A oneshot for the SBI AU + Prompt event on twitter. This one is for 'werewolf AU' + Hiding an Injury

The woods did not welcome him as a friend.

Closer to the edges of the forest, humans would sometimes stray under the leaves and find respite from rainy days or the burning sun. But once you walked deeper inside the leaves formed a canopy so dense that the light could not reach. These woods were cursed. It was whispered in folktales and sung about in ballads. This forest and the creatures that dwelled within, none of it was natural. Even the trees were wicked. They grew thick and unruly - sudden. There were no paths to safely walk through. These woods were part of the wild and the wild was part of it.

Techno was a human. The wild would not harbor him.

His legs ached from the strain he was putting on them, running so fast his lungs burned with it. Sweat dried on the back of his neck, making it prickle with pain a bit too similar to the grinding of teeth hoping to burrow into his flesh. The wolves that chased him did so with a frenzy, with a hunger. They would not give up on their prey.

They would not give up before Techno had become their meal.

One werewolf, Techno might be able to take. He was confident in his own ability and had a heart full of reckless abandon not afraid to die. Much to his family's disgruntlement at times. It was not fear that made him run, no. It was a necessity.

A little further… he had to lead them just a little further.

The roots that wound around the ground caught on his feet and Techno stumbled, knees scraping against dirt when he fell. It hurt, but not as much as the wolf's claws did the next moment when they pressed down on him and pinned him to the ground.

Techno rolled over, nose scrunching up automatically at its horrid breath that wafted into his face. Rotting meat and decaying sinew pouring from between yellowed teeth. A growl so deep it rumbled through its ribcage was echoed against Techno's skin.

The wolf snapped at him with its maw. Techno brought his arm up to protect his face and tried to push it away, only flinching slightly when those canines dragged shallowly into his flesh. In the next moment, he had grabbed the dagger at his hip and brought it up into the wolf's neck.

It whined, instinctively rearing back from the pain which allowed Techno to crawl free from under it. He could kill it if he wanted to. Techno wanted to more than anything.

But its packmates were howling in the distance. And Techno had not led them far enough yet.

So he pulled his sleeve over the bite mark - sluggishly bleeding but not too deep - and spun around to continue running. The wind pulled on his braid, loose strands he had to blink from his eyes lest they blind him.

More than anything else this was exhilarating.

The woods were hostile to Techno as a human. He was an outsider, a trespasser. He was not part of it but he had made it his home and it hated him for it. They hated him. He did not belong there.

He felt safe because he knew he was not alone.

About ten feet in front of him, he could see the ground slope down. One of the wolves was already almost on him again, snarling for its feast. Techno slid down the incline easily, using his leg to catch himself on the landing. On the small clearing, he braced himself against a tree and waited.

The werewolf that had been chasing him did not hesitate, thinking it had forced Techno into a dead end.

Little did it know, the trap had already been sprung.

When it flung itself at him, something much bigger and heavier knocked it down. This new wolf had the upper hand not only in size but with the element of surprise. So consumed by the chase, the werewolves who had been hoping to make prey out of Techno hadn't even realized they were straying into the territory of another pack.

Techno grabbed his dagger again but there was little point to it. The ones that had been hunting him were a small group of five. Between Wilbur, Phil, and Tommy it didn't take more than a couple of minutes to take care of them. It was an easy kill, but a necessary one.

These woods indeed were cursed, as most humans believed. And those that lived within were cursed even more so. They could not leave, they could not stray. When the moon rose at night, they became the beasts of legend. The trees kept them alive and the undergrowth fed them. But that meant that every square inch of land was valuable and needed to be fought over.

As a human, Techno had the peculiar ability to make other werewolves forget about silly things such as directions or common sense. The ravenous bloodlust blinded them. It was laughably easy for him to lure these werewolves that had started to live too close to the borders into his own family's territory.

Classic bait and switch.

Techno sat down and watched his family - his pack - feed on the remains.

Wilbur brought him a chunk of raw meat and Techno threw it in his face, ignoring how the wolf's rambunctious barks sounded a bit too close to the laughter of its human counterpart. It would take a while before his family could shift back, it wasn't dawn yet.

But Techno would rather die than eat raw meat. He had standards, thank you very much.

Phil lay down next to him when he was done, watching Wilbur and Tommy play tug-of-war with the leftovers. He nuzzled into Techno's side, wordlessly checking on him. He was always worried when they did their thing. Techno pulled his sleeve down subtly. He didn't want them to fuzz over him for something so minor and the smell of blood hung so heavy on the air and his skin both that they wouldn't be able to smell his wound, meaning he had to make sure they didn't spot the injury before he could take care of it. Gently, Techno brushed his fingers through the blond fur of Phil's side to reassure him.

When Wilbur and Tommy were done messing around, Phil nudged him to signal they should get going. One of the more annoying parts about the transformation was that communication kind of had to be put on hold. Techno could not speak wolf, obviously. And while it was hard to explain, his family couldn't really understand human language either when they were like this. Tommy tried to explain it to him once. He said hearing Techno talk and trying to understand it while he was in his wolf form sounded like listening to a deep-toned buzzing and it made his brain hurt.

The walk to their den was a short one. Techno could hear the rushing of the river nearby and it was a tempting sound. His shirt clung to his back and he was all grimy from running through the forest. He wanted to clean up.

Obviously, such a luxury was not in the cards for him. Not with his pack around.

"Tommy, come on. I just want to go to the river for a second and wash myself."

Techno tried to get Tommy to stop from (literally) pulling his leg, but the wolf's teeth were quite firmly lodged into the fabric of his pants. Tommy ignored him, only trying to tug Techno over to the nest with more insistence. Techno tried to complain but then Wilbur headbutted the back of his knees and he almost fell on his ass.

He winced a bit, stiffly pushing his wounded arm against his body. But he didn't want them to notice so he tried to play it off with a scowl in Wilbur's direction.

"You're both terrible."

Tommy happily trodded ahead of them into the den. Wilbur sat down and tilted his snout as if daring Techno to try and refuse or make a run for it. If he tried that, Wilbur would happily hunt him down and drag him back kicking and screaming. Techno would know, it had happened before. With a sigh, he resigned to his fate.

The nest was still messed up from yesterday. Phil would be out for most of the night patrolling. He always did when they had a hunt. Tommy was already curled up near one end, looking up at Techno with the biggest puppy eyes imaginable.

Techno loved his family, he really did. But he did not know why every night had to turn into an impromptu cuddling party. During the day, they'd chalk it up to pack instincts - something Techno would freely admit he had no experience with. He would never be able to understand what dealing with those felt like.

But he sure was at the receiving end of them a lot.

And they were just as clingy when they were in their human form but from what Wilbur told him the instincts didn't exactly go away when they shapeshifted so what did Techno know?

He lay down on the blankets and pillows, rearranging them to be comfortable. They were there only for Techno's sake, because his poor human spine would not thank him for sleeping on the dirt floor all the time. He did not have a blanket to cover himself with, because as soon as he lay down Tommy was already draped on top of him, wiggling to be beneath Techno's arm and rest on his chest. Wilbur curled up on his legs.

Sometimes, the mere thought of having to try and sleep like this would make Techno claustrophobic. Yet it was also surprising how quickly it had become second nature.

He closed his eyes, muscles gradually untensing when Techno allowed the exhaustion to sink in. Being chased through the woods had made him very tired.

Tired enough to fall asleep within minutes.

Techno woke up the first time when Phil came back from his patrol. Techno was a light sleeper, so when something bumped against his head his eyes immediately shot open.

Phil bent over him to lick his cheek apologetically before lying down. Techno lifted himself up so Phil could burrow properly into the nest. When he sank back down, the elder wolf served as a sort of pillow for him. He could feel Phil's ragged breathing. His fur was warm.

The entire den had become so warm it was almost unbearably, really. Werewolves generated an absurd amount of body heat. He rolled over on his side - not very successfully since Wilbur still had his legs pinned. Tommy shifted on top of him, tucking his snout into the crook of Techno's shoulder.

Phil let out a fond little huff at the sight. Techno answered with a glare, but that only prompted Phil to lick his face a few more times, uncaring of Techno trying yet being unable to squirm away. He simply tried to get comfortable again, pulling down his sleeves a bit so he wouldn't overheat in the middle of the night, and went back to sleep.

The second time he woke up, sunlight was falling slanted into the den and something wrenched on his arm.

"What the fuck happened?"

Techno winced. He automatically tried to push off the person who had grabbed him but Wilbur was holding a little too tight for that to really work. Even in his human form, his grip was like iron.

"Why didn't you tell us you got hurt?"

Oh, Techno forgot about that.

Tommy shot up instantly.

"What?!"

"It's not that big of a deal," Techno said.

"You're supposed to tell us," Wilbur insisted. "What if it gets infected? What if you get sick-"

"Don't be dramatic." Techno pulled back again, this time managing to wrench his arm free. Wilbur looked mildly offended.

"Which one of them got you?" Tommy asked, shuffling closer to Techno's side. The expression on his face could only be described as murderous.

Techno rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter, they're already dead."

"Seriously, why didn't you say anything?" Wilbur would not let this go.

"In my defense, I was going to clean it but I was kind of tired," Techno said sheepishly. "And you wouldn't have listened."

"You know that's a shit excuse, mate."

Techno looked over his shoulder, not surprised but slightly apprehensive to see Phil awake too. He'd really hoped he could have snuck out and taken care of the injury before Phil noticed if nothing else. Then he'd avoid the worst of it.

"It's not that big of a deal," Techno repeated, but it didn't sound half as convincing.

Phil reached out with one arm, pressing the back of his hand into Techno's cheek. He didn't know if he wanted to lean away or lean into it. "That's not for you to decide, is it?" Phil asked. "You know I did not refrain from killing you when I found you, for you to be so reckless with your life now."

Techno's exhale halted in his chest, but he forced himself to nod. "I know."

The woods were not kind to humans. When his parents put him in a basket and carried him as far into the trees as they dared to go, it was not out of kindness either. It was not out of wrath though.

It was out of pure convenience of having one less mouth to feed.

Techno should have died. By the grace of his pack, he didn't. And that was something he should never forget.

Techno was theirs because they had claimed him before the woods could.

"Come on." Carefully, Phil tugged on his elbow to get him to stand. "We'll go clean that up and make sure you don't get sick."

"And then we go find who did this?" Tommy asked.

"I told you, they're dead." Techno sighed, knowing how little they would listen to reason. "It was one of the wolves from last night."

"I'm sure they have some pack members left over for us to track down and torture," Phil hummed contemplatively. Techno leveled him with a deadpan look but Phil only grinned back innocently. "What?"

"I take back what I said about Wilbur, you're the dramatic one."

Wilbur clicked his tongue. "It's not dramatic to fuck up somebody that thinks they can harm our runt."

"Call me that one more time and I'm stabbing you next," Techno said with a scowl. He tried not to take it to heart that it only made Wilbur chuckle.

"And that answer is exactly why you belong to us," Phil chirped pleasantly. His hold on Techno's arm steadied him so they could leave the den and head down to the river.

Techno never did ask Phil why he didn't just kill him that moonless night. Why he didn't close his canines around the throat of a child left there by the people meant to love him and put an end to a life not meant to be. Maybe a part of him was too scared of what the answer might be.

No, perhaps it was better if some secrets were kept by the woods that sheltered them.