It was Laura who finally rescued Justin from the Astros. Laura and the double pram holding Melody and Faith. Cooing over the twins allowed Justin to drag Zhane down to the maid's quarters turned private apartment.
"This is nice," Zhane admitted after Justin showed him around.
"Thanks," Justin said, "Laura wanted me to have space for my needs without feeling like I wasn't apart of things."
"Are you going to explain now?" Zhane asked, crossing his arms.
"I'm going to try," Justin said as he sat down at his desk. "I wrote to you about meeting Laura when it happened, and now that you've seen her, can you really blame me for noticing her?"
"She'd be prettier with her natural hair color, but I know what you mean," Zhane said. "It's like me when I first met Andros. It was just natural to offer to be his friend."
"Exactly," Justin said, "and Laura likes being blond because then people think she's harmless. There were things going on that first weekend that I didn't know at the time, but found out later. Things like Petra's family being psycho-possessive and trying to convince her to go back to them even though they drove her away in the first place. At least, I didn't know what was coming on until Petra's… aunt? I think psycho-bitch was her aunt, great-aunt, something like that. Anyways, the woman led a couple of her biggest and dumbest to batter the front door and steal Petra back."
"You were right in the middle of that, weren't you?" Zhane asked as he settled at Justin's drafting table.
"Not intentionally, but yeah. I got involved when the woman tried to jump Laura from behind while Laura was pulling someone off Derek. It was a mess. Thankfully, Laura's mom had some powerful friends here in New York who helped get the woman to leave and never come back. I got scratched for my troubles, and a rather interesting experience."
"Oh?" Zhane asked.
"Have you ever heard of Lycanthropy?" Justin asked.
Zhane mouthed the word, frowning, and shook his head, "I can't say that I have."
"It's a curse and virus, possibly even native to Earth. It can be passed genetically or through a bite. The virus is a variant of Lupus, if you're doing research. It just has a magical catalyst to become Lycanthropy." Justin shrugged a shoulder, "Lycanthropes have a more common term that you've probably heard of, werewolves."
"What, like those films that Carlos likes so much?" Zhane said.
"Werewolves have very little in common with The Wolfman," Justin said.
"Are you saying that Petra is a, a werewolf?" Zhane asked, "She seemed human."
Justin glared at his brother, "So do you."
Zhane blushed at the reminder that his mother had not been human in the most scientific of sense. "Sorry, but, why I haven't, or anyone, heard of werewolves before?"
"Because it's a secret. Humans don't react well to the wolves, like so many other things, so the werewolves hid themselves. They're dangerous, because they're predators to a factor of ten, but they have the capacity for morality, compassion, love, and everything that any sentient creature has. Humanity as a whole aren't ready to admit there's a second race on Earth that's higher on the food chain than they are and the ones who know mostly aren't on our side of things."
"What do you mean?" Zhane asked.
"Silver isn't deadly to werewolves the way media claims, not the metal itself anyway. There's a hunting family called the Argents who are pretty damn deadly. Hunters are what we have to worry about, humans who seek to keep the werewolves from drawing attention, or preying too much on humans. Supposedly, there's a code they follow, 'We hunt those who hunt us', but it's pretty open to interpretation." Justin pressed his lips together to keep his sneer from becoming a snarl.
"What does that mean?" Zhane asked.
"Someone used the code as justification to kill the Hale Pack, Zhane. They weren't just werewolves either, there were humans in that house too." Justin shifted slightly, "Werewolves tend to form Packs. They're, they're more than a family, there are psychic bonds that tie them all together, humans, werewolves, anyone the Alpha declares as pack is Pack."
"And the Alpha is like the Red?" Zhane asked.
"More like the queen," Justin said. "The Alpha rules the pack, protects her people, and guards her territory. The Pack is made up of betas and humans mostly; there are packs with other non-humans as well. If a werewolf isn't in the Pack, it's called an Omega; they're weaker than other werewolves, easy prey for hunters and the more aggressive packs."
"Where do you come into this equation?" Zhane asked softly.
"I didn't realize at first that Laura wanted to make me Pack, but hesitated because she didn't know me," Justin said, "I just saw, I saw something that looked like a team and I thought I couldn't have it. It's the… reason I…" He cleared his throat, "Laura cleared things up for me afterwards, and invited me into the Pack the next day, literally as soon as I woke up."
"Did it help?" Zhane asked.
"It did," Justin said, "as soon as I accepted, it was like that ache was finally gone. I didn't feel alone any more. That's why Laura's my Alpha now, my leader. Because she saved my life, and she made it better. The Pack has been amazing, Derek and Petra are as good as two more siblings, which helps when you aren't here. They're protective too, which is really novel. When that girl in my psych class wouldn't leave me alone, Petra actually showed up and strongly implied I was the father of her children. We all look out for Derek because he needs it, losing his family like that nearly destroyed him. I'm literally never alone because I can feel the Pack all the time."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you joined a cult," Zhane said.
"Not a cult," Justin laughed, "a Pack." He shifted, pleased with how easy it was to take that mental step to the side that allowed all of his predatory nature free reign.
"She gave you the bite!" Zhane surged to his feet.
"She offered," Justin said, "I accepted. Laura made sure I knew what I was walking into. That'd have trouble with control, that I would hurt and be hurt, that I could maim or kill if I wasn't careful. I know there are hunters out there that would shoot me full of wolfsbane if they knew where I was. I know exactly how dangerous it is. I accepted because I wanted to. I still can't break the morpher, Zhane. I'm not strong enough to risk losing all of it. Becoming a werewolf, joining Laura's Pack? For the first time since the Astro morphers were activated, I feel like a complete person. I'm not bleeding inside from a wound that could never heal. Let me have that, Zhane, let me be whole on my terms."
"Is this because I won't live on Earth?" Zhane asked sitting down.
"No," Justin said. "News flash, it's not about you. It's about me and what I need. Earth is my home. I'm not going anywhere else, ever. Once I get out into space, there's nothing there for me, everything I could have invented already exists and I have to play catch up. I want to be here, on Earth, where things are still possible. I'm not catching up, I'm leading the field with my research. I just wanted family to go along with it."
"Are you happy?" Zhane asked.
"No," Justin said as he knelt at his brother's feet, "but Zhane, I'm clinically depressed. That's why I tried to kill myself. It wasn't even the first time I'd thought about it. I'm not going to just be something as simple as happy. Not for a long time. But I'm getting help and being part of the Pack is helping so much. I'm not happy, but I'm better than I was, and I will be happy. I just have to keep working on it."
Zhane slid off the chair and pulled Justin into a tight hug. "Then that's enough," he whispered into Justin's shoulder as he squeezed him tight.
KKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Yelling was not something many werewolves did, they didn't have to. Slightly raised voices could be as loud as a shout to an unsuspecting werewolf.
Laura's howl of outrage shook the rafters the morning after the Astros's visit. "Justin, get up here!" She bellowed.
Justin threw himself out of bed, grabbing a shirt as he stumbled through his room and out to the stairs. A stench was seeping down from the house, something that made Justin think of a farm. "I'm coming Laura," he called as he bounded up the stairs and pulled his shirt on.
Midway up the stairs, just as he popped his head from the shirt, a sound filled the air.
Justin slammed the door open, "That wasn't-"
The living room, dining room, and kitchen had been filled with cows. Black and white, four legged, living, breathing cows.
"What the hell?" Justin demanded.
"Justin," Laura said, storming around the cows with a piece of paper in her hands, "Read this!"
"Hope you're moooving in went well?" Justin read, "Happy Intergalactic… CARLOS!" Justin barely noticed the card being ripped to shreds as he clenched his fist. "Fucking Greenies, I swear," he said and headed for the phone.
"What?" Laura asked.
"Carlos used to be a green ranger, green rangers prank people," Justin said as he punched in the number that would ring the megaship.
"Astro Megaship, this is TJ."
"TJ, its Justin. I need to have words with Carlos. Either put him on the phone or teleport me up, your choice." Justin growled, ignoring how his voice sounded with fangs in the way.
"I'll get him," TJ said, "hold on."
Justin flexed his hand watching how his claws popped in and out on command, it was almost soothing and served to pull back the shift enough to let him sound normal. "Hey Justin," Carlos said.
"Carlos," Justin said, "why are there cows in my living room?"
"Not a clue," Carlos said with a laugh.
"Let me rephrase that," Justin snarled, "why did you put cows in my living room?"
"It was a joke, man, lighten up." Carlos said.
"I didn't find it funny, and neither did my roommates," Justin said. "Now, you have two choices here. You can teleport the cows and their mess back to wherever you got them and I'll hold Laura back."
"Or?" Carlos asked.
"Or I will rip your throat out," Justin said, feeling his fangs drop and let his voice become heavy with the threat of violence, "with my teeth."
"Teleporting now," Carlos said after a moment.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Justin said and hung up.
There was a burst of static as the cows vanished in a flash of light.