I may be overselling the gore, blood, and violence warnings, but I'd rather over warn for them than under warn if that makes sense. While I'm going to be a bit... descriptive in the first two chapters due to the events with which I've chosen to start with, I promise I'll lower it back down to something more in line with the two universes that I'm bringing together.
Harry ran.
First he'd run from fear and anger, to escape the memory of Shadow lying against the wall after Harry's inadvertent outburst of magic.
Now he ran because he was being chased.
He'd gotten one glimpse of the monster, and struck by its resemblance to a werewolf, he'd run and it had chased. Despite what Hermione called an unfortunate affinity for the Forbidden Forest, Harry was not accustomed to the woods. He tripped, crashed through bushes, and had lost his glasses but found five trees.
Suddenly the ground disappeared and Harry fell, rolling down a steep incline, landing face down in water. He heard something crashing down the slope towards him and he tried to force himself to his feet. A clawed hand hit the small of his back and a second yanked at his shirt. Harry jerked, trying to shove him away, only to freeze as a tearing pain ripped through his side.
He bit me! Harry thought frantically.
A shout and several rustling thumps caused his attacker to let him go. It jumped over him to attack something else. There was a loud growl, several thumps, and then a shriek of pain.
As the shriek faded, a pair of growls cut through the night as two things landed on either side of Harry. Without his glasses and decent light, Harry could barely make out the two figures that hovered over him, but as he stared at them, he became convinced that they were Chase and Shadow.
The creature snarled at them, and the pair snarled back, both crouching down but not leaving Harry. A fourth snarl cut through the air and then silence fell.
Harry became aware that he was panting from the pain in his side and he started to force himself to stand, groaning as the movement set his wound to throbbing more than it had before.
"Harry!"
Suddenly, Shadow was there, gripping his arm and shoulder.
"Shadow," Harry said.
"I'm here; I'm okay," Shadow said, "are you okay?"
"I think that thing bit me," Harry said as he forced himself to his feet, "and I lost my glasses."
"Shit." That had to be Chase, "He's bitten?"
Shadow tugged at his shirt and spat out a nasty sounding Spanish word.
"Is he all right?" A stranger growled.
"Who are you?" Chase demanded. Harry could just make out that he was standing between Harry, Shadow, and the unknown.
"Derek Hale," the stranger said grudgingly after a long silence.
"I don't know what game you and your Alpha are playing," Chase said.
"That wasn't my Alpha," Hale growled, "that murdered my Alpha."
"Fuck," Chase said.
Shadow muttered a different filthy sounding Spanish phrase.
"Kid, does your mother know you know that?" Hale asked, sounding oddly amused.
"She taught me to say it," Shadow replied.
"Look, I'm Chase, this is Shadow and Harry," Chase said, "we aren't exactly from around here, but we were told there wasn't a Pack?"
"Not really," Hale said reluctantly. "The Pack was murdered six years ago. Do you know who this kid is?"
"I have never seen him before," Chase replied, "but we've only been here a week."
It occurred to Harry that he should say or do something, but between the throbbing in his side and a newly arrived headache, it was all he could do to stay standing.
"I'll take care of him," Hale said, "There are police all over the area if nothing else. You take care of your friend."
"Right," Chase said, "Come on, let's go."
Shadow carefully slid Harry's arm over his shoulder and they began to make their way back up the hill. About half way there, Harry realized that he wasn't exactly walking, but that Shadow had him almost completely on his back.
"I c'n walk," Harry muttered.
"You don't have to," Shadow said, adjusting his grip and lifting Harry off the ground.
"I'm heavy," Harry said.
"It's not a problem," Shadow said, "hush and relax. We don't have that far to go."
"Is he in shock?" Chase asked after a moment.
"I think so," Shadow said. "All he's doing is moaning in pain occasionally."
"Should he be in that much pain?" Chase asked, "I've never seen anyone take the bite."
"It can," Shadow said, "every bite is different. I've seen four of them, one was a rejection. We'll know soon enough if he's rejecting the bite."
"I hope he doesn't reject," Chase muttered.
Harry closed his eyes with a sigh.
A sudden beeping noise made Harry jerk back from Shadow with a yelp, and then he groaned and curled into Shadow's back as pain ripped through his head and sighed anew.
"Back with us?" Chase asked.
Harry shifted slightly and stared at him, trying to think his way through the pain.
"Not entirely then," Chase said, "that's okay. Wendy's driving us back to the house. Let's get you in the car."
Harry tried to move, but found himself lifted gently and placed on the backseat of a car before he closed his eyes again.
/…\\\/…\\\/…\\\
Sirius and Remus were waiting outside the house when they got back. Chase glanced at Shadow, who was looking down at Harry pensively. "Is he okay?" Chase asked as Wendy parked the car.
"He's not rejecting the Bite," Shadow said as he opened the door, "that's the best we've got right now."
"Where did you find him?" Sirius asked.
"Half way across the preserve," Chase said, "help us get him inside."
"What happened?" Remus asked, pulling out his wand.
"He was attacked by an Alpha werewolf," Shadow said as he slid out of the car. "He's in shock and pain, and all we can do is wait for him to come out of it."
"What do you mean, an 'Alpha'?" Sirius demanded, "It's not the full moon."
Remus flicked his wand and Harry floated out of the car, with Chase sliding out behind him.
"It depends on the werewolf," Chase said as he shut the door behind him. "Some are like Remus, and cursed. Others, well, others are like me and Shadow."
"That's not possible," Remus said, "the Curse destroyed…"
"False," Chase said, "although we've allowed that belief to be perpetuated in the UK because of the rampant prejudice. Werewolves are like Vampires really, we can be turned or born."
"Werewolves are sterile," Remus said.
"I was born a werewolf, Remus," Chase said bluntly, "Dad was bitten, but mom was born. The Curse traded fertility for the Bite. Harry was bitten by a werewolf like Shadow and I, except with Alpha powers. He's going to be a werewolf."
"He could still die," Shadow said.
"Die?" Sirius said.
"There's a twenty-five percent chance," Chase said, "give or take, and he hasn't shown signs of that."
Harry moaned and shook his head, one hand reaching up to rub his forehead roughly.
"This is normal?" Sirius asked, "He sounds like he's in pain."
"Every Bite is different," Shadow said. "Harry's at an ideal age for the Bite, he's healthy, and he's magical, the odds are exceptional that he'll transition."
"Could he not… change," Sirius said.
"No," Shadow said as he headed inside.
"Where are you going?" Sirius demanded.
"Do you want to do this outside? Because there's an Alpha running around attacking people," Chase said. "We'd do better to go inside and wait this out."
"Not to mention the part where I had to haul Harry out of the Preserve to Wendy's car," Shadow said, "I'm not tired or anything, but I've got dirt and blood all over my back and I'd like to at least change my shirt before it gets any worse." He opened the door, headed inside, while Chase caught the screen door, and held it for the other two.
Wendy leaned over the top of the car, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Wait," Sirius said, "you knew?"
"About Harry?" Wendy said, "Not the details. I didn't actually meet any of you before you came back, but I know your reputation as a group. Both as the Potter and Black Clans and as the Pack."
"And you're okay with this?" Remus said.
"Well, duh," Wendy said, "One of my roommates at Salem was a werewolf like them. You forget you're in America; we're a bit more liberal on the magical creatures issue. Now if you don't mind, I have a daughter I need to put to bed, she starts school in the morning." She slid into the car and drove away.
"It's not that big a deal," Chase said, "He's Harry Potter, do you honestly think the kid who blocked the Killing Curse is going to be brought low by a magical virus?"
Remus just raised an eyebrow at him as he guided Harry into the door and Sirius followed, stopping to rest his hand on Chase's shoulder before he stepped inside.
"Why is everyone else in the basement?" Shadow asked as he came downstairs in a clean shirt.
"We put a movie on and locked them in." Sirius said, "After you two went chasing after Harry, we didn't want anyone else to get lost."
Chase shrugged, because he and Shadow had both heard the Alpha howling, even if Remus hadn't. They'd hoped to get to Harry before the Alpha did, but they weren't fast enough. They went into the front room, where Remus was settling Harry on the couch. Harry was twisting and moaning, occasionally rubbing his forehead. His eyes were open, but he was staring at Remus vacantly.
Chase crouched beside the couch, "Do you think it will help if I?" He gestured with his hand, glancing up at Shadow.
"I don't think it would hurt," Shadow said.
Chase reached out and touched Harry's forearm, tapping into that strange ability werewolves had to pull pain from people. Thick black lines raced up his forearm and he yelped at the strength of Harry's pain.
Chase threw himself backwards, staring at Harry, "How is he not screaming?" He said looking from his hand to Harry, then up at Shadow, "You saw that right?"
"I did," Shadow said, leaning over and pressing his hand to Harry's head. The same black lines crawled up his arm, making Shadow grimace, but he held on a bit longer, allowing Harry to fall silent and relax.
"What are you doing?" Sirius demanded.
"Taking his pain," Chase said softly as Shadow pulled his hand away. "It's something werewolves can do. We can't heal, put we can help people stop hurting."
"Do you feel the pain yourself?" Remus asked.
"No," Chase said, "Not pain, exactly. You can feel that you're doing something, and you can feel them react to the pain going away."
Shadow nodded slightly, "We've got a while before Harry finishes his transformation. We should talk about what he's going to be experiencing now."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked anxiously.
"Because it's going to be different for Harry than what Remus has experienced," Shadow said, coming back around the couch and sitting down on a chair. "In some ways, it's going to be easier for him, but in others it will be a lot harder. Take the full moon, it's on Friday. While Remus is probably best off locked in the bunker, we'll be taking Harry into the preserve. It's better for him to run, and it'll give him space to find his anchor."
"Anchor?" Remus asked.
"An anchor is a person, place, or thing that we use to keep anchored in our humanity," Chase said. "It can change as we grow, as cubs it might be our parents, or a phrase that we can focus on. As we get older, our pack, people in the pack, a lover, even emotions can serve as an anchor. Although an emotion isn't recommended, because what if your life changes and you don't feel that emotion the same way anymore?"
"We have to keep control all the time, instead of just on the full moon," Shadow said. "We have stronger instincts than the Cursed, and we can shift at will."
"Shift? Like into a wolf or something?" Sirius said.
"We can do that," Shadow said, "we don't do it much because we don't want people to know."
"I was planning to claim Animagus training," Chase said. "But what Shadow was talking about is what we call our beta form. Here, let me just show you." It was easy to slide into his beta form as he stood up. He was agitated, his instincts were quietly screaming at him to go find the Alpha and drive it off his territory. Sternly, he told that impulse to take a long walk off a short pier and watched as Remus and Sirius reacted to the way his face had altered, with its more pronounced brow ridge, overbite, and sideburns.
Remus slid over and reached out, then pulled his hand back. "It's okay," Chase said, "You can touch. Just mind the sharp edges."
Remus touched his forehead, and then looked him straight in the eye, "Where are your eyebrows?"