by Brent Miller
“I have begun to believe everything in these books is fallacious,” Tyler opened.
“That’s not the best way you could have started this,” Garrick joked.
“Acknowledged,” Tyler shrugged as he pointed to the book on his desk. Garrick had skimmed through the same book before, but Tyler had copied sections on papers which now surrounded the book. The pages had different colored highlighters marking the top.
“We’ve already tried that,” Garrick groaned as he remembered the book.
“True, but we have yet to organize all of our information. I have green pages for verified information. Red pages are what we’ve proven false.”
“Okay,” Garrick responded slowly, trying to follow Tyler as he excitedly explained his new organization method.
“Combining the information we know to be true with that which we can discount, I have reexamined a few sources and accumulated as much information as I could gather.”
With that, Tyler pointed to the board, where he had an assortment of green-colored pages with information from other books. Garrick read what he could, but he wasn’t sure what conclusion he was supposed to draw.
“It looks to me,” Tyler explained, as if reading his friend’s thoughts, “that there are commonalities in all of these documents. They all speak of a level of communication. I believe that in order to stop this; you are going to have to see humanity in the wolf.”
“And how can I do that?” Garrick asked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet, but I assume that would be a link – something which remains the same regardless of the form.”
“There is absolutely nothing,” Garrick snapped. “Obviously, my body completely changes – even my eyes change color. My mind is altered. We’re two completely different beings.”
“There has to be something,” Tyler sounded unconvinced. “Perhaps somewhere hidden in your personalities, or possibly something physical. Everything points to some connection.”
“Okay,” Garrick conceded. “Let’s assume I find this link. Then what?”
“The other piece appears to be something which you possess uniquely. This will bind you to your humanity, hopefully allowing you to maintain control.”
“Pain,” Garrick offered.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“But, I’m sure the wolf can feel pain,” Garrick argued.
“Presumably, but you’ve used it to impede effects of the transformation before. It’s possible that after we find the link, you’ll be able to use it to a greater degree.”
“That would be amazing,” Garrick admitted, allowing himself to become hopeful. Even if Tyler was right, how was he ever going to find something similar between him and the wolf? Garrick wasn’t present when the wolf was, and he wasn’t willing to risk Tyler getting close enough to find anything.
All of the conflicting thoughts were starting to give him a headache. Still, it was a wonderful idea. It wasn’t a cure, but control would at least allow him to avoid causing damage. It wouldn’t solve the hunter concern, but it was a start.
“Let’s solve this, then,” Tyler thought aloud. “Both forms have hair. And skin. And… eyes.” He clearly knew he was grasping at straws. Each suggestion he gave was quieter and weaker than the previous one.
“I think it would have to be deeper than that,” Garrick sighed, rubbing his temples.
“I’m aware,” Tyler agreed. “I’m just brainstorming.”
Garrick’s headache was getting worse, and his stomach began hurting as well. Unsure of what was causing it, he decided to go home and find some medicine.
“Garrick Elliott, are you alright?” Tyler asked. Suddenly, everything came flooding back to him. How had he been so stupid? He’d completely forgotten. He reached for his phone, but realized he must have forgotten it in the car. Somehow, he hadn’t even realized he couldn’t get sick, so there had to be another problem. He’d just gotten lost in the hope of a new suggestion.
“What time is it?” Garrick asked.
“It’s just after noon, why?” Tyler responded inquisitively. Garrick hadn’t thought about the fact that he couldn’t get there just in time for the eclipse to start – the change would begin as the moon rose.
“I have to go.” He ran to his car, but Tyler followed closely. Garrick clamored into the driver’s seat, but he realized he couldn’t drive – his inability to focus would cause an accident.
“Garrick Elliott,” Tyler demanded. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“The eclipse,” Garrick explained. “I’m changing. I need to run to the woods.”
“From here? You’ll never make it. Move, I’ll drive you.”
“No. What if I hurt you?”
“You may, but if I don’t, you will without question hurt someone else.” Garrick begrudgingly slid to the passenger seat. His phone lit up from the cupholder, the light almost blinding him. He had fifteen texts from Hayden, twelve from Brooke, three from Cailean, and one from Aldric – and double that many missed calls from each. Tyler sped down the streets, and Garrick was thankful that he didn’t have to relay any information.
“I’m sorry,” Tyler apologized. “I don’t know how it slipped my mind.”
“No, I should have remembered,” Garrick groaned.
Tyler was going fifteen miles over the speed limit. If they got pulled over, there would be no way he could make it to the woods. Still, it was a risk Garrick knew he’d had to take. There wasn’t enough time to get there if he didn’t. Tyler slammed on the brakes after driving as far into the woods as possible. Garrick could feel his teeth growing as he watched claws grow from his nails.
Tyler got out of the car and opened Garrick’s door. He pulled his friend out and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“I have to go alone,” Garrick argued. “They’ll all be changed. And you won’t get me there before I kill you.”
“I have to try.” They were too close to civilization to let him go there, and Garrick knew he didn’t have the strength to walk on his own. Still, he couldn’t imagine his friend getting hurt because of him. Garrick couldn’t live with himself if it happened again.
“Please, Tyler. Go.”
“I swear to you, Garrick Elliott, I’ll flee as fast as humanly possible the second I leave you somewhere I’m confident you won’t harm anyone. First, we have to get you there.”
The two continued walking and they crossed the tree line a few seconds later. Tyler kept leading Garrick further into the woods, dragging him along. The pain became unbearable, and Garrick decided they’d gone far enough. Garrick shoved Tyler away, trying to get distance.
He quickly threw his shirt and pants off, leaving them against a tree. He hoped he’d be able to remember what tree it was. Whether or not he did, it was better than letting them get torn to shreds as he changed.
“Are you going to be okay?” Tyler asked.
“Run!” Garrick ordered. He turned back to face Tyler. He knew his face was completely unrecognizable. One by one, more bones shattered and reformed throughout his body. He tried to fight the change, but he knew it was hopeless. At that point, he’d lost hope that he could hold it back until Tyler made it to safety, but he had to give his friend the biggest head start he possibly could, so he kept fighting the agony as his body was torn apart.
Garrick watched hair grow from his arms as the skin stretched to accommodate their new shape. He’d never been conscious this long. He always tried, but he typically gave up long before that point.
He saw that his legs weren’t even human anymore. He stood on his toes, which had grown claws of their own. Somehow, he’d maintained consciousness through the transformation, but Garrick felt his ability to process thought fading fast, but he just kept fighting for control.
Though he ran as fast as he could, Tyler hadn’t made it far – he was still in Garrick’s line of sight. The last thing he saw before he finally succumbed to the pain was his best friend stop and run the other way. Another wolf had bl
ocked his path.
Garrick looked around, taking in the world. He saw a human running toward him. There was a hint of recognition, but he couldn’t quite figure out who it was.
“Oh no,” the human mumbled. “Garrick Elliott?”
He recognized the sound as the one humans made to get his attention.
“Good boy,” the human tried. Tyler. There was fear in his voice as he tried to speak in a comforting tone.
“Garrick Elliott, you know me,” Tyler continued. “I know you’re in there.”
There was no sense in appealing to his humanity. It wasn’t there. Still, he didn’t want there to be such fear in this human’s voice. He liked him. Garrick knew that the human side of him deeply cared for the person who was in front of him.
Cailean strolled out from behind one of the trees. He growled at Tyler, ready to attack. Brooke appeared from behind another tree and Aldric from a third. Cailean was the first to attack, lunging toward Tyler. Garrick jumped too and caught him in the air, driving him to the ground. Garrick slashed Cailean’s leg, dropping him to the ground, then clamped his jaw around Cailean’s neck.
Brooke jumped at Tyler next, but Hayden dove from the foliage to fight her off. She was always there to defend Garrick and those he loved. Somehow, Garrick knew that Hayden wouldn’t hurt Tyler either. The two of them were going to save him.
Cailean broke from Garrick’s bite and lunged forward. He scratched Garrick deep across the side, and he fell forward. Angrily, Cailean bit at him, but Garrick managed to scratch Cailean’s neck in defense.
Brooke managed to land a few good scratches on Hayden, and she was now on top of her, pinning her down with a vicious bite.
Aldric, larger and more powerful than the rest of them, walked toward Tyler. Tyler was still desperately muttering things like “good boy” in attempt to make them act friendly toward him. Aldric got closer, but he didn’t attack. Garrick was torn. That was his alpha. While it may not have been more important than any friendships to his human side, he couldn’t defy him. Anyway, he knew there was no hope for victory.
Garrick stood and scratched at Cailean again, but Cailean jumped back. Then, he jumped forward and scratched Garrick, pinning him down again. Garrick felt his power draining away. Cailean wouldn’t kill him; but he would beat him until he finally conceded. It was all a power struggle.
Hayden managed to get Brooke off her and scratch her legs up enough to impair her movement. As Brooke limped to a tree to lick her wounds, Hayden dove toward Cailean and pushed him from Garrick. She scratched at him, and then she bit down on his neck until he finally whimpered in surrender.
She let him go and walked back to Garrick, licking the wounds which were still bleeding. Garrick felt a pain in his stomach, and it quickly grew to his paws. All of the others seemed to be reacting to a similar sensation, but he couldn’t see the source of the attack.
Aldric, who had walked almost close enough to bite Tyler, fell forward. Garrick watched as his paws shrunk down and human fingers emerged from them. His teeth dulled in his mouth, and his shoulder bones settled down to a human form.
Garrick felt himself losing his form as well. He looked at Tyler as he lost his vision. His friend was alive.
Garrick woke up in the grass. For the first time since he could remember, they all woke up near each other. Groggily, he sat up and walked to retrieve his clothes. Somehow, he had a good recollection of what had happened, and he knew Tyler was alive. Still, he wanted to get dressed and get to his friend as quickly as possible.
“Hey,” Tyler muttered with a shaky voice, sitting a few dozen feet from Garrick.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Garrick exclaimed, finishing dressing before running to his friend. Garrick wrapped Tyler in an embrace.
“That was by far the strangest thing I have ever experienced.”
“I know,” Garrick acknowledged.
“You didn’t even attempt to hurt me. You protected me, actually.”
“I wasn’t sure I would, but I was hopeful. Hayden did the same for me. I think that maybe the wolf knows how good of a friend you are to me.”
“That’s comforting,” he sighed, calming down a bit. Garrick was impressed that he was even able to talk. He himself would probably be speechless after what Tyler had seen.
Hearing rustling in the leaves, Garrick turned back to look at the others. Gently, he told Tyler to wait as he ran to greet Hayden. Removing his shirt, he handed it to her. She thanked him as she slid it over her shoulders. He helped her to her feet, the shirt working as a very short dress for her. It would suffice until she made it back to where she had turned. Before she parted to find where that was, she kissed him and nodded back to Tyler. Garrick nodded and ran back to his friend, falling to his knees near him.
“Sorry,” he greeted. Tyler seemed to have settled down a bit, and wasn’t shaking as badly. As if trying to force out a sentence, he took a deep breath, but produced no words. His face slowly changed as a smile spread across it. Garrick was confused. What did he possibly have to smile about? Only a few minutes ago he was more than likely going to be torn apart by werewolves. Maybe he was just happy to be alive.
“What?” Garrick asked him.
“Garrick Elliott,” Tyler whispered slowly. “This was all worth it. I have it figured out.”
“What did you figure out?” Garrick asked, assuming he’d forgotten a piece of a conversation he and Tyler had been having on the way to the woods. Through his foggy mind, he was having trouble processing the current conversation, let alone a past one. It always took him a while for the clouds in his mind to part.
“The link,” Tyler explained. “I found the link.”
Chapter 22
Eleven months ago
Garrick stared at the ceiling, finding patterns in the texture as Hayden rested her head on his chest. Neither of them had moved in ten minutes, and he didn’t want to be the one to break that. Based only on her breathing, Garrick couldn’t tell if she was sleeping or not, but he just allowed himself to enjoy her presence.
After a while, though, he stood up, walking over to the mirror. He knew it was a bit self-obsessed, but he couldn’t help but look at his reflection. His pecs had already started growing a bit. Mostly, they were just more defined. Without even flexing, the tone in his arms was vaguely visible. When he flexed, Garrick looked like he had been to a gym, which wasn’t something he was used to. Silently, Hayden came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his shoulder, then placed her chin on it as she admired the two of them in the mirror.
“We look pretty good together,” she flirted.
“You just look good enough for the both of us,” Garrick complimented. She smiled.
“I don’t think it happened this fast for me,” she admitted.
“What?”
“Don’t act like you’re not noticing,” she laughed. “The muscles. I mean, I’m sure everyone is different, and maybe it has to do with your ample supply of testosterone.”
“I doubt that’s it,” Garrick laughed.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “It’s easier for guys to put on muscle. I don’t see why that would change for a wolf.”
Garrick supposed she was right. He wondered when the muscle growth would stop, though. Aldric was a big, intimidating man, and Cailean and Chase looked like they’d worked out every day for their lives, but none of them were built like bodybuilders. Hayden didn’t even look incredibly muscular without flexing. Of course, all of them were significantly stronger than Garrick, but at some point, the changes clearly slowed, or at least become less apparent.
“How long did it take for you?”
“Well, after the first change I lost ten pounds,” she remembered. “The second one, I could flex and actually see my muscles. I think a few weeks after that is when I stabilized a bit.”
“Why does it stop?”
“We don’t stop getting stronger. I don’t know, I guess our bodies just find a balance.”
Garrick didn’t say anything for a while. He maneuvered himself behind Hayden, pulling her up against him and kissing her head. She looked so perfect. As they stood there, she subtly moved her hands to cover her stomach.
“Hayden,” Garrick whispered, gently placing his hands on hers and moving them to her sides. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You know that, right? You’re beautiful. You’re perfect.”
“It looks horrible,” she complained weakly.
“No, it doesn’t. It’s one scratch on a perfect girl. And I think it makes you look even better,” he smiled at her in the mirror.
“Oh yeah?” she asked shyly, looking down. He never understood why she was so embarrassed by the scar. To him, it was a part of her – one piece in the whole package that was the girl he loved.
“Yeah, it makes you look like a scrapper,” he teased.
“You’re into that kind of thing, then?”
“I’m into you,” he responded. She turned around, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him. All Garrick wanted was for Hayden to see herself how he saw her. Admittedly, he could never get his mind off of his own scar either. He always had to make sure to cover it when he was in public, in case a hunter saw him.
Still, thinking about it and being ashamed of it were two different things. If Garrick had any ability to, he would make sure Hayden never felt shame again.
Present
10 days until the full moon
Garrick didn’t know how to process the information. Leaning against a tree, he tried to support himself as his head started spinning. Could it really be that easy? Could Tyler actually be sitting right in front of him with the answer he’d been searching for?