved bye to Karen who refused to take a ride. Claiming if she did then they would try to kidnap her.

“Young James, you look like hell, glad to have you back.”

“Thanks Mr. Texas, gotta hit the gym when I get back I missed out on a week of training.”

“That’s the spirit.” Dallas said.