“Once we’re up that last bit of hill, we will get to this nice clearing with a great view. We can have our lunch there,” Foster said.

“Okay, Uncle Foster.” Robbie’s face was a mask of determination. Foster couldn’t help but smile at his nephew. The kid was a real trooper. Despite not having experience hiking, he had taken to Foster’s instruction well and pushed himself to complete the hike. There was no whining of ‘I’m tired’ or tantrums. The kid had will of steel. Foster couldn’t help but be proud of him.

Foster had planned this hike to be when he would tell Rob the truth. He found it only fitting to do it amongst nature. Being a wolf felt best when he was in the woods after all. They hiked for another fifteen minutes before finally reaching the spot Foster had mentioned. It had a nice view of Fulsham nestled in amongst the woods. There were some logs prepared as it was a popular lunch spot with hikers. They unloaded the food from their backpacks, then sat down to enjoy it.

“So how are you finding it so far, Robbie? Are you settling down OK?” Foster asked before biting into his sandwich.

“Yeah, I think so.” Robbie had a considering expression as he answered, taking small bites of his sandwich and chewing it carefully. “I mean, I miss Miriam, but she promised me she would message me regularly and she’d send me pictures from her cruise and all that. Arek, the driver also said the same.” Rob’s face suddenly turned sad, but he quickly took a bigger bite and chewed it furiously to cover his emotions. Foster wasn’t fooled. It was clear the kid would miss the people who had looked after him throughout his childhood. They must have become like family to him.

“Once Miriam is back from her cruise and you’re settled in your new school routine we can organise a visit. They could come here, or we could go and see them where they live.” Foster suggested. The didn’t necessarily need to bring the two humans to Fulsham, they could organise a fun day out in one of the nearby human towns.

“Yeah?” Robbie tried to hide the hope and excitement in his voice. “That would be nice.”

“Sure, we can make sure that you’re able to visit them every now and then during school holidays, maybe even stay over if they have the space.”

“They do.” The speed at which Rob replied belied his excitement. “I used to stay over at Miriam’s every now and then, her son is just three years older than me. And Arek has two daughters which are a year and two years younger than me, so we would sometimes have parties together, for birthdays and all that.”

“Well, then we’ll make sure to sort that out.” Foster smiled at Robbie, whose smile turned more genuine. “How about your new room and routine? Is that all right?” They had organised Rob’s room to contain most of the same stuff his old one had. This one was much smaller, but Rob wasn’t too worried about having a telly and game console in his room. He seemed happy to leave it in the living room. That way they could play together or Foster could keep an eye on him as he was cooking in the kitchen.

The ground floor of his house had open floor kitchen and living room being separated by the kitchen island. There was also a small toilet off the side of the living room. The ground floor was completed by a small room he had converted into an office of sorts. Upstairs were three rooms. Robbie and Foster’s bedrooms and a spare room which wasn’t much in use. There was a bed in there in case anyone wanted to visit and stay over, but Foster mostly used the room for storage.

“The room is fine, and I think I’m getting used to sleeping in a new place, now. My bedtime and waking up time didn’t really change, so that’s fine. And I already went through all the homework they want me to do over holidays before starting the new school. There wasn’t much and it was pretty easy anyway.” Robbie shrugged at that. The kid was smart. It took him once of reading or hearing something and he already had it. Foster had checked the reports from his previous school and they were all glowing. He had no behavioural issues, he was very bright, participated in lessons and was always friendly and helpful with his classmates. Again, Foster couldn’t help but be proud, even though he had no hand in raising his nephew until now. Foster dispelled the pleasant thoughts and refocused on the problem at hand.

“I’m glad that you’ve finished it already. Like I said, once you start the change that I mentioned, you won’t be in any shape for studying I’m afraid.” Foster paused, balled the foil his sandwich had been wrapped in and chucked it in his backpack. “Speaking of, I think it is high time I finally explained to you all about Fulsham and people who live here.” His voice turned serious, and he noticed his nephew sitting at attention even as he copied Foster’s actions with sandwich wrapper. Foster paused once again and stared into space. He went over this speech in his head so many times, but nothing he came up with seemed natural. In the end he decided to just go with whatever came to him in the moment. Foster focused on his nephew. They sat on the logs opposite each other, close but not so much as to be crowded. “What I’m going to tell you, Rob, will be very hard to believe. I want you to know I am not joking or trying to lie to you. I need you to listen to everything I have to say. I will then be able to show you the proof of my words and answer any questions you have. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, I am.” Robbie answered, his face serious.

“Okay, good.” Foster took a deep breath, then released it. “Where to start?” He mused. “I suppose for me the story starts during my gap year. Do you know what gap year is, Robbie?”

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“Not really.” Rob shook his head.

“Well, think of it as a year after you finish school and before you go to university or start working full-time. You take a year or similar amount of time to travel, broaden your experiences and learn more about the world. Does that make sense?” Robbie nodded, so Foster continued. “Right. During my gap year I decided to travel over Europe. At some point I ended up in Eastern-Europe. There is much more nature there, less human habitation. The villages and towns are spread far apart, and there isn’t always good mobile service. I was in one of those wilder areas, backpacking from one town to another, when I found an animal in a trap.” He paused, bringing back the hazy memories. Admittedly, he had been an idiot back then. He should never had done what he had. It was dangerous and reckless. And he had borne the results of it ever since.

“It was a wolf. It’s paw had been caught in an old, rusty trap. It was tired and clearly unwell. I tried calling for help, but my phone had no service. I knew from the map, that the nearest village was probably a couple days’ walk away. I didn’t think the wolf would survive me going and getting help. So I did something very, very stupid. I decided to try and free it myself.” Foster looked at Rob whose eyes were huge. He was definitely interested in the story. “I did my best to protect the vital areas of my body. I used spare clothing to wrap around my neck, and covered my face as much as possible, to protect it. I put on an extra set of jeans, dug out the gloves I had, and put them on. I must have looked ridiculous!” He smiled as Robbie giggled at the image he was painting. “Then I approached the wolf. I took my time. I tried to let it know I was trying to help. It seemed to be going well. Unfortunately, the trap was very strong. It took a lot of power to open it. As I did, I jostled the wolf’s paw which must have caused it an unimaginable pain. Instinctively, it bit at my forearm, which was the closest to it. I managed to still keep the trap open, and the wolf freed its paw. It didn’t go far after that. It collapsed a couple steps away. I managed to dismantle the trap and chucked it into my backpack. Then I dug for my first aid kit to try and wash the bite with some disinfectant. When I finally managed to find and retrieve it I heard a noise coming from where the wolf had been. But when I turned around there was no wolf in sight. Instead, there was a naked man lying there.” Foster paused and looked at Robbie. His nephew’s jaw was hanging wide open. “I know, that was exactly my reaction!” Foster said pointing to Rob, who caught himself and closed his mouth.

“It was a werewolf?” Robbie asked.

“Yes.”

“And it bit you.”

“Yes.”

“Does it mean you’re a werewolf now, Uncle Foster?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it means.”

“Wow.” Rob fell silent once again.

“Anyway, let me give you the short version of the rest of story.” He saw Rob’s nod and continued. “I became a werewolf and learned as much as I could from that werewolf alpha. Being alpha means being in charge of other werewolves in your family or village - a pack. Then he gave me some contacts he had for werewolves living in UK, to get in touch after I came back. There were some things I needed now. I don’t turn into a monster every time there is a full moon, that’s a myth. But If I don’t transform and exercise as a wolf regularly I become really, really cranky. So I needed a safe place to be able to turn into a wolf. There wasn’t many places like that where I used to live. So after coming back to UK I contacted that werewolf I was given contact details for. That’s how I learned there was a whole community of different supernatural races living together in this little town. Because, with language barrier and everything I did not understand what the alpha werewolf was telling me. There was more than just werewolves in the world. Many other supernatural races exist and they’re not monsters like in stories. They are people, just like you and me. Some of them are nice, some of them are idiots. But they all want to live hidden from humans.” Foster paused, not sure where to go with his explanation next.

“So that town full of werewolves and other races is Fulsham?”Robbie asked, excitement in his voice.

“Yep, that’s right.”

“And you’re in charge, Uncle Foster, so does that mean that you are the alpha of Fulsham?”

“Got that in one.” Foster couldn’t help but smile once again at his nephew’s deductions.

“Wow! Does it mean that the transformation you were talking about is changing me into a werewolf?!” Now Foster was certain he could see stars in Robbie’s eyes as the boy nearly vibrated in place with excitement.

“That’s exactly what it means.” Foster nodded.

“Oh WOW, WOW, WOW! That’s sooo cool! Will I be able to turn into a wolf straight away? Will I know how to walk on four legs? And what about my ears and tail? Will I know how to move them, since I haven’t got a tail and can’t move my ears as a human? What about…” What proceeded was the longest question and answer session in Foster’s life followed by a practical demonstration of his werewolf abilities. On the positive side, Robbie was definitely all in favour of the transformation, no hesitation whatsoever. But Foster had a feeling that until Rob actually finished his change and was able to turn into a wolf himself Foster would be subjected to countless more questions. All in all a very positive outcome.