Betrayed By My Doomed Mate

Adding the two companies, New Shadow and Lightning, there were 1200 active employees in total. It was impossible not to have something to advertise in that place, and it was impossible for the two companies not to be known throughout the city. Cassie was one of the people that everyone tried to recruit, and she refused everyone because she didn't have time to deal with many problems, and the work she had was already taking up too much of her time. The theme of the party was still open. There was a poll among the employees to decide what would be the best theme. While arranging his work material in his briefcase, Kurt was talking to his partner, Jack. "Which option and theme did you vote for?" he asked. "I didn't vote, we won't, you know that you know why," Jack replied, also tidying up his material. "I know we should participate, it's important and all, but we can't," he commented, as he closed his work case. "We're not in the condition to break the camera or anything else that can be broken, like anything in the building." "Can't we even stay for a while? I know it's risky, but we work here," Kurt rebutted. "Kurt, you know we can't. Stop talking about it, before we...", Jack didn't finish his sentence, he stopped for a moment and his breathing gradually quickened, Kurt watched him for a few seconds. "What time is it?", Jack asked slowly, keeping eye contact with his friend, who seemed as restless as he was. "Holy shit, Jack. You always get an early start, let's go!", Kurt shouted, pulling his friend along and starting a race towards the nearest elevator to get down to the parking lot. Using the stairs would take too long. "Come on, I'll drive, get in the back seat," he ordered, already pushing his colleague through the car door, looking around to make sure no one was seeing anything. Kurt didn't have a car yet, so he often used Jack's. Sharing the driving of the vehicle was very common between the two of them, especially in this situation. Jack rebuffed his friend for a few seconds because he wanted to get in the front seat, but Kurt ignored him and kept pushing him out the back door until he finally made sure he was sitting in the seat. Then he ran and got into the driver's seat, starting the car almost immediately. The car still smelled as strongly as it used to. Their smell, the smell of wolf. "Are you feeling anything yet?" asked Jack as he staggered around sitting in the back seat, quite breathless and struggling to speak. "My vision is pretty blurry." "Don't you dare surrender now. Hold on, it's your fault, we should have left earlier, asshole," protested Kurt, behind the wheel, looking impatient and slowly demonstrating he wasn't as sure of himself as he would have liked, since his move wasn't starting that late. A few minutes passed, and they were already halfway there when Jack simply threw up on the floor of the car and collapsed on the seat. Kurt made eye contact in the rearview mirror, and at that moment he knew he had to stop the car right there. There wasn't enough time to get to the usual spot. "Get out of the car, Jack," Kurt ordered, having already parked in the middle of a half-open thicket. Jack replied that he couldn't get out on his own, as his vision was even more blurred, and he felt that his body already had some internal modifications that made it impossible for him to walk without having problems. The friend then pulled him out of the car, with some difficulty, Jack was bewildered enough that anyone who saw him would ask if he needed help. Fortunately, on that late afternoon, on that avenue, there wasn't much traffic, also it wasn't the first time they had passed that way, nor that situation. "It's going to be here today, Jack. I'm sorry, but in these conditions, you can't go on, and you're probably already losing all consciousness, I can already see some changes in you." Kurt supported Jack on his shoulder as he walked with him into the thicket that lay on the side of the Avenue. The city was full of woods, and most of them were so dense that almost all of them had prohibition notices. People even respected it, normal people at least. "Kurt, here, leave me here, go!" gasped Jack once again. Now it's for real, you must be hearing the sound of bones breaking, right?" asked Jack, already trying to get loose from his friend. Kurt finally left him there and prepared to walk away, as he already felt his change. "I hate this part," Jack said to himself, before giving the first cry of pain from the change. The first stage was the breaking of the spine. Then the rest of the body, the feeling of the blood rushing through the veins at high speed, the heart racing, the heavy breathing, the pain of the bones breaking and coming together in different ways, the pain of the change of body and mind as he screamed. Exactly ten minutes later, Kurt walked past where Jack had been before, at least when he was still Jack, in human form. Kurt was no longer human at that point either, and he didn't like to be too far away from his friend in that condition, he was terrible when he had to fend for himself. His animal side didn't know how to hunt well, and they were new at this yet, very new, it had only been a few months since they had started to transform. When he assumed the form of a wolf, Jack had a ritual, first to find the nearest safe place, then to meet Kurt, and finally to hunt something. There wasn't much to do while transformed, so he let his instincts guide him, after all, he had almost no consciousness in the process, often waking up without remembering anything. When they finally met, both wolves began the hunt. Jack had already learned to track his prey, probably his habit of observing everything around him at work had given him a certain experience with this, even as a wolf. Kurt, as a wolf, had an excellent memory, a fact that matched his human personality, since he had a shrewd and reasonably vivid memory than the others.

It was almost dawn when they lay exhausted and bloodstained after their meal of the day, an adult deer. They used to split the hunt every time, after all, it was not worth the waste. Whenever they fed, they needed to lie down for a while, to process the information a little. It was always interesting to realize that they were not humans at that stage, that they were animals, and that no matter how hard they tried, they would remain so, at least for a few hours, for a few days, or nights, sometimes afternoons. They were figuring out how to deal with it because they didn't have much basis for it, the truth is that they knew almost nothing about that condition and avoided having to deal with it, they just hadn't been able to process the stages yet. Jack used to turn first than Kurt; it had always been that way. If Jack felt strange, he knew what it was, and Kurt knew that it would soon be his turn. Because of this, Kurt often ended up seeing the beginning of the process, which always haunted him: seeing what was happening to Jack and knowing that the same thing would soon happen to him. The next day, the sun's rays penetrated the woods. To a normal person, it was just another day, just another ray of sunshine, but to the boys, it was beautiful. The way they learned to see some things were simply beautiful. Moreover, it was the moment when they came back to themselves. They had never seen the regression of the transformation, they always woke up human, and usually at different times. Jack, just as he was the first to change, was the first to wake up too. The routine was to wake up, and notice the level of dried blood in his body, if it were too much, he would have to clean himself first, if not, he would have to go back to the car - when unforeseen things like that happened - and get dressed in new clothes, then get the other clothes and take them to Kurt. It was no different this time. Jack, finding his friend already regaining consciousness, threw the clean clothes in his direction and asked if everything had gone well with the transformation, to which Kurt confirmed that he had at least managed to remove all his clothes before screaming in pain. Jack was frequently not so lucky. “I wish I could understand when it starts and when it ends, I didn't want to always have to run off not knowing how long I have until I become a wolf,” Jack said. Apparently, he had more trouble coping than he wanted to. “Let's be honest, the whole thing is horrible. I spend the full day afraid to feel this because if I feel something, I have to run away as fast as possible, and because if I do, it's probably because you're almost at your limit too,” he blurted out, getting up from the floor, fully dressed in his new clothes. “Anyway, have you noticed any worsening?” he asked. Before he could answer, he noticed that Kurt already understood that there was something wrong with him, so he continued. “I've been having trouble controlling certain things. Occasionally, I do wolf things, even though I'm human,” he confessed. “I understand, sometimes I wake up with my sheet all torn and bitten, it's really weird,” Kurt agreed, confirming that he went through some situations similar to his friend's. “I growl,” Jack said, avoiding looking at his friend, “It's happened that I've just been taking a shower and started growling. Sometimes in a conversation, I feel and need to get away from people, and sometimes when I sleep I know I'm making the sound. I also have this thing about tears, and I've seen them around my house during the day. And the car…” “It stinks like hell, I know. It's animal smell, our smell, especially yours,” Kurt confirmed as they got into the car. “We need to fix this.” The rest of the way followed with the two of them in silence. Kurt then parked the car on the second floor of the residential building's parking lot. The company was directly connected to a residential building. You could say that they lived at work in a way. The apartment of the two had a difference of two hallways. Still in the car, just after it had already parked, the two got out of the car. “Well, here we are. Home sweet home,” Kurt debauched. “Remember to clean up that vomit you left for yourself. I could send it to the car wash, but you can't get around that strong smell,” Kurt finished with a laugh. Jack grinned sarcastically, dismissing his companion's mockery. Finally, they reached the elevator and went up to the floor where they lived. Fortunately, at that time, you could hardly see anyone in the area, which made it much easier not to have to deal with embarrassing situations. Once in their apartments, they took care of what they needed to do since they still needed to help decorate the party in the morning, and try to find an excuse not to attend. Jack liked Cassie, the most coveted woman in the sectors, and she was his target too. He had never dared to ask her out, mainly because she was engaged, but he was interested. The attraction he felt for her intensified even more when she turned for the first time. It wasn't normal to feel everything I felt. Sometimes it felt like he couldn't hold it in. He had had some sex dreams about her at times, but it helped that he woke up with a bed and a house full of hair and scratches. He thought that if he could do all that just by sleeping, maybe he should keep his distance from her, but he couldn't, she was constantly present in his life and thoughts. Not only that, but he would have to devour her at some point. At the company, a giant shipment of decorations, sounds, drinks, and food had arrived. It was going to be a big get-together between the two companies at their official merger, as well as a celebration of new employees that would be joining the team in the coming days. Everyone needed to help a little in the organization, especially those who lived nearby, as most of them did. Slowly, the employees began to arrive, some already dressed for the party. For some reason, the winning poll had been a mask; everyone should wear a mask and dress in plainer clothes. Jack and Kurt agreed, except for the masks, since they didn't plan to stay that long.

Cassie looked stunning, wearing a slightly tight white dress. Her blonde hair was loose and flowing, she looked beautiful. Whenever he could, Jack looked at her, but even though she was coveted by everyone, he didn't want them to know that he included himself in that. He thought that Kurt suspected it, but he had never told them or mentioned it yet. It was like a secret he could possess just for himself, although he really wanted her to know because he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Cassie's perfume was strong. Both partners had a keen sense of smell even as humans, so they couldn't disguise the sweet smell they smelled coming from her. Kurt, unlike Jack, felt no walk for the woman, as he felt there was something more exciting in the future in store for him. Finally, a while later, more and more people were arriving. With this, the time for the constant transformations was getting closer and closer. Music was already starting to play to cheer everyone up. The Lightning employees were already mingling more with those from New Shadow. Some of them even greeted Jack and Kurt and congratulated them on the excellent work they were doing. Almost all the employees wore simple masks, some even more provocative. Some others didn't wear any at all. You could tell that besides the duo, others were not so keen on staying for the get-together. Not everyone liked the rival company, there was a certain hatred in some parts, especially against a certain sector that had a bad reputation for publishing dubious articles. This sector had about twelve members, rightly called “The Twelve”. Jack didn't like them, and Kurt was indifferent, but if he had to have an opinion, he would say he didn't like them either. Few NS members liked that section. They were all together and almost matched. They laughed a lot and seemed almost drunk, even though the party had just started. It was almost 6 pm when the courtyard was completely packed and had turned into a huge dance floor. Jack was still cleaning up a few small things from the place, as was Kurt. They were in the living room and felt nothing abnormal, apparently, they were not going to transform that day. Transformations used to happen around 6 pm, but not every day. There were days when they just didn't change, but there was no rule for that, it just didn't happen. Everything indicated that they were safe this time, they could enjoy a peaceful day after all. Kurt, at the party, was chatting in the corner with a girl from one of the farthest sectors of the NS, her name was Kaya. The two of them had talked before and Kurt was truly interested in her because she was also into photography, plus her not having a boyfriend cleared the way for him; he just needed a more open opportunity and this was the appropriate time for it. Although he was trying to talk properly, and coming out with phrases of sheer embarrassment, like saying that their names were super cool because they started with the same letter, the woman seemed to think it was funny. If all went well, they would be having sex in a nearby bathroom. When he had convinced himself that he wouldn't be transformed that night, Jack realized that mingling might not be so bad, deep down he thought like Kurt, he wanted to enjoy life. He considered asking Cassie to dance or something, but her sweet-smelling perfume was slightly distant, so he concluded that maybe she was unreachable. He walked down the corridors, which miraculously weren't filled with couples making out until he passed the storage room and realized that his two co-workers were at the famous “finally”. Following the corridor, he passed by a room that was ajar, unlike all the others that were completely closed and closed. Jack wasn't that curious about trivial things, but he couldn't help overhearing the conversation going on inside. Peeking discreetly through the open doorway, he could see about a dozen men, all dressed in black and none wearing a decent mask. “Are you convinced this will work? Is it reliable?” one of the men asked, curious. You could tell in salt's voice that he was slightly out of sorts. “He said it was when he offered it to me. It will only make a little smoke with a bad smell. After that, we'll go in and finish it off, it'll be fun to blow up that team”, replied the other, holding up some little black balls that looked very much like bladders. Jack knew that this was the famous rival group, thirsty for trouble and problematic things. He was not surprised to find them drunk, but he was intrigued by the situation in question. It was quite common for them to make pranks around, some lighter and some heavier, especially since most of the bully boys came from that sector. Jack knew that fire and smoke of dubious content was not a good idea, especially if it was accompanied by an alcoholic beverage that he had no idea where it came from. The smell permeated the room and even the corridor, his keen sense of smell was irritated by how strong it was. Through the doorway, he could see several full and empty bottles. He thought about intervening but realized that it would be a mistake because the boys were too many, and he couldn't guarantee himself against too many people, mainly because he lived with the fear of changing in front of someone, even if it had never happened. He also considered setting off the fire alarm and preventing something from happening, but that would ruin everyone's party. It would be very difficult to accuse the newcomers because that plan was absurd even for their level. He would not be able to prove it.

Kurt was kissing Kaya when he noticed a sudden movement near him. As he turned around, he noticed a tired Jack after running over. “We need to talk,” he said, forcing his friend away from the confused girl. Kurt didn't like being interrupted, after all, it had been a while since he had had any kind of fun. “I saw the twelve of them planning to throw smoke at the party, set it on fire I don't know where, and they drank. I don't know what to do, but I think some shit will happen,” he told. “Leave it to the security guys, tell someone, I don't know. Let me enjoy my moment, okay? This doesn't always happen,” Kurt said, already getting ready to return to the girl. Jack informed him that he hadn't found anyone to warn, but thought maybe they could do something. Kurt made eye contact, still angry, and continued to deny it, returning to Kaya's side. Frustrated, Jack decided to go back to the room, hoping that the men were still there, a good portion of them were, and apparently all the dangerous material as well. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he couldn't just stand by. “What are you guys doing here? The party is outside,” he warned, entering the room. To his surprise, the boys didn't seem to mind, in fact, it was as if they knew he was going there. They walked away a little, staggering, indicating once again that they were too drunk to even walk. One of the boys said they knew Jack would go there, and asked what he would do about it. The newcomer was puzzled and confused by the situation. The other than just threw something at him, which Jack caught without any difficulty. It was nothing less than a piece of cloth from a set that had been stolen from his car a few days earlier during a transformation when they encountered a black wolf. Jack and Kurt were gray. “Was it you guys?”, he asked. “Actually, no. The guy who gave it to us said he stole it from you and your photographer friend. Where is he anyway? We were waiting for you two,” said the same boy, not at all concerned. “We're all half drunk here and slightly stoned,” he said, laughing, followed by his companions. “We were told that if we hit you and Kurt we'd see something amazing, I don't know what that means, but I'm too crazy to care. We're all rivals, there's a party going on, and the cameras are out because the security people are too stupid. We don't give a shit about anything today, Jack,” he said. “We're in the mood to cause, and I'm in such a mood to beat you up, you've written about us, haven't you? We love it, but they gave us all this, they paid for everything, how am I going to turn down the chance to beat up writer Jack, right?” the other debauched. One moment all the men were laughing, the next one of them grabbed Jack by the side and another did the same, while the boy who kept talking, whose name was Brian, started throwing punches. Jack barely knew what was happening, but surely, someone from the outside had planned it all. He didn't have enough time to process it all. At that moment, he felt pain. It had been a while since he had been beaten, but not long enough to forget how to defend himself. With an abrupt gesture, he let go of one of the boys and punched him, making him stagger. Turning around, he did the same to the other, while the other boys approached, as well as Brian. There were about eight men against Jack, and while he was punching two of them, he was being hurt by four others. He was at a complete disadvantage and didn't know what to do apart from trying to defend himself and attack. Just then, during the clash, the others tripped over the material and a thick cloud of gray smoke filled the room, causing everyone to cough slowly but Jack. He didn't feel like coughing, he felt like vomiting, and this could only mean one thing to him: animal danger. The pain in his stomach had gone from external to internal, and something about that smoke and that situation was suspicious. He was still taking blows when he fell to the floor, almost beginning his agonizing process when the other missing members entered the room, as did Kurt shortly thereafter, but not before they heard the sound of the fire alarm. As Kurt was kissing, he noticed the boys mentioned by Jack in the middle of the party, acting suspiciously. For a second, he thought he smelled smoke and thought it might be his imagination, but noticing that the boys immediately headed down the hall, he decided something was up and followed them. The smell of smoke bothered him, and then he knew that he had to get rid of it. He set off the alarm and ran towards the smell, which was when he found all the others on top of Jack, who was almost hidden by the smoke. As soon as they noticed the presence, they made their second victim, they now started attacking Kurt. They were out of their minds. There was no one to see what was happening because at that moment everyone was running out of the area. The strong smell of smoke knocked out half of the boys still in the room. Brian was still trying to beat Jack when Kurt managed to push him away. “Jack, don't change,” he said, trying to cover his breath so as not to be bothered by the smell anymore, even though it was practically no use. Jack was slumped on the floor and that's when a new smell entered the air, actually, not so new. Kurt couldn't tell exactly when the wolf appeared in the room because of the smoke, but he felt his body shaking and when Jack turned toward him and growled, he knew that the wolf hadn't changed. He attempted to stop the wolf from coming closer, but he didn't have the strength to move, he was paralyzed, but when he realized that Jack was trying to attack him, he had to move. The black wolf went towards Jack, who was already a wolf. Kurt didn't have a very vivid memory of what Jack was like when he reached the stage of pure wolf instinct, but that scene made him realize that he had nothing of conscience there, and seconds later he realized that he wouldn't have.

Before long, the three wolves were attacking each other. Gradually, the boys got up from the ground, staggering, but they couldn't stand up for long because the black wolf attacked with such violence that it scratched them irreversibly. The young man fainted, and that situation aroused an adrenaline rush that made the others try to run away. Kurt was the first wolf to run ahead and stare into the amazed faces of the boys, Jack did the same from across the room, staring at Brian. It was a split second before all the bodies fell lifeless to the floor. Filled with blood, the three wolves faced each other and intended to start a new confrontation, but the black wolf didn't seem interested; he seemed to be aware enough to do whatever he did and hurt everyone he had hurt. This was the first time Jack and Kurt had hurt a human, not only hurt but killed, and more than once, although they didn't know it, they had no conscience. The door suddenly opened, and a female figure was seen in the doorway, holding a cloth to her mouth. The horror she had seen made her legs tremble, and she fell to the floor, amazed and completely traumatized, letting the covering of her mouth fall off, revealing herself to be none other than Cassie. She was extremely amazed to see all the familiar faces on the floor, bleeding and lifeless. She could see a black silhouette walk through the door and past her, walking normally on its four legs, entirely ignoring her presence. Then she didn't notice the two gray wolves until they were already running down the hallway to who knows where. After two firemen got her out, all she could say was “wolves,” and she kept saying it outside, where two ambulances were already in place, as well as the fire truck and police car. Everyone was in shock at everything that was going on, but nothing shocked them more than the stretchers returning with bodies covered in black cloaks. They still knew nothing about what had happened, nor who the young men were, but they knew they were members of the party. The police ordered everyone to stay out of that particular area, not because of the fire, but because of what had happened. It would be a very long night for New Shadow and Lightning, and certainly an unforgettable one. For the first time since they had started transforming together, Kurt woke up earlier than Jack. It was a reasonably more enclosed place than usual, which meant that it wasn't any of the woods they had been through before, in fact, it wasn't even a forest. It was strange to wake up naked without getting his clothes or finding them by his side, it had been a while since the last time. In a way, Kurt considered himself quite dependent on Jack at times. As soon as his vision was no longer blurred, his level of confusion increased; the sunlight illuminated his face, blinding him. Finally, he sat up and stopped to analyze that Jack was a few feet away, still unconscious, naked, and more full of blood than usual, he looked down at himself and noticed the same characteristics. Searching his memory, he didn't know what had occurred, all he could remember was smoke in a room, going in, and seeing Brian hitting Jack, fallen. It was the first time he couldn't remember anything about the wolf form. Nothing made sense, he didn't know where the car was, he didn't know where he was, and he didn't recognize the place completely. Finally, he got up from the ground, half dizzy and staggering, and went over to Jack. He shook him for a few seconds until he gave the slightest sign of life. “Hey Jack,” he called, shaking his friend, “Wake up Jack,” he repeated. Jack then opened his eyes, probably blurred, but slowly he understood what he was seeing. “Where are we?” he asked. Jack, confused, looked around. “We're in the building. My God, we're actually in the building. This is a decommissioned elevator here,” he said. “Why are we here? What happened, Kurt? Was it one of my blackouts?” he asked, even more, confused than his partner. “Jack, the last thing I remember is walking into the room and seeing you slumped over, transforming in front of Brian. The room was filled with weird smoke, after that, I don't remember anything else,” Kurt said seriously. At that moment Jack began to worry, Kurt's episodes of erasing were ridiculously smaller than his, the two of them having erased at the same moment and remembering absolutely nothing. There wasn't much they could do, they needed to fix that. They knew that the disabled elevator was closest to Kurt's apartment, so they sneaked out of where they were and ran to it. It took a few minutes before they were safe. They showered as quickly as they ran. They both had a somewhat similar physical build, so Jack could wear the same clothes as his friend. “How nice to have something on your body. Really great,” Jack sighed, positively “I can't take it anymore,” he said. Finally, Kurt turned on the TV, it was only seconds before they saw the picture of the building on the news. They ran to the back elevator and out the side of the building, where they found many familiar faces from the company and the party. Many were still in white and crying. They still didn't know what had happened. There were many cars, ambulances, police, and firemen in front. Some curious faces were also there. “Kurt, what happened here?” asked Jack, startled by the scene. They got as close as they could and listened to what the students were talking about, but were surprised by Josh, the annoying supervisor.

“I never imagined something like this could happen here, horrible, so horrible I can barely talk about it,” he blurted out. Jack asked what had happened. “They didn't say much, they just said they were really hurt, a lot, no one could see much, thank goodness,” he recounted. Kurt asked what he was talking about. “The twelve of Lightning. Brian and his whole gang were killed,” he finished, walking away, leaving the boys completely upset about the situation. “What did we do?” asked Jack, rhetorically. “We didn't do anything, Jack,” Kurt said firmly. “Let's go see Cassie. She's over there,” and made his way toward her, still standing in the same position as before. “Cassie, are you okay?”, Jack questioned, noticing the state the woman was in. Pale and frightened, something he had never seen before. “Wolves,” she said, not making eye contact, still shaken by everything. “What?” asked Jack, startled, wide-eyed. “I saw wolves. I saw gray wolves,” she said, static. Now both boys were amazed, they looked at each other for a second and decided to get out of there. “And a black wolf…,” she finished, piquing the boys' interest. “He left the room first, then the others left. I remember everything I saw, I can't get that slaughter out of my mind,” she said. There was nothing more to find out about it; twelve boys were dead, and they were the killers. “It must be the same wolf from that day,” Jack commented, already walking away. “Was there anyone else there besides you guys?” his friend asked. Jack said there was only him and the twelve of them. “It's someone from the outside, I vaguely remember seeing him enter the room before he changed. If twelve are dead, this guy showed up later and changed first. We're killers.” “We still don't know what happened, it doesn't make sense, we never had any incentive for it, very strange our wolves acted that way. Look, I just want to go home and not think about anything else, okay? I think I've had enough for today, I just need some time,” Jack ordered. There was no question about it, he was right, about everything. DAYS BEFORE “Feeling anything yet, Kurt?” asked Jack, behind the wheel, heading for the usual spot. Kurt said he was still fine, but already feeling some things. “If we don't gas up the car now, we'll have no way back. Do you think you can drive in time for us not to move?”. It was clear in Jack's voice that he was not comfortable, he was already going through some stages of the change. Kurt nodded and Jack turned toward a nearby gas station. Once they arrived, they switched places, Kurt took the wheel and Jack took care of the fueling, quick enough to just get in the car and lie down on the seat, while Kurt sped up to get back on track. It was the longest 10 minutes of that week when Kurt finally parked the car in the usual spot and helped Jack down. As usual, they separated, changed, and met. Everything happened as it always did, except for the fact that that night they smelled the odor of a wolf, not from the car, not from them. It was from another wolf, but the smell was not as strong. Fearful of what they would find, they followed their instinct and avoided approaching, but to no avail, in a moment the wolf appeared in front of them. They couldn't tell if it was just a wolf or if it was human like them. The wolf did nothing, it didn't follow them or attack them, it just walked by watching them and followed wherever it was following. The boys couldn't risk anything that could reveal what they were, but each time they changed, they felt the fear of not being rational anymore and just acting like a wolf. Jack would black out for a few minutes and not seem to think, so it was something real. In their minds, it was only a matter of time before it was reality, and now that they were dealing with random transformations, they assumed that maybe it was closer than they would like. It was time to pursue the idea of finding out where it all came from, who they were, why they were, and if they could stop it, or at least control it. Someone had to have answers. The next morning, Jack woke up staggering more than usual, as well as his vision was extremely blurred; he could swear he heard a voice say “you did it,” but it soon passed. Walking to the car, the trunk was open, literally open, rolled up. They never left the car vulnerable, least of all like that. There had been exactly six sets of clothes when they left, and at that moment they only had five. Someone had stolen a pair of clothes. Immediately the image of the black wolf came to mind, it was the only explanation for it, and surely it was a human too. Without wasting any time, he picked up one of the sets and ran to Kurt, waking him up. “We need to get out of here. Come on!” he exclaimed, pulling a half-awake Kurt up. “I'll explain everything to you in the car, but right now, we have to go.” As they walked back down the avenue, Jack told about how he woke up disoriented and how he thought he heard something, he also told about the car, worried. “Whoever that wolf is, he knows I am one. It's my car, I'm sure he recognized it,” he drove worriedly. “Calm down, Jack. We don't know anything right yet, and if he happens to have seen something, he can't say anything, it's the same secret we have,” Kurt tried to comfort him. “Kurt, if they know it's me, they know it's you too. Everyone sees us together all the time,” Jack explained. Kurt stopped and thought for a moment, it made sense, he was as much in the crosshairs as Jack was.

PRESENT That night, Jack could do nothing but stay locked in his room, trying to distract himself and thinking about the possibility that he was a murderer. No one could know about his involvement in the case, or about Kurt. He didn't have to deal with it, they were wolves after all. Werewolves didn't exist and all of humanity knew that, there was no way to find out anything. Unless one day he was captured as a wolf and magically woke up as a human, his life would end there. He tried not to rush. He got into his notebook and looked at some news already published by the company about what had happened. On the home page, a wall had been created, but it was anonymous. The whole company began to share their grief, lamenting the death of the boys. Logged into his account, Jack tried to leave the most sincere comment he could, even though he hated them, but the guilt was too consuming for him to do anything about it. A few minutes later, he saw that Kurt had left a short text as well. Finally, after the exhaustion, he needed to relax and take a shower more calmly. While he was in the shower he realized that the smell was in the air, the strong smell of wolf was there, and his breath gasped for a few seconds. Seconds were enough to terrify him. As the water ran down his body, Jack tried to calm himself down, he didn't even know why he needed to do this, but he knew he did. He counted to ten, slowly. “You're all right,” he repeated to himself. “You're all right,” he repeated. “You're okay,” and he kept going, until the fifth time he growled. Quickly, Jack stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, and paused for a moment. His breathing was still irregular. He tried to count to ten again, but he had barely reached five and the growling sound happened again. His fear grew as he walked to the bed, trying to breathe, attempting to calm himself, but he could not. In a few seconds, he returned to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face to improve the situation, but it had no effect. The smell of wolf began to fill the air more and more, and his breathing became even heavier. When he returned to his room, he was surprised by the ringing of his smartphone. It was Kurt, calling. Without a second thought, he answered the phone. “Jack, something's going on, isn't it? I'm feeling a weird tingling,” Kurt asked, his breathing heavy as well. Jack said he couldn't breathe properly, his voice indicating the truthfulness of the information. “Try to calm down, try to think of something. I'm feeling something peculiar too, I've locked myself in the room,” Kurt told over the call. Jack, still struggling, told his partner that his teeth and claws had already grown in and that his body was twitching too fast. “What? No, Jack, you can't, not in the morning, please don't change, just try, I don't know, maybe, damn, I don't know, man,” his concern was clear, as was his gasping for breath. Jack set out to answer one more time, but couldn't. Jack screamed and dropped the device and Kurt tried to contact, but Jack was already writhing on the floor, struggling against his new skin, unable to do anything. Kurt could hear everything, every scream, every growl, but it was still Kurt. For a moment, all sounds ceased. “Jack?” asked the voice on the other end of the line. All he heard back were growls, and he knew Jack was no longer there, the wolf was. He ended the call. Jack spent the early morning hours as a wolf, trying not to break anything in the apartment or make any noise that would disturb the neighbors. He possessed a little conscience at that moment. He thought that Kurt had transformed too, but was surprised hours later. First Kurt knocked on Jack's door, but there was no answer, so he decided to open it since he had a copy of the key. There was nothing strange in the environment, everything seemed normal. He didn't hear any strange sounds. He went a little further inside and found his smartphone turned off, which justified the missed calls. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the bathroom, someone vomited. He walked over and opened the door to find Jack sitting on the floor, human and almost naked, vomiting into the toilet bowl. “You're all right, thank God,” Kurt relieved himself. “I was anxious”. Jack said that he had turned back into a human a few minutes ago. Because he was more conscious than normal, he could feel the backlash of the change and claimed it hurt less, but it was unbearable just the same. Kurt helped him up from the floor. Kurt then told him that he had felt strong indications of transformation, but that he had not changed, while Jack told his version of the shower. “I'm sorry, man. I'm truly sorry,” Kurt said, slapping his friend lightly on the back. Last year, Kurt barely knew who Jack was, and Jack barely knew who Kurt was. They were in the industry together but were limited only to work. All Kurt knew about Jack was that his family had a good reputation and that he suffered from some things he didn't like to talk about. He had no interest in him and no other people. He liked to be alone. Jack also liked to be alone, but whether he liked that or not, no one knew. At the time, the company was already prominent and the two of them were already part of the team.

It was on a night that Kurt transformed in the middle of nowhere that he met Jack for real. Jack was already transformed when he found Kurt too close to the street in the changing phase and pushed him into the woods, after the transformation was over, he approached him again and the two ran together, and hunted together. The next morning, Jack had put on his spare clothes and stood watching Kurt still unconscious, he thought that maybe it wouldn't be a problem if he knew he was a wolf too, and so he stood there, waiting for him to wake up. When he did, he just threw him some clothes and said, “I'll take you home”. After that, they started a friendship, they shared the same secret, the same mysteries, and they were no longer alone, they had to deal with it, and it was hard. When the new term started, and they were in separate rooms, they didn't think they could handle it, as they noticed a certain worsening in their condition. Now they were worried about her. A short time later, Kurt left the apartment and Jack received a message from Cassie. It was unusual for her to text. “I need to talk to someone” - Cassie “I'm reasonably better, but for some reason, I need to talk to someone and I just randomly clicked on any company contact” - Cassie “Hi Cassie, I don't know if I'm the best person for that” - Jack “I'm trying to deal with it too, it's very heavy” - Jack “It's just for now, to see if I can forget a little bit about things and how everything is. It's been a few days since my boyfriend broke up with me and everything seems to have come full circle now" - Cassie “I'm sorry, Cassie. I hope you get better" - Jack. “Thank you, Jack. It means a lot" - Cassie. Then her chat icon warned “offline”. That relieved Jack, talking to her and having to read the grief of what happened would shake him more. Finally, he managed to text Kurt, wanting to know how he was doing. He answered almost as soon as Jack sent the message. For a few hours, they talked a little about what had happened, in an extremely discreet way, and it didn't lead to anything. Through codes, they agreed to meet just before 6 pm every day, to monitor their transformations. The company had declared a seven-day mourning period, with a total ban on the site until they returned. With the day off, Jack finally found time to take care of the car. Kurt offered to help him but had to insist until Jack agreed. They went down to the parking lot and finally began the cleaning. They filled the car with sweet, strong smells so that it could stand out from the wolf smell. “It's quite nice that we don't have company, just imagine her getting in this stinky car,” Kurt commented, scrubbing the car. “At least it's mine. You'd have to borrow it, moreover”, Jack retorted, not too happy with his friend's comment. They both laughed seconds later. “I was thinking, Kurt. We're not the only ones in town,” his friend commented, making quick eye contact. “Before we met, I had transformed other times, and it still took a while to discover you, but now with this wolf in the area…” Jack had first transformed when he was trying to stop his old group of gang members from making dogs fight each other. That day he realized how problematic everything that his colleagues, and even he, did was. His gang days were filled with a lot of drinking, whoring, and drugs. When he tried to stop the confrontation with the dogs, he was drastically lynched by his colleagues, who left him there, sore and extremely bruised. Suddenly, he was transformed, so it started happening more often. He never understood why. Kurt, on the other hand, was having sex with a girl. He ended up noticing some strange sensations that he had never felt before, so he went into the bathroom. When he noticed his body aching a lot and noticed body changes, he decided to sneak out the window. When he finally got away from the house, he transformed, and then it started to become part of the routine. He also had no idea where it came from. The seven days of mourning were over, and everyone was called back to work. During those seven days, the friends had changed four times. At work, they held a minute's silence for the victims. Lightning was excited to work with NS, and the same was true for the other company. Everything looked like it would get better with the two joinings, so the whole job expanded to other floors of the building, which would make the work even closer to the apartments. Cassie was fairly down when Jack finally approached her, with a cup of coffee. “Are you okay?” he asked, being responsive to her. Cassie turned around, showing her face, still apathetic about everything that had occurred. “Thank you so much,” she said, taking the cup. “Very kind of you, Jack,” he thanked her, trying to smile, but failing. “I'm sorry, I'm still not quite right about everything that happened,” she said, sincerely. Jack asked if she wanted to talk about it, and she said maybe. “If you want to talk, I'm willing to listen,” he said, almost having a heart attack with embarrassment, as he hadn't imagined that he would one day get to talk to her. To his surprise, she gave a slightly truer smile than before. “We can have lunch together today,” he suggested. “Okay, Jack. Where are we going?” she asked. Jack stammered for a few seconds, as he hadn't been so used to going out to eat since his “outlaw” days. “There's a diner I like. It's about ten minutes from here too,” she smiled, looking at him directly. He felt his heart racing, then realized he could hear hers doing the same. For a few seconds, he stood looking at the area of her heart, concentrating on the beats. “Jack?” she asked, noticing the distraction he was in. He finally came to his senses and agreed to go to the cafeteria with her at lunchtime.

As planned, Cassie waited for Jack, and he soon showed up. She had to let Kurt go since they used to have lunch together. His friend didn't ask much, but he was intrigued. Cassie had a car, but Jack considered it a kind of date, so he felt obliged to take her in his car. As they drove down to the parking lot, Jack was so nervous that his sense of smell sharpened, and he could smell the sweet aroma of her car from yards away. At least he could be sure that he wasn't stinking. It was a good day after all. Jack tried to be polite and opened the car door for Cassie. She seemed happier than in the company. She hoped he was the reason to cheer her up because that would mean he would have a chance. Close, it was as if he didn't have his problems. Sitting at a table near the window that gave a good view of the street, they placed their order. Jack ordered a hamburger with fries and Cassie ordered a portion of noodles, garlic, and oil. Jack felt a little embarrassed but remembered that men tended to mature later. That comforted him. “You look happier,” he commented, as he waited for her order. She was a little shy but decided to respond by asking. “Do you think so?” she asked. He nodded in agreement. “I'm glad to know that I'm not as finished as I used to be,” he commented, straightening his posture in his chair. “If it's any consolation, I usually look worse,” she laughed. To his surprise, she didn't laugh but seemed to disagree. “I don't remember finding you ugly, Jack,” she commented, taking a sip of water. Jack hadn't expected a response like that, so he felt his heart speed up quite a bit. It wasn't typically a bad sign, but at that moment he knew it was all about her, and not the wolf. “So, do you want to talk about it?” he asked, directly, trying to change the direction of the conversation. Cassie's expression was clear, she was uncomfortable, but it was clear that she had an interest in talking about it, although Jack wasn't so sure he wanted to know what happened. “I didn't see much. I saw the wolves coming out and the bodies like that,” she began. "When I spotted the wolves, I was so scared, I thought they were going to hurt me too. They were so full of blood and growling. I was terrified," she said. Jack felt terrible hearing this. Cassie's hands began to tremble, as could be seen by the glass of water in her hands. Jack wanted to touch her and comfort her, but he felt he had no right to do that. She was stronger than he was, and by the time she saw it, she could feel his skin touching hers. She stopped trembling almost instantly when he touched her. He thought she was going to withdraw her hand, but on the contrary, she placed the other one on top of his that was already on top of his. In a simple gesture, he put his other hand in as well. They stared at each other. Jack looked as if he wanted to apologize for the trauma he had caused, and she wanted to cry. They were interrupted by the waitress, who had arrived with their orders. They settled down and were finally able to start eating. While they ate, they exchanged a few words. Cassie was clearly holding back her tears, and Jack didn't know how to carry on the conversation after all that. "Is it tasty?" he asked. She nodded in agreement but asked about his plate as well. "Any chance a burger and fries is bad?" he asked rhetorically. She laughed softly and agreed, but it was enough to draw a smile from him as well. Suddenly, Jack's cell phone rang. He made an expression that he wasn't interested in getting out of that immersion, but Cassie said it might be something important, so he picked up his cell phone and saw who the call was from, it was Kurt. “Come here now,” he said, as soon as he was attended to. “Why? What happened?”, Jack asked, confused. Cassie looked more confused than he was. “There are dead wolves in front of the building,” Kurt spoke up. “Black wolves, there are three, and they're dead. Get over here,” and hung up the phone. “What is it?” the woman asked, curious. “It seems they found dead wolves in front of the building,” Jack replied, fearfully. Cassie swallowed her food dry. “We need to get over there,” she said, already putting her things away, rushing. Jack asked if she was sure she wanted to see them, and she said she did. He wouldn't go against what she wanted, so he hurried on, too. Shortly, they were in the car, heading for the company. As soon as they were near the building, they realized how crowded it was. It was impossible to get through with the car. Jack was forced to park the car slightly away. Cassie got out of the car quickly, and Jack followed her as they tried to get through the number of people around. Jack could smell the new wolf, but also the smell of Kurt, who was close by. It didn't take long before he finally managed to get close to the wolves. They were lying on the ground, eyes wide open, tongues sticking out, and several bruises. Cassie got a quick fright but pulled herself together at the same speed. “What happened here?”, Jack asked Kurt, quietly. “I don't know. It seems like they just appeared like that. I haven't found anyone who saw what happened,” his friend told him, as worried as he was. “It's scaring me. Do you think the wolf that was with us is one of those?” he asked. “I doubt it. Whoever was with us in that incident is still out there. I'd venture to say he must be involved in that.” Jack was attentive, trying to identify the smell of wolf from somewhere else, but he couldn't. Finally, Josh appeared at their meeting and ordered them inside, to avoid the giant commotion outside. They questioned him if he knew what had caused it, “I know as much as you do. Watch out, I've been told that this building is dangerous. Let's wait here.” Cassie asked what he meant by all this. He was afraid, but he couldn't hide things. “We could be targets now.”