Fearful brown eyes, staring at her from behind a pair of dislodged glasses. Bright red blood dripping down a tan chin from a split lip. The acidic scent of distress. Voices all around, muffled by an ever-present ringing that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. The face in front of her, it wasn’t what she thought it was. It couldn’t have been what she thought it was, because that man was dead. Harrison had been dead for almost a year. Brooke didn’t even resemble him that much. She didn’t have his high cheekbones or apathetic glare or angular features. Pretty much the only resemblance Roxy could see from this close up was her nose. They had similar noses. Why did she think it was him?

She stepped back in a daze, releasing Brooke’s arms from where they were pressed against the wall and cutting off the growl she didn’t realise she’d been letting out. “I… I don’t-”

Someone suddenly stepped in between the two of them, a hand on her chest pushing Roxy away. It was Matthew, their driver, his stern look masked by a diplomatic smile. “How about you take a step back, okay?”

“What is she doing here?” Leif asked, a hard edge to her voice.

“She works here. I’m not sure what your sudden problem is, but maybe you should think about-”

“It’s fine, Matthew,” Brooke interrupted, rubbing her bruised cheek. A sliver of guilt shot through Roxy at seeing how much damage she’d caused with just one punch. She didn’t know what came over her. “I deserved it.”

Matthew turned to her, a shocked look on his face. “What-”

He was interrupted once again when a loud whistle echoed down the corridor. They all turned to see an older man with dark skin and greying hair walking towards them. He was dressed casually, but it was clear he held some authority here, from the way Matthew suddenly stood up straighter upon seeing him. The man held up a hand in what Roxy guessed was a calming gesture.

“It’s alright, Matthew. I should have foreseen this. Had I known that this reunion would happen so soon, I would’ve warned you about this pack’s history with Brooke.” He turned to them and smiled, the lines on his face wrinkling. “Pedro, Clarissa, it’s good to see you.”

“Likewise,” Pedro replied, shaking the man’s hand. He turned to the rest of them. “This is Vincent Namatjira, the Oceanian Council representative and the person we’re here to meet.”

The man nodded to them all. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you all.” His gaze found Roxy, and she withered under his stare. “While I can understand and empathise with your reasons, I don’t appreciate you assaulting my employees, Ms. Kindley.”

Heat rose in her cheeks at getting called out. His voice was deep and authoritative, and it triggered something inside her that made her hands start to shake and her heart start to race. She instinctively tilted her head up and bore her neck. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what came over me. It won’t happen again.”

Mr. Namatjira nodded. “See that it does not.” He turned to Brooke. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Roxy tuned out of the conversation around her as panic started clawing at the inside of her chest. Everything about this place was too much. The corridor was too small, and everyone was far too close to her. She could hear all of their heartbeats, every breath they took and word they said piercing through her head like a pneumatic drill, all along with that fucking ringing. Everything was too bright and too loud and it was getting hard to breathe and she felt sick. She was pretty sure someone was saying her name, but it got lost in the jumble of overstimulation. Something touched her shoulder and she finally snapped, shoving her way out of the crowd and sprinting off, heading for the bathroom sign she’d spied earlier and doing her very best not to throw up.

—

“Oh, dear,” Mr. Namatjira said. He turned to Pedro, a guilty look on his face. “Was I too harsh?”

Pedro sighed, looking down the hall where Roxy had run off. “No, she’s just… Has anyone ever told you it feels a lot like an outpost down here?”

He shook his head. “No, we try to make things as homely and comfortable as possible.”

Between the carpeted floor, the warm lighting, and the tasteful wallpaper, he did have a point, but that wasn’t what Pedro had been implying. “I think it’s more the atmosphere than anything else. Being underground just feels different. I think that was already putting Roxy on edge, and that combined with seeing someone from the outpost she was imprisoned at and being reprimanded by an authority figure as the cherry on top, it probably hit some old traumas right on the head. She’ll… She’ll be okay, she just needs a minute.”

“Can I…?” Sam asked, gesturing in the direction Roxy went. Pedro nodded and she ran off.

“I see,” the Councilman said. “If I had known being underground would be so distressing, I would have organised this meeting somewhere else. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do that would make her more comfortable.”

“It would probably help if I left,” Brooke said meekly.

“If you think that’s best. Personally, I would like you to stay. I may need your help with explaining things, and I believe it’s a good idea for Ms. Kindley to get used to your presence.”

“Why are you here, anyway?” Leif asked, no small hint of accusal in her tone. Brooke flinched.

“Now now, Mr. Townsend, I-”

Pedro immediately cut him off with a stern hand on the shoulder. It was potentially a massive overstep to so casually touch his superior, but he wasn’t going to let that little mistake slide. “It’s Miss Townsend. She’s a woman.”

Mr. Namatjira looked back and forth between the two of them, before realisation flashed across his face, quickly followed by mortification. “My sincerest apologies, Ms. Townsend. We got your information from your legal IDs, all I had to go on was a name and a face. Please forgive me.”

She waved him off, though clearly still a little upset by the slip up. Pedro couldn’t blame her. He thought she passed perfectly well, so she probably wasn’t used to being misgendered out of nowhere like that. “It’s fine.”

“Now, as I was saying, I can understand the animosity, but I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourselves. Brooke has been invaluable to us over the past few months, and is making great efforts to make up for the mistakes she’s made in the past. Here, let’s move somewhere a little more comfortable so we can discuss properly. Matthew, if you could kindly start a pot of tea? Jasmine, if you please. Also, send a message to Ms. Dubois and tell her to meet us. I believe her expertise may come in handy, and either way I'm sure she'd like to see our guests again.”

Pedro's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Valerie's name, and Mr. Namatjira gave him a sly grin. Matthew nodded. “Right away.”

The Councilman started down the hall and beckoned them to follow. “This way.”

—

Roxy’s abs burned from the strain as she dry-heaved into the toilet, her stomach already having been completely emptied of her dinner and yet still not satisfied. That awful feeling was still all around her, clawing at her skin and no doubt heavily contributing to the never-ending nausea. Sam’s presence at her side with a warm hand on her back was comforting, at the very least.

She shouldn't have punched Brooke. She barely even knew why she did it. It was like her body had a mind of its own, detecting a threat and lashing out wildly before her brain could catch up. Now, because of her stupidity, that old Council guy probably hated her. Reasonably, she knew he wasn’t going to hurt her, but her stupid wolf brain wouldn’t stop screaming THREAT THREAT THREAT every time she thought about his booming voice and authoritative aura. Her wolf brain knew what happened when she upset people with power over her, and despite her best efforts, her survival instincts won out every time she tried to reason with herself. God, she just wanted to go home. She didn’t want to spend the next however long in this strange country, stuck in this stifling and nerve-wracking building, constantly looking over her shoulder out of fear of the Councilman who’s name she couldn’t even remember. She wanted to go home and curl up in bed with her cat in her arms and Sam at her back, with the sounds of the forest gently floating in through her window. There were no forests here, just bushland and deserts. At the very least, there weren’t any she could get to.

Her stomach finally settled and she leaned back against Sam, sweating and panting and sobbing. She hadn’t even realised she’d started to cry. This whole situation was just too overwhelming. Sam pulled her into her lap and held her, rocking gently and whispering sweet nothings against her hair until she calmed. Despite getting more than enough sleep on the flight, she found herself growing drowsy, the warmth of her mate and the gentle swaying leaving her ready to drift off. She decided she didn’t care if everyone was waiting for her, and let her eyelids fall shut. Sam would wake her if anything important happened.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie, and a stab of annoyance shot through her until a familiar voice called from outside.

“You guys in there?” Leif asked.

“Yeah,” Sam replied.

The girl entered, walking over and sitting on the bathroom floor without a care. She gave Roxy a warm smile. “How’re you feeling?”

Roxy took a breath. “Better.”

Leif nodded, her eyes wandering in the way that they always did when she was upset. “Mr. Namatjira said he was sorry for scaring you. He… He didn’t realise that being underground would freak you out so much. He wants you to let him know about anything he can do to make you more comfortable.”

Roxy took a second to absorb that information, nodding along numbly. So he didn’t hate her, he just thought she was weak. It wasn’t much better, honestly.

“What about you-know-who? Did he explain why she was here?” Sam asked.

Leif frowned, clearly conflicted. “Uh, he said she was helping them. I… I don’t know if I really believe that, but apparently she’s trying to make up for her mistakes, so…” She paused, picking at a loose thread on her pants. “We don’t really know the details yet, but I think he’s about to explain them to us. I was sent to come get you guys so they can start.”

“Right,” Roxy muttered. Leif still looked bothered by something, and Roxy got the feeling it wasn’t entirely Brooke related. “What’s wrong?”

Leif sucked in a breath. “I-it’s nothing, just… Mr. Namatjira misgendered me. It caught me off guard a little.”

Roxy growled. “What a prick.”

Leif shook her head. “No, he didn’t mean to. Apparently he got all of our names from our IDs, and mine still says male on it, so I guess it was to be expected. He corrected himself after Pedro called him out.” She sighed. “I really need to get that changed one of these days.”

“Who cares what a stupid piece of plastic says? You’re still a girl.”

Leif hummed, a small smile forming on her face. “Yeah. Thanks, Rox.” She lifted herself to her feet. “Anyway, are you ready to go? They have jasmine tea.”

Roxy nodded. “Yeah, just let me wash the puke out of my mouth.” Sam helped her to her feet and she stumbled over to the sinks, rinsing her mouth out.

“Mm, what a pleasant image you’ve given me.”

Once she was done, they left the bathroom and followed Leif as she led them through the halls. The whole time, Roxy was clenching her fists and repeating this isn’t the outpost over and over in her head. Despite the obvious differences, the few similarities were too much for her to ignore. Eventually, they reached a room and Roxy caught a whiff of everyone’s scent, along with the extremely appetising smell of jasmine tea, which calmed her nerves somewhat. Leif opened the door and they all stepped in, Roxy ignoring the pitying looks everyone was giving her. She knew it was obvious she’d been crying, and she didn’t doubt that she smelled at least a little bit like vomit, but she would rather not think about it.

Her gaze found Mr. What's-his-face and she lowered her head. “I-I’m sorry for my outburst, sir.” The title slipped out involuntarily and her whole body tensed in embarrassment. This stupid place was really messing with her head.

He raised a hand and waved her off. “All is forgiven, Ms. Kindley. Also, just Mr. Namatjira is fine. Vincent, if you prefer.”

She nodded, clenching her fists and walking over to the very comfortable looking couch, taking a seat next to her dad. “It’s Thura, by the way… Not Kindley.”

Vincent - as she would henceforth be calling him in her head, because despite the fact that he’d just said it, she still hadn’t absorbed his last name whatsoever - nodded. “Understood. Would you like some tea?”

She looked around and realised the others all had little ornate tea cups in their hands, like this was some sort of kid’s tea party. The thought brought a slight smile to her face and she nodded. “Yes, please.”

Matthew, who had been standing at Vincent’s side, poured her a cup from the teapot sitting on the table in the centre of the room. Speaking of which, the room seemed more like some sort of living room than anything at the outpost, with the couches and seats all arranged in a circle around the coffee table, and a bookshelf lining one wall. It eased her anxieties somewhat.

The door opened behind her and a woman entered the room. “You called for me, Mr. Namatjira?”

Her French accent was unmistakable and Pedro whirled around. “Valerie!”

Her eyes went wide with recognition and a huge smile spread across her face. “Pedro!”

The man barely bothered to put his tea down before leaping up from the couch and embracing the woman in a hug that she happily returned. “It’s so good to see you again!” He pulled back, keeping a hand on her shoulder that she did not seem to mind. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, you know, reading lots of books and keeping busy. How about you? Your little family seems to have grown.” She looked out at all of them and Roxy gave her a little wave, which Valerie responded to with a wink.

“Yeah, it’s been an eventful year, I’ll say that much.”

Vincent cleared his throat, reminding Pedro that there was still a room full of people waiting to have a conversation here, because he seemed to have forgotten. A red blush formed on his cheeks and he stepped back from Valerie, coughing awkwardly. “We’ll catch up later.”

The two of them took a seat - very notably next to each other - and rejoined the rest of them in waiting for Vincent to start… whatever was about to start.

The man nodded, seemingly to himself. “Alright, now that everyone’s here, we can begin. First off, I feel it is important to… explain a few things. I am aware that some of you have been wronged by Brooke in the past, but I encourage you to look past her previous mistakes, as difficult as it may seem. She very much regrets the decisions she made in the past, and is working to make up for them. Without her help, we would not have nearly as much knowledge about the hunter’s plans as we do, and thanks to her, we are closer than ever to putting a stop to their machinations, permanently.”

The room was silent as everyone absorbed his words. Permanently? Did that mean they had a solution to the drug problem?

After a sufficiently dramatic moment had passed, Vincent continued. “With Brooke’s help, we have acquired a sample of the hunter’s ‘super-werewolf drug,’ which they call DX-47. After some study, we believe that an antidote, or perhaps, even a vaccine can be created, that will nullify and prevent the drug from taking effect. Our plan is to administer this vaccine to one of the direwolves during the next eclipse ritual, thus preventing the hunters from using it on any of our species ever again. This was why we called you here. We need to keep you safe until we’re ready to finish this.”

A rush of excitement shot through Roxy. If they managed to get their hands on this supposed vaccine, everything could finally be over. She and Sam could finally live without looking over their shoulders. But, there was one question hanging on her mind. She stuck out a hand.

Vincent looked amused at the action. “Yes, Ms. Thura?”

“Don’t the hunters already have an antidote for it? They used one on me while… While I was in captivity. Couldn’t we just steal one instead of making our own?”

Vincent nodded. “A good question. Brooke?”

Brooke seemed to startle a little at being called upon, but she quickly composed herself. “After your escape and subsequent uncovering of the Son- Th-the hunter’s operation, they had to downsize quite heavily to avoid law enforcement. There were never many antidotes made in the first place, as they were only needed for troubleshooting DX-47, so when budgets were cut, they stopped bothering to make any more, and the remaining doses were likely destroyed. Why would they need an antidote if their plan was to use the drug and let the wolves run wild?”

Roxy hummed. That made a lot of sense. They probably didn’t even have that many doses of DX-47 sitting around, considering they only really needed to use it once if their plans went well anyway.

“You actually bring up a good point, though,” Brooke continued. “They did use the antidote on you. It doesn’t matter that they destroyed all the remaining doses, because we have one sitting right here.”

It seemed like she was expecting more of a reaction than a roomful of blank, mildly confused faces, because after a few seconds of silence, she blushed and cleared her throat. “Maybe I should explain. DX-47 basically works by sending certain proteins into the bloodstream. These proteins interact with something in the werewolf’s body, forcing the werewolf into a mostly shifted state. Meanwhile, a special blend of hormones effectively destroys the werewolf’s impulse control and most of their cognitive functions, while inducing a state of mindless aggression. This mixture has been specially designed to stay in the body for as long as possible, keeping the werewolf in this animalistic state unless they receive the antidote. I’m not sure exactly how long it stays in the body, but it’s a long time. Years, at least.

“I feel I should also mention that DX-47 not only removes a werewolf’s ability to feel pain, but increases their natural resistances to a frankly ridiculous degree. The only way to bypass these resistances is with silver. While a high-calibre bullet will likely pierce the skin, I’ve heard of tests where a wolf was shot point blank in the head with a standard handgun and lived with barely more than a dent. Silver is the only thing that works, as it naturally cancels out the Lunin keeping the werewolf shifted.”

“Why?!” Drew all-but shouted. “Don’t they want to kill us? What the hell’s the point of turning us into bulletproof killing machines?”

Brooke huffed. “It’s not that they want the werewolves dead, it’s that they want to be the ones to do it. They want the rest of the world to try and fail, and swoop in to save the day, making themselves out to be the heroes. If the only way to kill a werewolf is with their weaponry, well… They’ll be the saviours by default.”

Drew frowned, sufficiently chided. “Jesus. And I thought they couldn’t get any worse.”

“Yes, well…” Brooke shook her head. “I’ve gotten off track. As I was saying, DX-47 is designed to stay in the body pretty much forever. The only way to stop it is with the antidote, which was specifically designed to counteract each and every one of DX-47’s effects on the body. The thing is, the antidote also stays in the body forever. Once it’s in there, it’ll keep cancelling out DX-47, no matter how many times it’s reintroduced to the bloodstream. Reapplication obviously didn’t matter, since they were only planning on using the drug once. What I’m saying is, since Roxy’s had the antidote, it’s still in her body, ripe for the taking.” She looked directly at Roxy, her eyes sparkling with excitement and clearly too caught up in her explanation to remember their history at the moment. “With just a little bit of your blood, we’ll be able to extract the antidote ingredients and use it as a framework to start synthesising the vaccine enmasse!”

Vincent loudly cleared his throat. “I know you’re excited Brooke, but I should remind you that we only need one dose. So long as the direwolves remain safe within our care until the next lunar eclipse, that is. Also, I’m not sure Ms. Thura appreciates you looking at her like a test subject.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong there; the way Brooke was eyeing her up like a slice of meat was a bit uncomfortable, but she would rather he let her speak for herself. Brooke looked between the two of them and finally caught on to what he was saying, if the way all the blood rushed out of her face was any indication. She turned back to Roxy, not meeting her eyes. “S-sorry! I’m sorry, I, uh… I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” Roxy said, cutting her off before she got so worked up she pissed herself or something. She looked back at Vincent. “If all you need is a bit of my blood, I’d be happy to provide. Lord knows I’ve lost enough throughout my life to not be stingy about it.”

Brooke all-but flinched at that, and Roxy stifled the half-guilty, half-satisfied feeling it gave her. Vincent nodded. “Very well. Tomorrow, we’ll take some blood. Tonight, I think you all should get some rest. You’ve had quite a journey, by the sounds of it.”

Pedro scoffed. “You don’t know the half of it.”

—

Roxy and Sam settled into bed, Mr. Slinky jumping up with them, no doubt eager for affection after being left alone in their new apartment while the meeting was going on. The apartment was surprisingly spacious, though she supposed it had to be to fit seven people, even with the couples sharing their beds. That being said, the walls were apparently pretty thin, which was proving to be quite the nuisance, as the sound of Pedro and Valerie catching up in the next room was beginning to get distracting. There was certainly a lot of bed-creaking and loud, multi-lingual expletives for what she was sure was just a friendly conversation, but she wasn’t going to bring it up. Sam, on the other hand, had no such hangups.

“Wow, they are loud,” she muttered. “Are… Are we that loud?”

Roxy snorted. “No. At least, I hope not, because otherwise things are gonna get real awkward after living here for a few weeks.”

“Implying that it’s not gonna be awkward tomorrow morning after hearing about Pedro and his magic dick all night?”

Roxy swatted her arm. “Sam! Don’t say that! I don’t wanna think about him like that!”

“It’s kinda hard not to, at the moment.”

Her point was thoroughly made when a loud, very french-accented cry of ecstasy rang through the walls and probably woke up the entire building. Roxy hummed. “Okay, I see your point. Maybe he does have a magic penis.”

Sam laughed, nuzzling against her head. “This conversation is so stupid.”

Roxy leaned down and rifled through her bag until she found her pack of gummies and her laptop. She pulled herself back up onto the bed and shook the packet to grab Sam’s attention. “Wanna get high and watch anime? I don’t think we’re gonna be able to sleep for a while.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, alright.”

The next morning, they woke up late, having been thoroughly knocked out by the marijuana induced drowsiness, and as such they had the pleasure of walking out into the kitchen to see Leif already digging into a very red-faced Pedro, hiding behind his hands.

“‘Oh, Pedro! Oh, you’re so good!’” Leif mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

“Shuuuuut uuuuuuup!” He looked up at her, teeth bared and growling, eyes flashing amber. He looked ready to go in for the kill, so this had probably been going on for a while.

Leif put her hands up in surrender. “Hey now, let’s not get all bitey over a joke.”

“She’s still here!” he whisper-shouted through his teeth. “I don’t want your bullshit to embarrass her. Make fun of me all you like, but do it after she’s gone. Please.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Leif rolled her eyes, but it was clear that it was just for show. “Fine. But I’ll hold you to that!”

“You could do to watch the volume in the future though,” Roxy said as she walked past them, straight for the coffee maker. “Sam and I were lucky we got to sleep at all, the racket you two were making. Happy for you, though.”

Pedro grunted. “Like you two are any better. Pendeja.” Apparently, his embarrassment had reduced his age by about twenty odd years, based on that immature attempt at a comeback.

“Hey, I would bet good money that we aren’t nearly that bad! Right, dad?”

Her dad, who had been sitting at the table with a coffee and a newspaper the entire time, diligently trying to ignore the conversation, raised his cup in lieu of an acknowledgement. “You’re my daughter, sweetie, I’m not answering that. That being said, the walls are thin here, Pedro. I think it would be smart to go to her place next time, unless you want us all to hear about your conquests as they happen.”

Pedro groaned and let his head drop against the kitchen counter with a heavy thud as everyone laughed. His bedroom door opened and Valerie entered the room with a yawn, clearly still too drowsy to recognise what was going on and wearing what Roxy recognised as one of Pedro’s shirts. The little romantic in her heart squealed in delight at the sight, but she kept her expression level, tucking it away as more ammo to make fun of Pedro with later.

“Morning, Valerie,” she greeted. “You want a coffee?”

She hummed an affirmative and ruffled Pedro’s hair as she passed him, opening the completely empty fridge and standing there for a second as her still-asleep mind processed what she was seeing.

“This is not my apartment. That makes sense.”

“We’re going to have to figure out how to get some money soon, so we can buy some groceries,” Damien said.

“Mr. Namatjira will most likely give you all an allowance. He did for me, anyway.”

As if summoning him by uttering his name, there was a knock on the door, and Roxy recognised Vincent’s scent. She was a little surprised that she’d immediately known it was his, and could even smell it at all through all the muck of her pack, but considering how much she had seen him as a threat for those first few interactions, it made sense that her wolf brain catalogued him so efficiently. The last thing she wanted was for him to get the drop on her.

Clearly very eager to remove himself from the situation, Pedro immediately got up and answered the door, welcoming the man into their apartment. It was a little disconcerting having someone who was essentially the werewolf president of Australia in their living space while they were all in pyjamas, but it was a little too late to be helped. Some warning would've been nice, though.

“Mr. Namatjira,” Pedro greeted. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

The man was flanked by a woman who was carrying a crate of what seemed to be medical equipment. “Apologies for the early intrusion. I would have called in advance, but the science team has been eager to get started on the vaccine ever since they learned of Ms. Thura’s arrival, and after the unfortunate events last night, I felt it best to conduct the extraction in a place where she feels the most comfortable.”

“Oh,” Roxy said, heat rising in her cheeks at the mention of last night’s… incident. She swallowed down the embarrassment and nodded. “Uh… yeah, sure, we can do it now. Um, how much will you need, exactly?”

The doctor/scientist/whatever lady started setting things up at the dining table as Vincent crossed the room. “Most likely around a pint. We want a lot to work with so we can experiment if we need to, but obviously we don’t want to drain you dry. Hopefully, that should be more than enough.”

Roxy shrugged, walking over and sitting down near where the equipment was set up. “Alright. Let’s get this over with, I guess.”

She pulled her sleeve up and bared the inside of her elbow, and the lady wasted no time, finding the vein, wiping down her skin, and slipping the needle in without even a word of warning. Roxy was used to it, she’d had more than a few blood tests and IV drips during her time at the hospital, so this was no bother.

“It may take a while for our scientists to synthesise a vaccine,” Vincent said, addressing the room as Roxy’s blood drained. “Even then, it is several months until the next eclipse in this area, so your presence will be required for some time. You will all be provided with a daily allowance of a hundred australian dollars, for use however you please. This building also offers a few recreational areas that are free to use for any inhabitants, including a library, gym, playground for the kids, and a werewolf enrichment area. It’s obviously not as good as running around in the actual wilderness, but in a city such as this, it’s preferable to driving all the way out into the bush just to indulge in your wolf side for a few hours.”

Roxy liked the sound of that, the gym specifically. She’d been a little worried about not getting to keep up with her fitness in the midst of all this travelling, so it was nice to know that was taken care of.

“So, other than this stuff, we’re basically just here on vacation then?” Leif asked.

Vincent smiled. “Essentially, yes. You’re welcome to go out and enjoy the city. Though I would still advise caution, as it seems the hunters are closer on your trail than we thought.”

Pedro frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I received word this morning that the airfield you flew out from was raided by hunters. We don’t know if they found out your exact destination, but it is likely they know that you have come to Australia at the very least. Still, this is a big country. As long as you avoid anything that will enable them to trace you, we should be able to administer the vaccine before they track you down. Just don’t post anything on social media, and I doubt there will be anything to worry about.”

“Shit,” Pedro muttered. “Any casualties at the airfield?”

“A few, I’m afraid.”

Pedro cursed again, looking down at the floor somberly.

“The hunters are getting bolder because they know we are close to winning. Without DX-47, they have nothing left. The public knows about them now, they know about their unsavoury practices. They need DX-47 to show the world that us werewolves are the bad guys, because otherwise, it’s clear which way the gavel will fall when the government chooses a side. They’re desperate. We will need to be careful in the coming months before the eclipse, to ensure we don’t fall into one of their traps.”

The lady finished her extraction and pulled the needle out of Roxy’s arm, taping a bandaid over the wound. “We’ll keep an eye out,” she said, flexing her fist to try and get the weird feeling in her arm to go away. “The guy who’s been tracking us is pretty good, but like you said, this is a very big country. I think we’ll be okay.”

She tried to stand up so she could finally have her coffee, but a sudden wave of light-headedness almost sent her crashing into the table, the catastrophe only prevented when Sam ducked in and caught her.

“Oops,” she muttered, her head still spinning. “I guess I’m a little woozy.”

Vincent chuckled. “Thank you for your donation, Ms. Thura. We will be in contact once the vaccine is ready. Have a pleasant stay, and please reach out to me if there is anything you need.”

With that, Vincent and his lackey finally left them in peace, and Roxy finally settled onto the couch, coffee in hand, feeling - very unsurprisingly - drained. She took a sip of the warm liquid and savoured the bitter taste as it travelled down her throat. Leif plopped down beside her and sighed.

“So, what do we do now?”

Roxy shrugged. “Enjoy our vacation, I guess.”

—

If there was one thing Brooke liked about her new life, it was having a set schedule. She would wake up every morning, knowing exactly what to expect of the coming day. It wasn’t anything glamorous, but it felt good to be doing something that directly countered the mistakes she’d made in the past. It felt good to be helping the werewolves instead of contributing to their slaughter, amongst other things.

Every morning she would wake up, scrape together breakfast from whatever was in her fridge, take her pills and shower before getting dressed and heading out for the day. She would head down to the labs to help out with whatever she could, usually just assisting the more experienced scientists and fetching their lunch, but every little bit counted. She was learning a lot by spending time there, so she didn’t entirely mind being their errand-runner. After she was finished with work, she would either spend her time in the library, perusing through the Council’s vast collection of books, or wandering through the city, taking in the sights and buying her groceries or whatever little knick-knack caught her fancy. Recently she’d started attending a once-a-week tabletop game at a nearby game store, which was nice enough. It was something to do that spiced things up a bit, and she got to interact with other people in a casual environment for a change. It was almost enough to make her forget about the smell of burning flesh and ear-piercing screams, still echoing through her head over a year later.

Almost.

Lately, though, her little routine had become much more… complicated. Ever since the arrival of the direwolf pack, everything about her life had been thrown into disarray. Gone were the leisurely walks down to the lab, or the peaceful afternoons spent in the library. Now, she had to spend every moment outside her apartment looking over her shoulder in case she ran into one of them, which was not something she was keen on doing. Roxy seemed ready to rip her to shreds with her new werewolf powers at even the slightest hint of danger, and Brooke really didn’t want to test the limits on that. She doubted Sam would be much safer, and the less time she spent around Leif, the better. The guilt about what she’d done to her almost made her want to throw up every time she saw the other girl.

That being said, it just felt… wrong to not try and address the issues in some way. She knew they all hated her, and for good reason, but trying to hide from them felt cowardly. It was probably a good idea to talk to one of them, to try and air everything out so there were no hard feelings going forward, but the question was, who? Leif seemed like the one she most needed to talk things through with, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get an audience with her right away. They’d ended up in the elevator together at one point, along with that other direwolf, and Brooke had tried to say something, but the second she opened her mouth Leif immediately shut her down. She did her best to pretend that didn’t sting as much as it did.

Weirdly enough, despite the fact that she punched her in the face when they first reunited, Roxy seemed like her best bet to try and get through to someone. The look in Roxy’s eyes didn’t have the same burning hatred as the rest of them. She was wary of her, that was certain, but it seemed to be more of a lingering fear of her father than any express dislike for Brooke herself. She could be wrong, of course, but she seemed like her best and only option in this. With any luck, she could put in a good word to Leif, and maybe they’d finally be able to get some closure.

She knew that last bit was projection. She was the one that needed closure, Leif didn’t seem to care either way, but maybe… maybe there was a chance. She knew better than to hope for anything, but maybe there would be a chance of rekindling something once they’d talked everything through. It was a nice thought, but ultimately nothing more than that. Just a thought.

So, all she needed to do was find Roxy and strike up a conversation. Simple, right? Well, not really. She really wanted to catch Roxy alone, mainly because she was still trying to avoid those that would treat her with open disdain, but that was easier said than done. Roxy spent pretty much all of her time with her friends, as far as Brooke could tell. She was trying not to be a creep about it, but it was hard to separate it in her mind from what she’d done to get the hunters to kidnap her. The guilt was almost bad enough to make her give up, but she pushed through it. She needed closure, and though it was hard, she’d been trying to learn that it was okay to want things. That’s what her therapist told her, anyway.

It took a couple of weeks and more than a few accidental run-ins with the pack, but eventually, Brooke managed to find Roxy when she was alone. She decided to check the gym one afternoon on a whim, and ended up walking in on Roxy as she was lifting weights, and…

Oh, boy. She was too gay for this.

She was dressed in tight gym shorts and a sports bra, leaving very little to Brooke’s imagination, giving her a clear view of the impressive muscles rippling under her skin with every curl of her bicep. It also gave her a clear view of the scars littering her skin; the thick, dark brown, raised lines on her back, and the thin white ones all over the rest of her. It hit her like a punch in the gut, but the guilt was lessened somewhat seeing how much better she was doing than when they parted ways last year.

The last time she’d seen her, when she visited her house to try to apologise and say goodbye, the other girl was practically skin and bones, stuck in a wheelchair and barely even able to look Brooke in the eye without flinching like a shelter dog. Now, she was even more built than she’d been before the kidnapping, her muscles lightly covered with a layer of feminine fat that indicated a strong appetite, and Brooke would be lying if she said it wasn’t making her feel some things in her lower abdomen.

She realised that she was staring at Roxy’s abs, and that the girl had turned to her. Her eyes immediately shot up to Roxy’s face, her cheeks and ears burning with embarrassment. Roxy was just looking at her with one raised eyebrow and one hand on her hip, the perfect image of unimpressed.

The other girl let out a sigh. “You just gonna stand there gawking, or do you have something to say?”

Brooke swallowed down her nerves and tried to speak. “I, uh… I was just wondering… Well, I’ve been meaning to… If you have some free time, and you were, um, okay with it, could we… talk?”

Roxy regarded her for a moment. “What about?”

“...Everything that happened last year. I guess I just wanna… catch up. Clear the air. I-I know I already apologised to you but that didn’t feel like enough and- and I feel like you’re the only one I can talk to because everyone else in your pack hates me but for some reason I feel like you maybe might not even though you punched me so I didn’t know what else to do other than-”

Roxy cut off her rambling by holding up a hand. “You don’t have to freak out so much. I get it. I… I think that’s probably a good idea. Talking, that is. Just let me shower real quick and we can go find somewhere quiet.”

Brooke nodded shakily. “I, um, I know a place.”

Roxy nodded back before walking off towards the changing rooms. Just before she left, however, she stopped and looked back at Brooke. “For the record, sorry for punching you. I… Being underground was messing with my head.”

“I understand,” she replied. “It messes with my head sometimes too.”

—

After Roxy was finished with her shower, Brooke led her back to the elevator, and from there pressed the button for the roof. Thankfully, the other girl had thrown on a jacket after her workout, so Brooke wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally eyeing her up while they were trying to have a serious conversation. Not that she couldn’t keep her eyes to herself! It was just… harder to do when she was wearing so little… And it was distracting! She wasn’t a creep, she just didn’t want to be distracted, that’s all!

Roxy pulled a packet of something out of her pocket and reached into it, putting whatever she took out into her mouth. She then held the packet out to Brooke in what was clearly an offering.

Brooke eyed it warily. “What… is it?”

“Weed gummies. They help with my anxiety, and your heart’s been pounding this whole time, so I thought they might be helpful for you, too.”

The gesture filled Brooke with hope for how this conversation would go, but she was hesitant to accept it. “You know that’s illegal here, right?”

She grinned, showing off her new fangs. Brooke did her best not to be disconcerted by it, but it wasn’t easy. She’d been raised to hate and fear werewolves, and though she was trying to get past those prejudices, there was a reason she still avoided the werewolf enrichment area as much as she could. “Not if I don’t get caught.”

Brooke thought about it, but decided against it. “No thanks, I’d rather keep a level head.”

Roxy didn’t press it, just shrugging and tucking the packet back into her jacket pocket. Eventually, the elevator dinged and they stepped out onto the roof. It was a fenced area with some seating that was open to the public, but in Brooke’s experience, no one really used it aside from the very occasional party, so it was a good spot to get away from everything for a little while. It was a little cold this time of year, but it had a good view of the city, and of the river that bisected it.

Roxy sat down at one of the wooden tables and Brooke joined her, fidgeting with her hands and not meeting her eye. The silence stretched on for long enough that eventually she swallowed her nerves and looked up, finding Roxy staring out over the city with something akin to a sparkle in her eyes. She turned back to Brooke, her expression surprisingly serene.

“This is a good spot,” she said.

Brooke nodded. “I come here when I need to think. People don’t really come up here very often, so usually it’s pretty private.”

Roxy hummed. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, uh, I guess to start with… how have you been this past year?”

Roxy thought about it for a little bit. “It’s been… difficult, but I’ve been working my way through it. I couldn’t walk on my own till December, which sucked, and my leg still gives me grief sometimes, but it’s manageable. I’ve been working on not being so self-conscious about my scars, too. Overall, I guess I can’t complain. Things were pretty uneventful, so I’ve had a lot of time to focus on recovering, at least until the whole werewolf secrecy leak happened. Oh yeah, and Kimberly tried to kill me one time, but she was arrested, so it’s not really a big deal.”

Brooke paused for a second. “Wait, Kimberly tried to kill you?”

“Yeah, she was being a bitch one time so I poured chocolate milk, juice, and coke all over her head in front of the whole cafeteria. Obviously, she wasn’t too happy about that. Cornered me in a bathroom about a week later with a knife.” She pointed at a small scar next to her right eye. “This was from hitting my head against a sink when she tripped me, and this…” She shrugged her jacket off her shoulder and pointed at a scar that seemed indistinguishable to Brooke from the others around it. “Is from when her knife grazed me. Leif and Drew ended up saving me and, after a quick trial, she was put away. That was in October, I think. Maybe November, I’m not sure. My parents were in the process of splitting up at the time so it all sort of blurred together.”

“Wow. I can’t say I’d put it past her, but it’s still shocking that she’d go that far.”

Roxy nodded. “Yep. Anyway, what about you? What have you been up to?”

Brooke sighed. “Well, as you know, after everything happened, I didn’t really have much choice but to move over here to live with my grandparents. I… wasn’t doing very well for a while. It was hard to get out of bed most days, and when I did it was only because I was starving. Eventually though, my grandparents convinced me to get off my ass and start doing something with my life again. They, um, obviously didn’t know the full details about everything, but they said I ‘shouldn’t let guilt over my dad’s actions weigh me down.’ They didn’t realise how much of a role I played in everything. But… their words still inspired me to stop moping, and I started working on finishing my last year of school through TAFE, which is, uh, kinda like a vocational college, I guess. They had options for people who didn’t finish school, so that’s what I was doing.

“Then, to my great surprise, the Council reached out to me. I guess Mr. Luna told them how I helped him sneak into the Dewsbury outpost so you could escape, and they figured my expertise on the hunter’s structure could be useful. They figured out that I wasn’t blacklisted from the hunter’s systems yet, because my involvement in your escape was never publicised, so they had me sneak into an outpost under the guise that I was looking for more work from them, and I managed to steal that dose of DX-47 that we’ve been using for our research. After that, they gave me a job in their labs helping with the work on the vaccine, but it’s mostly just assisting the real scientists. I am learning a lot, and they say I might have a future in chemistry if I wanted to pursue it, but right now my only goal after everything is finished is to actually get my highschool diploma. I had to stop working towards it after The Council hired me. The free accommodation is nice, though.”

“Busy year, then?”

Brooke let out a polite laugh, though it could’ve easily been mistaken for a cough. “Yeah.”

Roxy was silent for a while before speaking again. “Do you miss it?”

Brooke frowned. “Miss what?”

“Your old life. Living in Dewsbury. Your old friends.” She paused. “...your dad?”

Brooke hesitated before answering. “Yeah. I miss going to a normal school. I miss being surrounded by the wilderness. I miss the… the certainty I used to have, that what I was doing was right. Obviously, I know it wasn’t now, and that my current work is actually the right thing to do, but… when you spend so much of your life being told the way things are, it’s hard to get rid of that little voice in your head that keeps reiterating that when you try to do things differently. And…” Her chest constricted, and she bit her lip to try and stop the tears she could feel behind her eyes. “I… I miss being friends with you guys. With Leif. I-I know we weren’t super close for very long but… You guys were still my friends, even when I was reporting your movements to the hunters. I… I thought I was helping.”

A sob slipped out and she covered her mouth to stifle any more, trying to breathe through the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her. Roxy remained silent as she recomposed herself. “A-as for my dad, well… It’s hard not to miss the good bits. The times when we were happy. But… I know now how bad things really were under the surface, how wrong the way he treated me was. I… I know it’s not much, compared to yours, but…” She lifted the back of her shirt and shifted to show Roxy the faint lines scattered across her lower back. There was a quiet intake of air from behind her. “These were from his belt.”

She pulled her shirt back down and turned around. Roxy was frowning, but it seemed to be more in sympathy than anger towards Brooke herself. “Leif never said anything.”

“She probably never noticed. We were only really intimate once, and they’re pretty hard to see if you’re not looking for them. To answer your question, no. I don’t miss my dad. He was a horrible person, and… I’m sorry it took what happened to you for me to see it.”

“I’ve always wondered. How was your dad ever okay with you dating Leif if the hunters were so queerphobic? How were you okay with it?”

Brooke grimaced. “He never knew. He just thought we were friends so I could get close to you. And, as for me… While I was still subjected to some of those views, obviously I was sheltered from a lot of the stuff the hunters were doing, otherwise I never would have…” She grit her teeth against the surge of sudden guilt and moved past it. “I knew I wasn’t really interested in guys, and part of that kinda freaked me out a little, because of how I was raised. It… It’s going to sound bad, because it is bad, and I was horrible for thinking like this, but… I guess I sort of saw Leif as some sort of middle ground, where I could see what dating a girl was like… without dating a girl.” She could almost feel Roxy’s anger rising across the table, so she quickly rushed to douse the flames. “Obviously I don’t think like that anymore! I know she’s a girl through-and-through, regardless of her body. It was just… some fucked up mental gymnastics my mind did to justify it so I could date her… Because I did want to date her. My feelings for her were real, even if I… didn’t always have the right mindset.”

Roxy sighed. “I guess I can’t get too mad at you for that. You’ve seen the error in your ways, and made changes to be a better person. Same with a lot of things, I guess.”

Brooke wilted a little. There were some things she could never atone for, no matter how much good she did. “I…” She swallowed thickly. “Sometimes, when I close my eyes at night, I can still see it. Still hear it.”

Roxy looked at her weirdly. “Hear what?” she prompted.

“Wh-what happened to you. What I walked in on. The screams, the look on your face as you thrashed around. Th-the smell. I can’t even eat meat anymore because the smell reminds me too much of that day.”

Roxy hummed. “Can’t say I remember it all too clearly. Everything from the outpost has become a little hazy. But, if it makes you feel any better, I can say that I was probably putting on a bit of a show.”

Brooke frowned. “Huh?”

“You know, playing up my screams, freaking out more than I really was. Emmerich would keep hurting me if he didn’t think I was learning my lesson, so I tried to put on a show for him so he would stop sooner. By that point I was getting a little used to the pain, so I had to play it up so he was satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, it still hurt like nothing else, but most of the scream volume was probably just me faking it.”

“Oh…” Brooke muttered. “I don’t know if that really does make me feel any better. You shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with. You shouldn’t have needed to fake it so that… that cunt was satisfied.”

Roxy grunted. “Tell me about it.”

“What… What actually happened to him? I never heard, and there weren’t any reports on him being arrested or tried for anything. I… I assume he must have died during your escape but…”

Roxy took a deep breath, looking out over the city once more. “You know that big crucifix he kept on his wall?”

Brooke frowned. “Yeah?”

“The day that I escaped, we were going through training, and… I guess I finally passed. He wasn’t too happy about it, though. Wanted to… keep me for himself. By that point I couldn’t really say no to him anymore, so he thought I was agreeing with him. He thought he could trust me. Well, he brought me up to his desk and turned around to look for something, and while his back was turned, I grabbed the cross and hit him over the head with it. Didn’t stop until I was sure he was dead.”

“Oh,” Brooke replied. She took a moment to reconcile that bit of information in her head. Obviously, she knew that the chances of Emmerich still being alive at this point were slim to none, but now that she knew for sure, knew how it happened, it helped solidify it a bit. He would never hurt anyone again. That felt good. “Do you… regret it? Not specifically… killing him, but killing someone at all?”

Roxy shrugged. “The only thing I regret about what I did to him is that he’ll never know I beat him in the end. His back was turned, he didn’t see it coming. One second he was fine and the next, poof, lights out. I had to kill more hunters to escape, and I don’t regret that either. It was self defence. Same as when they attacked us at my grandma’s house. My… my family could have gotten hurt. I didn’t hesitate. I would never willingly kill someone who didn’t deserve it, but the hunters? They deserve it, and I have no qualms about it, either.”

Brooke’s chest tightened a bit, hearing the way she was talking, seeing how impassive her face was while she did so. Was she always like this, deep down, or did what happened at the outpost turn her into this? Into… a killer? No, she really shouldn’t judge. She knew firsthand the horrors that the hunters were capable of. Dozens of her coworkers had killed hunters before as well. As Roxy said, it was self defence. It was probably for the best that she was able to be so impassive about it. Maybe it just took her off guard because she knew Roxy before everything. It was harder to reconcile the image in her head of the old Roxy - the friendly, sorta awkward, protective human - with the new one; the scarred, muscly, take-no-shit werewolf.

Speaking of which, maybe she should change the subject. After a period of contemplative, slightly awkward silence, she decided to ask the question that had been burning at the back of her mind ever since Roxy pinned her against the wall and growled at her. “So, uh, this werewolf stuff… Were you… always a werewolf and we just didn’t know it?”

Roxy waved a hand. “Nah, my family had werewolf ancestors, but I was human. But, from a combination of Lunin from a mating bite and that dose of DX-47 I got, it pulled me closer to my werewolf side. I still can’t fully shift, but the claws make for good weapons, and the fur is nice in the cold.”

She half-shifted to emphasise her point, her eyes turning a brilliant amber as black fur sprouted and spread up her hands and arms. She grinned, her teeth sharp and unsettling. “Much better.”

Brooke blinked in surprise. “Oh, wow.” Honestly, Roxy had the right idea. It was getting a little cold up here now. They should probably wrap this up soon. “Um, one last thing I wanted to ask, but how did you meet that other direwolf? I was under the impression that Sam was the only one until he showed up.”

Roxy chuckled. “Yeah, funny story, that. He never met his parents, so he didn’t even know he was a werewolf till he met us, let alone a direwolf. He moved to Dewsbury and started at St Matthew’s a little bit after the start of the school year. Literally the first thing he did when he walked in was come up to me to ask if I needed help with my locker, cuz I was still on crutches at the time. I’m starting to think I’m some sort of werewolf magnet. Anyway, Leif took a liking to him and they got together after a little bit. From there, he quickly became part of the pack.”

“Oh…” Brooke struggled to hide her disappointment. She knew it was stupid to think there was still a chance for her to rekindle things with Leif, but now that she was dating someone else, well… It was hard not to be a little hurt at the crushed hopes, as futile as she knew they were.

Roxy stood up all of a sudden, stretching with the loud crack of her spine. “This has been fun ‘n all, but this cold’s starting to do a number on my back and my leg. Plus, the weed’s starting to kick in, and I’d rather be back home when it does. Dinner’s probably going to be soon, anyway.” She started back towards the elevator, but turned and gave Brooke a sincere smile. “It’s been nice catching up. And, for the record, I don’t hate you for what happened. I understand you thought you were doing the right thing. What happened to me isn’t your fault. You didn’t whip me, after all. Anyway, good talk. See ya.”

Brooke watched as she walked away. She realised her chance was slipping away. “Wait!”

Roxy paused and turned back, a curious look on her face. Brooke stood up and walked over to her. “Uh, do you… do you think you could maybe put in a good word for me to your pack? I, um… I don’t wanna keep getting frowned at. And… It would be cool if we could maybe hang out again some time.”

Roxy smiled softly. “I can try, but I can’t promise anything. Sam can hold a grudge, and Leif, well… I don’t think I need to explain why that might be difficult for her.”

Brooke nodded. “I understand. Thanks for talking with me.”

“No problem.” Roxy gave her a two-finger salute and headed off, leaving Brooke alone on the rooftop. It was cold, but she just shrugged her jacket tighter around herself. She needed a little time to process everything that had happened, everything that she’d learned. The sky was beginning to darken and the city brightened in response, logos on skyscrapers lighting up to accentuate the skyline. Most of them were for unethical mining conglomerates, but oh well.

She stayed up there for quite a long time. It wasn’t until her phone beeped with the reminder to take her nightly meds that she remembered herself and realised how freezing the night had become. She hastily retreated back to the elevator, heading back to her empty apartment. It would have been preferable if it were filled with warmth and laughter and family, like she could only assume Roxy’s was, but she would take what she could get.

It was still more than she felt she deserved.