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.”