Wanted to get more magical goodness out before the start of season 3 tomorrow.

Thanks to my two reviewers: top story and Boris Yeltsin! You both are the best!

FP wasn't joking when he said that. The world literally opened up for Sweet Pea after that. It was like this entire time, there had been another world right under everyone's noses. A world that was just hidden beneath a thin sheet, just dusting over the drab reality that Sweet Pea had once existed in. It was almost touchable, but not quite, not until you knew where to tug to reveal the magic that glittered on every street corner.

And did Sweet Pea ever learn.

In all, Sweet Pea would say that turning to a werewolf at a very young age had done more good than not. First off, it was like he'd been born into the magical world. He didn't recall a whole much before the age of nine, not really fine details, so in a lot of ways it was like he'd always had magic. Even FP hadn't turned until 26, and hadn't taken over the Pack until nearly 30. Sweet Pea's most formative years were spent fully enveloped in the magical world and he'll say that made a huge difference.

Because he changed so young, FP more or less took him under his wings. He kept Sweet Pea close, taught him things that other young wolves would not have been privy to. And, if FP was unavaliable, it was usually that Sweet Pea was tagging along with another high ranking wolf, like Tall Boy. He learned magic as he learned everything else in life, and he was deeply imbedded in the workings of what it meant to be a wolf.

There where whispers he was being groomed to take over as Alpha one day, despite the fact that FP had two children himself. However, Jellybean was off in Arizona, and unless she came back, it was doubtful she'd return for the mantle. And Jughead? Well, when someone had once outright asked FP, the alpha had snorted.

"Jughead? My Jughead? You know he has to kill someone to activate the curse, right? Can you imagine him doing that?" FP had laughed. As it was, no one thought Jughead had the stuff to take over anyway. He was so much like his mother, FP often said, which was a good thing if you were a human, but a bad thing if you were otherwise.

"Bore someone to death with his writing, maybe," Sweet Pea had replied, rolling his eyes. Jughead was always so maudlin, so moody. If he were a werewolf, he'd have major problems, that is if he couldn't get his emotions under control. A teensy part of Sweet Pea wondered if Jughead liked being so gloomy all the time, and probably could have been happier if he wanted to.

Besides, he didn't even know about his father's- his family's- heritage. Unless you were a wolf, magical other being, or an elder, you didn't get to know. I mean, it was for the safety of everyone, really. FP's persistence that there was a secret he could not tell his son had just driven Jughead away from the Serpents of late, and that was probably for the best.

No matter, Sweet Pea was the obvious choice to take over one day, even if Sweet Pea wasn't going to say it outloud. He cared deeply about his fellow wolves, he was smart enough to be the leader, and despite being so young he was more knowledgeable about the general magic community than possibly anyone else, discounting FP and Tall Boy.

Magic was just normal to Sweet Pea. He knew how to contact the fae if they were ever in a last ditch scenario where they'd need to make a deal, he knew where herbs grow for witches to make their potions, he knew how to do all the rituals of his kind. He knew what sort of species existed in Riverdale, and that's to say, a lot.

He'd been surprised at the numbers when FP had sat him down to explain it all. Some species he hadn't heard of until he'd met them. Maybe he's misrepresenting it; there's still a lot of humans. Riverdale and Greendale is mostly human. But, even having a handful of magic people surprised him.

And there was a lot.

FP isn't sure why Riverdale is such a hotspot for supernatural activity. He thinks that it started with the witches, and once they laid down their roots and made their casting circles, it just embuded the entire area with an aura of magic, and thus other girls started showing up.

Basically, suffice to say, Sweet Pea could write a twelve volume instructional guide on what's magic and what's not in Riverdale and hand it out to the newbies, if he wasn't concerned about it falling into non-magical hands, however.

It's not all good, he doesn't want to give that impression either.

Magical fights are way worse than normal ones. Some of the stuff that these people throw at each other is downright nasty. Some curses are lingering and can't be reversed, despite the best witches around. Sometimes, magic creeps in where it's not meant to be and that just creates trouble for everyone.

And, more specifically for Sweet Pea, being a wolf isn't flowers, sunshines, and ukuleles. Sure, his strength is incredible, his senses are heightened, and turning into a wolf itself is just a generally cool thing, but it hasn't been without his own problems.

Right after changing, and for a couple years after, Sweet Pea had a real problem with changing at every shift in his emotions. Now, nearly a decade later, he's a seasoned pro and one of the swiftest changers, but he still has anger problems (first step is admitting he has a problem; he's read through the self-help books) and so there are still moments where he just explodes into fur and fangs, but in general he's pretty good about it. Better than most of the other Serpents, that is. It seems like all Serpents have anger problems, but maybe being a werewolf makes you more prone to getting all bothered. He's not sure on that.

He made a point to get better at his emotions, at shifting at will, because he knew he was way younger and he didn't want to seem like he couldn't be every bit a wolf as everyone else. He convinced FP to let him keep his trailer instead of moving in with an older wolf, so that he could practice shifting as much as he wanted without disturbing anyone. Now, he still lives mostly alone, but he knows it's because he has the respect of the other wolves. As it goes, he's slowly working his way up the hierarchy, even at the younge age of 17. If this weren't his family, he's sure there would be some resentment there, but FP first of told everyone that they couldn't get mad since Sweet Pea took initiative where others did not, but also if a wolf does good, everyone does good. It's just a fact.

Oh, back to cons.

Well, he learned quickly that clothes don't shift with you, so he's gone through a lot of his favorite stuff when he shifts unexpectedly. The full moon plays with his emotions and he's more likely to shift than any other ole day of the week, and that pops up every month, so that's a load of garbage. He's gotten used to liking things a little on the rare side, but that doesn't mean that he still doesn't think it's gross. If he's in the wolf form and is really hungry, he'll go hunting (not humans, duh) and he thinks that tearing apart and eating a deer is just the worst thing and he always feels nauseous when he shifts back. The whole 'everyone can hear your thoughts as a wolf' thing gets old very, very fast, but Sweet Pea has been practicing on shielding his mind. FP can do it, Tall Boy can do it, but it's super fucking hard. Like, absolute mastery level hard, and if Sweet Pea tries too much in one day he'll either get a bad headache, get a nose bleed, or pass out...or all three.

But, ignoring those things- because when put into context, they can be- Sweet Pea loves being a wolf. He thinks he was always meant to be one (and technically, he was).

Long ago, FP stopped trying to figure out which parent was bit and just let sleeping dogs lie. It's not so important in the long run, especially since wolves, Serpents at least, don't bite anyone anymore. It's just in bad form. As he says, they gained an exceptional wolf out of the affair, so who are they to get hung up on the specifics?

Sweet Pea remembered how he'd preened when FP had called him that...exceptional. After living so long with no one, believing that he wasn't wanted (his mother would remind him daily that he was a mistake), to go to this; being wanted, honored, and loved...Sweet Pea feels like he belongs somewhere, which is still such a weird concept to him. He doesn't get all mushy and gushy, and he'll never say it outloud, but he really does see FP as a father figure. He would do anything for that man. However, likewise, he knows that FP would do anything for his Serpents, to the point of neglecting Jughead on occasion. It's awful, it is, but the Pack will always come first...and Jughead just isn't Pack.

But who knows what the future holds. Even death by accident still counts, and now that they're teenagers, a lot of young werewolves are popping up. Sweet Pea is the welcome committee for werewolves under 21, going and guiding them through their first transitions and explaining the whole shebang. At this point, there's approximately six wolves that are considered 'baby Serpents' and Sweet Pea has been there to help every single one. He's the liason for the younger wolves, should they need anything from the rest of the Pack, because Sweet Pea just has an understanding with the other wolves that fresh and fuzzy little wolves won't be able to achieve.

He takes his job very seriously.

Today, on the 4th of July, he's talking down Franklin Fogarty in the middle of the woods. He's thanking his lucky stars it's not in the middle of the road or in some alleyway, because magical cleanup is really shitty and just a lot of effort to magic the minds of humans to forgot they ever saw a stringy kid turn into a wolf out of a Stephen King novel.

That's about all he's currently thankful for.

Usually, Sweet Pea doesn't mind being the one to go out and find a newly turned werewolf; he loves it, actually. He likes being able to cool them down and then introduce them to the best thing to happen to them in their entire lives. Today, however? Well, he gets it. Stupid stuff happens on the 4th of July. So far, no one's killed someone else via fireworks but it just seems inevitable. Still, Sweet Pea would much rather be with the pack at the edge of the South Side, transformed and playing frisbee with manhole covers or something. Not that they've ever done that before, but if today they magically started doing such games, Sweet Pea will be pissed he missed it.

Franklin is a kid that he doesn't think a lot about. He knows him from school, but Franklin always seemed off by himself. In fact, Sweet Pea doesn't know if he goes by Frank or Franky or Lin or something, because they just haven't ever talked. He knew it was a possibility for Franklin Fogarty to change, however, since he's on 'The List'. The List being the all important catalogue of all the wolves and their bloodlines, the one that FP keeps close to his chest and all wolves of any importance know so that they can try to help avoid situations in which a young wolf may trigger the curse or be around to help when it does.

Franklin's grandmother was a werewolf. Luckily, Franklin's father made it through his entire life without managing to kill anyone, so he never turned. Unluckily, that means that his father had no idea what he was passing down to his son. Franklin's grandmother had died before Franklin was even born, so there's that.

It wasn't like Toni's father, who was a wolf until he got a bad leg break a year ago and now doesn't shift unless it's necessary, who knew exactly what Toni might inherit one day. He did about everything he could to tell Toni without outright saying it, from having an abundance of wolf themed things around the house, to having Toni watch the Serpent dynamics very carefully after watching one of those strangely indicting BBC nature shows about wolves, to even reading stories like the Big Bad Wolf or Little Red Riding Hood and trying to twist it so that the wolves were the good guys in it. So, when Toni changed, she had a good guess about what big 'secret' he couldn't tell her...that, or she thought her dad just loved wolves way too fucking much.

Franklin though? God, this kid is freaking out.

He'd been riding his father's motorcycle and hadn't been watching at an intersection, despite it being his right of way. A car, a little Prius (which is a car that's basically just tinfoil) had swerved to avoid him and smashed into a lightpost. The motorcycle had been trashed and Franklin had stumbled into the woods, and within a couple minutes...bam.

Instant wolf. Just add death.

He was a huge light colored wolf, swinging his muzzle around and making little whining noises.

"Buddy, woah, put those fangs away," The choppers on him were massive, Sweet Pea noted, "Yeah, Fangs. You." He snapped his fingers twice in front of Franklin's face. It was a little offensive, but it worked since they were partially dog.

Franklin met Sweet Pea's eyes and seemed to start to relax. Within a couple seconds, a very naked sixteen year old stood where the old had been. Sweet Pea, fully prepared, threw a blanket at him.

"What just happened?" Franklin asked, his voice rough.

"Well, what do you think happened?" Sweet Pea asked, trying to gauge how Franklin was handling this. Some wolves were just like, 'oh yep wolf' immediately while others he had to work up to believing in something like that.

"I think...I think I just...maybe I hit my head," Franklin groaned, rubbing his forehead, "Because I think I just turned into a wolf."

"Yeah. That happened," Sweet Pea said, sticking his hands in his pockets. Franklin's head snapped up.

"What?"

"Well, you just said it. You turned into a wolf. Hey, stop," Sweet Pea said, "You get worked up again, you'll turn. Again."

"I don't want that." Franklin said, shaking his head, "I don't want to do it again."

"Right, well, it gets better. Right now, though, we should keep you human. You're probably really confused right now." Sweet Pea looked at the sky. It was a little before dinner.

"Mostly my head is killing me, argh," Franklin said, "Oh my god. That car. The one that nearly hit me. Is...is it okay?" He started going back toward the road.

"Dude, you're naked right now," Sweet Pea said, trying to grab his arm.

"We have to go back. It was a girl, like a teenager like us. She might be seriously hurt. My god, we need to call 911. Where's my phone?" Franklin began patting the forest ground frantically.

"Franklin," Sweet Pea murmured softly, "There's only one catalyst for activating a werewolf curse."

He let the words sink in. He hoped the word 'curse' would do it, since he didn't really feel like spelling it out.

There was just a moment of silence when Franklin stared off at where he'd come from, trying to form words but failing. Then, there was a wolf in his place again.

"Fucking hell," Sweet Pea sighed, but knew that either way Franklin was going to rile up his emotions about this again. He stripped his own clothes off swiftly (8.3 seconds; he'd timed it) and jumped into his dark gray wolf.

Franklin! Hey, you need to stop it. She's dead. You can't fix it.

Franklin turned to Sweet Pea, his body heaving.

I can hear you in my mind. Oh god. There's so many voices. I can hear all of them. Wow. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy-

Dude, chill. I mean this in the nicest way.

I can't take the voices, Sweet Pea. There's too many.

Then change back. When Franklin looked at him imploringly, Sweet Pea sighed, Calm yourself down again. Imagine your human form. Just, focus on breathing and what you want to become. Cmon, you got this, Frankie.

Don't call me that.

It took a couple seconds of Franklin turning in a circle and grunting before he turned back. Sweet Pea paused, just to make sure he wasn't going to split back, before shifting too.

"I thought werewolves could only change during the full moon?" This was the first thing Franklin asked, which was pretty common.

"Load of bull. Probably a myth created by werewolves, though, now that I think about it. You know, so that if a villager saw a wolf running around during a new moon or something, they'd be like 'well, that can't possibly be a werewolf'. Our emotions get harder to control during it, which is where it came from. Or, maybe." Sweet Pea shrugged.

"We?"

"The Pack. Any other wolves. You didn't think we were the only ones?" Sweet Pea shot him a smile. As Franklin struggled to ask more questions, Sweet Pea clamped his shoulder, "Come with me and we'll explain it all. You, sir, deserve a beer."

"But I'm only 16," Franklin said, frowning, "Do you have beer?"

"No, we're going to the Wyrm. Trust me, they'll let you have one. They're family now."

Sweet Pea began walking the opposite direction of the road.

"But, what about the girl?" Franklin asked in the smallest voice possible. Sweet Pea gave a long sigh and took Franklin to the ridge above where the accident was.

"I picked up your bike when I arrived, it's in my truck," Sweet Pea began, "Called 911, but I was sent out to talk down a new wolf, so I already knew she was dead. Probably died on impact, to be honest. In that case, she didn't suffer."

"You found a dead deer to put on the road?" Franklin said, noticing the cover Sweet Pea had done.

"Well, magicked one." He said.

"You can do magic?"

"I can use magical things," Sweet Pea said, "It's a log that will turn back in about six hours. But, no one will be coming after you now." He began to lead Franklin to his truck.

"Isn't That dishonest, though?" Franklin asked.

"Do you want to go on trial? Go to jail? At the very least, pay a lot of money?" Sweet Pea asked, a little frustrated. He'd done a good thing for the kid, you know?

"No, but...it feels a little…"

"I know," Sweet Pea sighed, "I do. Really." He unlocked the door of the car, rifling and finding one of the bags of generic clothes. He scrutinized Franklin, "You're 'bout a medium? Try this on." He said, throwing it to him, "But dude, you're gunna be changing every two minutes if you keep thinking like that. And it will suck."

Franklin was pulling on a pair of jeans and a flannel.

"But-,"

"For all we know, someone magicked her mind to nearly mow you over, to activate your charm. It's happened before. Look, Franklin, you had the right of way. She nearly killed you. It happened. Every single member of the Serpents has killed at least one person, most on accident, and we all live with it but we also moved on."

"The Serpents?" Franklin echoed, admiration and slight fear in his voice.

"Yeah, the Serpents. The Pack." Sweet Pea said.

Franklin was strangely quiet on the ride over. Sweet Pea allowed him this silence, since he was sure that the kid was taking it all in. It was overwhelming.

The Wyrm was already underway with it's Fourth of July celebrations. When Franklin walked in, all the Serpents there welcomed him by name- shouting across the room or even coming over and hugging him. There was a lot of 'welcome to the Pack, brother' as well as a couple apologies. In all, Franklin just looked like he was going to pass out.

At the bar, Birdie gave him a beer and he just stared down into it like he couldn't believe what was going on. What seemed to do him in completely was when FP came up, nodded to him, and handed him a jacket. Franklin's face was white as a sheet and he just looked like he had short circuited.

"God, Sweet Pea!" Toni jumped the bar, hitting Sweet Pea mid drink. He coughed on his own beer, "Can't you see he's overwhelmed?"

"Well, it's a big day," Sweet Pea said.

"Ass." Toni rolled her eyes, "Franklin, hey. Remember me? We have Trig together."

"Yeah, Antoinette."

"Ew. PLease, call me Toni." She said, scrunching her nose, "What should I call you?"

"I called him Fangs in the forest. I think it has a nice ring to it. Let's be honest, Franklin is just an unfortunate name that reminds me of that turtle from kiddie books." Sweet Pea interjected.

"Ignore him." Toni rolled her eyes.

"Fangs is fine," Fangs managed, a little more flesh-colored.

"See!" Sweet Pea gave a triumphant grin, "Look, I'm not really an ass. Toni's right, it can be a bit much. Let's go to the roof." He offered, pointing up, "Fangs, take the beer. We have a lot to talk about."

Toni followed them, and once they were all situated, Fangs turned to Toni.

"Sweet Pea says everyone killed someone. He told me in the car ride how he did it. What about you?"

"How did a girl with purple hair activate the curse?" Toni rephrased with a soft smile, "Yeah, well, when I was thirteen I went to the lake with my friends. One of my friends hit her head on a rock and went under. When we pulled her up, she was hardly breathing. I tried to do CPR and couldn't save her. FP says if I hadn't done anything, chances are it wouldn't have counted. But since I tried and didn't save her, it did. It's seems like it's fake, and all, but magic is a really douche when it wants more wolves."

"Why does it want more wolves?" Fangs asked, looking bewildered.

"Well," Sweet Pea took over, "At our base, we're magical beings. Magic runs in our blood now, it crackles around us when we change. We use magic on a daily basis." Sweet Pea explained, "Magic is a little selfish. It just wants more of itself spread out."

"By making wolves?"

"By making lots of everything." Sweet Pea chugged the remainder of his beer and stood up, shaking off his shoulders.

"Oh, there goes Sweet Pea into 'lecture mode'," Toni rolled her eyes, "I mean, I jest," She added when he sent a nasty glare in her direction, "Sweet Pea knows more about this than, well, anyone I think."

"Lecture...will I be tested? Should I be taking notes?" Fangs asked, looking nervous, "Ah, man, I'm bad if I don't get time to study."

"No, no. We're not that cruel. I'm just going to lay everything you should know out, so that you don't get surprised because literally anything can be thrown at you now. You can always text me if you have a question or forget. Chances are, at this age, you'll never solely need to know this, you'll always be with an older wolf."

"Oh, okay," Franklin gave a determined nod, "Lay it on me."

Sweet Pea grinned.

"There are three big species, like, the top of the food chain in magical terms. A lot about magic is inherited. Most lesser hierarchical species need two dominant genes to become magic, but these three only need one. They're all similar but very different."

"One, us. Werewolves. Magic is inherited by bloodline, only way to become a wolf. If you bit someone, you pass it on, but not to that person but to their descendant. So, basically, you have to be born with the possibility to be a wolf. The gene, once introduced, as far as we know never goes away. Your great, great, great, great granddaughter could be a werewolf down the line. We were cursed ages ago so that we have to kill someone to activate it; it used to just be that you learned how to change, you mediated, and then you did it. We have heightened strength and senses and super fast healing. We share a Pack Mind. Anyone changed as a wolf can hear your thoughts, current thoughts. They can't dig around in there for stuff, you know, and isn't only works once you're in wolf form. FP's word, our alpha, is law. It's like a compulsion we have to follow. Werewolf Pack Bonds are a big deal, but you don't have to worry bout that, not in the big way. I mean, you were joined into the bond by FP giving you the jacket."

"Two; witches and warlocks. There isn't a lot around anymore, but you know. Their power is also passed down by blood, but unlike us, there's no way to become a witch if it's not in your genes. Therefore, they're hard to come by. We can always make more wolves for the next generation if we were going to be really big jerks, but you're either a witch or you aren't. They're the most human of the species. They can practice individually or in Covens, and like the Pack Bond, which strengthens them. Their blood is highly magical, and used in a shit ton of stuff. They're the only species that can also be another. It's actually more like a 'witch' is a modification, like you could be 'Species; wolf, mod; witch' or 'species; human, mod; witch', but that's fairly rare. We don't have any around. FP knows of a couple witches in the area-like within three hours away if things really go to shit, but they haven't ever caused problems so it's a need to know sort of thing. Things that they, or other magic-making species- make, we can use. Even a human could use potions and stuff, but we're a little better at it, just because we can almost hear magic at a certain frequency."

"Three; vampires. There used to be a pair living in Riverdale, but they left a long time ago, thank god. I mean, they're usually up to no good. This is a species that- like wolves- you can bit someone and change them. Unlike the other two, though, they can't procreate so their only option is to bite people. And, it changes you immediately, or not the next generation to say. Since they're undead, you have to die to become a vamp. It's nasty stuff. Their blood can heal wounds. The whole mythology that they can kill us is bullshit. I mean, yeah, they can, but it's not any different than other people trying to kill us. We just don't like them. They are inherently magical creatures. Like us, they're super fast and strong and sense are on top of things. Sort of like using a spell or sort of like our Alphas, they can also use mind control, but it doesn't work on other magical creatures. Sunlight harms them, but rarely kills them. Vervain makes hurts them like a motherfucker, but only a wooden stake to the heart ends their second life. Oh, on that note, stay away from the wolfsbane plant or totally silver things. Silver hurts a ton and wolfsbane sort of burns our skin. It's not a good time."

Toni unrolled her sleeve in front of Fang's face to show a nasty looking burn, nodding in firm agreement.

"Any questions?"

"Umm-,"

"Excellent," Sweet Pea continued, "Now, for every creature out there; and don't worry much about other species, they're few and far in between and most times you'll be with a wolf that will tell you, but point is for every species there's an alpha or a king or a queen, what have you, the Maximus of a species grouping that has elevated powers. For every Pack, there's An Alpha. For every Coven, a Coven Leader. For every flock of vampires, a big-daddy bat. It's a lot to do with bloodlines; basically, once you're an alpha your fam is always an alpha. So, FP is super powerful, but if one of his kids ever triggered the curse, they'd be powerful too. Not as powerful, but more powerful than the average bear, or err, wolf. And, once they ascend to ultimate Alpha, through a fancy little ceremony, they inherit all the powers. FP retains a lot of it, even after he were to retire, theoretically. Point of the matter is that bloodline is everything. For you, even, where your family was in the Pack last is where you start out. Your grandma was respected, so the wolves will take to you better once you start being one of us in full."

"That's not to say you can't make your own name, write your own blood on the wall-not literally of course," Toni chimed in, "Look at Sweet Pea. We have no idea which of his parents were bit, but he's a first-generation werewolf and he's pretty damn important. The most important of the wolves under 30, at least. And," Toni leaned in, her voice a mere whisper, "He's a shoe in for Alpha next."

"It's just rumors," Sweet Pea rubbed the back of his neck, biting his lip and shrugging.

"He's hardly ever humble, except for this." Toni leaned back, taking a swig of her beer, which had to be lukewarm by now, "Shows he really cares."

"Really?" Fangs looked at Sweet Pea with utter amazement.

"Possibly," Sweet Pea admitted cautiously.

"Well, if neither of his kids are wolves, then FP will have to pick a successor and he'll magically adopt Sweet Pea. Bada bing, bada boom." Toni swiped her hands twice, "And, even if like Jughead does, I still say there's a good chance that FP will have Sweet Pea take over anyway."

"It's probably not going to be done. Blood is hella important," He said, sending Toni a hard look.

"Yeah, but you've been a wolf forever. And, usually an Alpha steps down around when they turn 50. Even if Jughead were to turn like, tomorrow, no one would know more than you!" Toni said, "You know there's a ton of wolves that would follow you."

"I'm not looking to create a civil war," Sweet Pea enunciated slowly, "Over an issue that is far away and all theory to begin with."

That shut Toni up, but only for a second, "See?" She asked with an impish grin, "He's not even an alpha yet but he's just got that presence, that power. That's the last I'll say about it, swear." She added when Sweet Pea opened his mouth to argue with her.

Sweet Pea growled, pinching the bridge of his nose, "She's impossible." He said to Fangs.

"She seems nice." Fangs sent her a furtive glance, blushing a little.

"I claim this one," Toni laughed, throwing her arm over his shoulders, "Stick with me kid, it will be good."

"Okay," Sweet Pea plopped back down, "Now, for homework."

Fangs groaned, "What? I thought you said no quizzes? Want me to write a paper about what I've learned?" He asked, somewhat genuine.

"Nope. It's more...active. You gotta change again, at least like six more times. I mean, I'm not giving you a deadline, but it's more friendly advice."

"But, changing sucks." Fangs pouted, "I feel like my bones are made of jelly and my stomach is on fire."

"Each time you change, it hurts less," Sweet Pea paused, tapping his chin, "It's like...you just bought a new pair of Jordan's. They're a little stiff, so it hurts like the first couple times walking in them. You gotta stretch 'em out. Same here, you gotta stretch your wolf body, get it used to being part of your body. If you don't change, first off, it's just going to keep hurting and will get stiff again and will feel like the first time again. I change, oh, every week at least, usually more like every two to three days. That's fairly normal. But, second, your body right now...it just went through a massive change. You're not a human any more, Fangs."

Fangs drew in a sharp breath. Sweet Pea understood it. For all they'd been talking about magical creatures, it could just be from a really fleshed-out fantasy film. To hear such a declaration out loud is startling. It makes it real. It's strange to come to terms with.

"And your body, as a human, is trying to reconcile that," Toni added softly, "The more you change, the quicker your body and your wolf will merge into one." She linked her fingers, "Take it from me. I know."

"She knows," Sweet Pea agreed with an apologetic glance.

"How?" Fangs asked, turning toward Toni.

"After I changed, my dad took me to a cabin he rented out for us. He thought it would be good to get away from it all for a little bit. I was struggling with the fact that I just lost a dear friend, and more, that I couldn't save her. And so I didn't change. I kept my emotions bottled in, and just...did not let myself. And first off, it really hurt. But, more than that, my wolf inside of me grew restless. I mean, we don't like referring to our 'wolves' as separate beings, because they shouldn't be, but in some cases they can. Like how it is for you right now, how it was for me then. It would force me to change when I was unconscious and I wouldn't remember any of it. Since it was wolf that was not linked to my human side, I didn't have morals or complex thought. I just wanted to hunt. It's where some of the more gruesome werewolf tales came from, I'm sure. I don't recall any of it, but my dad I says I nearly attacked a hiker. I might have killed him, Fangs. So, you gotta link them. And, the only way to do it is to change. You get it?"

Fangs didn't answer for a long second, then he nodded, "How do I do it?"

Sweet Pea grinned, "Well, we could always hit you with sticks until you get upset enough to change."

"That sounds awful."

"Yeah, it's meant to be," Sweet Pea laughed, "Or, you could just imagine yourself as a wolf, visual it and then try hard. It sounds like nothing, but you'll understand it. It's like how you changed to a human, but backwards."

"Okay," Fangs said, nodding resolutely. He furrowed his eyebrows, locked his jaw.

"Woah! Hey, not up here," Toni grabbed his arm. Fangs looked around, a tinge embarrassed, as it seemed he'd forgotten they were on a roof.

"I know a place we can go," Toni chuckled, getting up and offering him a hand.

"Will you change with me?" Fangs asks.

"I'm wounded, Fangs, deeply wounded." Sweet Pea clutched his chest, "That you did not ask me."

"Ha!" Toni poked Sweet Pea's chest, "Take that."

"I actually just wanted to know if her fur is pink when she changes too." Fangs admitted with a quarter smile, the first smile that Sweet Pea had seen from him since this morning.

There was a moment, the Sweet Pea couldn't help but burst out laughing as he imagined a brightly colored neon-pink wolf streaking through the forest. Toni joined in too, and that pretty much answered Fang's question.

Downstairs, the lighthearted mood was shot as the trio read the room. Most of the wolves were gone, leaving some of the most senior members behind, deep in conversation. It seemed like more than the average weekly discussion, plus they wouldn't be having such an event on a Holiday unless it couldn't be avoided.

"You two go. I'll, uh, catch up later." Sweet Pea said, ushering the two out of the bar before they heard something they weren't supposed to. He didn't assume to be up enough to be privy to these meetings, but he also was very curious. Luckily, FP caught his eye across the room and motioned for him to come over.

"The kid up to snuff?" FP asked.

"As much as I usually do. He's a little shaken still. Toni's taking him to help him change on purpose, at least try to today. I don't think he'll get it right away." Sweet Pea reported back.

"Good, good." FP said. Usually, he was fully interested in the younger wolve's progress, and Sweet Pea's own teachings or comments about it, but he seemed farther away today.

Sweet Pea didn't press out of respect, and of knowing where he stood in the Pack, and decided if FP didn't say anything in the next five seconds, Sweet Pea would assume it was none of his damn business and go follow Toni and Fangs.

Just as he was turning to leave, FP sighed.

"Jason Blossom went missing today." He said.

"The rich twin?" Sweet Pea asked, crossing his arms. The Blossoms; human. Only reason they were on the wolve's radar is they could be shady as fuck and they were just as rich, so naturally, FP always kept one ear open for their whatever they did, because obviously it wasn't just producing maple syrup. Even Sweet Pea was intelligent enough to grasp that.

"Yeah, that one. He and his sister went for a boat ride and apparently, their boat tipped on Sweetwater River. She made it to shore, he didn't. Police is out dredging the river for him." FP elaborated. Sweet Pea made a popping noise from his cheeks.

"God, looking for a body," he shook his head, "We been out to sniff it out?" He asked. Sometimes, Chief Keller asked them to help out here and there on police business. He was aware of their status and as long as they weren't off killing civilians in bloodlust rages, he took advantage of their sniffing skills and strengths. Plus, they weren't terrible people. Jason was Sweet Pea's age; if they could go and find him and possibly still save him, 'course they weren't going to withhold help.

"Tried this morning. Nothing. Scent washed in the stream, which means he's somewhere in the river," Birdie added from where she was cleaning off the bar.

"That's awful shitty. Damn." Sweet Pea mused, feeling sorry for the other twin. Sherry or something, that was her name. Cherry? He couldn't recall. Either way, he knew that this must be an awfully terrible time for her.

He frowned, looking at FP. There seemed to be something else, but FP wasn't saying much else. He got the feeling there was more to this that FP wasn't saying, but as their alpha, if he thought he shouldn't tell Sweet Pea, then Sweet Pea had to respect that. It didn't mean that Sweet Pea wasn't a little wary about this situation, about where it could go.

So, he asked, "Boss, we gunna have problems from this?"

Tall Boy sent Sweet Pea a hard glance that served as a warning, one that Sweet Pea knew he was walking a thin line over, but couldn't resist finding out what he could. FP didn't seem upset by his question, in fact, he seemed proud Sweet Pea had the guts to ask.

"I don't think so, or, it's nothing you need to worry about." FP replied firmly, "But, little wolf, keep your ears perked and your mind ready. Be smart."

Sweet Pea let out a breath, nodding to FP like the good soldier he was, "You know I always am."

Notity note notes!

Did I show Fang's changing JUST so I could have an unaware character to explain the rules of the world? Ah, you caught me. It's a lot to take down, but I felt like it was needed to get a baseline of this world's universal rules. So, yeah, more exciting shit is coming, I swear.

I didn't know Fang's real name, so I picked Franklin...it seemed to fit. *shrug*

And omg guys I just reached writing 100 pages on this fic. I'm going off the episodes in some place and it's like it's writing itself. I totally feel like they were going to take it more supernatural and then veered away, because some of the comments are a little bit too...well, you'll see. I'm also getting into other POVs, which is cool, like Jughead's and I actually just wrote one for Mrs. Lodge too, so we'll get a lot of the cast showing their side of the story.

I've decided to do two things for this story, which hopefully you like

a) Each chapter I'll make a board as like a mini preview and post it either on my tumblr with the chapter (youngbloodlex22) or on my a03 account, where I also post pictures. Maybe wattpad too? Anyway, just more art

b) I realized I posted this at peak Halloween time. Not my intention, but it's what happened. This fic also happens to be very Halloween in nature. And, as I was collecting my Halloween playlist a couple nights ago, I realized I have a butt-ton of Halloween songs (more than the average person SHOULD have) and I like using song titles as chapter titles, so that's what I'll do. And, as I go along, I'll make a playlist of it on Youtube/Spotify/8tracks for your listening pleasures.

RIVERDALE S3 COMES BACK TOMORROW WHO IS HYPED? TELL ME WHAT YOU WANNA SEE IN A REVIEW (also, if you have any Halloween tunes for my consideration, lemme know that as well!)

This is a pretty quick update. Because I'm so far ahead, I figure I'll post every 5-7 days. Once again, not easy to follow, but the best way to make sure you don't miss an update is to subscribe/follow/do whatever to this fic! Or, just check back every once a week :)

Lastly, I'm a little upset about the lack of reviews. Thank you so much to the two of you who did make a comment, but from the likes/responses I got on tumblr it seemed like there would be...more of you? I know the last chapter didn't have a ton and I know sometimes it's hard to post on a story you don't know if it will continue, but guys, I've pre-written ten chapters of this already. I'm gunna be posting for awhile. So, it would really make my day to see you guys comment :) Remember, ten comments and you get a short drabble written about a couple of your choice!

Next chapter we introduce Betty's POV, and she's going to be noticing some strange changes to herself...