Disclaimer: You know the drill, nothing belongs to me.
Thanks to my awesome reviewers: Amidalasky Snape, dragonmagik, G-Wing Gurl, ShadowWolfDagger, Charlio4444, Tommy´s 1fan, darknight25276, Sparta and Yuki Valons. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!
Note: I seriously busted my butt to get this chapter up before the New Year, with all the Christmas stress…guess who got visited by all his annoying relatives over the holydays AGAIN? And got to cook for + clean after the lot? I swear if those lazy leeches come back next year, I spike their punch with laxatives!
Chapter 2
The next day Tommy found his patience wearing thin already before midday.
"For the last time: The transformation IS pain free, heck, the first time I didn't even realised it had happened before I saw my reflection in the water!" He took a deep breath, looking at the three who were all but vibrating with nervousness and thinking back to his own insecurities at that time.
"And you don't have to worry about giving over control to your wolf; he's not a feral beast waiting for an opportunity to run amok but a part of yourself. Remember how you met him not that long ago in your vision and you know that you can trust him."
Three heads nodded warily and Tommy started hoping that he finally got it across to them.
He smiled and winked at them "Honestly guys, the worst is gonna be the cold in the short moment when you're already naked but before you grow fur." They chuckled, although still a bit nervously, but way more relaxed than before.
Contrary to the nervous newbies Tommy could hardly await nightfall. He still remembered the first full moon he spent with Stephen, how great it had been to finally have a pack brother beside him.
He had always loved to run under a glowing moon, but sharing the experience with someone was even better.
They had chased each other playfully through the moonlit woods, scaring up deer and rabbits, and nearly scared the living daylights out of some peeping Tom hiding in the bushes at lover's lane.
And tonight he would be running with a whole pack!
Darkness came early on that day and soon the longest night of the year began.
Standing outside Tommy looked up to see a nearly full moon rise. He turned around to the three nervous not-quite-human young men standing behind him in nothing but absurdly colourful terrycloth bathrobes.
"Are you ready?"
They gulped, shivering, whether from the cold or from nerves he couldn't tell, but nodded bravely.
"Ok, then follow me." He led them in the forest behind the house, knowing from previous visits that there was a large clearing not too far inside where they would be save from prying eyes.
Merton, Lori and Mary remained at the house with the strictest order to wait there until Stephen would come and get them, much to their chagrin.
Not that they were in any danger from the transforming werewolves, but Tommy figured that the three were already nervous enough as it was without spectators and that especially Luke and Sam would have a big problem changing in front of their sister respectively wife.
Stepping out of they twilight between the trees they were all but blinded, for the snow was reflecting the moonlight making the glade nearly as bright as day.
Stephen smiled at the three reassuringly and discarded the blanket in which he had wrapped himself. He and Tommy had discussed the course of this night extensively; as during their first transformation Stephen would go first to ease their nerves, while Tommy would remain human to talk them through their own.
Kneeling down the born werewolf quickly allowed his human mind to be carried away by the moonlight.
Stephen relished the change, welcoming the increasing presence of his inner wolf and last but not least the thick warm fur the transformation brought with it.
Turning around, now on all fours, he gave a happy bark as if to say 'See, it's completely harmless!'
"O.K. guys now it's your turn…take off your clothing and kneel down…just look at the moon, relax, and allow your instincts to guide you." Tommy spoke softly, growing quieter until he was merely whispering.
They stared unblinkingly at the bright moon overhead, like hypnotised, little clouds of breath in front of their faces.
Suddenly the moonlit parts of skin seemed to grow until their whole bodies appeared to be wrapped in moonlight. The glowing silhouettes shifted in one fluid motion and three wolves sat in the place where the three human had kneeled before.
A light breeze ruffling their fur alerted the three to their changed condition, seeing each other like this they reared back, the reddish-brown in the middle - Sam - actually yelped in surprise.
Tommy fought hard to suppress his chuckles "Told you so." Turning towards Stephen, who was excitedly sniffing his pack brothers while nearly wagging his tail off, he said: "Could you please fetch the others?"
The sandy-brown wolf gave a short bark and dashed off in direction of the house.
Lori was pacing incessantly, Mary was fidgeting on her chair while biting her nails with a vengeance and even Merton couldn't fully hide his restlessness, staring at the edge of the forest where the others had vanished.
Endless minutes ticked by, until "Finally!!" At Merton's shout Mary flinched so hart she nearly fell off her chair while Lori rushed to open the door.
At first Mary was scared of the large and quite feral looking animal stepping in out of the cold but as Lori happily embraced the beast she realised that this creature had to be Stephen.
She swallowed hard, of course she had heard the others talking about this and had seen her brother and Sam wolfed out many times, but somehow she had never truly believed that they would really turn into something completely nonhuman. Would she even be able to recognise her beloved ones?
Mary watched with mixed feelings how the wolf licked and nuzzled the blonde girl who bizarrely actually seemed to enjoy this and wondered if she could stomach the same.
Granted, she had never been repulsed by Sam's new animalistic body features, not even in the bedroom, because she had still been able to see her Sam underneath the fur, but this…good god, what if he wanted to mount her?!
They reached the clearing just as she was about to hit the panic button and all Mary could see were yet more wolves.
Merton immediately made a beeline for a silver-brown one who was noticeably bigger than the others, frighteningly so, no way this giant could have passed for a real wolf!
Nevertheless the Goth didn't hesitate but hugged and petted it, clearly anything but afraid.
'This got to be Tommy' she thought, desperately trying to keep a clear brain, and looked at the remaining three wolves. Thankfully those were smaller, like Stephen they were more akin to real wolves or large dogs. But who was who?
One had dark anthracite near black fur, with sheer yellow eyes; compared to the other two he was clearly more massive built, he somehow reminded her of Rock, the huge football player.
The other two had brown fur; one was a tad darker and had caramel coloured eyes with an impish twinkle in them, this could only be Luke, the old mischief-maker.
Finally Mary's eyes settled onto the last one who was in vain trying to hide behind the others, only timidly looking at her from the corner of his eyes…eyes that were the most stunning green she had ever seen. Sam.
Crouching down she extended her hand, beckoning him to come to her, somehow his fear and insecurity made her own worries seem petty.
As Mary cautiously petted him and was rewarded with a soft wagging of his tail she started to smile, although she was still a bit wary about this latest development she was sure that she and Sam would find a way to deal with it, together, like always.
What Mary hadn't noticed was that Tommy and Merton as well as Stephen had kept a keen eye on her reaction and were now heaving a collective sigh of relief.
Now that the hard part was over it was time to have some fun.
Padding a few feet away from his mate Tommy raised his head and gave a little howl to attract the attention of his pack.
They instantly came over to him, giving in to their wolfish instincts and licking under his chin submissively, which pleased the alpha wolf. Trusting his mate to guide the humans back to the house safely he led his betas deeper into the woods.
The five-member pack ran through the woods, dashing through the undergrowth and playfully chasing each other over glowing snowfields, their joyous howls startling animals for miles around.
It was obvious that Rocky, Sam and Luke liked their new form and took delight in running with the pack, which was Tommy's intention. He wanted them to be comfortable with their existence as werewolves as well as with being a part of his pack.
After a while he lead them back to the house, though him and Stephen could have easily carried on for hours he didn't want the newbies to overexert themselves the first time.
Once they had changed back they all sat down in front of the fireplace, enjoying a late-night snack and cocoa with a tiny dash of brandy.
Now that the apprehension was gone the whole atmosphere was much more relaxed, they laughed a lot and chatted about anything and everything.
Somehow they ended up talking about Stephens upcoming finals this spring and that he would be starting as a house physician at the Muhlenburg General come fall.
Which in itself was great and they were all rooting for him to pass, but also offered a major problem: Once he graduated Stephen had to move out of the student's dorm, and there simply existed no rooms for rent in Pleasantville.
Granted he could spent a few weeks at Lori's place, whose Mom doted on him and was over the moon that her daughter had hooked herself a doctor-to-be, but that couldn't be a permanent condition.
Stephen sighed "You know, this is one of the things I miss about living in Lycantria, one never had to worry about where to live…."
Seeing the curious faces around him he elaborated "Singles live in sexually segregated quarters pretty similar to your dorms, only that everyone has a room for himself.
Mated couples get two rooms, one bed- and one living room, more once they have kids.
The building of the mates is a huge five-storied monster with different wings for the ones who are newly-mated or have little children and the older ones who want their peace and quiet.
The buildings for the unmated are left respectively right beside it and have only two stories, you usually stop living with your parents and move there at the age of 15.
There are common bath rooms on each floor, and every building has a communal kitchen with a large dining area attached. Everyone has assigned duties, like cooking, cleaning or doing the laundry; I was usually the one to skin game and carve it, but sometimes I would help in the kitchens as well.
Detached houses are virtually non-existent, only royal family lives apart from the others in the palace, but they too are surrounded 24/7 by their guards who are living at the palace too, only on a different floor.
All in all we value the feeling of togetherness far higher than privacy." He shrugged "Must be a pack-thing."
Tommy nodded slowly "Yeah, I know what you mean, wolves simply aren't meant to live alone. In hindsight I realise how miserable I've been living on my own without all of you, and I've got to admit the thought that we might all go our separate ways after college scares me…"
Rock was the first to break the silence following Tommy's confession. "I don't want to part company either; to be honest I don't think I could even bear it…"
Blushing slightly he explained "Remember last summer when I was supposed to stay with my grandparents for the semester break?
Even surrounded by my family I felt so goddamn lonely, it was driving me crazy, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, all I wanted was to be home with you guys again. In the end I caved in and returned to Pleasantville after only two weeks."
He hung his head in shame. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to think of me as a world-class wuss."
"There's no need to be ashamed, it's just our nature." Comforted Tommy his friend and Stephen nodded affirmatively.
Trust Lori to lighten up the mood. "Hmpf, okay, but if we found some sort of werewolf-living-community I insist on private bathrooms. No offence guys, you know I love you all, but there's only one wolf who gets to see me naked - and whom I want to see in nothing but his fur." She grinned and gave her friends a cheeky wink.
The pent-up tension resolved into laughter and soon everybody started yawning, realising that it was high time to go to bed. No one bothered to think further about Lori's joking suggestion.
Except Merton.
On Christmas Eve Tommy called home to wish his family a Merry Christmas but only reached Dean.
Apparently his parents were right in the middle of another quarrel for he could hear them shouting in the background.
Sighing deeply he told Dean where he had hidden his presents for his family so that his brother could lay them under the tree for him.
Sitting in the midnight mass Sally Dawkins looked calm but on the inside she was steaming, remembering the latest argument with her husband.
Bob had put his foot down and demanded that she once and for all ceased her hostilities towards Merton Dingle, accusing her of driving their son out of his home with her behaviour.
The nerve! Couldn't he see that their son needed help? The poor boy was clearly delusional, what with all his talk of werewolves and him being gay.
Sally sighed, it seemed as if she would have to find a way to rescue her poor baby without Bob supporting her as a good husband and father should.
Not that this would stop her.
She would get Tommy to realize the truth and then things would return to the way they had been before this pale freak came into their life and filled her sons head with those weird ideas.
The day after Christmas she made a call to an old friend.
What is Sally up to? And how will Tommy react once he uncovers her scheme to terminate his relationship with Merton? Find out in my next chapter! But first: review please!
And a Happy New Year you all!!