Pt 2 of 2 of a commission for  loldude94
Previous part can be found here

Alex rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck and stretching his body, joints popping. He gave Nathan quick look, both eyebrows raised.

“Well, we don’t have to rush it. We’ve got all night.” Another trick-or-treater came past, a teenager with her face seemingly ripped apart, scarily realistic blood dripping across her painted cheeks. She pulled out a phone, wiggling it at Alex, and after a moment he sighed and leaned down. She put two fingers up behind his head as she took the selfie, laughing joyfully as she saw the result.

“You’re the best, thanks! And awesome costume, I love it!” She skipped off.

“See, everyone loves you? Not so bad, huh?”

Alex had to admit his friend was right. Despite the gruff exterior he was starting to enjoy the attention, and being able to walk around without worrying about being spotted was refreshing. A group of teenagers was approaching from behind them, various half-drunk bottles being waved about, a riot of false vampire teeth and spooky face masks. They swarmed around the pair, laughing and chanting, and several of them made fake growling sounds at Alex, encouraging him to respond. His responding growl was suitably blood-curdling, and he grinned as they laughed and applauded, beckoning him to come along.

Alex gave him a questioning look, and Nathan laughed in response.

“Dude, we’ve got more important things to do right now.” Nathan was about to turn away when he saw Alex make The Face. “Seriously? You’re reeeeeally gonna give me the puppy eyes right now?”

Alex raised a hopeful eyebrow.

“Oh fine, alright then. But not for long, we don’t know this spell works.” Upon hearing this Alex grinned and grabbed Nathan by the arm, dragging him along as they ran after the group. He grabbed a full bottle from someone, breaking the top off with his teeth and chugging it in one go as they walked, the group chanting and cheering as he did. Upon finishing it a massive roar of approval went up, and Nathan got the sense that they would have carried the werewolf if he hadn’t been so large. Nathan chuckled as Alex’s tongue lolled out – the wolf’s metabolism was too efficient for him to get properly drunk, but enough alcohol was usually enough to get him off balance for a little while. It showed in the way he happily accepted pats on the head and gave some of the partygoers lifts on his broad shoulders – actions he would normally be quite reluctant about.

“I never had you pegged for a party animal.” Nathan elbowed the wolf in the side gently, grinning. “Having fun being the big, bad wolf?”

Even with his senses dulled Alex rebuked the question with a look that showed he definitely hadn’t forgotten about the original intention of tonight.

“Oh don’t give me that face, you’re loving it. I mean come on, when do you get this opportunity? Must be awesome to have fun while being that much larger and stronger.”

Alex didn’t deny this, but instead snatched Nathan up, hoisting him onto his broad shoulders. Nathan laughed at the very obvious attempt to change the topic, but didn’t pry further, not wanting to ruin the moment.
They soon approached a house that looked like it was already in the midst of a party – loud music was audible through the open door, as were various spookily-dressed trick-or-treaters, cheerfully giving out candy to the abundance of children in the garden. As far as parties went it wasn’t like any that Nathan had ever seen, if only due to the sheer inclusivity – everyone from 6 to 60 seemed to be there.

Alex whined a little as he tried to fit through the doorway and realised it was simply too small. Nathan sighed a small breath of relief – the last thing he wanted to do was get stuck here when they had a spell to unravel.
“I’ll grab you one drink from inside, I want to take quick look around for Alice anyway. This seems like the kind of place she’d be attracted to. But after that we’re going, we’ve got to deal with this spell before we celebrate, alright?”

Alex grudgingly nodded, setting himself down in the yard. He was too big for the cheap plastic chairs dotted around so instead he simply sat on the grass, drawing considerable attention from the younger members of the party.

Inside the house was…wild, but not in the way you’d think. It was just very abrasive, in-your-face; a result of all the costumes. More than anything he wanted to lose himself in it, to just start dancing and not stop until the next morning, but the reality of their situation dragged his focus back. It was all fun and games now, but if Alex was still a werewolf in the morning then it would be a whole heap of trouble. Plus he’d have to clean the werewolf fur up again, which was no mean task in itself. Nathan was no stranger to shedding, having dealt with various pets in the past, but when the source was an 8ft tall werewolf the effect was amplified to quite frankly ridiculous levels. Not only did he shed far more than anyone would think, the stuff got EVERYWHERE – he was still cleaning up the fur from Alex’s last visit over 4 months ago, little tufts of grey fluff appearing in his sheets despite quite literally dozens of washes. He often joked to Alex that he could practically build a second werewolf with the amount he had hoovered up.

He grabbed a couple of bottles, one for himself and one for Alex, and then pushed his way out through the jumble of bodies. He was looking at the label on the bottle as he walked outside.

“Hey Alex, I got you a – heh. Hehaha.”

Alex had about 5 or 6 children clambering over him, all of them laughing. A few parents were nearby, chuckling and taking photos of the spectacle. Nathan couldn’t help but chuckle too at Alex’s expression – ‘please help’ was practically scrawled across his face. He gave it a few seconds first, just watching kids play with Alex’s exposed fangs, laughing as they ran pudgy fingers over the razor-sharp points, the wolf holding his head perfectly still and his mouth slightly open. One of them dropped a lollipop onto his tongue.

“Hey, sorry guys, but I’m gonna need my furry friend back.” A chorus of groans, followed by a very relieved, thankful-sounding sigh.

“But he’s so fluffyyyy!” One child shouted as he climbed down from Alex’s lap.
“He is, isn’t he? I hope you had fun with him.”

“Yeahh, he’s awesome! He’s a biiiiig fluffy!” The child nodded sagely before running off, and Nathan chuckled again.

“You know, I thought we peaked in cuteness with the little girl earlier.” He began walking, and Alex followed, being careful not to walk into anyone as they left the party.

“Grmrmrrmr.” Alex pulled the lollipop out of his mouth, inspected it for a few seconds, then shrugged and popped it back in again.

“Ahhh, you love it really. Besides, I got you a reward for being such a good boy.” He waved the bottle teasingly, and a clawed hand grabbed it, flicked the cap off. Alex didn’t chug it all this time, but he did take a generous swig, the alcohol temporarily making him forget about the ‘good boy’ comment. “Just take it easy, I know what your metabolism is like but even you can’t hit the sauce all night and not feel the effects. The last thing we need right now is a drunk werewolf.” Alex merely grunted in response, but lowered the bottle.

As the pair of them walked closer to the west side of town the lights dimmed, the once frequent sight of trick-or-treaters dwindled, replaced by people in long capes and sour expressions. It was said that this was the supernatural part of town, where banshees sang in the karaoke halls and vampires did part-time work in the soup kitchens. Not the mythical, ethereal beings, no no no, these were very real creatures of blood, flesh, and sometimes a bit more.

"Just keep an eye out for someone we can ask for directions. I know roughly where the West side is but I have no clue where Black Alice lives, so we'll need to ask some- hrrk!"

Nathan's eyes widened as a hand wrapped around his mouth and he was pulled into the darkness of a side alley. He heard Alex's confused growls but was more preoccupied with the knife that was pressing against his chest.

"Move, and you'll be spending tonight with a hole in your stomach. Wallet. Which pocket?"

Nathan was about to answer when something large and furry blasted past him, too fast to see properly. The pressure instantly left, and Nathan gasped in relief and collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. The mugger was pinned to the wall by a massive claw, Alex growling angrily as he pushed harder and harder. The man coughed in pain as his ribs flexed under the pressure, and suddenly whistled loudly. 3 other men disengaged from the shadows, carrying baseball bats, their mouths hidden under bandanas. They were taken aback by the seemingly massive werewolf pinning their leader to the wall.

"Don't just stand there you idiots, get him! He's just some guy in a costume!" Despite the encouraging shouts the thugs were reluctant to step forward, intimidated by the muscled beast currently making their leader look like a small toy. Alex growled and dropped the first man, stepping towards the other three. He landed in a heap, coughing, and Nathan quickly grabbed the knife off him, pointing it at him shakily.

Alex stepped towards the other three men, who were all shaking as the werewolf approached them. The closer he got, the larger he seemed, until he was towering over them, 8 foot of angry muscle and fury aimed directly at them. Gently, almost delicately, he reached forward and plucked a baseball bat out of one of the thug’s hands, grinned viciously, and snapped the thick wood in half between two fingers.

Nathan rolled his eyes, and after checking to make sure the leader was still incapacitated on the ground, stepped forward to put a hand on Alex’s chest, holding him back. “I’ll give you a hint guys. Do you really think that this is a costume?”

Cue whimpering all around, which soon turned to outright screaming and running as Alex snarled loud enough to force Nathan to cover his ears. It was a guttural sound, one that forced his heart to beat faster, a natural prey instinct upon hearing what was most definitely a predator. As the three ran off screaming for their lives, Nathan looked up at the werewolf, who shot him a sheepish look.

“Jeez, I think you overdid it a little. Anyone would think you were going to rip them apart.” He chuckled, but that soon died in his throat as he saw that Alex was looking away guiltily. “Oh, for - how many times do I have to tell you, you can’t just rip people apart! We’ve really got to work on that.” He sighed and returned to the original mugger, who by now was backed up against the wall, whimpering pathetically. Alex grabbed him again, lifted him close to his face, snarled deeply. The poor man practically cried in fear, his pants growing dark as he wet himself.

“Alex, before you scare him to death, remember why we’re here.” Nathan looked up at the man, who looked down at him fearfully. “Look, despite what you may think we really don’t want to rip you apart, do we?” The last part was aimed at Alex, who gave an annoyed snort. “So if you want the big scary wolf to leave you alone then tell us where Black Alice lives.”

“I-I-I don’t know! There’s an Alice on the end of Garfen Street, but that’s all I know! I swear! Oh god, oh god please no!”

Alex dropped the man, who lay in a quivering heap on the floor. He gave a sinister growl, gesturing at him, and the man quickly gathered himself and half-staggered, half-ran away into the darkness. Nathan dropped the knife on the floor, and they began walking.

“Garfen street huh, that’s just around the corner. And don’t think I haven’t forgotten about your violent tendencies.” Nathan looked up and crossed his arms as Alex scratched his head sheepishly. “I get it, you want to keep me safe, and for what it’s worth having a big powerful werewolf looming over me all the time does just that. But you’ve got to moderate.”

“Rfrrrgrn!”

Makes no difference. Knife, gun, a slightly vigorous slap, you go full on whenever I’m in trouble. And while I appreciate that you’ve got my back, I won’t appreciate it if you murder someone because of me. Appropriate reactions my friend, you’ve gotta have appropriate reactions. Another werewolf wants to bite my head off? Sure, go nuts. Some mugger holding me hostage? Just growl at him or something. You don’t need to obliterate everything that so much as lays a finger on me.”

“Grnnmnn” Alex shrugged, sighing as he did. “Mrnnrmff.”

“Yeah, well your instincts don’t have to be violent. But we can work on that later. Listen.” Nathan was referring to a commotion they heard as they approached Garfen street. They were already on the end of the road, and as they turned the corner they saw the source. Black Alice was teleporting around, avoiding the angry swipes of what looked to be something large and furry. It was another werewolf, dressed in a black cape, moving far faster than it ought to. Alex growled softly in the back of his throat as he saw the viciousness of the attacks, killing blows aimed at the throat, the abdomen, the back of the head. All missed, but by increasingly less and less distance, ebony talons whistling through the air. The wolf snarled as it missed her for the umpteenth time, claws passing through the showers of bright orange sparks she was leaving in her wake. She gasped as claws scythed through her hair, just missing her head as she struggled to teleport fast enough.

Alex simply watched with his arms crossed as Alice’s movements became more and more desperate, secretly rather pleased that the witch was on the receiving end of karma, and Nathan shot him a look.
“You know if that thing kills her you’re stuck like this for god knows how long, right?”
Alex looked down at his friend in mild annoyance, but even he could hear the truth in those words, despite his distaste at saving the person that had caused all of this. He rolled his eyes and sighed, but nevertheless moved towards the fight.

Alice didn’t even see the initial pounce, just felt the wave of displaced air as something large and furry blew past her, and when she looked up Alex was firing heavy blows into the smaller wolf, snarls ripping from his throat.

It was barely even a fight. Alex had all the advantages – size, speed, strength, even ferocity, and he was leveraging every single one of them on the poor creature that had the misfortune to find itself in his path. The smaller wolf managed to get one long scratch down Alex’s back before blow after heavy blow began thundering into it, Alex firing clenched fists at almost supersonic speeds, each impact heralded by yips and whimpers of pain as well as Alex’s low grunts of exertion. Even his footsteps were leaving pawprint-shaped craters in the ground as he pivoted his weight, forcing several tons of force into each blow and sinking slightly into the ground each time. The speed was almost immeasurable, Alex nothing more than a grey blur in the night, and Nathan doubted the other wolf could make out his movements either. The difference in power between a TrueBlood and a HalfBlood was so vast it was like they were two different creatures.

“Whew, you guys arrived in the nick of time!”

Nathan jumped as Black Alice materialised beside him, somehow holding a bucket of popcorn. “What the hell did you do?”

“I went looking for some other HalfBloods, but I adjusted my spell just in case of any other TrueBloods. Yes, I know the odds are astronomically low, but anyway. Turns out my new version increases bloodlust, and now he wants my guts. Literally.” She popped another kernel into her mouth, ducking as a chunk of rock whistled over her head, almost knocking her hat off. “I’m kinda glad you arrived when you did. That one is nearly full wolf, I don’t think it can even understand me anymore.”

“Do you always cause this much trouble?”

“Well I’ve got a big, strong werewolf to back me up, so it worked out in the end.” She watched in mild amazement as Alex punched the other wolf so hard it smacked through a nearby wall in a chorus of pained whimpers, little chips of brick flying everywhere. The impacts from each of the TrueBlood’s punches were like bass drums, thick smacks that Nathan could feel in his chest, punctuated by occasional sharp cracks as he fractured bones and bounced internal organs around. “He’s pretty impressive by the way, I’d heard TrueBloods were powerful but he’s really something. You’re lucky to have him as a friend.”

She offered Nathan the popcorn, and with a sigh he took the bucket and grabbed a handful. If he was honest it was true. Not many things would even fight a TrueBlood werewolf, so he never really got a chance to see what his friend was actually capable of. Watching him casually punch through solid walls reminded him that despite all fluff and nervousness, despite all the good-natured jibes, he was still an immensely powerful creature, almost unfairly so. He had never been afraid of Alex, but as he watched him turn a mythical creature into a punching bag.

One particularly savage punch caught the HalfBlood right across the jaw, and he staggered and fell. Immediately Alex jumped and pinned him to the floor with a massive arm, the muscles bulging and rippling under the tattoo as his considerable strength was forced downwards to contain the struggling wolf. Despite the squirming he began to increase the pressure, snarling as the smaller wolf’s whines of discomfort slowly morphed into outright screams of pain, his already decimated ribcage bending and crackling under the pressure. Nathan covered his ears at the sounds the distressed wolf was making.

“ALEX STOP!” The wolf looked up in confusion. “You’ve made your point, you’re stronger! You don’t need to kill it!” Nathan couldn’t keep the tremble out of his voice, and Alex picked up on it immediately. It wasn’t voluntary – even after that display of ferocious power Nathan still found him adorably fluffy – but rather an instinctual fear, the same flash of terror a rabbit feels when facing a particularly hungry fox. He watched the angry look melt away from Alex’s face, and suddenly he was looking at his friend once again rather than a vicious predator, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of fear.

Alex held up a finger as if to pause their train of thought before turning back to his defeated adversary, who was too afraid to even struggle. “Grnrnnnrr” he growled, putting his face close to the other wolf’s before letting it up. It immediately ran away as fast as its battered body would allow, staggering in pain and whimpering pitifully. Alex gave a short hmph as it ran, snorting air through his nostrils. Then he turned to Nathan with a concerned look, noting that he still looked a little shaken. “Hrnr?”

Just like that, Nathan snapped back to normal, albeit with a nervous laugh. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you properly fight something, and it was kind of a wake-up call. I should probably stop teasing the multi-ton beast that could pull me apart with a gentle tug. I’d rather not end up like him.” He pointed at the whimpering wolf in the distance and grinned, confidence restored. “For real though, you’re actually ridiculously strong. I don’t think I ever properly acknowledged it, so for what it’s worth…” he made an acknowledging gesture and the wolf responded with a confident grin, fangs flashing out of the side of his mouth, a deep breath puffing his chest out a little to make himself seem bigger. It almost made Nathan laugh – despite everything, Alex’s ego was just as easy to stoke as it had always been.

“What did he say to the other wolf by the way?” Alice asked.

“He said touch any of us again and he’ll find it and make it scream until it stops.”

Alex shot Nathan a look that fell somewhere between annoyed and surprised. “Hrgrnnf?”.

“Look, you might have the intimidating look down, but you’re hopeless at trash talk. If I told her what you actually said she’d be laughing at you.” Nathan offered the bucket of popcorn, and Alex took the whole thing, upended it into his mouth, and crushed the cardboard into a ball. “Seriously though, good job man. I know that wasn’t easy for you, but you were awesome!” Nathan rubbed the fur on his back, watching the tension drain out of the wolf’s body with each long stroke. Soon his tight muscles loosened and his stance dropped, blood no longer sprinting around his body.

“Oh, lucky I had a biiiiiig strong werewolf to save me!” Alice grabbed a furry arm and swooned dramatically, grinning the whole time. “Whatever would a cute little girl like me do if my furry hero hadn’t shown up?” Alex gave her an annoyed look, and she let go, holding her hands up placatingly. “Alright, alright, I get it. It’s still your fault for being so adorable though.” She said, sticking her tongue out.

“So Alice, seeing as you started this mess and we got you out of it, do us a favour and change him back?” Nathan said. “I really don’t want to be hoovering up werewolf fur all morning. And all evening. And for the next 6 months.”

“Oh sure, give me a sec.” She began weaving sigils in the air, glowing orange lines forming into mysterious symbols and patterns, and after a few seconds she aimed her palm at Alex and grunted. The sigil circle flared and disappeared.

Alex looked down at himself and grumbled. He inspected his claws, waiting for some kind of change, but when nothing happened he shot Alice a disappointed look.

“Hey, how come he’s not changing back?” Nathan matched Alex’s disappointed look, and Alice frowned.
“Oh. So, uh, funny thing. I’m out of mana.”

“Oh, reeeally?” Nathan crossed his arms as Alex gave a worried whine.

“Yeah, I kinda did another heavy spell earlier and it took a lot out of me. I was barely holding up with the teleports earlier.” She smiled nervously and looked away.

“What heavy spell? Don’t tell me there’s another angry wolf around?”

“No, not that, it was – tell you what, I’ll show you. YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!” Alice yelled into the street, and after a few seconds a fox walked out with a relieved expression, wearing nothing but a dark cloak. He was large, not quite Alex’s size but not far off, and as he walked up Nathan noticed sharp fangs poking out of his mouth. “Nathan and Alex, Lord Montreal. Lord Montreal, Nathan and Alex.”

“I wish I cared more, truly I do. Has that monster gone?” Montreal’s voice was deep and soothing, a rich baritone that stank of aristocracy.

“Yeah these guys helped.”

“I’m sure they did.” He commented drily. “Look wench, I am tired, I am currently £300 out of pocket thanks to this accursed new form ripping my suit, and to top it all off I look ridiculous.”

“Aww, don’t be like that!” Alice turned to Nathan, holding a hand over her mouth so Montreal couldn’t see. “I was aiming to turn him into a wolf, but I messed it up. On the plus side thought he’s adorable.” She whispered into his ear.

“I can hear you, you know. And no, this form is not adorable. It is a curse, one that I am keen to get rid of.”

Alice turned around with an embarrassed grin. “Oh sorry. It’ll wear off in the morning, don’t worry. Same goes for you by the way.” This was addressed at Alex, who perked up his ears. “You’ll both be back to normal by the time the sun rises.

“Hmph, I should hope so for your sake. Otherwise you’ll find an angry wolf is the least of your problems.” With a swish of his cloak Montreal stormed off, and Alice shrugged.

“Sheesh, that guy cannot take a joke. Suppose that’s what being the leader of the local vampire clan does to you, just sucks the fun out of everything. Anyway, that’s that, you’ll be right as rain in the morning, just like him.” She looked at Alex and tilted her head. “Although, I have a request before I go, since I so kindly removed the spell.” She held her arms out wide, giving the werewolf a grin, and after a little while Alex sighed and accepted the hug. The witch practically disappeared into the thick fur of his chest, laughing in delight. She held the embrace for a good few seconds before breaking it off. “Anyway, I’d best be off. I’ll definitely be seeing you both around. She winked and disappeared in a puff of orange sparks.

“Hrnrnf?” Alex grumbled in surprise.

“What, you actually believed her when she said she was out of mana? You goofball, she just wanted to get a hug out of you.” Nathan grinned as the wolf groaned, worry easing from his frame. Alex had been panicking that the removal hadn’t worked, but upon hearing this he sighed in relief. “So, you finally enjoying Halloween properly huh?”

“Hrmffnfnf.” Alex growled good-naturedly, ruffling Nathan’s hair.

“Yeah, I can be pretty convincing.” He began walking, the werewolf in tow. “Hey, you wanna go back to that party? I bet it’s still going.”

Alex rubbed his ear almost reflexively as he remembered the little girl pulling on it, and Nathan noticed the apprehension.

“You are such a softie. Armed criminals? Send them running away screaming. Vampires? Not a problem. Little kids? Oh nooooo –” Nathan was cut off as Alex grabbed hold of him in a headlock, rubbing his head with a furry fist until he squirmed and laughed. “Alright, alright, I was kidding!”

The party was still going when they returned, and as Alex walked up he heard roars of approval, comments about the ‘guy in the epic werewolf costume’ floating through the air as everyone crowded around. Nathan grabbed a drink and laughed as he saw a full keg of cider being carried outside, inevitably about to be given to the werewolf. It was going to be a long and crazy night.

*

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Alex groaned as light filtered through his eyelids. He felt intensely groggy, his mouth dry, but his head was mercifully clear. As he opened his eyes he noticed they were in the woods once again, and as he was busy looking around at the trees a set of clothes landed in his lap. He was lying in what looked like a grassy clearing, the area around them covered in soft grass that glowed a vibrant green in the morning light. As he looked at the clothes he realised he was still wearing the ripped, oversized jeans around his waist, the spiked collar now loose around his neck, his bare chest exposed to the cool air.

“Ugh, what happened?” His memory of the night was mostly intact, but the party was a blur in his head, which was unusual – he’d never really been drunk enough to have that kind of memory loss, at least not in werewolf form.

Nathan chuckled. “Party went on till something like 3 in the morning, I had to drag you out in the end. And trust me, getting an 8ft werewolf out here wasn’t easy, especially with you being so drunk.”
“Wait, I was drunk? Like actually - ”

“Yup. You pretty much started as soon as we got in there. Seeing you drink properly is something else though, you must have gone through about 7 or 8 kegs. Not even with a cup or anything either, you just straight up poked a hole in them with a claw and drank it right from the keg.” Nathan grinned at the memory. “Then you broke a lampshade and danced with the remainder of it on your head.”

Alex groaned in embarrassment, smiling under his hand. “Anything else I should know?”

“A few people got a bit suspicious after they tried to take your “costume” off, especially since you were lifting people up all the time. I dragged you out before anyone could ask too many questions.”

Despite his embarrassment Alex chuckled. “Wonder if anyone guessed the truth.”

“Pretty sure they were too busy laughing at me trying to get you out of there while you were still pissed.” He noticed Alex’s expression of surprise and grinned. “Yup, you actually got drunk, or as drunk as I’ve ever seen you. I mean you did drink enough alcohol to give a normal person liver poisoning, but still. You were properly drunk for 10, maybe 15 minutes?”

“Oh god.” Alex ran fingers through his messy hair, sighing. “Did I do anything stupid?”

“You wanted belly rubs for 3 minutes straight, which admittedly I was only happy to give. For the record, you kick your leg when you get a good belly rub.” Alex covered his face as Nathan grinned. “After that you put your head in my lap and we stargazed for a bit, then you fell asleep. I woke up this morning and you were human, so I ran back and grabbed you some clothes.” He gestured at Alex’s new outfit, which was conspicuously orange. “It’s some of my old stuff, but it’ll do for now.”

“Man, no wonder I feel groggy.” He got to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. “Promise me you’ll never let me drink like that again.”

“You say that like I have a choice in the matter.” Nathan chuckled. “When an 8ft werewolf wants a drink, he’s getting a drink!” He gestured at the clothes.

Alex finally looked at the garments and groaned. “Aw come on, did you have to give me your old stuff?”
“No way am I letting you rip through my good stuff again.”

“It was one time.” Alex grumbled, knowing full well that it had been his friend’s favourite jumper and that he had never really been able to make up for it. “Ugh, I feel terrible.” he said as he stretched, though despite his weariness it was still in a cheerful manner. “Feels like I haven’t slept at all.”

“If I tried to drink what you did last night I’d have a hangover for like 3 months. Yet you wake up the next morning feeling a bit tired.” Nathan sighed in jealousy. “Must be nice being a werewolf.” He said, but even as he uttered the words, Wesley’s voice ran through his head. One bite, that’s all it would have taken. The truth was he wanted to be a werewolf so badly it hurt, more than anything, but if he did accept the change then there would be nobody to look out for Alex. What if he also went wild on full moons? What if they both went crazy? So instead of wanting to be one he just marvelled at the fact that he could be friends with one, wondered at how amazing his friend really was.

“It’s not all fun and games. You don’t have to worry about accidentally tearing people in half when you’re out of it.”

“Nah, you wouldn’t do that. Even drunk you’re a massive softie.” Nathan grinned. “So, you enjoyed last night?”

“Oh man, that was the best one yet. Even with the fights.” He noticed Nathan staring at him again, a faint expression of wonder on his face, memories flickering away behind his eyes. “What? What is it?”
“Oh, it’s uh…. just…. your arm.” Nathan gestured at the long scratches that marked Alex’s forearm. “I’m surprised you haven’t healed those up yet.”

Alex scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, turns out drinking your bodyweight in mildly toxic liquid doesn’t do wonders for healing.”

“You think?” Alex rolled his eyes at the look he was getting from his friend.

“Honestly though, even with all of the stuff that happened, I loved it. Getting to loom over everyone, being able to drink myself into a coma and wake up fine the next morning…” he trailed off as he noticed Nathan’s jealous gaze again and coughed awkwardly, but couldn’t suppress his cheerful grin. Normally he was simply glad to be past the full moon, and this was the first time Nathan had seen him truly happy about changing into a werewolf. That’s how he knew that Alex wasn’t just saying it, that he really meant it.

“Well come on, we can get breakfast at my place.” The two of them began walking out of the woods.

“Hey Nathan? What are we getting to eat?”

“Haven’t decided yet, whatever’s in my cupboard probably. Why?”

“You still have that emergency steak?”

There was a long pause, followed by an incredulous chuckle. “Really? That’s what comes to your mind now? Have you been thinking about it this whole time?”

“Uh…no….”

Nathan chuckled and threw his arm around his friend, and their arguing over breakfast choices followed them out of the woods.