LIAM: WHEN I AWOKE THE NEXT MORNING I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND PETE OUT OF HIS BED.
I found him in the living room, showing off his video game to Briar on the couch. This time there was a blanket on the couch, telling me he finally slept.
“Hey you two.” I yawned. “Pete, you’re out of bed!”
“I slept wayyy too much yesterday.” Pete decided, pausing the game.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Better, a little sore.” he scratched lightly at his bandaging, until I gave him a look that made him stop.
“What do you think of this, Briar?”
“I think it’s great. He may just manifest the wolf faster than even I did.” Briar looked relaxed on the couch, leaning in such a way that he could have seen the game better while Pete played. I picked at the hair band I wore on my wrist in thought.
“Alright, as long as you’re being careful. I don’t want you passing out unless it’s in bed.”
“I’ll be fine.” Pete rolled his eyes. He was taking this… weirdly well. I shook my head, going into the kitchen while Pete started up his game again. I was able to deliberate more while I cooked, setting aside more portions than usual for the two ravenous wolves I was harboring in my home. The thought made me chuckle.
Pete finally finished off the orange juice with his breakfast, while I tried not to be embarrassed by Briar’s compliments for the meal. After which, Briar finally allowed himself time to go home and get some real rest. Pete and I were left alone for the day.
The day passed quickly, Pete and I spending time together throughout. He even went through the painstaking process of showing me how to play his video game. Something he’d never done before.
BRIAR: ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN, PART OF I WAS FUMING.
That is, the instinctual side of me, where I described the wolf to take residence. How could I leave like that? When I was beside my mate and content for all the world—Mate. That word entered my mind again.
I showered, the water was cold. Cold enough to shock me out of being angry and able to think rationally. My father always said when you met your mate, you’d know. It would be this inhuman need to be close, an unknowable draw bringing you together.
I’d felt it the moment I met him, but fought against all I knew to keep my distance. He was a human, after all. Humans don’t understand the concept of mates, not in the way wolves do, at least.
God, I was down bad for him. The moment they nearly kissed replaying itself in my mind on repeat. Pete, too, I was already forming a pack bond with. Clarice gave as good of an approval for Liam as I could get out of her, confirming what he already knew. He was cute, she said. The way he tried to hold his own against a powerful alpha’s influence. He did well, too. He knew humans in the pack who could hardly stand talking to her normally, with the force she exuded around her.
A strong mate.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind. I wanted to run, but I didn’t feel comfortable knowing there was a rogue out there. I’ll save it for after the hunters return from their mission, I resolved.
Speaking of running. I couldn’t help but be a little excited, as I thought of something I’d yet to ask Clarice. I picked up my phone, not thinking twice about calling her so many times in the last few days. She understood, I knew.
“Briar, what news have you got?” She sounded agitated.
“Peter’s up and about. Seems like he’s accepted it already.”
“That fast? Damn, kids these days.” She snorted on the other line, she sounded a little better.
“I was wondering when you think I should bring him down for a test run, with your permission of course.”
“Find out if he’s manifesting, you’ll know better than I if he is. Bring him then.”
“It could be as soon as tomorrow, I don’t know how fast it’ll be but it seems to be very.”
“Then bring him tomorrow.” She said flatly. “You can relax, Briar. The pack will like him, I’m sure.”
“What about Liam?” I asked.
“What about him?”
“When I bring him. I’ve never been the one to bring an outsider in.”
She sighed on the other line. “He’ll be fine, as long as he’s not rude.”
“That’s not the part I’m worried about.”
“You think someone would take him from you?” She didn’t phrase it like a question, I felt silly for it, but that part of me is still nervous.
“I’m not the most dominant wolf, Clarice.”
“Except when it comes to your territory.” She supplied. “Remember when you bit Jacob for fucking around on your side of town.”
“I didn’t bite him for that reason.”
“It sure as shit didn’t help.” She bit back. “I’m not worried. I don’t think if anything happened you’d take it sitting down. You’ve got more power in you than you realize.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right. Tell the boys I said hello, make sure you give Peter that crash course.”
“Yes, sir.” I agreed.
“Call me when you’re on your way.”
“Yes, sir.”
The line clicked off. I sighed at the ceiling. Tomorrow then, I’d have to suss out where Pete’s at. I sent a quick text to Liam.
‘If you notice Pete behaving strangely, gimme a call and I’ll be right over.’
Satisfied, I finally got started catching up on the neglected homework.
LIAM: WELL NOW I’M PARANOID. I THOUGHT, HOURS AFTER RECEIVING THAT TEXT MESSAGE.
This entire situation was weird. What was he expecting to happen, Pete, scratching himself with his leg?
I pushed the goofy image out of my mind and returned to making dinner, but I kept my eye on Pete from the corner of my eye the whole night, noticing nothing odd aside from the occasional itchy wound. A part of me thought it’d stay that way.
Until I was woken up, at about 4:15 AM.
“Liam!” I bolted upright.
“Pete! What, what is it?” I shook the sleepiness off as panic set in.
“I don’t feel right.” He whined.
“Explain, tell me what it feels like.” I was already midway dialing Briar’s number.
“Like there’s something in my skin.” He was gripping his arms. I noticed absently that he’d picked off the bandages at some point. I clicked on my bedside lamp to get a better look while the phone rang.
“Let me see your arm, honey.” I asked, and he shoved his arm at me like he wanted it off him. I frowned, the injuries from before were now bright pink, with no open wound anywhere. It didn’t even scab, just scarred over.
“Where does it feel like it is?”
“Everywhere, can’t you feel it?” He cried.
I didn’t say anything for fear of distressing him, I couldn’t feel anything in his skin whatsoever, aside from it being hot to the touch.
“Hello?” Briar’s voice was rough and deep from sleep.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Briar? Something weird is going on with Pete. He says it feels like something’s in his skin.” I couldn’t help the subconscious worry that there actually was something in there. Like this whole werewolf thing ended up being a false alarm, but that wouldn’t explain the rapid healing of his bite.
“Shit, okay. I’m on my way. Put him in a cold bath until I get there, it’ll help.”
“Okay, alright. Okay.” I quickly got out of bed, leading Pete into my bathroom where the tub was. I turned on the faucet while Pete scratched furiously at his arms.
“Peter, stop scratching, it’ll be okay.”
“It feels awful.”
“I know kiddo I’m sorry. I need you to take off your pajamas and get in the tub okay?”
He groaned as he was forced to drop his arms, taking off his shirt and pants although leaving his boxers on as he stepped foot in the tub.
“It’s cold!” He exclaimed.
“I know, but it’ll help.”
“It’s fucking freezing though!”
“Peter, stop complaining, I’m trying to help you.” My voice grew stern, in a way that told him I wasn’t gonna let him have his way. He pouted, then grimaced as he slowly lowered himself into the cold water.
He panted for a minute, like his body was trying to warm up by breathing. Surprisingly enough, he stopped scratching.
“Oh.” He breathed.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah, actually. It’s like you froze all the bugs.” he said, leaning all the way back into the water.
“There were no bugs, Peter.” I sighed. I instructed him to stay while I went into my bedroom to get dressed out of my pajamas and to wait for Briar.
When he finally arrived, we shared no words as I directed him to my bedroom, and then my bathroom from there. He only hesitated for a moment in the threshold before passing through and following me to the bathroom.
“Petey, hey, how are you feeling?”
“Better, now that the bugs are gone.” He was relaxing now, like he was in a hot tub.
I didn’t bother correcting him this time, knowing he was just being stubborn. Briar didn’t ask what that meant, he seemed to know.
“How long ago did the bugs start bothering you?” He asked.
“I dunno, I woke up from it like 10 minutes ago.” Was the answer.
“Okay, we should have time, then.” Briar turned to me. “Go get him some clothes, I’ll get some ice packs. We need to get him to the estate.”
“Now?! It’s almost 5:00 AM!”
“Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to want to wait.”
“What doesn’t?” Peter asked, worried now.
“Your wolf side, it’s coming out.”
“Isn’t it early? I thought we had time?” I was anxious now as I stood in the doorway, wanting to do as Briar ordered but too concerned to leave.
“Yeah, it sneaked up on us this time, I’m sorry.” He looked apologetic, I sensed he really did feel bad.
“Okay… Okay, I’m going. I’ll be right back Pete!” I ran off into his bedroom, I heard Briar pass by in the hallway and open the fridge shortly after. I grabbed his favorite hoodie, in addition to a spare change of clothes, and made my way back to Pete.
“Okay, honey. Here’s your clothes.” I stacked them on the counter nearby while Briar returned with the ice packs.
“Alright, Petey. Get dressed, we’ll take my car.”
We left him to get dressed in privacy while we talked briefly in my bedroom. Soon enough, the boy appeared looking better than when he’d entered.
“Ready?” Briar asked him.
“I guess so.”
“Good enough, let's go.” Briar passed him the ice packs before leading the way out and to his car.
He gave me time to lock up before getting into the SUV, holding the door open for me politely. I shook my head, now was not the time for niceties.
Instead of addressing us once he was in the driver's seat, he picked up his cellphone.
“Clarice.” He began. I could only faintly hear her on the other line as he started the car, I had to strain to listen.
“Briar, you better have a good reason for calling me at this hour.” I couldn’t tell the tone, but the phrasing seemed less than pleased.
“Forgive me, but you said to call when I was bringing the boys.”
“Already?” Even she was surprised.
“He’s already starting to shift.”
“Shit. Keep him on ice.”
“Way ahead of you. We’re on our way.”
“I’ll wake up Jacob and Maddie.”
“Thank you, sir.” He hung up.
“She sounded mad.” Pete said.
“She’s not, don’t worry kiddo. She just sounds like that.” He huffed, turning onto the main road out of the neighborhood. I was amazed he could hear her at all, being in the back seat and all.
“My head hurts.” He suddenly announced.
“I know Pete. It’ll feel better once you shift.” He sighed. “Look. Here in a bit, you’re gonna start feeling a lot of different things. Some good, some bad. You need to focus on not letting it get to you, okay?”
“Like what?”
“Anger, confusion, excitement. All those things, and it’s gonna be real intense, but you need to try to keep yourself still okay?”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“You’re also starting to pick up on your other senses, you could hear the phone call, that’s good. You’ll also be able to start smelling us.”
“I think I can already. It’s making my head worse.”
“Do we smell bad?” I asked, frowning.
“No.” he whined. “Just intense.”
“I know. You’ll get used to it really quick, here.” He opened the windows, allowing the cool breeze from the dark world outside into the SUV.
“Is it gonna hurt?” Pete asked after a long period of silence.
“What is?”
“Shifting, like you said. It didn’t sound good when you did it.”
Briar stared at the road for a long moment, in thought. I wondered that too.
“I don’t wanna lie to you, Petey. It’s gonna hurt like a bitch for the first few times.” The cuss word startled me. I didn’t mind it, but it set the tone for how serious he was being.
“… Great.” Pete sounded defeated. “I take it I can’t just… not shift?”
“Not the first time, no. Resisting will make it hurt more. The first few times will suck, but once you get used to it, it kind of feels like a massage. Your body will adjust, with time.”
“Is there a way to make that happen faster?”
“Not at your age. The only thing you can do is shift more often and that’s not recommended because it’ll tire you out if you do it more than twice in a day.”
“I’m starting to see the downsides of this whole werewolf business.” Pete was frowning, but Briar offered a comforting smile over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. The pros outweigh the cons. I’ll let you figure those out for yourself.”
We spent the rest of the car ride talking about the various terms and conditions associated with being a werewolf, including social cues and common words that are used and what to avoid. It seemed like Briar started having fun after a while, and I could see the teacher that he was in the classroom reflected in his speech.
Pete on the other hand was having a less than good time, complaining once more as the bugs returned to his skin and refused to leave him be, his only alleviation a normal ice-pack and a frozen bag of peas that were fetched from my freezer.
It all came to a head when we were about 15 minutes from the estate, and Pete started whining even more than what was normal for a teenager. He really sounded miserable.
“I know kiddo.” Briar breathed. “We’re almost there. We’ve got people ready to help you through your first shift but you need to hold out just a little longer.”
I felt helpless to the pain he was carrying, yet again the odd one out in the small space. What could I possibly do, in my position, other than hold his hand and comfort him through the pain.
“Hold out just a little longer honey, you can do it. C’mon Pete just breathe with me, see, inhale, exhale.” Pete was crying, what could I do? “Breathe Peter, stay still and breathe.”
He screamed suddenly, and I looked over horrified to see a patch of ginger fur poke through his cheek.
“Oh god, Briar, it’s happening. I see fur!”
“Shit.” Briar floored the acceleration. Thankfully we were close by now, we only needed to drive another minute or two before he peeled into a long dirt road, leading to an even longer gravel driveway.
He parked just in front of this massive house deep in the woods, and Pete didn’t waste any time before launching out of the car. I gave chase, rounding the car to beg him to stay still. Briar was there too, holding his other hand while two strangers came sprinting out of the house.
“Breathe Pete, c’mon.” I begged, he hadn’t inhaled audibly for a while, and I was rewarded by a gasp. So he was still listening, thank god.
“Hey, Pete? My name’s Jacob, we’re gonna help you through this okay?”
“Let go of his hands honey it’s okay now, we’re gonna help him.” Another voice, a woman, gently pulled me away from my boy. Briar followed without prompt.
Jacob was whispering feverishly into Pete’s ear, careful not to touch him.
It was another moment of panting and crying before the first crack resounded through the air.
“Get his clothes off, quick.” Jacob and the woman quickly began tugging the shirt and pants off of Peter, leaving his boxers to be destroyed by the events that followed.
It looked horrible, and far more painful than Briar’s shift back at my house.
Where Briar shifted all at once in one smooth motion, Pete seemed to shift part of the way before getting stuck, over and over again. He had stopped crying, only to be replaced by panting and growls and yelps as he slowly, painfully slowly became more and more wolf-like, until the final patch of fur filled in with trembling muscles, and then he collapsed to the ground in one big heap.
I couldn’t breathe for a moment, panic struck me. Briar was quick to my side.
“He’s okay, Liam, he’s okay. Just resting. Look, he’s breathing.”
It barely helped, I wanted nothing more than to run to him, but I wasn’t sure if I could yet.
I heard more cracking and popping, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a very naked man shifting right before my eyes. Like Briar, he shifted all at once, fur washing over him like water before landing on all four paws. He approached Pete laying on the ground, and hunkered down low. Low until he was belly to the ground watching and waiting for the moment Liam opened his eyes.
“He’s okay, this happens for everyone who’s not born a wolf.” the woman—Maddie, my mind supplied— spoke, using a soothing tone toward me. She glanced at Briar for a moment. “Almost everyone.”
I controlled my breathing. If no one else was worried, I needed to get control of myself and not freak out.
“Okay, I’m calm.” I said.
“Not really. Seriously, he’s okay. He’ll wake up in just a moment.” She said again. I stayed kneeling on the ground, waiting.
Finally, he opened his eyes.