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Jacin

Now, Jacin understood how dangerous this mission was, and he understood that it would be preferable if the mission proved Kai's theory wrong. But if Wolf really was a werewolf, Jacin really wished he'd hurry up and leave his room already!

He'd first posted himself by Wolf's door at around half past ten. A glance at Jacin's watch showed that it was now just about half past eleven. He'd been waiting for nearly an hour and still no sign of the tall sixth year. Honestly, what was taking him so long? Unless he'd already left and Jacin was missing out on sleep for nothing…

When the door finally creaked open and a pair of green eyes peered cautiously out into the hallway where the sixth years lived, Jacin had to stop himself from muttering "About time!".

Wolf's eyes swept over him and Jacin felt his heart drum rapidly inside his ribcage. He'd cast a Disillusionment charm on himself to hide him from Wolf's gaze, but he wasn't very experienced with the spell. He wasn't certain that it would be powerful enough to hide him, especially in such close quarters. But Wolf didn't even blink as he continued to search the hall.

Seemingly satisfied that there was no-one there, Wolf stepped out into the hallway fully. A silver tag hung on a chain around his neck. Jacin narrowed his eyes at it. He'd never know Wolf to wear jewellery before. But he didn't have time to worry about Wolf's choice of accessories. He was already moving down the hall.

As they continued down Regolith tower, Jacin learned something that would surely prove very useful over the course of the school year: sneaking around was hard, especially when you were trying to follow someone. You had to keep up with the person and keep track of their whereabouts, but you had to make sure you were far enough behind the person that they wouldn't notice your presence. There was the obvious element, keeping silent (which turned out to be a lot harder when you had to move at a quick speed) and also you had to make sure no one else saw you and pointed you out to the person you're following. In short, Jacin wasn't keen to go on any more missions like this. It was just way too much work.

Wolf didn't seem worried about all of this though. In fact, as soon as they were safely inside the main building, he broke into a light jog (much to Jacin's dismay. It was hard enough to follow him when he was walking!).

Jacin was shocked by Wolf's complete lack of stealth. Wasn't he worried about getting caught? Jacin clearly remembered the last time he'd been discovered wandering the school halls at night with Winter back in their first year. One hundred points from both their houses and a month's worth of detentions for each of them. Wolf was new, wasn't he? Maybe he just didn't know how bad the consequences were for being up and about past curfew. If it wasn't for the fact that Jacin wanted Wolf to not notice his presence, he'd warn him.

With the thud of Wolf's footsteps echoing eerily like muffled claps of thunder and his lack of caution when it came to turning corners or walking down the stairs, it was only a matter of time before some teacher discovered them. Sure enough, before they'd even gotten to the ground floor, a stocky silhouette jumped out from behind a tapestry and raised their wand. "Who's there?" It was Professor Clay, Jacin's father.

Jacin tensed, sure the Wolf was about to either make a sudden break for it or stumble out a poorly rehearsed excuse (it's what he and Winter did all those years ago). Instead, Wolf calmly replied, "Only me." And removed his necklace, holding up the silver tag dangling from the chain.

Professor Clay visibly relaxed and pocketed his wand. "Full moon tonight?"

Wolf's head dipped in a nod.

"Better get going then. You've got twenty minutes until midnight."

Another nod, though this one seemed a bit stiffer.

Professor Clay disappeared back behind the tapestry and Wolf set off again, slightly faster. As if Jacin wasn't having a hard-enough time already.

He didn't know whether to feel relieved or irritated when they finally made it to the grounds. Good news: no more stone tapping under his feet. Bad news: now he had to worry about twigs and leaves and all sorts of other random stuff that was the enemy of stealth.

Wolf suddenly burst into a full-blown run, sprinting for the tree line of the Black Woods. Jacin tore after him, desperately hoping that he wouldn't notice the muffled thumps of his feet on the grass.

Wolf darted past the Star Tree and Jacin faltered. He wasn't sure if his magical camouflage would translate to the glowing beads hanging from its limp vines. Come to think of it, they looked weird tonight. Every time Jacin had seen the Star Tree in darkness, its globes had a definite golden glow, like tiny, soft suns. Now, they looked silver, more like bright, pulsing moons and… Wolf was almost out of sight now.

Shoving his puzzlement over the Star Tree to the back of his mind, Jacin hurried after his schoolmate, forgetting his worries about twigs and leaves and weird lights. Wolf'll probably just think it was an animal making all the noise. Besides, he looked a little preoccupied at the moment trying to get deeper into the forest as fast as possible.

They sprinted past the nice trees where the leaves where just starting to turn colours and flutter to the ground, to the gnarled naked trees that seemed to be in eternal winter. Even more moonlight, Jacin thought to himself.

Wolf started to stumble, only just catching himself on nearby boulders and tree trunks. His breathing suddenly turned laboured and his face looked sickly pale.

Finally, he couldn't seem to run any further and halted, gasping for breath. Jacin didn't think much of it at first. He'd been running, he was tired, this was all totally natural. Except Wolf didn't stop, his breathing didn't ease. If anything the more air he gulped down the more he struggled. And Jacin was pretty sure he knew why.

His voice was the first to change, the desperate gasps twisting into snarls and growls. Then came the fur, racing down his neck and cloaking his skin at an alarming rate. His arms lengthened, and he fell forward so his hands were standing on the ground. No, not hands, not anymore. Paws. The growling increased in volume as Wolf's head elongated, forming a short snout. His ears were growing too, morphing into inhuman triangles that immediately started twitching and twisting as though they had a mind all their own. The fabric of Wolf's clothes ripped as they tried to encompass this new shape, giving way especially for the short tail that suddenly sprouted through the material.

The hulking, vicious shape that was Wolf stood there, on all fours, panting and twitching anxiously. It raised its head up to the full moon lying up in the centre of night sky and howled, a long, eerie sound.

Jacin had seen enough. Kai was right, and that's all he'd had to confirm. He had to go, before the werewolf smelled him. He turned away and took a hasty step back in the direction of the castle.

Snap.

Goddamn twigs!

The werewolf growled and Jacin imagined its ears pricked with excitement as it advanced on his location. He turned around and stared into its familiar green eyes, brimming with ferocious, unquenchable hunger. It was going to kill him. It was going to tear him apart and crunch his bones with its giant fangs. Well, not if Jacin had anything to say about it.

"Incarcerous!" He cried, pointing his wand at the werewolf. Thick ropes whipped out of its tip and wrapped themselves around the beast like snakes. It collapsed to the ground and howled with rage as Jacin quickly ran back through the trees. He could still hear its howls when he broke through the tree line and started on his way back to the main building.

A/N: Alright, it's confirmed: Wolf is a werewolf (is anyone actually surprised?)

What will the group do with this new information? How will Wolf respond to their accusations? How will Scarlet react to Wolf's condition? Spoiler: two of these questions will be answered in next week's instalment ;)

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