Wolf Pack

By Fai Gensou

Disclaimer: There would be an FF7 remake in the smexy graphics if I owned this. I don't. End of story.

Summary: Hojo really should have thought things through more before he added his latest project to the flu shots Zack/Cloud, Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud

Wolf Pack

It was all Hojo's fault, Zack thought as he sat on his tail for the sixth time today.

It was flu season, which meant all of Shinra--including SOLDIER--had to get flu shots. SOLDIERs rarely got the flu, but they could carry it, so they had to get the vaccine too, even Sephiroth.

Therein lay the problem.

The civilian flu shots were normal. So were the majority of the Turks. It was the vaccines slated for the troopers and the SOLDIER that there was a Hojo-sized problem. Hojo had added his latest project to the flu shots, animal DNA with mako to try and induce the emergence of animal traits in humans, Tseng had said.

All Zack knew was that most of the troopers were either catatonic from the mako exposure or sedated because they were rabid from the onset of new instincts. SOLDIER wasnt faring much better. No one had mako poisoning/addiction/whatever the hell the appropriate term was or had to be sedated, but Luxiere was holed in the Science Lab because he had been unfortunate enough to get the only shot with octopus DNA.

Zack had thought he was a little clingy.

Reno had been one of the few Turks caught up in the problem, and sported fox ears and white-tipped tail. Kunsel got black panther traits, not surprising given his sneaky nature, but Zack had never really seen his friend without his helmet before.

And Zack? He lived up to his puppy nickname by gaining Nibel Wolf ears and tail, and was had started doing squats in the briefing room to keep himself from running off to investigate all the fascinating scents. And he thought the sensory explosion when he joined SOLDIER was bad.

His ears twitched has he heard the person on the other end of Tsengs phone listed off the troopers still unaccounted for. Most of the troopers who hadn't gone catatonic, when the change happened, had gone running wild, and some had left the building, so no luck containing the news of this.

Hold on a sec, Cloud's name had just been listed off as unaccounted for. "I'll look for him!!!" Zack yelled behind him as he ran out of the room, barely waiting for the door to slide open. He hit the stairs that trailed one side of the building up to the first of the card key floors, since he didn't have the patience to wait on the elevators. Zack didn't pause to stop and think about his reaction. Cloud was /pack/; he could be /mate/ if he wanted it. Sephiroth felt the same in his head, but since no one had seen him since this started

Zack had made it to the trooper barracks and was inside before he realized. He had to consciously bite back the growl that came up with the smell of Clouds scent mixed with other males, and of their scent on his foot locker. There was a lump huddled under a blanket on the bunk that had the foot locker that smelled of Cloud, and the lump was very Cloud-scented. And wolf-scented.

Zack forced himself to stop and place the Buster Sword against the wall, and take off his boots before pulling back the blanket. His brain barely noted the wolf ears and tail Cloud had gained, the same color of his hair, before it promptly went offline when Cloud yawned, blinked open his eyes, and sat up to rub himself against Zack, nuzzling his neck. /pack/

Zack was grinding against Cloud, pressing him into the thin mattress of the bunk, holding him in place, making sure to cover Cloud with his scent before he changed his mind. Cloud didn't seem like he would any time soon, grinding back and running hands over Zack's ears. Zack returned the motion, which elicited a purr from Cloud, an odd noise for a wolf if Zack had stopped to think about it. But Zack's brain was offline, and all that there was the drive to mark Cloud, cover him with his scent to make sure no one stole him away, driven on by the delightful way Cloud submitted to it, and returned it. The haze caused by this drive settled some when Zack came, Cloud shuddering his release under him. Zack rolled over so that they curled around each other, and begin to groom Cloud by running his free hand through his hair, until a slim hand caught his and stopped him. "Zack, why do you have wolf ears?"

Cloud had thought he was dreaming. Granted, most of his dreams involving Zack didn't involve some bizarre anthromorphic activity, but considering Cloud was by nature a pessimist--realist, he would correcthe did not have any reason to suspect this to be real.

Until he realized that the sensations were too strong to be a dream, urges to return Zack's actions far too strong to ignore. He couldn't ignore the strange shape he laid on, couldn't ignore how his ears were far too sensitive to Zack's hands--and that they were on the top of his hand. By then Cloud was too caught up in the act, too caught up in the sensations and instincts and sense of belonging to try and stop. And the look on Zack's face as he hit the edge was enough to send him over.

Cloud had thought Zack would tell him what was going on now that they were done, but Zack seemed more inclined to groom him than talk, so fighting the instinct to just lay there and let him, Cloud caught his hand and asked, "Zack, why do you have wolf ears?"

Zack shook himself, as if shaking off the distraction of instincts. "And a tail, and so do you."

"Okay, why do WE have things?"

"Hojo fucked with the flu shots, SOLDIER and most the troopers have similar things. Most of troops in Medical. Zack decided that since he couldn't groom Cloud, he would nuzzle his neck.

Now Cloud knew why Zack had the puppy nickname.

He was easily distracted.

Cloud tried to get up, but Zack growled and tightened his grip. /mate no leave/ Cloud growled back /not den not safe/--which was true; a troops' barracks was hardly a den site and far from safe, too open--but Zack wasn't listening. So Cloud fought back.

Zack was bigger and stronger with more muscle, and the angle was bad, but Cloud had grappled with the local kids since he was 5, and he would play with the Nibel wolves in the area even longer, so he knew the tricks in and out before gaining the instincts, so before Zack realized it, Cloud had rolled them off the bunk, hitting the floor hard, mouth at his neck with a hint of teeth to make the threat apparent.

Zack whined in submission, Cloud withdrawing the teeth and licking the site in apology before quickly getting up, grabbing his uniform and a knife before retreating to the bathroom. "Stay!" Cloud growled before shutting the door.

Zack blinked the haziness from Cloud's presence and arousal faded enough for him to realize what Cloud had said. He was right; they really needed to get Cloud to Medical to be looked at since he wasn't catatonic or rabid. Sitting up, he felt wetness on the back of his skull where it had hit the concrete. Casting Cure and pulling his boots on, Zack found himself smiling all over, his tail wagging like crazy. His mate had teeth!

Cloud smelled the blood when he came out dressed, and inspected Zack, whimpering apology for causing the injury, Zack nuzzling him in reassurance. Cloud pulled back, "Why are most of the troopers in Medical?"

"Either mako poisoning or because they went rabid from the instincts." Zack answered.

Cloud's ears pressed against his skull. "But why am I ok?"

Zack shrugged, unable to give Cloud an answer.

The trek to Medical was uneventful, until they were right outside. A secretary was walking by when she stopped, focused on Cloud for a moment, before letting out a high-pitched squealed that sent both of their ears down on their skulls, which only seemed to enthrall her more, as she, and every other woman in earshot, glomped Cloud.

Zack got pushed out of the way as Cloud disappeared under the mass of females, which seemed to multiply as what seemed like every woman in the building converged on him. Zack thought he saw Scarlet in the mass, which was truly a frightening thought. A continuous growl rumbled in Zacks chest, and was seriously considering diving in there to pull Cloud out of there when some unspoken signal sent them scattering, leaving Cloud glassy-eyed, arms full of PHS numbers, mail addresses, baked goods, and a couple materia, which proved Scarlet or someone from Materia Research had been in the mob. One of them had apparently been thoughtful enough to leave a bag, which Zack started filling with the baked goods, tossing the numbers and addresses. Those were some pretty rare materia...

"...Zack?" Cloud asked, swaying slightly. "What was that?"

Before Zack could try to explain, for how can a male explain the creature called the fangirl, when both of their PHSs beeped, signaling new mail. Reading the mail, Zack said, "The start of your own fan club apparently."

"I thought only SOLDIERs had fan clubs?" Cloud wasnt as glassy-eyed as he had been thankfully, but he still looked queasy. The perfume had been strong, and some of the mob had been in heat or bleeding, which probably hadnt helped matters.

Zack craned his neck to see Clouds mail instead of answering. "...you're a member of my fan club?"

Cloud blushed, which seemed to tint his ears pink. "I'm a member of Silver Elite too."

And thus Head in the Clouds fan club was started, with 300 starting members.

To Be Continued...I figure out where to go next.