9. The Harsh Reality of Lycanthropy

They made it to the area that the stolen car wrecked, and they parked on the soft shoulder next to the river. There was a lot of police tape and Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies processing the crime scene. They were quite a way from seeing them as Charlie and Fen stepped out, and Fen surveyed the area of the rugged terrain of the temperate rainforest. "Yea, he probably passed out somewhere. That's a lot of blood loss I can freaking taste it from here" he muttered before he looked back at Charlie and beckoned him to follow. "He's near"

Charlie followed him through the miles of vegetated steep uneven terrain, and they reemerged on the trail of blood end becoming a huge pool where they found Josh on the ground. Charlie was surprised to see that in fact it was Joshua. He reached down to check for a pulse over his neck, but Fen quickly swatted his hand away and shot him a look. "What are you crazy!? Do you want to get…" he scolded him before Josh's eyes flew open and bit Fen's wrist. "Ah! Let go of me!" He shouted as he slapped Josh upside the head.

Josh was in a daze and released Fen's wrist, and he stared at Fen's bite wound and panicked. He got up, and Fen tackled him to the ground grabbing him by the neck screaming incoherently as he choked him out. Josh was stunned at the amount of strength Fen had and submitted to him, which Charlie sighed heavily relieved somewhat. "Hey! Hey! Ease up on him!"

Fen stopped applying pressure and glanced back at him annoyed clearly not through with punishing Josh for his action before he released his neck. Josh took a moment to rub his throat, while he stared at Fen. "Charlie? Is that you?" he said weakly.

"Yea, it's me alright…You haven't aged a day since you left" Charlie said before he crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortably.

"I would have liked to see you under different circumstances, but things haven't been going right for me in a long time" he said looking off to the side depressed.

Charlie did not know what to do with his friend, and he looked towards Fen. "Billy told me what happened to you…The truth this time. I would not have believed him had I not seen Jacob transform into a wolf"

"Jacob? Heh, figures. What are Quil and Harry up to?"

Charlie went quiet and gave him a straight face. "They both have passed away…" he said sternly, which Josh looked like he had been punched in the gut staring into the ground in a daze. "H-how did they die?"

"Quil died at sea, and Harry had a heart attack"

"This is one fucked up dream…I just want to wake up from it already. I want everything to go back to the way they were before" He mumbled to himself as he put his hands to his face and tried to hide his tears.

"The kids have turned into wolves. Jacob, Leah, Seth, your sons…" Charlie said before Josh interrupted him.

"Sons?" He raised his voice looking up at him in shock, but it passed, and he looked down at his feet. "So Tiffany actually did get pregnant"

"Really? I have better things to do than listen to you two make up for lost time!" Fen raised his voice.

Josh got annoyed with him and growled. "Just who are you anyway!?"

"This is Leah's boyfriend. His name is Fen" Charlie said, which Josh instantaneously went from irritated to terrified at the name mention.

"Did you say, Fen? Son of Loup, the reaper? That's him!?"

Fen grabbed him by the shirt collar and snarled. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about! You must've got me confused with some other werewolf named Fen!" He said.

"You're not the one who mastered transformations?"

"Look if you came here for lessons, you picked a shitty time to be doing it. I'm supposed to be training your tribe members how to use their Spirit Warrior powers. It's nearly the full moon. I really don't need you to be adding me more stress right now"

"I'm sorry…I thought being this far out in the forest would be a safe distance. I honestly didn't think we'd meet this soon"

"What the hell were you stalking Allison For?" Charlie asked.

"I just wanted to tell her sorry…for everything. I had no way in knowing if the rumors were true or if Fen left. I've been searching for a decade for someone to teach me how to control this…this thing" Josh said before he looked towards Fen. "I will be out here. I don't mean no trouble…"

"I hope Fen can help you…I really do" Charlie said honestly.

Fen looked at Josh intensely like he was judging his willpower. "I'm not going to lie to you…but…mastering transformations just like other magic require equivalent exchange. If you want something to be able to control your wolf" he muttered as he closed his eyes while removing his sunglasses. He opened them exposing his eyes as he removed his surgical mask. "You have to give up your belief that you're still human or that you'll go back to the way things were before"

Josh stared at him horrified, and he shook his head. "No…that can't be…they said that you could turn human…what the hell is this!? You're not the real Fen!" he shouted.

Charlie looked over at Fen somewhat annoyed. "Why don't you show him that you can turn human?"

Fen glared at him and put his mask back on. "Because it hurts! I already told you this. Besides that, your friend here is just unteachable right now. Even though it's not the answer he wants to hear, it's just the way how things are. Until he can accept this as being a part of him, it's pointless to go any farther…"

Josh jumped up grabbing Fen's shirt at his hip. "Please! I'm begging you!" he shouted.

Fen growled at him and brutally kicked him onto the ground. His nose curled and eyes seemed to glow a soul piercing yellow at this point. "Wolves don't beg!" his voice boomed. Josh curled up wallowing in anguish clutching where he was kicked which was near a bullet wound still healing. "Get up! Or I'll kill you as you lay. You make me sick just looking at you. You are an insult to all werewolves!" he shouted before he pointed to himself. "I own what I am! I don't feel sorry for myself!"

Josh remained silent broken and defeated. Fen snarled and crouched down grabbing him by the shirt collar before he hoisted him up and slamming his back into a tree. He got into Josh's face staring him down. "I said knock that shit off!"

"Fen! Do you think he could help us with our vampire problem?" Charlie asked.

Fen glared back at him. "How do we know that he was not sent by them?" he shouted before his attention shifted back towards Josh. "No, we could use him…" he muttered before he dropped him. Josh looked up at him in a daze, which Fen only grew even more agitated. "You can't tell me you don't know what's going on"

Josh averted his gaze and sighed. "I know…but…there's nothing I can do. I'll just get in the way at this point"

"Not necessarily…you will be a great living puppet for my grandmother…and don't worry…you're already used to being controlled against your will…only she's a lot stronger. You wouldn't be the first werewolf to be put on a leash and humiliated" he mentioned before he put his sunglasses back on then turned around trying to be as badass as possible. "Let's go! I know who can train him"

Josh got up quickly and ran up to him. "Who?"

"The Reaper"

Josh wheezed and had a mild panic attack. "The Reaper is here!?"

Fen said nothing more, but Charlie got closer to Josh. "Why is he called the Reaper?"

"The Reaper got his name because he loves to kill things. He was the first werewolf that I know of who learned how to transform at will. But…When he does, he goes into feeding frenzy like one that turns during the full moon. He is their executioner" Josh explained.

"Their Executioner?" Charlie asked.

"Yea, this guy is like a thousand years old. He worked for the HBC before they left. A lot of werewolves worked to HBC. No one was better at killing than they were…in fact, the British government encouraged them to attack the wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. They kept attacking and helped with ambushing the American Army during the wars even after the British told them to stop. The Reaper has killed more people than the next five combined. It was said that the Ice Queen and her daughter were the only spirit warriors successful enough to tame him. Others think he only allowed himself to get caught in order to breed and produce Fen. I think they wanted him to think that he got away with it" he explained.

Fen looked back at him and grumbled to himself. "Tch, he didn't bang my mother because of her power…he just has a thing for messing around with Femme fateles…Not like there's any proof that he's killed as many as he claims" he said dismissively.

They finally got inside of Charlie's squad car, which Josh sat in the back unrestrained. They were on their way back when Leah's voice started echoing in Fen's head. "Fen! Can you hear me?" Her voice sounded really shaky.

"What's wrong?"

"Um…So…We've been practicing with your grandmother and your sister when…Rachel phased. I don't know what to say to her. Is it normal for someone to phase while channeling their mana?"

"Psh, I don't know. That sounds like a question for gramps. Though, come to think of it, my mother and sister would have phased if that were the case…wouldn't it? She must have come across Beavis and Butthead recently" He replied.

"That's what I thought. Thanks hun…Oh…and…She wants to join our pack"

"I didn't know we had a pack"

"I'm done with Jacob…he's just too scared of you. Rachel is a lot smarter and down to earth. I was going to have her third-in-command"

"Third of a pack of three?" He asked.

"Well…Paul has joined once he heard about Rachel…I promised her that you wouldn't beat the shit out of him"

"Fucking goddamn it! Well at least I can slap the piss out of him"

"Fen, I love you. You don't have to worry about him…I figure it out. We'll talk about this later" she said.

Fen lowered in his stand and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fucking great!" he mumbled.

"What now?" Charlie muttered glancing over at him briefly.

"Paul is in Leah's pack…I'd rather get kicked in the nuts than have him around" he muttered.

"You hardly even know him to have this much hate for the guy!" Charlie said.

"I went to school with that little shit at Chief Leschi! He was a punkass then and he's still a punkass now. I was always having to break up his fights the 2nd and 3rd graders. The idiot was only in like 1st grade. Just because his parents were getting divorced don't give him an excuse to be like that" Fen ranted.

"And what grade were you in?"

"I was a freshmen. What does that have to do with anything?" Fen raised his voice.

"That explains how you were able to get under his skin so easily" Charlie muttered.

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"Getting into a divorce causes a lot of chaos in a child's life…Knowing you, you probably made sure he didn't forget it"

Fen smirked and looked out the window. "You're giving me ideas" he muttered.

Charlie looked toward him horrified. "What are you talking about?"

"Heh, don't worry about it" He muttered.

As they went through town Fen's stomach started to growl out loudly and so did Josh's. It was very unsettling for Charlie being the only human inside the car, and he knew that he was probably in a very bad position. "Didn't you just eat?" He asked.

Fen glanced over at him annoyed. "It's almost 1 o'clock dude…we've been walking for five hours" he said pointing at the time on Charlie's computer.

"Fine…Do you have money?"

"No…but…I can sell some of these Vicodin pills to an opioid addict to pay for lunch" Fen said shaking a bottle.

"Get that out of my face!" Charlie shouted. He got so irritated with him that he swatted the pill bottle and the contents exploded all over the inside of the squad car. He stared at the pink and purple beans on his dashboard in disbelief. "Are those…Jelly Beans?"

"Haha, Yea" Fen said reaching over to puck them off the dashboard and eat them.

"What are you crazy!? You can get yourself stabbed or…shot…huh…" Charlie rambled on before Fen waved a black bean in front of him. Charlie leaned away and gagged.

"Did you know that eating too much of this shit can kill you?" Fen asked.

"Jelly beans?" Josh muttered.

"No, licorice…want some?" Fen said before he offered some beans. Josh held his hands up as Fen passed them through the cage. "If you don't want the black ones save them. I'm going to stick them into Paul's Chili when he isn't looking"

Charlie shook his head and mumbled to himself. "Why? Why are you going to do that?"

"I promised Leah that I wouldn't beat up her pack mates…she didn't say anything about me fucking with their food or pranking them…I can't let them think she controls me" Fen said which Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose rubbing it. "Fen, do you like causing tension?"

"I'm only getting him back for suckerpunching me…" he said.

"Sounds petty and childish if you ask me" Charlie retorted.

"Yea…I do enjoy not conforming to your society's rules"

Charlie's eyes squinted and glanced over at him suspiciously. "Am I talking to Fen or the wolf right now?"

"Yes" Fen said obnoxiously.

Charlie was sure at this point that Fen was probably screwing with him from the start, but he lost his composure having a certain thought run though his head. He started to laugh slapping at his steering wheel and shook his head at him. "God! And you were really going to sell Jelly Beans to an opioid addict for lunch money? You've done this before haven't you?" he asked.

"Oh yea…Sometimes I use Tic tacs or Good and Plentys"

"Aw man…that's so stupid" Charlie muttered facepalming while snorting uncontrollably.

"That actually pretty smart if you think of it" Josh said.

"But it's not though…It's not…ugh, alright I'll buy you guys lunch. I better not see you selling placeboes to anyone…Is that understood?" he told Fen, which he could already see him grinning evilly. "Or the real thing!" he finished.

Fen pouted and crossed his arms over his chest pretending to be upset, but Charlie saw through it. The gears were already turning, but he could not say anything at this point, only prepare himself for more chaos brought by him.

They went to the local diner, which Fen's height and attire drew a lot of attention in the diner. Tabitha was lucky enough to serve them and approached them knowing Charlie. "Oh, Good afternoon Sheriff Swan…" she said with her cheerful bubbly upbeat and friendly voice.

She looked towards Josh and his vagrant look. "Who are they?" she whispered.

"That's Fen and next to him is Joshua Uley…Sam's father" Charlie said lowly.

"Omagosh! Fen! You got huge! What are you seven foot?" She shouted. She looked towards the door and giggled. "Yea, you're a head taller than the door" she said before her mind began to wonder one Leah's take of it.

Fen beckoned her with his finger, and she tilted her ear up towards him. "Josh is the werewolf we spoke about earlier. I'm going to see about rehabilitating him before we tell Sam and the others. So just keep this under the table for now" he whispered into her ear. She nodded before she took them to a secluded booth at the end of the diner away from people. She looked up and saw Seth walk in looking very panicked.

"Oh, it's my Boo Boo!" She shouted rushing over to him. She looked up seeing his face and frowned. "Is something wrong, sweetie?" she asked reaching out to touch him.

He saw Fen and pursed his lips. "I need to talk to Fen"

"Fen!" He shouted before he rushed over and sat beside him.

"Rachel Phased!"

"I know…Leah told me already"

"S-s-she did? So, uh…you started a pack with her?" Seth asked.

"I didn't. She did" he muttered as Tabitha filled up the glasses with water and handed out menus. Fen caught the looks she was giving Seth, but he was too stressed out to notice her gazes. She went as far as to leaned down extra close to give her boyfriend a good look at her deep cleavage, and when she sat up straight, she was deliberately slow and projecting her vast buxom out a mere couple of inches away from his face.

Fen was dumbfounded with how oblivious Seth was to her advances. She even pretended to accidently knock her big hips into his shoulder, which she gasped cutely and reached around to touch him. "Oh, I'm sorry baby" she said before she giggled. "I forget how big my butt is" she said.

"It's okay…accidents happen" Seth said. She puffed her lips frustrated with him, and he stared at her confused. "What?" he muttered.

She sighed heavily in defeat. "It's nothing hun" she said before she walked off exaggerating her hips as they swayed desperate to get his attention.