The doorbell’s chime rang out, but Jason heard everything else too: Lena’s heartbeat on the other side, the nervous creak of her leather boots, and the faint electric buzz from whatever was stashed in her bag. Her scent hit him before he even touched the doorknob—familiar perfume now sharp with sage, iron, and something acrid that curled his lips involuntarily. His cock twitched in his sheath. Of course.
"It’s Lena," Jason said, voice low, almost a growl. His tail thumped once, betraying his nerves.
David stood behind him, tense, broad shoulders blocking the hallway like a gate. Jason could smell his roommate’s anxiety rising—salt and gym sweat and the faint, unmistakable tinge of arousal that neither of them could help anymore. David hadn't even touched him, but just being near each other did this now.
"Jason." Lena's voice was firm, sharp with disbelief. "Let me in. Now."
Jason opened the door.
Lena stood on the threshold, hair pulled into a tight ponytail, dressed in all black, her bag bulging with ominous shapes. Her eyes flicked across his ears, his slightly lengthened face, the band of fur creeping down his neck and chest.
"Fuck, Jason."
He stepped aside.
"You look like a fetish convention crash-landed on a werewolf set," she said, flatly.
Then she spotted David behind him.
"Seriously? Less than a day?"
"I didn’t—"
"Don’t."
She stepped past him like he was furniture. Her bag thunked onto the table. Out came glass vials, bundles of herbs, something that looked like a cursed compass. Jason twitched under her presence.
"Don’t get hard," he muttered.
David grunted. "Too late."
Lena turned. "Strip."
Jason blinked. "What?"
"Clothes off. Both of you. I need to assess everything."
"I didn’t know it was contagious," David offered, trying to keep calm.
"It wasn’t," Lena snapped. She dumped her bag on the coffee table and began unpacking candles, small metal instruments, and a leather-bound journal.
"Something twisted it," she continued. "It rebounded. Accelerated. You two didn’t just spread it. You mutated it."
Jason flinched. "How?"
She didn’t look up. "You stoked it. You two hooked up, and it just... spiraled. You’re walking feedback loops."
David gave a nervous chuckle. "So, we broke your curse by... enjoying it too much?"
Lena’s gaze turned lethal. "You broke it by turning it into something contagious. You fed it. Fucked it. Lit the fuse."
She pointed sharply at the two of them. "Clothes. Off. Now."
Jason hesitated, but the command pushed through him like instinct. His tank top hit the floor.
David followed, slower. The moment his pants dropped, his sheath shifted, and his heavy, darkening cock pulsed as if on cue.
Lena didn't flinch. She circled them slowly, eyes narrowed as she held out a crystal. Jason caught her scent up close: bitter cloves, ozone, and the sting of regret.
"Jason…" she murmured, fingers hovering near his chest fur. "You’re further along than I thought. There’s a biological overlay now. Instincts embedded. You’re reacting like a different species."
He couldn’t meet her gaze. His tail twitched involuntarily.
She turned to David. "And you—"
David winced as his cock gave another throb. "It burns when I get hard."
Jason nodded. "That happened to me too. At first."
Lena scrawled something into her journal. "You're mirroring the progression. Interesting."
"That supposed to be comforting?" David muttered.
"You’re behind him, but not by much. One more orgasm and you'll both spiral further." She shut her book. "This isn't just a transformation anymore. It's behavioral. Chemical. Addictive."
Jason rubbed his temples. "Can you undo it?"
"Maybe. But not alone." Lena shoved everything back in her bag. "I need my mentor. Until then, you two can't risk contact. Not physical. Not even proximity. You're each other's triggers. And, for the love of god, don't fuck anyone else, either."
Jason staggered back like she'd struck him. "You're serious?"
"Deadly. You escalate each other without meaning to. And it's not because of some magical soulmate crap. It's just history, attraction, and a curse feeding itself."
David swallowed hard. "We live together."
"Then fix that," Lena snapped. "One of you goes. Tonight. I don't care who. You want this reversed? Keep your hands and everything else off each other."
She looked at Jason one last time—and beneath the anger, there was pain. Maybe guilt. "I didn’t mean to do this. But I’m going to fix it—to stop this from spreading to anyone else. Not for you."
The door shut behind her like a final warning.
Jason didn’t say anything. Neither did David. Their scents tangled in the air, heavy with loss and denial.
"I’ll pack," David said, voice hoarse.
Jason nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice that sounded less human with each passing hour whispered that maybe the curse spreading wouldn't be such a terrible thing after all.