Later that afternoon, Nate stood at the kitchen window, watching as Animal Control officers walked through the woods. His woods, Nate thought to himself, Those are my woods and how dare they try and keep him from them. Nate stopped himself, suddenly shocked at this aggression. He couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for him with tonight’s full moon. Ellen came over and hugged Nate.
“Maybe you should stay inside tonight. Maybe go down to the basement,” Ellen rubbed his shoulder in a reassuring manner. Nate nodded.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”
Except, later that night Nate found himself pacing in the unfinished basement alone, waiting for the change to come. He was feeling extremely restless and only wanted to escape the confines of the underground basement he found himself in. He wanted out so badly. He could feel the moon rising in every bone of his body. He looked out one of the cellar windows at the guys walking through, the flashlights sweeping throughout. All Nate could think was, those are my woods. They need to leave and I need to make them leave.
With that thought, Nate pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it aside. He unlatched the window and crawled outside. He stuck to the shadows along the side of the house as he felt the familiar changes overtake him once again. He watched as the fur grew in as his muscles grew and reformed. His feet grew and reformed into digitigrade paws as long, sharp claws grew in. His ears grew to lupine points as his fangs grew in and his face pushed out into a lupine snout. As soon as it was finished, Nate ran across the cool, dew-laden grass and into the woods. It was time to reclaim what was rightfully his.
Kevin Cooper had only been with Animal Control for a few weeks and was wondering what he had gotten himself into as he slowly made his way through the woods. It was getting late, it was dark, and there were bugs. Not exactly Kevin’s idea of a good time. Yet, he still pressed on knowing he needed the job. He pulled his radio off his belt and spoke into it.
“Michael, come back.” He let go of the talk button and waited for his supervisor to respond.
“Yeah, Kev, what is it?” squacked over the radio.
“Remind me again what we are supposed to be looking for?” Kevin looked around the woods. He could see some of the others in the distance but felt utterly alone and vulnerable.
“A large predator. Possibly a wolf. Trust me, you’ll know it if you see it.”
“And what do I do if I see it?” Kevin wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there.
“Tell me and I’ll come over and shoot it with the tranq gun.”
“Great plan,” Kevin didn’t even bother to hide the sarcasm as he rolled his eyes and placed the radio back on his belt. A loud crack of a breaking branch echoed through the woods. Kevin’s heart dropped as panic immediately set in. He started flashing his flashlight around him. He stopped suddenly when he heard a loud panting behind him.
Kevin slowly turned around, shaking with fear at what he was going to find behind him. He shone his flashlight up and screamed as it revealed the werewolf perched right in front of him on the side of a fallen tree, the bright LED light illuminating the beast perfectly. Kevin stared right into the monster’s amber yellow eyes. The werewolf let out a loud growl as he opened his jaws wide, exposing his long, sharp fangs, bits of drool dripping off of them. Kevin turned and ran through the woods, back towards the trucks.
“Oh god...oh god please no!” he cried out as he ran. “Fuck this shit, I QUIT!!!”
The werewolf leapt off the log and ran after Kevin for a bit, before stopping and watching the terrified man run away into the night.
“Kevin, come back. Kevin are you alright?” Michael’s voice over the radio broke the silence. Nate found the radio easily in the brush, clearly having fallen off the man’s belt as he ran through the woods. He picked up the radio in his clawed hand and carefully pressed the talk button. He let out a deep, loud growl into the mike and then easily crushed the radio in his hand, dropping it to the ground. Nate stopped for a moment as it registered what he had just done. He was really strong as a werewolf. Cool, he thought as he ran off into the woods.
Nate ducked behind a large oak tree and watched as Michael and another Animal Control agent came running over. They found the crumpled radio on the ground and Michael slowly picked it up.
“Oh my god, what could have done that?” asked the agent, looked at the shattered remains of the radio.
“I don’t know, but unless we want to look just like it, we should get outta here.” Michael set his tranq gun down and pulled out a plastic bag, which he put the remains of the radio into.
Unable to help himself, Nate leapt around the corner of the tree, baring his fangs and letting out a loud growl. The Animal Control agent let out the loud scream Nate was hoping for. However, Michael dropped the bag and in one swift motion grabbed the tranq gun. He quickly fired off a shot, the dart hitting Nate center mass. The young werewolf looked down and saw the dart sticking out of his chest before crumpling to the forest floor as the strong sedative took effect. He watched as the two animal control agents walked over and stood over him.
“My god...what is it?” asked the Agent.
“Something...incredible,’ responded Michael as Nate’s world went black.
***
Nate came to on a cold concrete floor. He quickly sat up and looked around. He was in a large kennel somewhere that he quickly figured out must be animal control. He stood up and walked over to the gate to the kennel, only to find a padlock on the latch. He tried slamming into the gate a couple times, trying to break something loose with no luck.
“Shit,” he whispered as he looked around. He wasn’t going to get far wearing only a tattered pair of shorts and no shirt or shoes. Seeing no other option, he called out, “Hello?”
Nate started pacing in the kennel as he debated climbing over the top of the tall chain link fence. Before he got the chance, he saw the man he saw from last night, Michael, walk into the kennel area. Nate wasn’t sure what to expect as he walked over.
“Well, well, well, look who’s awake finally.” Michael flashed him a smile as he looked him over.
“Could you let me out of here, please?” Nate walked towards the gate.
“Not yet, kiddo. Can’t have a wild animal like you on the loose. Not until you do something for me.”
Nate let out a deep sigh. “What do you want?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I want you to bite me. Make me a werewolf too.” Michael chuckled. “Isn’t that how it works?”
“Hell if I know, man. I became like this from a potion my mom bought me at the Choose Your Own Change store downtown. Go ahead and go down there and get a bottle for yourself. Now let me out of here.” Nate banged on the chain link gate and then backed away.
"If you won't share your gift with me, I'll just keep you locked up here. I'll record your next transformation and expose you to the whole world. You'll become a total freak. What do you think about that?" Michael gave a satisfied smirk.
"I already know I'm a total freak. I chose this! I wanted this to happen, you moron!"
“Come on...just one little bite. That’s all it takes. That’s what all the legends say. Why you gotta be so selfish?”
“I’m not! I literally told you where to go! Now let me out of here.”
"What kind of mother turns her son into a monster anyway?"
"One that clearly loves and understands her son's deepest desires. Seriously, let me out of here, now!"
Michael sighed and relented, pulling out a key from his pocket. He unlocked the gate and opened it to let Nate out.
“Thanks.” With that, Nate quickly left the building and ran home, trying to stick to grass and dirt as much as he could since he was barefoot.
Soon enough, he was back home, relieved to be back as he walked through the front door to find his Mom at the kitchen table with a woman he didn’t know. The woman was dressed in a simple blouse and a pair of blue jeans. Nate stopped dead in his tracks in the foyer as he looked at the two of them.
“Hi,” he finally said to try and break the tension.
“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to go out last night?” said Ellen, looking a bit displeased.
“I, uh, changed my mind?” Nate closed the door and walked into the kitchen.
Ellen rolled her eyes. “Nate, this is Amanda. She’s the one who sold me the potion.”
Nate sat down next to her. “Wow, really?”
“Yep, I can see you’ve been having fun already.”
Nate couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. “Yeah, I’m loving it. It’s so much fun. There is one thing though…”
“Oh?” Amanda’s interest was piqued.
“There’s this guy that found me in the woods last night. He’s with Animal Control. He made me tell him how I got like this so I told him. He was definitely not nice.” Nate leaned back in his chair. "He threatened and attempted to blackmail me too."
“I see. So, I take it I may be seeing him soon?” she asked.
Nate nodded.
“Hmm, I may have to teach him a lesson,” Amanda started pondering to herself.
“Do what you gotta do. I just wish I could be there when you do.” Nate developed a bit of smirk at the thought.
“Maybe you could…oh, I think we could have some real fun.”