LIAM: SINCE PRESENTING, PETE SEEMED TO BE FEELING LEAGUES BETTER.

He was going out for more walks, hanging out with his friends, and even showing off the things he’d been learning in school. I couldn’t have been more proud. Of course, I easily accepted when he’d asked if he could go hang out at his friends’ house that night.

He got a ride from said friend and for once I was alone in the house. Perfect opportunity to catch up on some work and maybe even call Briar.

Which is exactly what I did. We remained talking even while the man was working on grading papers, about whatever came up. He didn’t seem to mind, even when I started rambling about this show I liked. I was midway through explaining the season finale when I noticed a car pulling into the driveway.

A quick glance to my watch reminded me just how late it was, and that it was probably Pete coming back home, albeit later than usual.

The door opened not much later.

“Hey Pete! Welcome back!” I called without hanging up, I was in the middle of a story after all.

“Huh? Oh, hi, Liam!” He sounded… weird. I looked away from what I was doing. His eyes were blown wide, he was covered in a sheen of sweat and I smelt the twang of copper in the air. I saw something red on his shirt. He was hiding something bad.

“Peter. What’s on your shirt?” I used my best adult voice, and he looked down at his clothes like the smearing of red was a surprise to him too. It wasn’t lost on me that he had his arm hidden behind his back, shoved in his jacket.

“This is… uh… I mean…”

“Peter. Show me your arm.” I hadn’t hung up yet, I wasn’t sure why. I could hear Briar faintly on the other line asking what was going on while Pete deliberated.

“Peter, show me what you’re hiding, right now.” I commanded. He wore a guilty expression.

“Don’t get mad, it was an accident.”

I gasped audibly as he revealed his arm, a bloody, thankfully not too mangled mess.

“I have to go.” I said into the phone as I stood up. I could hear him beg for me to wait on the other line. It sounded like he said he was going to come over, but I couldn’t hear him right and I admittedly hung up before I could ask.

I was already across the room, looking at the damage and dragging the teen into the bathroom. I urged him to sit on the toilet while I rummaged through the cabinet for my first aid kit.

“This is gonna hurt a little, but I need to see it clearly. We’re gonna run it under some water, okay?”

“I already did that at Jonah’s house.”

“Do it again. I need to be sure it’s cleaned.”

He whined, getting up and holding it under the faucet, hissing at the sting it brought.

Now that I could see the wound without the blood it was easy to tell what had happened. He was bitten… by something big.

I sat him down on the toilet again and tried as carefully as possible to dry him off before pouring saline on the wound, then bandaging it carefully.

“After we get this all bandaged, we are going to have a serious talk about what happened. Okay?”

“Yes, sir…” He was looking down and away, submissively. I sighed. I didn’t want to yell at him but I was scared half to death just now. At least he didn’t seem too hurt by it, judging by the fact that he thought he could hide it.

“Okay.” I began as I finished wrapping the arm. “Let’s go lay you down, I’ll go get a cup of juice, you need sugar.”

I ran to the kitchen, pouring a glass of the orange juice I still had into a glass, and I stopped by the pantry to grab a couple of cookies as well. I didn’t know a lot about bites, but I figured some sugar for the blood loss couldn’t hurt.

Running back into the room, he didn’t look a lot better. He was still sweaty, and looked on his way to becoming sick. I feared the creature may have had rabies or something, so I brought my phone with me in case I needed to call an ambulance.

“Okay. Tell me what happened.”

“There was a dog.” He whined. “We thought it was a stray, so we tried to catch it.”

“And it bit you?”

“…it was a really big dog. I thought it was a wolf, but Jonah says they aren’t in this state.”

“Okay, the big dog bit you. What did it look like?” I dabbed at his forehead with a wet cloth.

“Mean. It snarled when we got close, I tried to show I wasn’t a threat.”

“What color was it?”

“Dark, I don’t know. It was too dark.”

“Did you see foam at the mouth? Was it acting weird?”

“It was running away from us. We just wanted to help it. It didn’t do nothin, don’t call animal control.”

“Honey, I don’t know about that yet. Let’s just worry about you right now okay?” I sighed, petting his hair away from his face. “Is there anything else? What happened after it bit you.”

“It just ran away, I dunno. I didn’t chase it. It hurt so bad.”

“I know kiddo I’m sorry, let me call the hospital, okay? We’ll have a doctor look at it.”

“I don’t wanna.” He whined again.

“I know, but we need to make sure you didn’t catch anything from the dog.” I felt awful, but there was only so much I could do, and he was quickly looking even weaker than before. I opened my phone to dial 911, but was interrupted by a frantic knocking on the door. I almost ignored it, if only Briar’s words weren’t ringing in my head. Did he really show up?!

“One second Pete, I’ll go get that. You rest, okay?” Against my better judgment, I went to check the door. Even though I guessed who it was on the other side, I was still surprised.

“Briar? What are you doing here?” my voice betrayed my worry, which he thankfully didn’t comment on.

“I’m here to help, where is he?”

“He’s—in his room. You didn’t need to come.” I frowned, especially when he turned to face me with one of his own.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this. Let me help, please, Liam.”

“… Okay, alright.” I started walking him into my house “How did you find my address?”

“It’s in Pete’s files.” He answered smoothly, passing me by when he got close to Pete’s room. He paused in the threshold. “What did he say happened to him?”

“A big dog. It could have rabies, I was just about to call an ambulance.”

“Hm.” He frowned, stepping into the room, kneeling beside Pete’s bedside.

“Mr. Galloway?” He sounded confused, voice thick with sleepiness.

“Hey Petey, I’m just gonna take a quick look at your arm, okay?” He carefully picked at the bandage, peeling it away just barely enough to look at the wound.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked nervously. I didn’t mean to doubt him, but I was just so worried.

“It’s okay, Liam. I know what I’m doing.” He said, but his voice sounded grave.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“What’s the matter, what’s wrong with him?” I asked quickly, I didn’t like the look Briar was making. It was too serious, too upsetting.

“Let’s talk outside.” Was all he said, pulling Pete’s blanket up to his chest leaving his arms exposed as he began to fall asleep.

His hand was gentle on my shoulder as he turned me around, shutting the door behind him and leading us toward the living room.

“… You can’t take him to the hospital.” He finally said, conflict written across his pretty features.

“What? Why not?!” I resisted the urge to raise my voice.

“Because, look, I’ll show you why but you have to promise not to freak out.” He was whispering, but his voice demanded I take him seriously anyways.

“That sounds exactly like what someone says before they freak out. what do you mean?!” I whispered back harshly.

“It wasn’t a dog that bit him!” He responded in kind. “It was definitely a wolf.”

“How would you know that, there aren’t any wolves in this state!”

“I know, because I am one.” He said it normally this time, his voice loud enough to contrast with the relative silence in the room and startle me into pausing.

“What do you mean?” I asked, suspiciously.

“I mean I’m—look, I’ll show you but if you scream or otherwise freak out it's not just Pete who’s gonna be in trouble.”

“Is that a threat?!” I took a nervous step away, one that Briar was quick to match with a step forward, panic on his face.

“No! It’s—I’m the one who’s going to be in trouble. Please, just trust me, let me show you what I mean.”

I was quiet for a long moment. Too long, because he started backing away.

“I—” I shook my head “Okay. Show me.”

“Thank you. Please, just give me a chance.”

I nodded instead of answering, watching closely as he stepped past me into the living room. I flushed when he started taking his shirt off, and flushed even harder when his pants followed.

“Oh my god.” I went red hot, covering the lower half of my gaze with my hand as he presumably removed his boxers as well. He looked amused, from what I could see. Before the horror started, that is. He at least saved me the trouble of seeing his face by covering his nose with his arm, bending down as bones creaked and joints cracked and his skin slowly grew covered by a thick coat of fur, washing over him top to bottom like water.

“Oh my god.” I said again, this time in a mixture of awe and fear.

Before me, in broad lamplight, stood a large hound. A wolf, my mind supplied. He had brown and tan fur, and stood sideways before me. He lowered his head, and hunkered low to the ground, showing me he wasn’t a threat. There were stories of werewolves during ancient times, a long lost lineage leading to what people were today. Those stories were chalked up to myth, though. Simple theories. They weren’t supposed to be real.

Only, the very proof of such a thing existed in the flesh right in front of me.

My knees grew weak, and I felt myself slowly sinking to the floor until I couldn’t hold myself up any longer and I collapsed all at once.

The wolf, Briar, launched up with a whine. Coming over to where I’d collapsed to the floor. He kept whining, like he was reminding me he wasn’t going to hurt me, before he nosed at my face. His cold nose shocked me into moving again.

“Hey, stop that, I’m-I’m fine. Stop that.” I waved him away, and he sat back on his haunches and gave me a huff that was full of attitude. “I… I don’t know what to say. I can’t process this right now.”

Briar whined again, backing away, and turning to sniff at his clothes.

The snapping and crackling started up again, and I barely reminded myself to cover my eyes for the ensuing nudity as he became a human again.

“Okay.” I said, as the sounds came to a stop, and Briar began dressing himself again. “Okay.” I repeated.

“I… I will process this, but I need time.” I said.

“I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of that.” He fixed me with a sad smile.

“Why? Is this what’s happening to Pete?” I couldn’t decide if I was just concerned for him or horrified by the idea.

“If he’s lucky.”

“If he’s… you don’t mean..?” Realization dawned on me. My Pete, he could be dying on me right now, and I was in here ogling a werewolf. I got up, somehow finding the strength to stand again, and rushed to his room. Briar hot on my tail.

“Hey, Liam, wait!” He stopped me just as I opened the door. He was fast. He took me by the shoulders. “You need to let him rest, Liam. We can’t do anything for him now.”

“I can’t just stand here while he could be dying.” I fought back tears.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I truly am. There’s nothing we can do for him now, we just need to wait for the sickness to pass.”

“What are the chances he survives?” I asked, flatly.

“You don’t want to know. Even if it’s good or bad, I’ll only either give you false hope or make you fear even more. I can’t tell you.”

“But… What can I do, then?” A tear fell, misery beginning to force its way out of my throat.

“I’m sorry. Come here.” He pulled me into his chest, suddenly. I couldn’t help it, I cried. I clung to his stupid chest and I cried and cried like a stupid baby. I couldn’t help it. I already lost my sister, now I was potentially on the verge of losing her—our baby. I couldn’t take it.

He shushed me, calmly rubbing soothing circles into my back until I slowly stopped sobbing. I took a deep shuddering breath, allowing myself to be calmed.

“Okay.” I eventually said, slowly. “I’m okay.”

“Good. Should we go sit down?”

“I guess…” I didn’t want to leave Pete’s side, but if what Briar said was true then there was really nothing I could do.

“How long until we know what happens to him?” I asked as he sat me down at the counter, and started rifling through my cabinets until he found my tin full of teas.

“It depends on the person, but… a doctor would be able to tell for sure.”

“I thought you said not to call an ambulance?” I frowned.

“I said don’t take him to the hospital, yeah. Not that you can’t bring a doctor. We have a doctor who’s one of us. She’s good at what she does, she’d be able to tell you more.”

“When could she visit..?” I dared let myself get hopeful.

“I can call her tonight, but she probably won't get it until tomorrow. I need to call my alpha anyways, tell her there’s a rogue attacking people near here.”

“That’s what happened, then? Some lone wolf attacked him?”Briar was midway through making two cups of tea when I asked. He didn’t turn to face me to answer.

“If we’re lucky it was just an accident. Sometimes though, not everyone can handle the change. So they go feral. If that’s the case, it’s probably a new wolf.”

“What will happen to the wolf once he’s caught? Pete didn’t want it getting in trouble…”

“Don’t worry about that, right now Liam.” Briar set a cup of hot tea in front of me, cradling his own in his hand.

I stared at him for a long moment, before giving up. I sighed, and accepted the warm drink.

“I’ll call now.” He reached into his pants pocket, retrieving his cellphone and going around the corner, passing the dining table, and winding up in the living room. He sat on the couch with his tea like he owned the place. I turned in my chair, pretending to not be listening to the one sided conversation he was having.

“Sadie. It’s me, I’ve got a boy down here who’s been bitten, it’s a bit of an emergency. Get to the address I sent you as soon as you can, please. I’ll see you later.” Then he hung up. He barely waited a minute before dialing the next number, taking a sip from his too-hot tea while it rang.

I tried a sip of my own, realizing too late that it was too hot for my stupid human mouth, and I burnt my tongue. A gesture that earned me a glance from the man on my couch before the line picked up.

“Clarice. Remember that call the other day?” He began, paused, then continued. “I’ve got a boy who was bitten. Yeah, smells the same. He’s one of my students, yeah, I told his guardian. Yes, he understands.” He glanced at me again, I wondered what this Clarice person was saying.

“No, he’s not. It only just happened within the last hour or two. Okay, yes sir.” He hung up, then took another drink. I warily made my way over to the couch, seating myself carefully beside him.

“How’d it go?” I asked carefully.

“Well enough, considering the circumstances.” He said. “Clarice and Sadie will visit tomorrow, the ladies will make sure he’s doing okay. They’re also going to send someone down to look for the wolf.”

“That was my next question.” I agreed.

“I can’t say whether they’ll succeed. Our hunters are still away for the week, so those who are coming aren’t our best and brightest.” He seemed bothered by something.

“Where have the hunters gone?” I hazarded a guess as to what was bothering him.

“There’s been more rogue wolves lately, all appearing around smaller towns like this one, only they don’t have as big a pack over there, so they needed our help in tracking down the missing wolves.”

“Missing wolves?”

“Some pack is gone, too. We don’t know yet if it's a coup or if something is taking them away. They’re there to investigate.”

It reminded Liam of the girl who went missing the next town over.

“You don’t think… it’s related to that missing girl on the news, do you?”

His expression was grim. “If it is, we need our hunters here, more than there anyways.”

He sighed, suddenly, bringing his arm off the back of the couch to rest on my shoulder.

“We’ll figure this out, Liam. You’ll see.”

I took a deep breath, trying to will myself to relax. I leaned into his touch. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m going to stay the night on your couch, if you don’t mind. Just in case-, if Pete wakes up. You know.”

“Thank you, for being here for him.” I took a sip of my tea, it was nice.

“Any time, rain or shine.” his hand on my shoulder patted me a few times before withdrawing. “You should head to bed now, get some rest for tomorrow. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

“Are you sure? I feel like I should be awake for Pete.”

“I insist, you need the rest.” He urged gently.

“Okay, alright. Anything happens, anything at all, come wake me up, please.”

“You got it.” He agreed, setting his cup down.

“If you get tired, there’s blankets in the cupboard beside the bathroom.”

“Thank you, Liam.”

I gave him another lingering look, before taking another drink of my tea and setting it down on the coffee table.

I had to admit, I was painfully tired now that the ordeal had been over with, though I couldn’t imagine sleeping much. Maybe just a little nap.