Thanksgiving was average for both Tommy and Merton, the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimming and watching TV afterwards. Unbeknownst to the other, each was thinking about what it would be like to spend the holiday alone with the other.
Both spent time with their families before they went to bed that night.
The next morning Tommy awoke at twenty after ten, and upon seeing the time he rushed to get his stuff ready to go the Dingle residence. He gathered up his clothes for the next day, along with his sleep ware and his shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
Tommy managed to get to Merton's house just after eleven and they spent time watching movies and just hanging out, not mentioning what would be happening later that day. With the rise of the full moon, Tommy wolfed out as usual, but seeing as it was nothing new to them they ignored the transformation in favor of the movie. At seven thirty, Tommy finally got the nerve to ask a few questions that where still lingering in the back of his mind.
"Merton, what are you going to do if the wolf attacks you?" Tommy asked with a worried expression on his face.
'I wouldn't attack him,' the wolf growled to Tommy.
"I'm wearing silver Tommy," Merton replied as he showed Tommy the wrist bands and the necklace that he was wearing.
"Where does the name of the comet come from?"
"Lupus means wolf in Latin, and the comet seems to have made wild wolves more active the last time it came by Earth, so that was where the name came from," Merton explained.
"What time will the comet appear in the sky?" Tommy asked, needing to know how long he had to confess his feelings to Merton.
"My calculations said about 9:15 but I could have been off by a little," Merton replied thinking that Tommy wanted to know so that he could mentally prepare for the wolf to take control.
Tommy decided then that he would wait until about 10 minutes before the comet to confess so that if he was rejected he would be unconscious right afterword and not have to deal with the fallout right away.
Time moved slowly for Tommy as he waited, but finally it was 9:05 and that meant time for his confession.
"Merton, there's something I have to tell you," Tommy started.
Merton turned to face Tommy which wasn't hard considering they were sitting on the small couch in the Lair. Merton could tell from the tone of Tommy's voice that he was nervous and Merton grew concerned.
"What is it Tommy?"
"Merton I have to tell you that…," Tommy stopped in the middle of his sentence as his eyes glowed a particularly bright yellow.
"Tommy, are you ok?" Merton asked as he had no idea what had just happened.
"I'm not Tommy," the wolf growled out.
Merton instantly realized that the glowing of Tommy's eyes meant the Lupin comet was now in the night sky. Merton jumped up and started backing away from the wolf wearing his best friend's body. Merton was surprised when the wolf looked at him before throwing his head back and laughing.
"I'm not going to attack you Merton, so you can calm down, I can smell you fear and it's making me a little tense," the wolf said after he finished laughing.
"Why would the smell of my fear make you tense?" Merton asked with a face that showed his confusion, but nevertheless he stopped backing away from the wolf.
"Protector instinct, you get afraid of something and I starting looking to get rid of what's scaring you but I can't get rid of myself," the wolf replied with a bored tone.
"You want to protect me, why?" Merton was very confused now. Why would Tommy's wolf want to protect him?
"It goes back to what Tommy was going to say before I was let out," the wolf said as he stood up and started walking toward Merton.
The wolf began circling Merton with an expression that Merton couldn't identify. Merton was calm but he was curious as to what Tommy had been about to say.
"Tommy was about to tell you that he loves you with all his heart, that he doesn't know where he would be without you and that he needs you to know how much you mean to him," the wolf said while watching Merton's facial expressions.
Merton was shocked; Tommy was in love with him? Why had Tommy kept that from him? Merton then realized that Tommy had the same fear as him, the fear of rejection by the one person he couldn't live without. The wolf saw the shock and realization cross Merton's face before pure bliss settled on Merton's face and looked like it had made a permanent home for itself.
Merton opened his mouth to tell the wolf that he loved Tommy too, but the wolf spoke before he could get a sound out.
"I know that you love Tommy, your spell had a loophole that Lori found and used that to tell me, Tommy still has no idea but that will change in a few hours when the comet passes and he has access to the memories of this time," the wolf said with a smug look on his face that Merton thought didn't suit Tommy's face at all.
"Why would Tommy tell me this tonight before you got control?" Merton asked after a few seconds of thinking about that fact.
"It's because of what I'm about to tell you that Tommy confessed. Each bitten werewolf goes through a process simply known as the integration. You see, bitten werewolves do not have a natural wolf instinct; that means that they gain one during the bite that passes the Lycanthropy to them. The instinct cannot be absorbed into a born human psyche in a short period of time. The instinct manifests itself into a being like me, a self aware alternate personality. This allows the werewolf to ask questions and find answers to the abilities that they have gained."
"So Tommy knew about you this entire time and didn't tell me?" Merton asked with hurt coloring his voice and the wolf could plainly see it in his eyes.
"When you first asked Tommy if I was a separate entity within him he had no clue I existed. I was nothing more than a howling at the back of Tommy's mind then, it wasn't until Muffy showed up that Tommy could understand me."
"Why didn't he tell me then?" Merton asked with less hurt but it was still there.
"Tommy didn't want you to think he lied to you and with the integration it is a moot point anyway, I'll be a part of Tommy in less than a year," the wolf said while reaching out to run the back of its fingers over Merton's cheek.
"Tommy needs a mate, werewolves in love during the integration must have a mate in order to keep from becoming feral. Mr. Dunleavy was slightly feral with his hunger for raw animal meat. I suspect that he had a mate or potential mate that he lost during the final stages of the integration causing his feral state. Tommy has you, you both love each other and I know that you will stand by his side for the rest of his life. The only formality is the mating ceremony," the wolf stated, saying the last part with a shrug.
"Mating ceremony, what does that involve?" Merton asked as he thought about the possibilities.
The wolf backed Merton to the bed and had him sit down before he began telling Merton what the mating ceremony consisted of.
"There is only a basis for the ceremony, everything else is different for each one; the main points are that Tommy would have to be in werewolf form, you both make vows to each other and Tommy must bite you to place the bonding mark on your back, if you remove that necklace I'll show you where the bite must be and where the bond mark will appear," the wolf as he walked behind Merton.
Merton reached back and undid the clasp of the silver necklace that he was wearing and placed it on his desk nearby. The wolf stood behind Merton and placed one fingertip on the juncture of Merton's shoulder and neck.
"This is where Tommy will have to bite, and this is where his mark shall be," the wolf said as it trailed the finger down to just below the collar of Merton's shirt.
"Anything else I should know?" Merton asked.
"The wolf antibodies that you and Lori have in your systems will not be affective to Lycanthropy after the integration. The virus changes between pre and post integration stages. Tommy can and will turn you after the integration but he will probably wait for a couple years though. Oh, and that the two times Tommy has made loud noises in his sleep were when he had a nightmare about losing you and the other was a howl of ecstasy because he was having a dream in which you seduced him. The seduction dream was the night before last," The wolf stated.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Tommy will gain a few new traits as the integration reaches its final stages, his claws will have the power to glow with moonlight and slice through most materials and he will be able to assume a wolf form," the wolf said it walked over a sat down on Merton's bed.
The rest of the time the comet was in the night sky Merton and the wolf talked about Tommy's new powers and how they would work. They also talked about Tommy's past "relationships" and how his wolfing out was due to the wolf disagreeing with Tommy's choice in lover. The wolf mentioned that Tommy wouldn't wolf out if he and Merton were making love unless one of them wanted that. That was said with a knowing look, as Merton had imagined that scenario. They also talked about mating season and how Tommy might not let Merton out of bed for the month of January. The talk ended just after midnight as the comet disappeared over the horizon. Tommy's eyes glowed once more, signaling the return of his mind to its waking state. Tommy's eye went wide as the wolf showed Tommy the events that occurred while he was gone.
"Merton, I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything before now, and I didn't really tell you, I can understand if you are angry with me," Tommy said while turning his face so that he couldn't see Merton.
Merton walked over to Tommy and sat on his lap, wrapped his arms around Tommy's neck and said, "Tommy, I understand why you did it and I can't be angry with you when you were just trying to keep me happy."
Tommy looked into Merton's eyes and could see nothing but sincerity. Tommy took that opportunity to initiate their first kiss. Tommy's lips brushed against Merton's in a chaste but sweet kiss.
"It's really late, we need to get some sleep, and I want to sleep in the arms of the man that I love," Merton said as he pulled away from the kiss.
Merton and Tommy both started changing for bed, but as Tommy went to put on his shirt Merton's hand caught his wrist. Tommy could tell just by looking that Merton wanted both of them shirtless as they slept. It would kind of like if they had just made love and were cuddling while enjoying the afterglow.
Merton pulled his shirtless love over to the bed were Tommy crawled in first. Tommy lay on his right side while Merton did the same with his back up against Tommy's chest. Tommy curled his left leg over both of Merton's and tucked his foot under his right leg and wrapping his left arm around Merton's waist. They easily fell asleep comforted by the warmth of their lover.