Happy Werewolf Friday, and I'm terribly sorry that this one is later in the day than usual. Now that I have a P/atreon, I update fics there 24 hours earlier in order to sufficiently reward my patrons. I worked a 6-2 shift yesterday on minimal sleep and ended up sleeping until the late evening once I got home. In the future, I'll make sure to update earlier in the day, as my readers are accustomed to me doing with this fic. I know ya'll are eager for your werewolf fix, after all.

Enjoy!

The sun had risen, and the Huntsmen were several miles from Vale. Jaune exchanged a look with his group before telling everyone to stop.

Velvet looked up from the trail. "Are you getting tired? We should probably go a bit further. It looks like it might rain soon."

Jaune sighed. "Relax. We won't lose Weiss."

"How do you know?"

"We won't lose her, because she'll find us once she knows it's safe."

There was only a brief pause. Then, in one motion, all of Velvet's group drew their weapons.

"They did put you under some kind of spell!" Fox growled.

"Please snap out of it," Velvet begged. "We don't want to hurt you."

Yang started to brandish her gauntlets, but Jaune waved her down.

"We're not under a spell," Jaune said calmly. "And we won't fight you. I'm going to tell you what has happened since the raid on Vale. When I'm done, you can try fighting us, but I promise that several angry werewolves will come running to help us if you do. You can go back to Vale and tell them we gave you the slip. Or, maybe, you'll come with us and help us find a way to help everyone involved."

The four looked helplessly at each other. Fox took a step forward, only to be stopped by Velvet, whose ears were twitching fearfully. Coco glanced at Jaune's group, then at the surrounding woods, as if she was trying to pick out the forms of werewolves in the shadows.

The group slowly lowered their weapons. "This had better be good," Fox grumbled.

Taking turns, they came clean about everything. They talked about Jaune's first encounter with Pyrrha years ago, finding Ruby during the full moon hunt, the talks that followed, Blake's rescue, Cinder exiling Pyrrha and Ruby, and everything leading up to the previous night. It was past noon by the time they finished.

There was silence for a few minutes. Velvet stared thoughtfully at the ground. Coco clicked her tongue. Yatsuhashi looked impassively into the trees. Fox listened intently to the woods, wondering if he would hear one of the wolves nearby.

Finally, Velvet spoke. "So, how was Weiss turned if she wasn't bitten?"

"I have a theory about that," Ren said. "Werewolves turn people either by biting them, or if their blood gets into an open wound. So, blood and saliva are key. Maybe blood isn't needed at all. Ruby and Weiss kissed several times before the full moon. That could have been the cause."

The others looked at each other, nodding slowly. "Well, you don't exactly hear stories about people kissing werewolves, so that could be it." Jaune turned to Velvet. "So, what are you going to do?"

Velvet thought for a moment. "I think we should meet these werewolves."

"What?" Fox gasped. "What if they kill us?"

"They could have, if they wanted to," Jaune said. "If I know them, they're near enough for Flynt or Neon to sense us. I'll go and call them over."

"Just don't attack them," Yang warned. "Or we will fight you."

"I say that only one werewolf comes over here," Fox said firmly.

Yatsuhashi nodded. "That's fair. We'll put down our weapons and Jaune can bring the wolf over."

Jaune sighed. "Fine. Let me go see where they are." He walked into the trees. Once he was a good distance from the others, he called out: "Flynt? Neon? Are your beta powers on? I need someone to come over here."

A few minutes later, Flynt, Pyrrha, and Perry came out of the shadows. They were glancing around warily. Flynt looked particularly tired. All three were nude, and Jaune quickly averted his gaze, blushing a bit.

"I can't do this much longer," Flynt groaned. "This is really straining me. What's happening?"

"First, where's Weiss?" Jaune asked, still carefully keeping his gaze locked on a nearby tree. "Did she find you?"

"Weiss is fine," Pyrrha assured him. "We sent her ahead with Ruby and Neon." She noticed that Jaune wasn't looking at them, and rolled her eyes. "Really, Jaune? I'd think you'd be used to this by now."

"Hey, I'm just trying to be a gentleman, okay?" Jaune grumbled.

"Okay," Pyrrha replied, an amused smile coming to her face despite their situation. "So, why did you want to talk to us? How big of a threat are the Huntsmen with you?"

"I managed to convince them to talk to you," Jaune said. "They'll put down their weapons, and I'm to bring only one. After that, we'll see what happens next."

Perry swallowed loudly. "Uh, I can go," he mumbled. "We shouldn't risk Pyrrha, or any betas."

"Perry, being an omega doesn't make you expendable," Pyrrha said gently.

Perry's rabbit ears twitched. "Thanks, but it should still be me. You're our leader, and we need all our betas. Besides, I probably will scare them the least."

"Thanks, Perry," Jaune said. "Oh, uh, you should probably put on some of the clothes we gave you. At least the pants, okay?"

After Perry put on some pants, Pyrrha touched his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll stay close. If you need help, we'll be ready."

Perry smiled. "Thanks, Leader."

Pyrrha stiffened at the title, but didn't say anything against it. "Be careful, both of you."

"We will be," Jaune promised before leading Perry back toward the others. "Just stay behind me. These are our friends, and they listened to the story of what happened, so I don't think we have anything to worry about. One of them's a Faunus, if that helps."

Perry tilted his head. "Yeah?"

"Uh huh. Actually, she's also a rabbit Faunus." He paused at the edge of where he had left the others. "We're coming out. Are the weapons down?"

"Yep!" Nora called back.

"Okay. Come on, Perry." Jaune led the small werewolf out of the trees and toward the others. He felt clawed hands gripping his arms and Perry's breath on his back. The poor omega was trembling. "Velvet, Yatsuhashi, Fox, Coco, this is Perry."

Perry peeked out from behind Jaune, activating his powers so he could read their emotions. To his relief, their fear and anger were largely tempered with curiosity. The Faunus girl seemed the most calm, while the blind man was the most nervous. "Hi," he murmured.

Coco took a step forward. "Huh. He seems a bit timid for a werewolf."

Perry gulped. "W-Well, I'm just an omega." He moved a little away from Jaune and held out his arm, where the scar from the bite that had changed him resided. "Still a werewolf, though."

Coco hesitated before touching her fingertips to the bite. She shivered, but didn't move when nothing happened. "So, an omega, huh? Jaune said you can manipulate emotions. Is that true."

"Yes," Perry replied. "I can show you, if you want."

Fox's eyes narrowed. "I'd rather you didn't mess with my wife's emotions, thank you."

Perry winced, quickly moving behind Jaune again. "It's not messing. We mostly use our powers to calm people down and keep our packs from getting into fights."

Velvet was the next to approach him. "How were you changed?"

"Adam's pack attacked my village when I was little," Perry murmured. "He took me back with him, me and a few others." He stared at the ground. "He always said he saved me, but now I know it's probably not true."

Velvet eyed him for a long moment before holding out her hand. "It's good to meet you."

Perry blinked at her, then glanced at Jaune. When Jaune nodded encouragingly, he held his hand out and carefully gripped Velvet's. He held on for a moment, then quickly retreated behind Jaune again. "S-So, you guys won't attack my pack?"

Velvet looked at the others. "I don't think he's a threat, and I trust Jaune."

Coco nodded. "This is crazy, but if these wolves haven't murdered anyone yet, they probably won't."

Fox frowned. "Unless you include Weiss and that one unlucky Huntsman."

"Hey!" Yang snapped. "She just bit in self-defense. Ironwood's the one who actually killed him."

"I tried to call him over," Ren sighed. "I wish I had noticed sooner…"

Perry whimpered. "A person was bitten and killed for it, just like that?" He shook his head. "That's terrible."

Yatsuhashi folded his arms, thinking about what their next move would be. "The way things are now, we can't go back. We can only go forward. Perhaps this idea of an alliance can be looked into."

Fox thought for a moment before his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Well, damn. Looks like we're exiled. Do you really think the Elders will sit long enough to hear your little story? They'll run you through if you go back. Us too. What do we do, then? Keep wandering the wild with a pack of wolves and abandon Vale?"

"I don't want that," Jaune admitted, thinking of his family back home. "But, I don't see any other way."

"There might be a way."

Everyone turned to see Pyrrha and Flynt, who were thankfully wearing some of their clothes. Pyrrha nodded courteously to the new Huntsmen. "Hello. My name is Pyrrha, and this is Flynt." She stepped out, glad that none of them moved for their weapons. "We called Ruby, Weiss, and Neon. They should be by shortly."

"What were you saying about another way, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked eagerly.

"Well," Pyrrha said. "At first, there was no friendship between your people and mine. Then, we became friends. Then, we taught Sun, Neptune, Sage, Scarlet, Flynt, Neon, and Perry. Now, these four understand. We might not be able to win over a whole town at once, but perhaps we can spread this idea of friendship around to several people. When there are enough who believe us, we can all go back to Vale and address the town as a big group. They won't attack a large enough gathering, and they won't be able to ignore so many people. The same will go for Cinder's pack, surely. When she sees so many humans, Faunus, and werewolves together, she'll realize that Ruby and I weren't betraying her. We can all come together, and work to influence other towns in the future."

The Huntsmen looked at each other. "Hm," Yang murmured. "That might actually work."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, and we know our families will support us, or at least not kill us immediately."

"Well, I don't know about my family," a new, tremulous voice interjected.

The others turned to see Weiss, Ruby, and Neon emerging. All were wearing the basic tunics and pants that had been packed with their other supplies. Weiss was glancing nervously around and looking at her arms, as if she expected fur to sprout from them again. Ruby stood right next to her, one hand on her shoulder.

"Weiss!" Yang immediately pulled her friend into a crushing hug. "Are you okay? Last night must've been hell for you!"

"Hrk! It was," Weiss gritted. "Hello, Velvet," she added.

"Hello," Velvet replied. She noticed how tired Weiss looked. "Well, since we're all gathered, maybe we should get some sleep."

"We're not all gathered," Yang reminded her as she put Weiss down. "Blake, Sun, and the others still need to find us." She frowned. "I hope they were able to get away."

"Well, between how long we've all been talking, and the fact that we need to sleep, they should be able to catch up with us," Jaune reasoned. "I'll take first watch. Weiss and the betas should get some sleep."

Neon groaned, rubbing her ears. "Yeah. My head's pounding!"

"I'll keep watch as well," Pyrrha offered. "I'm not tired."

The Huntsmen unrolled their bedrolls while the werewolves passed around blankets. Velvet and her group slept the furthest away from the werewolves, with Yang, Ren, and Nora acting as a barrier. Jaune couldn't help but smile when he looked at Ruby and Weiss, who were cuddled up against each other, already breathing deeply. Ruby had her arms wrapped protectively around her friend, and her face buried in her white hair.

"This is a huge mess," Jaune sighed. "But at least those two get to be together."

Pyrrha nodded. "They deserve to be happy. They've both gone through so much in such a short amount of time." She sat on a rock and peered at the surrounding trees, ears trained for any noise. "I wasn't looking forward to leaving either," she admitted.

"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "I hated the idea of saying goodbye to Ruby and Blake again." He paused before adding: "I didn't want to say goodbye to you either. I'm glad we'll be traveling together."

"So am I," Pyrrha replied immediately, her eyes bright with happiness. "I've lived around people talking about destiny and fate for as long as I can remember, and it didn't seem right for fate to separate me from my human so soon."

Jaune blinked dumbly, a blush coming to his cheeks as her words registered. "Your human?"

Pyrrha's face flushed as she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry. That must have sounded strange. It's just that, ever since you saved me when I was a pup, that's how I thought of you. You were a secret that only I knew about. My parents had always told me to never attack humans, but meeting you was what made me want to be friends with them. I'd sometimes look for you when I was near the village, but I didn't see you again until that full moon with Ruby. And since we met again, I have been…admittedly more concerned for your wellbeing than the others, though I care greatly about them as well."

"It's not strange at all," Jaune murmured, his cheeks still dusted a light shade of red. "I mean, it was a pretty big secret for any kid to grow up with." "Her" human. What does that even mean, especially now? he wondered.

He was also surprised by how weirdly happy he felt. A werewolf just told you that she has essentially claimed you. You should be disgusted, or at least mildly disturbed. He wasn't, though. Maybe it was the innocent, honest way she said it. Maybe it was that connection he had been feeling between them during their meetings. Either way, he found that he was surprisingly okay with the idea of being "Pyrrha's human."

He glanced guiltily to the side as he thought back to his childhood days after that first encounter. "I looked for you too, though it was during raids and hunts. I never told anyone what I did, and was worried that, at some point, the pup I saved would grow up and kill someone in Vale, despite the deal we made." He hated to say this, considering how highly Pyrrha had regarded him while he had feared the idea of her betrayal throughout most of his life.

"That's perfectly understandable." Pyrrha placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "Your first concern was protecting your home. You had no way of knowing anything about me beyond a moment that could have easily been a fluke. It's honestly a miracle that things worked out the way they did."

Jaune looked at her hand, his guilty expression softening into a smile. "I guess you're right." He met her emerald gaze, and his cheeks flushed again. Her human…

The next watch was taken by Coco and Flynt, who kept their distance from each other, occasionally casting the other a wary glance. Flynt, thanks to the rest, was able to use his beta powers at intervals. As the sun was getting low in the sky, he stiffened. "I sense someone."

Coco stood up, ready to wake the others. "Can you tell who it is?"

Flynt focused for a moment, his brow wrinkling with concentration. "It's…It's Blake! Sun, Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet are with her." He frowned. "Also…two humans?"

"Wait, what? Are they Huntsmen?" Coco turned toward the group. "Hey, wake up!"

"No, they don't seem hostile. It's…" Flynt's eyes flew open. "It's the traders!"

Quickly, the group woke up and packed their bedrolls before rushing into the trees. As they got closer to their destination, the trees started to thin, signaling that they were drawing closer to the road. They stopped short as the woods ended.

Sitting on the path, as if it had been waiting for them, was a familiar covered wagon. A chestnut horse grazed contentedly while a man with a cane talked to it. As the group approached, five figures jumped from the back of the wagon.

Blake was the first to emerge, and wasted no time in rushing into Yang's arms. Sun waved at Pyrrha while Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet looked curiously at the new Huntsmen. Neo stood nearby, arms folded, a smile on her face.

Roman turned from the horse, grinning when he saw the people assembled before him. "Well, well. Sun told me you'd meet us here." He leaned on his cane, looking at everyone while slowly shaking his head, trying to come to terms with the reality of his current situation. "Well, then… What's next?"

Halleluiah, everyone's FINALLY together! And we're starting to squeeze in some sweet, sweet Arkos. I know you were all looking forward to that. The journey portion of this story can now begin, and I'm really hyped about these next few chapters. Stay tuned, and AWOO!

Commissions are still open. I have two lovely open slots for you guys. I would love to do a commission for you. (Since my boss has decided to give a bunch of my hours to some new people, leading to my most recent paycheck being rather puny, I would really love to do a commission for you. Just saying.) PM me for details.

My P/atreon is Solora Goldsun. Patrons get earlier updates, requests, early knowledge of when I open for commissions, and even commission discounts!

As always, praise Monty and peace out!