By the next morning, things hadn't improved. Pixal hadn't gotten much sleep but she wasn't sure if it was guilt or dread keeping her awake. She had been reading Zane's text repeatedly, but it didn't get any easier. She had tried to call him but the call was always declined. She had sent several texts but Zane never responded. Whatever he wanted to say he wanted it to be told in person, but Pixal couldn't bring herself to text him again. Every time she opened the messenger app and started to type her hands started getting cold and shaky, so much so that she couldn't continue typing.

So now she was sitting at the dining room table with her dad beside her, the dirty dishes and the crumbs of their breakfast spread out on the table in front of them. Borg had been trying to talk to her the entire meal about how her work experience went and about her plans for the day but the only responses he got were the occasional yes or no. He wasn't upset though. He was young once upon a time and he knew the signs of a broken heart when he saw one.

"Cheer up Pixal, it's not even been a day yet." He reassured her but it fell on deaf ears. "There will be other boys you know."

"How would you know?" She asked with a tone much harsher than she intended but he laughed instead of getting upset.

"I still remember when Gail Worth dumped me for Brian Quinton two days before my 14th birthday; it was during lunch and-" He started but saw the completely uninterested look on his daughter's face as she stared at her phone. "All right, but just imagine if she hadn't, I wouldn't have met your mom and we wouldn't have had you." He smiled warmly at the memory but she rolled her eyes.

"Dad don't even bother pretending it's the same because it isn't; Gail whatever her name didn't dump because you lied about so many things."

"What sort of things?" Borg asked but she looked away in shame.

"It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand." She said, which was true to an extent. After all, how do you explain to your dad that the reason you and your boyfriend are having problems is because he's a werewolf and you've been giving his DNA to a scientist?

"Well, maybe you should talk to someone who does understand, one of your friends perhaps," Borg suggested and left to go and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Pixal watched her father wheel into the kitchen with a thoughtful expression. Borg had a point but who could she talk to about this? Almost all her friends werewolves and those that weren't didn't know about werewolves being real.

It hit her suddenly.

There was only one person in this whole world who could understand the position Pixal found herself in. She could only hope they were willing to listen...

Things were not doing so well for Zane either. He had been up most of the night as well due to a compilation of Pixal's constant texts and his worries. He knew he and Pixal had to talk, but he had no idea what he was going to say or do. He would give anything to speak to a relationship counselor right now, but he doubted that would go down well. Is there a way to tell a professional that you are a werewolf and your girlfriend is handing your DNA and secrets to a mad scientist without getting sectioned?

He had messaged his friends, telling them about what had happened and what they should do, but the replies were less than helpful.

Cole, Kai, and Morro were enraged and horrified when they learned what Pixal had done and were planning to sneak into the Borg residence and get rid of all the stolen DNA. Skylor still didn't have a phone so Zane didn't know what she thought about the situation but he doubted it was any good. Jay and Lloyd expressed their distress at Pixal's betrayal, wondering why she would do this to them. Nya made it very clear she was out for blood and Zane could only pray that Pixal stayed out of her way because he couldn't see Jay or Kai rushing to stop a vengeful she-wolf. Harumi had been oddly quiet, but at that moment Zane didn't care at the moment.

The thing that they all had in common was that Pixal had to go, but Zane didn't want that. With no other choice, he went to ask his Dad for advice, finding him in the kitchen prepping his lunch for work. The good doctor listened carefully as his son explained his plight.

"-and then she keeps saying that I misunderstand her, but what exactly have I misunderstood?" He ranted as Dr. Julien watched him pace back and forth. Once he was sure Zane had said his piece he sighed and poured himself another cup of coffee.

"People lie to protect themselves; we lie all the time." He reminded calmly. It was true. At school, Zane and his friends act human, as their parents do at work.

"It's not the same."

"It is."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is!" Dr. Julien snapped impatiently before taking a quick slip of coffee to calm his nerves. "Everyone lies Zane, and everyone's got their reasons; we lie because if our secret gets out, then some people will want to hurt us, or worse." He said and Zane looked away, disturbed at the thought of what could happen to them. "So if Pixal's lied, I'm sure she has her reasons and it's up to you to decide whether her reasons are good enough for you." With that, the doctor finished his coffee and left for work.

He offered to give Zane a lift into the city, but he declined. He had a lot to think about...

When Morro had offered a date this was not how Harumi thought it would turn out. The Dobsons had taken Antonia and Nelson out for the day, leaving Morro home alone, and like any teenager he seized the opportunity. He and Harumi had settled on the couch, intending to watch a movie together, unfortunately the only movie they could load up was an old cheap werewolf horror movie. Not even ten minutes in Morro was already raging about how wrong the movie portrayed real werewolves.

When Harumi asked what he meant he explained that most werewolves were kind and fun, like big puppies. He probably shouldn't have made that comparison because Harumi had laughed she hard her sides hurt. She then insisted he proved it, which led to the situation they found themselves in now. They were currently in the back garden with Morro in wolf form and Harumi was throwing a ball for him to chase. Thankfully the Dobsons lived in a very noncongested suburban neighborhood with a decent amount of space in between houses. It sucked for kids on Halloween but it worked for a girl wanting to spend time with her werewolf boyfriend without nosy neighbors peeking in.

He was right, it was like a giant puppy. She couldn't stop laughing as he brought the ball back, a big dog smile on his face and his tail wagging furiously behind him. It was so adorable that she almost took a picture.

Suddenly there was a knocking on the gate that led to the driveway and they both froze. Just because the neighbors weren't too close didn't mean they weren't there. Someone might have heard or seen something and was coming in to investigate. Harumi looked to Morro but he was frozen, still staring at the gate. Whoever it was knew they were out there so pretending they weren't was out of the question. Concocting a cover story in her head, Harumi approached the gate and opened it.

She was both relieved and annoyed to see it was only Pixal.

As soon as Morro saw who it was he growled and changed back, causing Pixal to blush. Upon seeing this, Harumi quickly passed him her jacket.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled as he finished covering himself up. It didn't take a genius to figure out why he was so hostile towards her.

"He's told you hasn't he?"

"Yeah, he did, and if you think ANY of us are gonna trust you after that you're as mad as that scientist! Now, fuck off!" He shouted and tried to shut the gate, but Pixal quickly blocked it with her foot. "Move your foot or I'll break it!"

"I just need to talk to Harumi!" She screamed and Harumi hurried to push herself in between them and opened the gate a little so Pixal could pull her foot out. She wasn't actually interested in what Pixal had to say for herself, she just didn't want her screams to alert the neighbors. But everyone knew about Pixal's inability to let things go, so it was easier to get it over with than drag it out, With that in mind, she gestured for Pixal to continue. "I promise I'm not here to cause trouble, I just need to talk to you about something."

Harumi stared at her for a long moment before she turned to her boyfriend. He knew what that look meant and he also knew there was no point in arguing.

"Don't get too close, she might try taking skin cells next." He warned, kissing her on the cheek and heading inside to get some clothes on. As soon as he was gone Harumi turned to the unwanted guest and her expression alone told Pixal what she thought of her.

"If you're looking for someone to defend you then you've come to the wrong place."

"How do you do it?" She asked, but when Harumi didn't understand what she meant she elaborated "How do you and Morro seem so happy after everything? You're human like me, he's a werewolf like Zane, but your relationship is so different from ours, why?"

"THAT'S what you're worried about? Not the fact you've been handing our secrets to some psycho?"

"But they're not OUR secrets though, are they? We're not werewolves."

"No, but maybe that's the difference between our relationships." She hummed in thought. "I don't fixate on our differences and I don't hound Morro for more details about werewolves; if he wants me to know he'll tell me, and I don't need to know everything." She glared at the other. "But you? You've always been obsessed with knowing every single detail about every single thing, not just werewolves! You wanna save your relationship and your friendships? Maybe try taking a step back and letting things go."

"I do let things go!" She exclaimed, but Harumi scoffed. "Come on Harumi, you can not tell me that you're not curious about werewolves now that you know they are real!"

"Of course, I'm curious about it, but it's not my business; if Morro wants to talk to me about it then I'll listen but I'm not gonna go invading other people's privacy to satisfy my own curiosity." She exhaled and rubbed her forehead to try and stave off the incoming headache. "Look Pixal, I'm not a counselor and you're not me so I can't tell you what to do, but I think you already know what you need to do."

With that Harumi closed the gate in her face and Pixal heard her go back into the house. She stared at that gate for a long moment, as if it held all the answers she sought. She tried to tell herself that that talk did nothing to help her, but deep down she knew Harumi was right. She knew what she had to do.

Eyes narrowing in determination, she pulled out her phone and typed the one message she had been dreading all day.

-Let's talk then...

After she sent that text it was decided they would meet at the Borg residence. Pixal wasn't sure at first but she knew she had no right to argue. All she could do was agree and rush home as quickly as possible. Her father was going to be working until late in the night so they would have plenty of privacy for what was to come. When she got there she didn't have to walk too far away from the elevator before she saw him.

Zane stood in the doorway to the dining room, staring at her with no expression. It was a little unsettling. She looked past him and frowned when she saw all the containers she had been using to store the DNA. They were all empty and judging by the peeling stickers they had had a cycle through the dishwasher. She looked back at Zane, but he didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

Neither of them spoke for a while until the silence became so heavy that Zane couldn't take it anymore.

"So you went to the White Wolf Corporation?"

"Look, it's not how you think, I was just-"

"Why did you lie?" He frowned and Pixal felt her patience snap.

"Because I knew you'd be unfair! The things they're doing could cure cancer!" She shouted and Zane's stoic expression melted into one of fury.

"Oh, so it's fine to sell your boyfriend's DNA to a mad woman who locked him in a cage!" He roared louder than Pixal had ever heard. "That's without mentioning what she did to Kai, Nya, and Morro! They were too scared to leave their homes for weeks after!"

"I knew you wouldn't understand!"

"Wouldn't understand?! All I've ever done is understand and stick up for you!"

"When have you ever stuck up for me?!"

"Are you kidding me?!" He scoffed in utter disbelief. "All I have ever done is stick up for you! I stood up for you when Lloyd and Morro were rushed to hospital and you were excited for them to get blood tests when you found out the secret and we're going to post those pictures online when you hid cameras in our dens when you tried to steal Skylor's potions, and when you outed Kai and Cole!" He listed and she could feel herself shrinking with each point. "I can't think of you doing half that much for me and I've had enough!"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I can't live like this anymore! I spend more time worrying about how you will feel or reacting to things that I have no time to process my thoughts or feelings and I'm exhausted by it!" He confessed, heaving for breath and his eyes were blazing gold. It took him a couple of minutes to calm down enough to continue. "I... I think we need to spend some time apart."

"...Are you breaking up with me?" Pixal whispered in mounting horror.

"No this isn't a breakup, it's more like pressing pause." He raised a hand to stop her before she could protest. "And before you start this has nothing to do with our friends or Dr. Kiken; I'm doing this for my own sanity!" He exclaimed, voice growing heavy with each word. "If you love me as much as you say you do then you will grant me this."

"Please don't do this Zane!" Pixal cried as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and refusing to let go. "Please let me try and make it up to you! I can change, just tell me what to do, and whatever it takes I'll do it!"

"I need you to step aside so I can leave." He said as calmly as possible, not even looking at her.

"No, you won't leave because you love me and we love each other! You do believe that I love you, right?!" Reluctantly he nodded. "See? All you have got to do is forgive me!" She pleaded, and it was then that Zane finally looked her in the eyes, but she saw no love in them.

All she saw was pain.

"I do Pixal, and that's the problem; I do every single time but does it get any better?" She flinched when she heard his voice break. "I'll tell you what, from now on I'll forgive you no matter what you do from now on; I don't think you can top this one but let's not take any chances." He laughed bitterly as the tears started to fall. "You're forgiven because we love each other, that's what you think love is right?"

"Zane stop please." She begged as tears of her own started rolling down her cheeks.

"If it isn't then why do I hate myself? Come on, tell me the answers because you've got them all, haven't you?!"

"I don't want you to hate yourself!" She sobbed so loudly it started to hurt Zane's ears. "I-I promise I'll n-never EVER hurt you again!"

"I know you won't." He said with no emotion in his voice and left the penthouse before Pixal had the chance to say anything else. Pixal could only watch in despair as the elevator dinged close and her now ex-boyfriend walked out of her life. She stared at the doors for hours, not moving a muscle, waiting for Zane to walk back into her life, but he didn't. She still didn't move though.

Not as the hours ticked by.

Not as the sun set and the sky darkened.

Not even when the motion lights in the penthouse turned off from lack of movement.

It wasn't until her father finally returned home and received a fright when he found his daughter standing like a statue a few feet from the elevator, staring at it with wide-open eyes and tears streaming down her face.

"Pixal, what's happened?" He asked as he wheeled to her side. She said nothing for several seconds before she suddenly collapsed into his arms, almost knocking him out of his chair, and wailed...

NEXT CHAPTER: While on a school trip to a nature sanctuary, the pack comes across a fascinating secret...