Jen froze. Out of everything Peter could have said to her, she did not expect that. Did he know? Obviously, she thought. But how did he know? Panic rose in the back of her mind. The wolf in her felt cornered, scared, and unpredictable. Her heart raced.
Her hand shot out, taking a firm grasp on his arm. He winced a bit, but didn't pull back. She told herself she was holding his arm to establish trust, but really, it was to make sure the wolf in her didn't decide to bolt. She had to ground herself, or who knows what would happen. She could smell his fear, but there was something else in his scent, too. After a quick glance around, she leaned in.
"I-I wasn't bitten," she said, firmly. He seemed surprised to hear that. "I was cursed, two days ago, by Kyle Perkins. He used that…. that T&D curse." She had to choose her words carefully. What I do not need right now is to accidentally curse him, she thought.
"Interesti-" he started to say, but Jen interrupted him.
"How do you know?" Her grip tightened. Peter stammered, unable to meet her piercing gaze. "Wel-"
"How do you know it was me?" Jen snarled. Her teeth felt different, but she couldn't think about that now. It took so much restraint to keep from running, and she feared the wolf in her would lash out. She'd already been recognized outside, how many knew?
Peter looked down.
"Maybe it would be better to talk in the woods." He paused, and looked up at her. "Away from people."
Her grip loosened. His tone had shifted. Was he one too? Either way, he was right. If this conversation was going where she feared, she didn't want to transform. Not here.
As they walked out, Jen slammed a claw-torn $20 bill on the counter. "Keep the change," she growled. The barista looked a bit surprised, looking over at their almost full drinks. She started asking if their drinks were okay, until she turned back towards the two of them and quickly went quiet. Jen was so focused that she didn't even notice the barista was talking. Something else had changed, most likely. All the more reason to get out of here, she thought.
Entering the woods was... refreshing. Jen was never an outdoorsy person before, but she couldn't deny how calming it was for her new lupine instincts. The shade, the trees, and the light breeze felt safe. She couldn't stand the electric lights, the concrete, the cars, all of the people. The farther into the woods they trampled, the calmer she began to feel.
This calmness didn't extend to her exterior demeanor, however.
Dragging Peter behind her with her vice-like grip, she charged through the woods until they came on a clearing. Peter sat on a nearby stump. He rubbed his arm, red claw marks obvious where she had been grasping him.
"So…" Peter began, with a sigh. "You want to know how I knew that was you?" He looked up at her, but she couldn't read his expression.
"OBVIOUSLY!" Jen could all but yell. She was still scared, all the way out here.
"Well, two years ago, remember that big Halloween party?"
Their sophomore year. Of course she did, or, well, didn't, with all of the underage drinking that people got up to that night. It was a huge party, almost every teen in town was there. Not often Halloween falls on a full moon, after all. She nodded.
"Remember the kid in the werewolf costume? The absurdly realistic one?"
She did, vaguely. It was all a blur.
"Well, turns out, that wasn't a costume. He was in the chess club with me. When we were…. alone, upstairs, he attacked me. Didn't kill me. I guess the poor kid had a crush on me, and got overwhelmed. Decided to express it a bit more violently than I would've liked at the time. Since then, I've been a werewolf, too."
"Still keep in contact with him, though I guess he moved towns a while back after a string of livestock disappearances. Anyway, I thought maybe you'd been scratched at the party too, because usually you can't fully turn for a long time after being infected. I only fully turned for the first time a couple of months ago, and it's been years."
Jen's head spun. Was this for real?
"Wait wait wait. So you're telling me…y-you're one too?"
"Yeah. I could smell it on you the second you walked past the store. That and I recognized you on the news earlier, after you'd turned."
"You recognized me?!" She still couldn't believe what he was saying.
But I thought all of those stories were fiction! And now you're telling me this unassuming dork I've been sharing a bus stop with is a fucking WEREWOLF?!
She needed proof.
"I mean, yeah? It's not obvious to most people, but to other werewol-"
"Then turn."
Her voice was firm. Peter looked taken aback for a second, while figuring how to respond.
"I-I can't just, I mean, it takes a lot out of you, y'know? Like, the every full moon thing is definitely just a myth, but it's still not something you can just d-"
"I don't care. I won't believe you until I see it."
She was serious. He could tell. He knew all of this was a lot to take in, especially if you'd fully turned the day after you'd even been infected.
"I don't know if I c-"
"I DON'T care if you CAN." Her eyes were burning, golden as the sunset. They pierced through his soul. Uh-oh, he thought. "I need you to, I just. I need to know."
Internally, Jen's mind was like a hurricane. I'm not alone? We're not alone? The wolf in her was back to feeling overwhelmed, unpredictable, fighting to take over. She wasn't sure if she could hold it back. Part of her wanted to let it take over, which scared her. It was beginning to lash out. She just didn't want to hurt Peter.
She could feel parts of her body shifting. In the silence, she was suddenly aware of every part of her that had changed. Her hands were now clawed, and more paw-like. Her ears had shifted to the top of her head, and twitched with every little sound. Her canines had grown, and she realized that her color vision had worsened considerably. After her latest outburst, combined with the rush of thoughts and emotions, she grunted in pain as her legs had turned digitigrade, her pawed feet tearing through the front of her shoes.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Jen repeated, under her breath. She didn't want to fully change, not now. As her vision began to blur from the stress, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Peter. He's been through this. He's here. He'll calm us down Jen thought, through the rush of her thoughts. She snapped back into reality.
"Fine, Jen. I'll shift. For you. It's been a few weeks since I last did involuntarily, so I should have enough energy back. We're far enough out of town, I don't think either of us needs to worry about more murder. Plus.... you seem to really need the support." There was care in his voice, compassion. Like a friend. If she would have been told 2 days ago that she'd end up friends with the lanky nerd she shared a bus stop with, she would've decked whoever said it. But she had to admit, it was nice to be understood.
In her current state, she feared seeing Peter turn would now push her over the edge, but there was only one way to find out...