The rain had stopped. Hyde and Fallon made their way to the pack building. Hyde took a deep breath, breathing in the post-rain air. “Why do you seem so much more understanding and casual about my sexuality than Mom?” he wondered.

“Hm?” Fallon shrugged. “I have a better understanding of what it’s like to have a part of you you can’t change, and it’s just the way your brain works and the way you were born. And you’d like people to understand and accept that. But they always like to make a big deal out of it, because it’s different to them.”

Hyde examined the ground with a hum. “I never thought about it like that,” he admitted. “But I guess queerness and autism are similar in that way.”

“Autistic people are also more likely to be queer. If your brain is already different in one way, might as well stack more things on top of that.”

Hyde jokingly raised his eyebrow. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

Fallon laughed a little. “No, not as far as I’m aware.”

They arrived at the building. Fallon pulled the door open, Hyde walked in after him. They made their way through the standing-tables to the regular table in the centre. Warlon stood there, his weight rested on his hand on the wood, his other hand rubbing the hairs on his chin with a thoughtful frown.

“Any idea what to do, yet?” Fallon asked as they arrived at the table.

“Nope,” Warlon answered simply.

Hyde rested his behind on the table, his back to Warlon for now. He stared into the crowd, most were looking at them. Should they discuss this with everyone here? Maybe it’d be better to do so privately. Less chance they’d be mad at their decision.

He turned his head to Warlon behind him. They were already here, it was too late for that.

“How about we do nothing?” Hyde suggested.

Warlon stood straight with a raised eyebrow. “Huh?”

Hyde only shrugged.

Warlon looked at Fallon. “This is why you wanted him here? For this brilliant idea?”

Fallon sighed. “It has some good reasoning behind it.”

“Care to explain, then?” Warlon glanced between Fallon and Hyde, not caring which of them did so.

“They haven’t tried to attack in all the thirty years he was alpha.” Hyde pointed at Fallon and turned his body ninety degrees to Warlon, still leaning on the table.

“So?”

“Right after I first became alpha,” Fallon chimed in. “I had made it very clear I wasn’t going to fight them. I had already told them to take the whole forest, but they wouldn’t, because they didn’t have to fight for it.”

“They want the fight,” Hyde continued. “If we don’t give it to them, they’ll get bored and back off.”

“And we should just let them take the forest?” Warlon couldn’t believe it.

“Yes,” Hyde told him matter-of-factly. “We don’t do anything with it anyway. You said so yourself, this pack is more like a social club. Who cares about a stupid forest?”

Warlon glanced around, then tensed up. “I’m not going to back down like a coward! If they want a fight, so be it.”

Hyde stared at him in disbelief. Was a forest worth his life? Was he underestimating how much danger he’d put himself in? He glanced at Fallon. Judging by the look on his face, he thought the same.

Fallon tensed his shoulders and gritted his teeth in anger. “You have no idea what you’re up against. You’ve never fought before, not like this.” He put his hands on the table and leaned in. “They will kill you. The fight they want is one to the death and nothing less! No holding back, no mercy. If you don’t go into it with the same attitude, you’ve already lost.”

Hyde could feel what he was linking this to.

“They’ll scratch your eyes out, bite your fingers off, rip your neck apart until you’re choking to death on your own blood.” Fallon gave Warlon an intense, dangerous look. “You think you’re ready for that?”

Warlon was quiet.

Fallon continued, “You don’t know what they’re capable of. I’ve seen the aftermath with my own eyes. I don’t want my daughter to lose her husband that way, too.”

Warlon moved his gaze down, thinking it over. He took a deep breath. “I’m not doing nothing.” He looked back up at Fallon. “But I don’t have to go alone, either. What if we go in a group, spread out over the forest? To them, it’d seem like we’re alone, but we’re not.”

Fallon sighed at his stubbornness. He backed away. “It’s your funeral.”

“If you must go through with that,” Hyde said as he stood up straight. “Then, at the very least, stay together in duos. Less chance someone gets silently murdered.”

Warlon considered it. “Fine. Then who do you think should go with me?”

“Me.”

“What?” Fallon called out. “If he wants to put himself in harms way, then fine, that’s his choice. But not you—”

“I’ll survive,” Hyde assured him. “I promise, I’ll be fine.”

“How are you so sure?”

“A lot has happened the past nine weeks.”

“Fine, then,” Warlon interrupted. “We’ll go tonight. I’ll explain it to everyone.”

Hyde stood outside of the building with Fallon, waiting for Warlon to finish.

“What happened the past nine weeks?” Fallon asked, concerned.

Hyde sighed. “It’s hard to explain. Trust me, I’ll be okay.” Hyde glanced at the building. “I’m not so sure about Warlon, though. Why does he want to risk his life for a forest?”

“He wants the pack’s approval. He’s been trying to get it for a year, now. And he’s always been stubborn.”

“If only he truly knew what happened to Grandpa. He wouldn’t risk it, then.”

Fallon sadly sighed. “At least he’s cautious enough to go in pairs. Who knows? It might make a big difference.”

Hyde squinted in thought. “Why did Grandpa go alone?”

Fallon shrugged. “Not sure. They might’ve made a deal or something. A one-on-one fight to end it. But he’d underestimated how ruthless they’d be.”

Hyde frowned. One mistake, one miscalculation, and he never got to meet his grandfather.

He thought about Rune’s death. He’d been distracted for only a moment and got a fatal concussion. Fatal for Rune, anyway. He thought about his own near-death. They hadn’t given the person walking up to them a second thought. Hadn’t been on guard.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

One mistake.

One miscalculation.

Death.

He would have to protect Warlon. He couldn’t afford to make mistakes. He knew how it felt to lose someone who wasn’t even his boyfriend yet. He couldn’t imagine the pain his sister would go through if he let her husband die.

He looked at his dad. Fallon frowned into space. Hyde hugged him, Fallon tightly hugged back.

----------------------------------------

After sundown, Hyde walked through the forest with Warlon. Hyde tried to be as quiet and sneaky as possible. He took careful steps to reduce the noise of crunching leaves under his feet, he wore an earthy green shirt for camouflage. He kept his senses heightened, he’d learned any little noise could be a threat.

“We’re only supposed to scare them off, right?” Hyde whispered to Warlon.

“That is the plan,” Warlon whispered back. “But, I haven’t seen anyone yet.”

“I haven’t heard anyone, either.” Although, that might be because the other pack would stay quiet, too. “Think it could be false alarm?”

“No, they’ve sent me threats.”

“They might be fucking with you.”

“I doubt it.”

Hyde fell quiet at a noise.

“Seems like a messed up thing to—”

Hyde got into Warlon’s face and pushed his finger against his own lips to silently shush him. He listened again. There was rustling in the bushes. He faced its direction. There was a small movement. He tensed.

A werewolf jumped out of the bushes. He ran to them. Hyde pulled Warlon to the side. He stood between him and the attacker while Warlon seemed to be frozen. Hyde gave into the adrenaline and let himself shift, for the first time since his turn. He didn’t feel any different. His vampire fangs were barely noticeable now between his regular fangs.

The werewolf slashed at Hyde. Hyde duck and tackled him to the ground.

Warlon watched Hyde fight the attacker, sitting on top of the werewolf and scratching at him. He couldn’t make himself move. He should be fighting. He was the one that insisted to fight, despite their warnings. He couldn’t let Hyde do all the work and prove them right, that he was in over his head.

He shook his head and clapped his hands on his cheeks. He growled as he began to shift. He jumped around at a noise behind him. Another werewolf jumped on him and bit him in the shoulder. Warlon cried out in pain and fell over, with the other werewolf on his back.

Hyde yanked his head around at Warlon’s cry. He jumped off the first attacker to help him, but the attacker grabbed his ankle and dug his nails into his skin. Hyde yelled and nearly tripped, but managed to stay on his feet. He kicked the attacker in the face, knocking him out. Hyde stared at him for a moment, making sure he was unconscious. He winched at the pain in his ankle, which soon faded away.

Warlon was still wrestling the other attacker with a bleeding shoulder. Hyde pulled the attacker off, he stumbled to his feet. Warlon pushed himself off the ground, too. He painfully grabbed at his shoulder with a groan. The attacker slashed at Hyde’s face. Hyde’s eyes widened as he shielded his face with his arms. He deeply scratched his arms. Hyde moved them down again and slashed back, cutting the werewolf’s chest. He tackled the attacker. He grabbed his throat and dug his nails into his neck.

The attacker, realising the peril he was in, shifted back in an attempt at mercy. “Spare me,” he choked out.

Hyde growled. He shifted back too, but kept his tight grip on his throat. “Surrender.”

“Never.”

Hyde tightened his grip. The attacker pinched his eyes closed, then opened them slightly and looked at Hyde’s arms. “Your—your arms—” he whispered.

“What? Never seen a werewolf heal before?”

“How?”

Hyde shrugged. “Guess I’m special.” He tightened his grip again. “Surrender,” he commanded.

The attacker stared at him, thinking it over. “I surrender.”

Hyde loosened his grip. “Get out of here.” He jumped up.

The attacker scrambled to his feet. He kept staring at Hyde. Hyde gave him a dangerous glare. The attacker flinched back, then ran off.

Hyde turned to Warlon. Warlon laid against a tree, clenching his injured shoulder, covered in blood. Hyde kneeled beside him, he seemed confused and a little scared.

“What was that?” Warlon breathed out.

“Nothing, it can wait. Let’s get you to the doctor before the other one wakes up.” Hyde pulled Warlon to his feet.

Warlon couldn’t take his eyes off Hyde’s arms. “He slashed at you, but your arms—they’re fine.”

Hyde groaned. “I told you, it can wait. We need to stop you from bleeding out first.” He dragged Warlon with him, away from danger.

Rune stood in the kitchen, leaning on the counter while he slurped up a can of blood through a straw. He stared down at nothing. Hyde’s whole family was in the room, too.

Rune worried for Hyde’s safety. He and Warlon had insisted on going with the two of them, wanting to keep their partners and parents safe. Tayen and Dione had admitted they’d only be a hindrance and didn’t argue, they weren’t fighters.

But Fallon wasn’t so easily convinced. Hyde had nearly ordered him to stay home. Sure, he had some fighting experience, but he wasn’t exactly the youngest anymore, was he? In his fifties, even if he didn’t get injured in the bleeding sense, he could throw out his back or something. Fallon begrudgingly agreed to stay home, he didn’t like to be reminded how fragile his aging body was becoming. He hadn’t had any issues yet and Hyde wanted to keep it that way.

Rune had wanted to come along too, despite not having much to do with the pack. He wanted to be there for Hyde, protect him. Even if Warlon was close to death for whatever reason, Rune could save him. But Hyde had told him no, Rune didn’t know how to fight werewolves. The only time he’d fought Hyde, he’d lost. And like Rune had said before, Hyde would like to keep Rune in one piece.

Rune had watched Hyde during all this, watched how he acted, how he took charge. He came home and immediately came with theories, ideas and plans. Much like how he had done while dealing with the gang several times. Hyde thought he wouldn’t make a good alpha, but Rune begged to differ.

The sound of him sucking on air brought him back to reality. He shook his can, it was empty. He pushed off the counter and threw it in the garbage. He noticed Tayen and Dione staring at him from the couch and flinched. How long had they been looking at him? Fallon was staring into space like Rune had done.

“What?” Rune asked.

Tayen shrugged. “You seemed very lost in thought.”

“Is that not allowed?”

Tayen only shrugged again.

“I do wonder,” Dione began. “Why did you come here? Didn’t Hyde tell you it’d be dangerous?”

“He did, he told me not to come. But I insisted.”

“Why?” Dione asked while Fallon seemed to tune back into the conversation.

“I don’t get the whole pack thing, but I want to be here for him. Especially when things are dangerous. I love him, I want to keep him safe. We’ve always protected each other, why not now?”

Dione’s face lit up, presumably at the L-word.

But Fallon spoke before she could, “I don’t get the pack thing, either.”

“Oh, yeah!” Tayen called out. “You’re together, now. Who confessed first?”

“Uh.” Rune was caught off guard at the sudden shift in tone. “Neither, really. It was more of a mutual understanding.”

“Then who kissed who first?”

Rune uncomfortably tensed and glanced away. “Ask him.”

The front door opened. Hyde walked into the living room, messy and with arms covered in blood.

“Where’s Warlon?” Tayen asked, afraid.

“At the doctor,” Hyde told her, out of breath from the fight and the sprint here. He pointed at his shoulder as he leaned against the door frame. “Got bit in the”—Hyde waved his hand around his shoulder some more, looking for the word—“shoulder.”

“What?!” Tayen jumped off the couch.

“He’ll be fine.”

Tayen passed him and left to see her injured husband.

Rune walked up to Hyde. “You okay?”

Hyde pushed off the door frame. “I am”—he rested his cheek against Rune’s shoulder—“exhausted.”

Rune rubbed his back. “What happened?”

“Two guys attacked us, and Warlon was useless. First, he froze up, then when he finally moved, he got bitten and tackled right away. So, I had to fight them both on my own while also making sure he didn’t die!”

“But you won?”

“In a way.”

His parents had walked up to them, Hyde got off Rune to look at them. They both seemed concerned. Dione grabbed one of Hyde’s blood-covered arms.

“Where did all this blood come from?” She rubbed his arm with a frown. “You’re not injured, thankfully.”

“How intense was that fight?” Fallon asked.

“Not that intense. They injured me more than I did them.”

“But”—Fallon squinted—“you’re not injured.”

“Not anymore.”

Both his parents were confused now.

“Could you be any more cryptic?” Rune complained.

“What’s going on?” Dione demanded.

“I’ve been here all day, you haven’t noticed my new fangs?” Hyde opened his mouth for a moment to show them.

Dione’s eyes widened. “What? When? How? Why?”

“Who?” Fallon finished the sequence somewhat jokingly. Dione glared at him.

“Um, well, okay,” Hyde thought of which question to answer first. “Who?” He pointed at Rune next to him. “Him, obviously. When? About two and a half weeks ago. What? Vampirism. How? Biting and bloodsucking and such—”

“But how are you still a werewolf, too?” Fallon interrupted.

“Turns out werewolf and vampire just so happens to be the only hybrid possible.” Hyde gave him a thumbs up with an unsure smile. “Lastly, why? Someone stabbed me in the back and I nearly died.”

Dione stared at him in disbelief again. “Who stabbed you?!”

“Uh,” Rune began as he uncomfortably rubbed his nape. “My family had some—dangerous connections. But they’ve been resolved now.”

“What?!”

“Mom, please relax—”

“Relax? My son got stabbed and you’re telling me to relax?!” She angrily turned to Rune. “You put him in harms way—!”

Hyde stepped between her and Rune. “Mom, stop! I’ve known about those connections since I met him, okay? I knew what I was getting into. Not to the extend of getting stabbed, but I knew the risk was there. Don’t blame him, he’s the one that saved me! And it’s what saved me now, too. I would’ve let him turn me eventually, anyway.”

Dione was taken aback. “What, why?”

“The aging difference is pretty inconvenient if we want to stay together longterm.”

“So this is why you were so confident you’d survive,” Fallon commented.

Hyde nodded. “Yeah, I was mostly concerned about losing my fingers or something.”

“I told you to stay safe!” Fallon called out.

“I tried my best!”

Hyde looked back at Dione. “Mom, just be happy I’m alive, okay? I’m an adult, you can’t protect me from everything.”

Dione sighed. “Okay.” She grabbed his hand. “I’m happy you’re alive.”

He smiled.