Nate picked up his spare backpack from his bed where he left it and looked through it, noting his packed t-shirt and pair of sweatpants inside as well as a spare set of socks and underpants. In the front pocket was his toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. He zipped it up and paused, letting out a deep sigh. It was almost here and he couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. This was something he had dreamed of, fantasized of for so long and here it was finally arriving. He looked at the time and went downstairs. The last thing he wanted to be was late. They had a wonderful dinner between his family and the Twists. He couldn't help but marvel at how much had changed so quickly. He walked downstairs to find his mom, his dad, Samantha and Frances as well as Ben waiting for him.
"All set?" asked Martha. Nate slipped the strap of the backpack over his shoulder and nodded. Nate looked around, worried that he didn't see his little brother Eric. He didn't say anything though as he followed the group outside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his brother standing by the family car though.
"Finally! We're going to be late." said Eric.
"Relax, Eric. It's only a few minutes from here. We've got plenty of time." said Frances. She quickly surveyed the SUV's size and concluded they would need to take two cars. Samantha, Frances and Ben then went ahead to their house to retrieve their car for the trip over, telling the Andersons they would be right back and then they could follow them. The Anderson family piled into the SUV and waited for the Twists to return to lead the way to the Pack Masters house. They all sat in silence for a few moments.
"Nervous?" asked Eric to Nate.
"Maybe a little." admitted Nate.
"You'll be fine," replied Eric, smiling. "My brother, the big bad werewolf."
Nate sat there in stunned silence at how accepting Eric was suddenly being. He couldn't help but wonder what had changed his attitude. What happened at that pool party, thought Nate.
"You have nothing to worry about Nate. At least you're doing this right," said William, glancing in the rear view mirror to get a look at his son in the backseat. The comment stung for Martha though, with the suggestion that neither of them did but she decided not to say anything just then.
The Twists then pulled up in their car, parking just down the road a bit. William started the car and backed out of the driveway. They followed the Twists the whole way to the Pack Master's house. It was a short trip and then they arrived at the Pack Master's house. They found the house completely dark, but a trail leading into the woods behind the house lit on either side with a row of torches lighting the way. They made their way up the path until they came to a clearing in the middle of the woods. A stone ring with a crackling camp fire burned in the middle as several people stood around the fire. Many Nate immediately recognized from school as Ben had introduced to him. He also recognized Austin of course, speaking to a woman around his age that he immediately guessed was his wife.
Austin perked up when he saw Nate, Ben and their respective families arrive. He waved them over. "Nate, I'd like you to meet my wife Christina, I didn't get a chance to introduce you earlier. My kids are already in bed, sadly so you'll have to meet them another time."
Nate shook Christina's hand and then turned to introduce his parents. "Austin, Christina, these are my parents William and Martha."
"Pleasure to meet you," replied Christina. A quick sniff by both of Martha and William identified them both as werewolves.
"I know we were expecting the Mayor to stop by but he just texted me a little while ago that we should go on without him. Apparently there was some sort of crisis downtown, he didn't want to elaborate."
Frances looked to Samantha to clarify but Samantha seemed just as baffled by the news, wondering why she hadn't been alerted. She decided to shrug it off and enjoy the evening. Whatever it was, clearly he thought he could handle it alone.
"Alright, everyone. Let's bring it together!" announced Austin. "I want to keep this short and sweet so we can get to the good parts of tonight. We are gathered here to welcome a new member to our illustrious pack tonight. His name is Nate and comes to us all the way from Minnesota. I had the pleasure of meeting with Nate and Ben earlier today. I had heard a lot about him from Ben but still, while we are a welcoming bunch, we want to make sure we know who we are letting in. Well, I got a good sense of the sort of person Nate is and I think he will make a fine member of our pack. Now, for the official ceremony part, and I promise to make this as quick and painless as possible. Nate?"
"Yeah?" replied Nate, snapping to attention.
"Do you come to this pack, to join us, of your own free will?"
"Of course."
"Do you promise to honor and protect your fellow pack mates?"
"Yes."
"Do you promise to adhere to the laws and regulations of Moon Lake and it's surrounding areas that I'm sure that I don't have to go over in detail as they have been well covered with your entire family repeatedly over the last few days, or so I'm told?"
Nate couldn't help but crack a smile at that last one. He nodded, "Yes."
Austin leaned in closer, smiling, "Welcome to the pack, buddy."
Nate started grinning from ear to ear. Austin was right, he did keep it short and sweet. Ben walked over with another young man with wavy black hair and smile complete with dimples that made Nate feel weak in the knees.
"Nate, this is Alex, the guy I was telling you about," said Ben.
Nate's heart skipped a beat as he remembered the second part of the induction. He managed to squeak of a feeble "Hi."
Nate went over and said goodnight to his folks and Samantha and Frances as Austin and Christina ushered them out and then Christina walked down with them, no doubt to check on her kids as well. Once they had walked back to their cars, Austin came back and walked over to Nate, Ben and Alex.
"Now then, you two. Ben and I and the rest of the pack will leave you two to become better acquainted." Austin placed his hands on the shoulders of Nate and Alex reassuringly for a moment and then he and Ben walked off with rest of the pack, leaving Alex and Nate alone. They both watched at the other members of the pack walked off, leaving them alone.
“So…” said Nate, trying to break the tension.
“How do we go about doing this?” asked Alex, clearly just as nervous as Nate.
Nate brushed his fingers through his hair, not sure how to proceed. “I have no clue. I guess we’re supposed to do it and in the process, your werewolf spunk transfers it to me?”
“Well, yeah, I know that part. I just usually get to know the guy first.”
“Oh yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I think part of this was on me, dropping this on them at the last minute. Let’s sit down and talk for a minute.” Nate gestured to a bench by the fire. Alex sat down. Nate tossed a couple more logs on the fire and then sat down next to him.
“So, you moved here from Minnesota, huh?” asked Alex.
“Yeah, how about you? Where are you from?” asked Nate.
“Born and raised here in Moon Lake. Both my parents are werewolves. Lived here my whole life,” replied Alex. “You have any brothers or sisters?”
“One brother. He’s still human, for the time being anyway.”
“Cool, cool.” Alex nodded. The uncomfortable silence began again as they sat there and watched the fire for a few moments. Then Alex broke the silence. “Oh fuck it.”
Alex reached out and turned Nate’s head to face him, planting a long, sensuous kiss on his lips. It took a moment for Nate to realize what was happening. Nate fully turned towards Alex, kissing him back. Alex reached around, piercing the fabric of Nate’s shirt with his newly grown claws and then pulling his shirt off. Nate couldn’t help but giggle a little from excitement as he felt Alex’s claws slowly work their way down his back, barely scratching him. Nate pulled away for a moment, smiling and greeted with Alex’s grin, revealing his teeth growing out into fangs. His eyes had shifted to a dazzling amber color, with the firelight reflecting in them. Alex reached down and started undoing Nate’s belt and then the button on his jeans and the zipper. Alex pulled off his own shirt, revealing his increasingly hairy chest and arms. He pulled down his pants and kicked off his boots as his feet reformed into digitigrade paws. He then reached over and pulled down Nate’s pants and turned him over, leaning him over the bench. Nate knew what was coming next, girding himself as he felt Alex’s throbbing member slowly enter him. Here we go, Nate thought to himself. He let out a pleasurable moan as he felt go back and forth as his clawed hand slowly massaged Nate’s back until he came a few moments later. Alex slowly lowered himself on top of Nate, feeling his warm, furry body encompass his. They laid there in front of the fire for a few minutes, enjoying the moment.
Suddenly, Nate started to feel really warm and immediately knew it was starting to happen. He watched excitedly as brown hairs started to grow in over his arms as his fingernails grew out into sharp claws.
“Just let it happen,” whispered Alex in a low growl.
Nate nodded, watching as the transformation continued. He watched as his feet slowly grew out into digitigrade paws and he felt every muscle in his body grow and swell. He felt his ears start to grow out to lupine points. A dull pain in his mouth signified that his fangs were starting to grow in. He couldn’t believe it. Something he had fantasized over for so long was finally happening. The more dramatic changes started to occur as his chest began to barrel outward as he felt the odd sensation of his tail starting to grow in. The transformation finished as he face slowly pushed out, reshaping into a lupine snout.
As the transformation finished, Nate slowly stood up, getting used to his newly transformed self. Part of him was shocked that this had actually happened. Alex looked up at him expectedly as Nate looked over himself, taking stock of his rather dramatic transformation. No longer able to hold it in, Nate threw his head back and let out a long, joyful howl. When he finished, he noticed the rest of the pack walked back out of the woods, all transformed as well.
“Wow…” growled Nate, still getting used to what had just happened to him.
Author's Note: Much like The Masked Writer, I too am really enjoying how this story thread has taken on a life of it's own, with each person adding a new chapter. Keep it up as I look forward to each addition!