3 Days later, Autobot Base:

Five autobots and four humans were currently in the Autobot base, all waiting with baited breath for the return of the prime and of Zelena.
It had been 3 days since they had gotten word that Zelena had come out of her coma, and with the care and medicine provided at the hospital, and Zelena's own rapid healing, she had nearly recovered in full. And today she was coming back to the base with the promise of an explanation. Something everyone there wanted. Especially agent Fowler who was having a lot of trouble believing what the bots and children were telling him.

Finally they heard the sound of Prime's engine coming through the entrance, and seconds later the large semi entered into the main room and parked. Everyone came together, the humans coming down from their platform to stand by their friends.

Inside the truck Zelena saw them, and knowing what she had to do next, felt her stomach turn to rocks.

"Are you alright?" Optimus's voice came in through the speaker so only she could hear.

She nodded. "Just...nervous."

The seat belt around her tightened slightly and the seat pressed against her more firmly, the action reminding her very much of a hug. "It's going to be alright. Remember you're not alone in this."

Zelena gave a small smile and nodded again.
After she had told him everything she had fully expected him to turn away from her, as others had. But instead he'd stayed by her side, promising that everything was going to be okay.
Finally she took a deep breath and opened the passenger side door and stepped out. Everyone stared at her, but she waited for Optimus to transform before anything else. Having him standing by her side made her feel safer, a bit more confident.
He stood and looked down at her with a smile and gave her an encouraging nod.

Zelena swallowed hard as she looked at the many pairs of eyes watching her, waiting. She took another breath and finally spoke. "So...I'm sure you all want an answer to what's been going on. To know the truth about what's been happening."
Her onlookers nodded.
"Well as I'm sure most of you have already found out...I'm a Lycanthrope, plain and simple." She said, her voice shaky. She had never outright said it to anyone else before, the words almost sounding alien and strange.

There was a long moment of silence after that was finally broken by agent Fowler.
"A Lycanthrope? You mean a werewolf? You can't be serious." He said with disbelief. He'd listened to the bots at first in confusion and then with skepticism, believing perhaps they had been fooled somehow. They had taken him to where they'd said the second wolf had been killed, but instead they found the nude body of a man, crushed under a heap of boulders.

Zelena had expected this, knew she would probably have to give some sort of demonstration. Stepping forward, she decided to change to the 'wolfman' form. She closed her eyes, took a breath and changed.
Her muscles grew larger, but not intensely so like in her other forms, she grew claws and fangs, her facial features becoming more canine like, her ears growing longer and pointed like a dog's. The change happened in a few seconds and agent Fowler jumped back in shock.

He really hadn't believed in such fairy tales as werewolves, but now stared ahead as one stood in front of him. "Holy Jesus!" He said.

Jack, Miko and Raf had similar reactions, not knowing she could look like she did now.
"Wow cool!" Miko cried out and rushed forward. She grabbed Zelena's hand examining her claws before trying to get the other to open her mouth so she could see the fangs, then touching her ears as if to make sure they weren't prosthetics.
"That's so awesome! You're just like Beast from X-men!" She said after she'd finished.
This caught Zelena off guard as she had rarely associated her transformation with anything good, let along the X-men. Feeling a bit self conscious she changed back, returning to human form.

Agent Fowler was still staring in shock. "So-so all that stuff Arcee told me about her and the other werewolf was true." He was stunned. Werewolves were real apparently and as the fact sunk in he began to wonder what other mythical creatures could truly exist.

Jack stepped forward. "How did this happen? How did you become a werewolf?"

Raf nodded. "Were you born one?"

Zelena shook her head. "No I wasn't born a Lycan. But my father was one, had been one I suppose for most of my early life. You see I'm from a very small town in Massachusetts called Stonehollow."

"Wait you're from all the way up North?" Raf gaped.

She nodded. "My father's family had lived in Stonehollow for generations, it was surrounded by deep forests on all sides and was really cut off for the outside world. Apparently it was a good place for Lycanthropes to hide.
It was my father who infected me. I didn't know at the time of what he really was. Every full moon he would go deep into the forest for a week, saying he was going hunting. I don't think my mother knew either. My sister did though. She was five years older than me, and after she'd turned fourteen she began joining him on his 'hunting' trips.
He didn't see Lycanthropy as a curse but rather a gift, one to give to his family. On my fourteenth birthday he took me and my whole family, my mother, older sister, infant brother and I out camping. The campsite was hidden deep in the woods and we were all shocked to see that there were other people there too, mostly families like us. Now I realize that they were probably all Lycans too.
He told us that it was a special occasion, why we and the other families had came here. That that night something amazing was going to happen. He said it was the night of 'La luna del cacciatore'. The night of 'Hunter's moon'."

Zelena paused for a moment, trying to regain the confidence she had steadily been losing.
"That night he showed himself to me under the light of the full moon. Even though he couldn't talk as we are now, I understood him. He told of his family, of the curse they had been under for generations, and how it gave them incredible strength. He told me that it had passed down through his blood for as long as it's existed and that now he wanted to give me, what he called, the moon's blessing.
But I was too scared. I ran and hid in the woods. He didn't take rejection well. He found me and attacked me. But this time he had the intent to kill. If I wasn't with him, I was against him I guess."

Zelena reached down and pulled up the cuff of her jeans revealing a rather large bite scar.
"The only way I survived was by playing dead, though I was very nearly so. When the morning came I was lost in the woods and severely injured. I called out for help for hours but no heard me. As it got closer to night I realized my wounds were healing. Finally the full moon rose and I blacked out. That was the first time I changed."

She paused as the re-telling of the story had brought tears to her eyes and knowing the worst was still to come. But she needed to tell them so that they could understand.
"Finally I came too, naked just outside the campgrounds and covered in blood. As I entered the camp I saw that everyone had been killed. No, not just killed, slaughtered. Torn up bodies were lying everywhere. I searched for family's tent, just praying they were alive. I finally found them, they were dead. My mother, my sister and infant brother had been torn to ribbons. I was so sickened by the site I vomited, And I heaved up three fingers and scraps of meat. And that's when I realized I had done it, or at the very least had played some part in everyone's deaths."

She had to stop here, the memories had become too painful and she was going to cry if she stayed in here a moment longer. She quickly excused herself and made her away outside where she was able to let the tears go without anyone watching her. This had been the first time Zelena had shared that story with anyone and doing so almost made her feel like she was re-living it.

After about an hour, after she'd finished crying and gathered herself back together as best she could she went back inside to finish her story. This time she sat on the couch.
She took a minute more to try gather her thoughts before continuing.

"After...after what happened I ran back home. The town hadn't fared much better than the campsite. Many homes had been destroyed and a lot of people were dead. I found my house in shambles. I gathered what I could, money, clothes, some camping equipment and what food there was and I ran. For the first couple of days I just ran and ran until my legs gave, then I cried. I had destroyed everything I had loved and now had to leave forever. If I didn't I would either kill again the next full moon or be found out and be killed myself.
The first few months on my own were tough. When the food I had brought ran out I thought I would starve, but I didn't. Whenever I became desperately hungry I would black out and come to the carcass of an animal I had killed. Apparently whenever I'm in peril my Lycan instincts are triggered and act on their own. I tried to stay away from people but I couldn't in the long run. I started coming to small towns and finding part time work or odd jobs to earn some money, but I never stayed in one place for too long, that was until I came to Jasper."

There was a long silence in the base. Everyone was quiet as they digested the last part of the story she had told. Everyone coming to a conclusion about what had happened and what was to come.

Raf was the first to speak. "So during the full moon you lose control of yourself?"

"Yes. Normally I can transform at will and be in perfect control. But for some reason during the full moon I black out and will have no memory of the night before."

The young boy nodded. "And so for the past 11 years you've just been traveling from town to town, making sure you never near people during a full moon."

Zelena nodded.

"And all by yourself." Miko added. "Sounds lonely."
And again Zelena nodded. Loneliness seemed to be the one driving factor that kept her near people, that made her want to finally stop moving and just live in one spot with familiar faces.

"What about MECH" Jack spoke up. "Were you the one who really attacked them?"

"Yes. Two nights before the full moon I visited the old factory where you and your mother had been captured. From there I tracked them down to a site where they were mining energon. I cut the power and cleared the place out, after I buried the energon I then set the buildings on fire so the site would be found. I did the same with the second site."

"But why would you attack MECH and risk getting injured or your secret getting out?" Arcee asked.

"Because you all needed the energon. You guys have been the best friends I've ever had, and I wanted to help you. Besides I heal relatively fast so injuries aren't a big concern."

The others carried a small smile, realizing the lengths their friend had gone for them for the simple reason that she wanted to help them.

All but Jack who took a step forward.
"But what about the people at MECH, they were humans and you killed them."

Zelena grimaced but nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Those who dropped their weapons and ran I didn't go after. I was only after the energon, but as you can guess they didn't feel like letting me just take it. They would have killed me if I didn't defend myself. I don't enjoy killing, and I have never willingly killed an innocent." She said it as plainly as she could. Did that justify the killing of all those men, probably not. But was any willful killing of another person justified, despite the circumstances? Who was any person to judge another? Zelena had made a decision, one that caused the deaths of men who she knew could and would most likely harm others. But this decision also benefited her friends.

But Jack didn't seem as satisfied with the answer, his face still held a disapproving scowl. But he said nothing more.

"Hey that reminds me," Raf started. "How did you escape the Nemesis and end up in the woods?"

Smokescreen nodded. "Last we had heard from the Prime was that Knockout had captured you."

"Well to start off with, Saturday night was the night of the full moon. In my basement I reinforced the walls with concrete and iron bars, I also put in a new steel door, making a sort of makeshift cage. Every full moon I lock myself up there to keep myself from getting out.
Well Sunday, after Optimus left I turned on the news and heard about the Hilltop massacre, they showed the footprints they had found and I knew they belonged to another Lycan. So I went to investigate. That was when Knockout found me, he was there investigating the prints too.
As for how I escaped, it was another full moon that night. I don't remember anything but apparently I gave them a hard time."

Miko laughed as she imagined Starscream and Megatron being chased around their ship by Zelena, who right now didn't look like she could hurt a fly.
"No kidding. Prime said that you chased Knockout through the groundbridge and then you gave the Prime a workout."

Zelena however grimaced and felt the guilt rise in stomach at the thought that she could have killed her friend.

Miko saw this and tried to reconcile what she'd said. "B-but It's all cool because you totally kept Optimus from giving the 'Cons the Iacon relics and then you saved us from that other werewolf.

"So what now?" Raf asked.

"Yeah are you going to start going on missions now that we all know your a but kicking werewolf?" Miko asked excitedly.

"No not just that." The young boy interrupted. "I mean what's going to happen to you now that your secrets out." He turned and looked at agent Fowler.

Agent Fowler shook his head. "I'm telling my bosses that it was the 'Cons."

Everyone looked rather surprised. Fowler wasn't one to lie about his job.
"Listen I can sell giant alien robots, but werewolves? I'd lose my job and be put in a rubber room if I handed in a report that said werewolves were real."

Zelena was a bit surprised by the question and didn't know how to answer. She had never thought anyone would lie to protect someone like her.

Bulkhead nodded. "Well that settles it. And good to, seeing how you handled MECH having a fighter like you on the team will seriously boost our team up!"

Zelena blushed not knowing what to say.

"Now hold on." Ratchet interrupted. "We can't just plunge someone into our fights. Especially not after these last few days."

"I agree." Optimus said. "Before anything else Zelena needs to recover."

The others finally relented and agreed before going back to their own devices, now at least a little more at peace with an explanation in hand.

Optimus kneeled down next to his friend. "Would you like to return home now?"

She nodded. She was still a little weak from her injuries and after the emotional stress of today she wanted very much just to climb into bed and rest.
Optimus transformed and after she climbed in the two were off.

As he drove down the desert road he observed his friend. She was quiet and looked quite tired, but after all that had happened he wasn't the least bit surprised.
"How do you think it went?" He asked.

She thought about it for a moment then gave a small smile. "Better than I thought it would."

0o0o0o

It had been nearly a month since Zelena had revealed her secret to her friends. A month since she had revealed she was a Lycanthrope. She had thought her friends would be stepping on eggshells around her from then on, but since their behavior hadn't changed towards her, and for that she was grateful. In fact Miko and Raf had found it very cool and had often been begging for her to change in front of them so they could see. Raf had even asked her if she would go trick or treating and to the costume contest at his school this Halloween. He wanted very much now to go as two werewolves for Halloween and knew they would win the contest for sure. She was really touched that he wasn't afraid of her now, and she'd told him she would think about it.

But right now she wasn't thinking about anything but the full moon that would be rising soon. She was getting prepared to go into the basement, but first she had to convince the Prime to leave.
She turned to her friend who was parked in her garage. "Optimus, it's almost time."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

She nodded. "I feel a lot better when I know that the people I care about are nowhere near me during this time. Besides you have the camera feed."
Optimus had convinced her to putting a small camera into the basement where he could at least monitor her and know when she had changed back.

He sighed discouraged, but nodded. "Alright, but I'll be here an hour before dawn."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay."

He slowly pulled out of the garage and began heading down the road. Zelena headed down into the basement, locking the steel door behind her.
It was going to be another rough night, but in the morning Prime would be back. She smiled to herself as she prepared, taking her clothes and door key and hiding them. Yes she was still cursed, but at least she wasn't alone, and she smiled at the thought.