I know Chapter 9 is planned to be released on the 23rd of January, but due to personal committments, I have elected to upload it a day early to avoid delaying it. Next week...the final chapter of Part 1!

Before we get to the story, I do want to say a huge thank you all those that have shown their interest in this story, and I cannot wait to show you the end of Part 1!

Thumbnail is by  gretter74

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Chapter 9 - Choices

They pulled up at the trailhead. Before Liam unbuckled his seatbelt, Lupus had already climbed out in torn clothes, and the car’s suspension lifted in relief.

He glanced over to the jaguar grabbing their camping gear and a bag from the backseat. At his height, the automobile found it hard to surpass his pecs, making it easy to watch Liam fumble with his car keys.

Amusement tugged a petite smile onto Lupus’s face as his friend struggled with the lock. He stifled the laugh he needed, but it never released as the car clicked shut.

“Right, all set to go?” Liam said, earning a snicker from Lupus.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Lupus agreed. Pebbles and soil crunched as Liam lapped the car to meet him. “I appreciate the boxers, but why did you have Ascendant-proof underwear from America?”

“I’m planning to work with an Ascendant think tank,” Liam stated and tossed the duffel bag over his shoulder. “I had a suspicion.”

Lupus watched the jaguar sling the duffel back over his shoulder in silence. Gratitude for Liam’s generosity and resourcefulness should have come first, yet concern took precedence.

Realisation washed his features. Widened eyelids, slacked jaw, and a stomach tightened into a knot. Pressure built inside until his emotions surfaced to form a single thought: ‘He…knew’

There’s a difference between protection and being pitied. He had been good at telling the difference, but this time felt different. This time begged the question: why hadn’t Liam told him?

Lupus demanded an explanation, but drew a shaky breath to reserve himself. Clenching fists hung at his sides as he tried convincing himself that the jaguar must have had his reasons.

The wolf’s frozen posture defrosted. He pulled himself back to the conversation to whisper, “Well…good to be prepared,” he muttered and focused his attention back on the scenery.

Unlike past visits to the forest, where he came seeking inspiration to stir his mind, this time he walked its paths to escape them. Footstep after footstep, he tried to outpace his inner voice, thankful for the jaguar beside him. Lupus kept his eyes on the trail, while his Vastelerian-self remained dormant inside him.

Even with his focus locked, his hand clenched his right wrist, hoping to subdue the inner-Vastelerian from taking command. His anxious tic, now a cufflink of bone and sinew to keep the Vastelerian at bay, but that’s what it wanted. Control over his physical form.

Lupus understood anxiety or rage awakened it; he knew the more he gave into his nerves, the greater the risk of growing again. He couldn’t do this forever. A life spent fearing his own body wasn’t a life at all; it was a battle wrapped in skin and snow-white fur. The conflict was close to triggering another dreaded few inches of growth until Liam’s hand-paw stroked his upper arm.

Only one person understood his anxious tics and reacted before he spiralled. Liam walked beside him and tried taking his hand.

Liam guarded his mind. His knight in shining armour, who fought off the Vastelerian curse. Except, neither of them couldn’t hold the line against genetics; they could only buy Lupus time.

Both strolled underneath the trees, with Lupus ducking under the branches. An odd branch snapped when he brushed through the foliage.

“When did you last visit the park?” The jaguar asked.

Lupus’s hand released its grip on his wrist. “A few months ago,” Lupus said above the whistling wind. “It helped overcome some writer’s block.”

“Yeah? That’s great,” Liam replied with growing excitement. “Have I ever told you that you are a brilliant writer?”

Lupus breathed out with a small smile. “When you want me to proofread your papers.”

Liam snickered back, but shook his head. “Yes, but did I tell you that you’re the reason I look at the Thames Herald?”

The wolf ceased in his tracks. “What do you mean?”

Liam halted too and stood in front of Lupus. “I mean,” Liam said, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets, “I only pick up their newspapers to read your articles.”

Caught between disbelief and flattery, Lupus remained quiet. He must’ve written dozens of pieces over his time as a reporter. Liam hadn’t read all of them.

How wrong he was.

“My favourite was your article on the consequences The Division had on the UK,” Liam started and took the wolf’s hands.

Lupus’s fingers interlocked around Liam’s.

“Then there’s the piece on the Vastelerian protest last month?” Liam’s hand withdrew to gesture a chef’s kiss. “Perfect.”

The jaguar leaned back. “You know, it’s maddening how a nation that prides itself on compassion is content with being divided by size,” he mumbled.

Lupus listened. He knew his friend waded away from debates unless the topic involved Vastelerian rights.

“When I watched them march through London, they could do a coup to reverse the current hierarchy,” Liam sighed as he looked at the wolf. “Vastelerian’s may be in the minority, but their size gives ‘em a biological advantage that dwarfs our law enforcement capabilities. Yet, they did a peaceful protest.”

“That is what I mean!” Lupus projected, elated.

Liam’s tail swayed. “After you grow up, you better not be the one who starts a coup. If you do, be sure to reserve space for your buddy if you do.”

Liam’s jibe came with a chuckle, but for Lupus, it strayed his thoughts to the nightmare where he grew. A terrible dream that played out the rush of cruel satisfaction in getting back at Douglas. He discovered what it felt like to possess power. A question dominated his mind: would the growth change him?

“I…” was all Lupus could muster out.

“I wanted to be there, y’know? To hold up a banner and shout out my support for them,” he sighed out.

To help pull himself away from the memory of his nightmare, Lupus forced out a teasing remark back at Liam. “I’m guessing your sign will say, ‘Any Vastelerian ladies available?’” Lupus’s comment warranted a soft nudge from Liam’s fist.

“Hush, you,” Liam barked back with a playful smirk that weakened. “But what good did it do? Nothing has changed.”

Lupus shared Liam’s frustration. He’d watched the broadcast from back in America, wishing he could have been there to showcase his support too. Maybe he would have stood atop a rooftop, or perhaps down on the streets themselves, holding a sign to promote restoring cohabitation. Being born a Petritan afforded a privilege in understanding how to reform the system.

“Anyway,” he continued, “then there was one where you tore into the Ascendant science the government tries to pump out?” Liam let out a short, incredulous laugh. “That angered gene-elitists.”

Lupus giggled. “Yeah, I had to,” he muttered, feeling a heat rise in his cheeks. He hadn’t realised how much he needed to hear that. Lupus smiled, bestowed Liam’s hand a gentle stroke, and continued to walk down the trail.

Liam followed without hesitation, eyes trained on the arctic wolf.

As they walked, Lupus smirked at the satisfaction of grating the gene-elitists. A hobby of his to humble those who rely upon stereotypes to keep authority. It was great. Amusing to dismantle a persona’s inflated arrogance and push them off their pedestal. The reason he had become a journalist returned.

So did the static tingle coursing through his body.

“Wait, Lupy—” Liam whispered to get his attention, but the wolf’s thoughts drowned him out.

Though it seemed positive that Lupus humbled those chauvinists, it proved inadequate. No, he wanted to depose them from their ivory towers of privilege and control to show people the truth about Ascendants. He possessed a formidable weapon in his arsenal that surpassed writing.

Being a Vastelerian came with its advantages. Their height warranted observation. Their strength and power can topple armies. His enlarged vocal chords would drown out the propaganda that blanketed the nation. Despite the influence Thomas and Douglas held, they’d listen to him.

Once that thought flared, Lupus’s heart-dropped. 'Is that who he was now?' Drunk with the influence his new size could offer him, he couldn’t think straight, nor be able to address Liam’s second attempt to get his notice.

Being an Ascendant amplified who people were. Everyone has their demons, but if you wish to understand a person’s true nature, give them control. He grasped that soon he’d wield power, settling scores with those who slighted, sneered, or offended. The worst part? He debated withholding... or desiring not to.

“Lupus, stop!” Liam ordered and gripped onto the wolf’s index finger to hold him there.

At first, Lupus did not understand the cause of tugging one digit, but did not comprehend it until viewing Liam, below. His friend stood on par with his abdominal.

A jolt of horror knocked Lupus back into a tree. He’d grown again, and he did not stop. It was true—running from your problems only made them bigger, and he was living proof of that.

At this moment, his size had passed the point of hiding. He would never return home, nor to his job. A pit filled his stomach as he realised he had outgrown the life he had spent years building from nothing.

The tree bark behind him creaked as his broadening shoulders pressed into it. Inch after inch, his height crept upward, running the length of the trunk until the branches above bent against his scalp.

Liam rushed over to grab his enlarging hand with both of his own. “Lupus, look at me! You need to breathe now!”

Lupus inhaled and exhaled, but the Vastelerian inside him went on bleeding out. The hem of his cargo shorts and tank top slid up his frame. His garments stretched as they fought to contain the expanding mass behind.

The oak kept on creaking in protest as he expanded. A tree branch snapped against his cranium, pebbles skittered away from his feet, and his borrowed clothes tore. With every centimetre he gained, his body rebuilt itself on a constant cycle.

The wolf closed his eyes, after which he inhaled again, slower this time to feel the pressure swelling in his chest. He dug his claws into the wood at the back as he let out a long, shuddering respiration.

To steady himself, drew another deep inhale, and then one more, until the timber groaning behind him quieted.

Only then did he open his eyes and survey the change. Liam struggled to get his head above his upper abdomen. Both jaguar paws still enclosed Lupus’ single finger.

Lupus originated from the lowest class; Liam came from the heights. That distinction never held enough significance to affect their friendship. Now, with Lupus towering high above Liam, their separation felt quite literal.

Lupus wanted to pull him into a hug as a thank you.

But he didn’t—he couldn’t. Not without knowing how much force he could exert on the jaguar’s body. The risk of injuring the one person still holding him together was too much.

So instead, Lupus became a statue and let Liam’s smaller hands wrap around his hand. It wasn’t the embrace he longed for, but it was the best he could have before he grew to his full Vastelerian height.

While Liam’s thumb rubbed circles into the back of Lupus’s hand, he whispered up, “Is that better?”

“Yes.” A deeper tone of voice marked Lupus’s affirmation, which triggered an amused giggle from Liam.

“Dude, you sound like a pro wrestler,” Liam laughed out.

“This isn’t funny,” he growled through a clenched jaw, then pulled himself behind to take a deep breath. As he did, he looked toward London, and swallowed. “What am I supposed to do, Liam? I can’t go back to my place!”

Liam’s hands squeezed Lupus’s own. “Calm down,” he demanded the canine, who pressed more of his weight against the tree. “Look, you’re on the verge of growing. We need to slow it down until we find a home.”

“We?” he asked down to the jaguar, who smiled.

“Do you think I’m going to abandon you?” Liam insisted and cocked an eyebrow to challenge the eight-foot wolf. “Nah, dude, I’m staying with you.”

Lupus could picture it. Food presents no obstacle when one bite for him would be a meal for the jaguar. He could build a little dollhouse for Liam to live in…

‘No,’ he thought. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, chastise his best friend with a life as his personal doll.

“No, you have your own life, Liam. You’ve got that chance at the Think Tank…” The wolf’s voice trembled as he tried to make Liam understand. “I will have to live in Brackenmoor or Thornfell with other Vastelerians.”

A subtle chuckle came from Liam’s mouth. “That’s okay,” Liam said with a growing grin to ease the tension. “I’ve got a better chance of meeting a big lady there, right?”

But Lupus’s insistence did not waver. “No, it’s not.” He shook his head and withdrew his hand from the jaguar’s grasp. “Nothing is tailored for Petritans. It won’t be safe for you—” but his words cut short when a rumble rolled through his gut, enough to make him wince and press a hand to his abdomen.

Liam retreated, not from fear, but to reach into his backpack. “I got’cha big guy,” he insisted, fishing out a protein bar, and handing it to Lupus.

Lupus didn’t hesitate. He tore the wrapper open, slipped the entire bar into his maw, and swallowed. “Thank you, dude, but—” he began before his stomach rumbled again. “I don’t suppose you have anymore.”

“Plenty,” he replied as he unzipped his bag to reveal a trove of protein bars and high-calorie snacks. “I bet you’re glad I packed for the night, huh?”

“May I have a few?” Lupus asked while his stomach rumbled a third time.

“Of course—”

Lupus’s left part held the bag, while his opposite part gathered bars. One bar after another disappeared into his maw as he continued walking down the trail with strides that outpaced Liam’s walking speed.

“Ah, crap. Hey, wait up!” Liam blinked and broke into a brisk walk, almost a jog, just to keep pace with Lupus’s stride.

That earned the faintest twitch of Lupus’s ear, who slowed down for Liam. “Oh, um, sorry,” he cooed in apology, while he slipped two protein bars in his maw to chew.

“Careful,” Liam teased, trotting to keep pace beside the wolf. “You know what happens if you eat too much.”

“I know, I grow,” Lupus mumbled, stopping when he slipped a protein bar inside his maw and swallowed, but the gnawing hunger was too much to ignore. “I’ll have one more, okay?”

Liam inclined his head, yet reached up to receive the bag. “Alright, big guy, but give me that back before you get big enough to consider me as a meal.”

The wolf froze mid-chew, looked down at Liam with concern, and swallowed. “I would never…”

Though it had been a joke, it posed a question Lupus hadn’t considered: if he went on the run, how would he eat? He knew the average Petritan equaled around 125,000 calories thanks to those propaganda billboards, but he refused to calculate how many Petritans he’d need to survive daily. No—he’d sooner starve than consider it.

“I know, dude,” Liam whispered. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

“It’s alright,” he sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “How far is the campsite?”

Liam glanced ahead down the path to the thinning trees. “At the end of this pathway. Five minutes, tops.”

“Five minutes for you,” Lupus murmured with a small smile until a deep-throated yawn broke out of his maw.

As Lupus’s maw closed, he had a creeping sense of déjà vu. His intense appetite and scheduled fatigue happened last night. The night before he grew to eight feet.

After hearing the wolf’s yawn, Liam glanced at the wolf. He declared it final in a tone that brooked no debate. “You are not going home, Lupy.”

Lupus knew Liam reached the same conclusion. He knew the jaguar understood that the wolf’s insatiable hunger and exhaustion were telltale signs that his body was preparing to grow again. Yet, neither of them could predict how big this next growth spurt would be.

That uncertainty birthed dread inside Lupus. Maybe, just maybe, if he stayed awake long enough to catch the growth surge, he could contain it.
Contain it.

Suppress it.

But as the thought crossed his mind, his body disagreed when it forced out a second yawn. He folded his arms tighter, squeezing them against his chest to force the Vastelerian genetics back inside his Petritan body. “No,” he growled under his breath. “I refuse—”

“Don’t!” Liam projected up and nudged his entire body into Lupus, who did not budge. “Fighting it will make it worse.”

Lupus stayed quiet, but pushed his arms deeper into his chest.

“Lupy, holding the growth in is like holding your breath underwater,” he spoke up and placed a hand on the wolf’s elbow. “You’ll drown.”

The wolf let his arms fall to his sides, but Liam reached out and held onto Lupus’s left thumb and index finger. Silence fell between them as they continued forward, Lupus maintaining his sluggish pace at Liam’s convenience.

Around them, the trees receded and allowed the warm hues of sunset to filter through the underbrush. With each step, the dense forest gave way to the open clearing, where an empty campsite waited. A firepit sat in the centre, marked by a ring of moss-covered logs.

It was peaceful. Just the golden light, the earth beneath his bare paws, and the cool air brushing against his fur coat. He took in the sight of evening with a teeth-exposed smile. This... this was what he needed.

Beside him, Liam stepped away to put his duffel bag down in the centre. He unclipped the tent poles and unfurled the tent. Throughout the time he was mounting the tent, the jaguar glanced behind to check on him.

Lupus’s gaze lingered on the sunset a moment longer before he padded across the clearing. He stopped a few inches behind Liam and crouched down. “Need a hand with your tent?” Lupus tried to speak in a light voice, but he couldn’t mask the effect of his enlarged vocal cords.

Liam didn’t look up right away. He grunted at the tent pole, gave it one last shove, and then glanced back at him. “Don’t you mean, our tent?”

Lupus sat down and rested against a log. “Are you sure it’s a good idea for me to sleep beside you?” he asked.

Liam hoisted himself and the tent up. “Yeah,” he said, kneeling down to sort out the stakes. “But you need to chill, dude. Anxiety or anger will trigger it.”

A quiet breath slipped from Lupus as he leaned back against the log and tilted his head upward to the open sky. Overhead, the amber glow of sunset surrendered to twilight.

“Easier said than done,” he whispered up to the sky, earning a brief stroke of Liam’s hand across his thigh.

“That’s why I’m here,” Liam replied, and withdrew his hand to jab the stake into the dirt. “Remember what I said; it’s like breathing when you’re—”

“Running, I know.”

“Good!” he exclaimed. Once he finished securing the tent, and stood up, brushing his hands off as he looked at Lupus with a knowing expression. “And if you feel it building up, just remember to take slow, deep breaths.”

“Thank you,” Lupus nodded towards Liam, who sat down beside him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You don’t have to. You never will.” Liam smiled at him. “Do you want to rest against me, dude?”

Lupus should have, would have hesitated, but he craved the jaguar’s physical comfort too much. Since it was just his head, it wouldn’t be anything strenuous for Liam. That didn’t stop him from leaning down, easing his weight onto the jaguar’s thigh, and then… letting out a deep yawn.

‘If I fall asleep,’ Lupus thought, ‘what body will I wake up in? How…big will I be?’

“I-I might need to stay awake for a little longer,” Lupus muttered, his eyes still half-lidded. “Thank you…for everything, Liam,” he whispered up.

“Shush, you helped me when my grandfather forgot who I was. So, I am returning a favour.” Liam’s palm moved toward the wolf’s neck and stroked downward. “Now, just breathe, big guy.”

Lupus followed the instructions, drawing a long breath in, letting it fill his chest before releasing it. It helped. A little. But the pit in his stomach remained. With the small amount of energy he had, he’d lift a palm to stroke across Liam’s thigh to mumble out, “Your grandfather would be so proud of you,” to the jaguar.

So, besides breathing, he focused on his mantra. His mantra, ‘Be faster, be stronger, be better’, would be the perfect anchor to support his self-resilience. It had no effect this time, so he devised a different motto to fend off his Vastelerian-self, one he muttered out loud.

A mantra is a talisman that guided them through the mists of inferiority and insecurity like a lighthouse to ships. It is a reminder of who he was, who he is, and who he wanted to be. An embodiment of his conviction that the world tested. Yet, it never unravelled his mantra...but, Lupus started to.

‘...don’t be faster,’ he thought, almost choking on the unfamiliar words that left his lips. ‘Don’t be stronger.’ He squeezed his eyes shut, jaw clenched, and claws squeezed the soil below. ‘Don’t be bigger…please…’

His body did not listen, but responded with a familiar electrical tingle inside him as he collapsed down—asleep with the jaguar’s hand holding his own.

❆ ❆ ❆ ❆ ❆

Daylight had not broken when a sudden impact on his footpad jolted Lupus awake. His head shot up towards the source; he froze.

During the night, his body extended beyond the campsite to attack an oak tree, causing it to lean. The tank top and cargo shorts he borrowed draped down his body. Only his underwear remained intact, thanks to Liam’s foresight…Liam!

Realising he’d fallen asleep on Liam’s lap sent a jolt of panic through him. He focused on the ground beside him, but only felt grass, no smaller person’s weight. Lupus tried to shift his weight to find his friend, but his body resisted complying. Any motor function became a chore as he shifted his heavy and elongated limbs.

So, he twisted his neck, and caught sight of the jaguar a few feet away. Liam’s chest rose and fell in slow succession, eyelids shut.

There he was. Sound asleep.

He wanted to nudge his friend awake, to have Liam’s comforting presence help soothe his anxiety, but he soon rehearsed what his friend had told him. ‘Breathe’ and took a deep breath that rattled the air.

Inhaling, he tried again, slower, pressing both hands into the ground to sit upright. The remnants of his tank top slid off his ascending frame to land on the grass. As he exhaled, his gaze drifted upward to the vast, starlit sky. Being so big had one minor advantage; the stars seemed nearer.

The cool night air stroked against his fur coat, creating a rustling sound akin to foliage in a breeze. Lupus let his eyes drift downward to see Liam remained undisturbed.

He owed so much to his friend — too much. Liam deserved more than a fugitive existence or being a Vastelerians’ toy. Yes, he needed his friend, but knew letting him stay would deprive the jaguar of a normal life. Lupus refused to stop Liam from living his life.

When he lowered a fingertip to stroke down Liam’s back, he noticed it was twice the width of his spine. He had outgrown the world he shared with Liam.

The gnawing ache in his chest grew. He wished that there was another way. A method of keeping Liam nearby. Lupus withdrew his finger as he decided he had to face this alone. For Liam’s sake.

Taking a deep, deep breath, he pushed both hands down onto the ground to stand up, slower this time. He lifted his posterior into a textbook starting runner’s position and pushed himself upright.

Once Lupus stood upright, his body wavered and teetered. He swung a foot back to regain his balance, but in doing so created a muffled thud. His step was so heavy it registered on the Richter scale and triggered a groan from Liam.

Lupus froze. He wanted to retreat and give Liam the space to sleep, but he hadn’t adjusted to standing, let alone moving. The wolf stopped, watched his friend fall back to sleep, and turned towards his former home.

‘Home…’ the wolf thought to himself. ‘Where is home?’

A chill settled in his chest. A freeze that thawed at a spark igniting in his chest, ‘Why?! Why should I give up a home again?’

As Lupus steadied himself, a familiar voice whispered in his mind. ‘Why?’ It was demanding. ‘It’s not like they can stop you.’

Although Lupus knew his emotions would intensify, he didn’t expect how overwhelming they would become or that they would find a voice. The same voice from the dream—a nightmare turned real.

Fear, anxiety, anger — every demon and intrusive thought he fought off had grown with him. He hoped his ability to handle these emotions had grown in proportion, but it had not.

Now, his once-suppressed thoughts overshadowed his rational mind. One that was eager to argue back.

Lupus forced a breath past clenched fangs. ‘Don’t listen to it’, he pleaded with himself as he clenched his eyelids shut. The pressure against his eyelids kept building as he fought to contain everything behind it.

‘I won’t become what they want,’ he growled inward, his teeth baring in silent defiance.

Neurochemicals inside his head flared again, giving volume for his other voice to shoot back, ‘You already are everything they fear. Why hold back?’

The wolf’s chest heaved as he tried to fight against the gnawing voice. ‘This is my home.’

‘Was’ the voice cut in. ‘Tell me, how does it feel to lose another home?’ It taunted him.

To add salt to the wound, it unrooted his memories of countless nights spent wandering from place to place; house to house–none he’d call a home. Alone until he came across Liam, but even this chapter has ended.

Deprived of companionship with his parents, now Ascendants, he lacked permission to continue his life in London. Forced to flee another half-built life before he called it a home.

‘I can’t…I won’t! I made a promise.’ He pleaded with himself while he bowed his head and closed his eyes shut.

‘And what was that promise, hmm?’ It whispered with a chuckle. ‘What foolish oath did you cling to?’

‘I promised…’ he stopped to breathe. ‘I promised myself I could repair whatever part of me breaks.’

‘Repaired?’ It sneered, regaining its venom to continue. ‘Pathetic. You cling to your mantra and your promise, but they will not fix you.’

‘Someone can repair me. I can—’

A voice cut him off with a tone of twisted satisfaction. ‘Face it,’ it spat with words like poison, ‘you’ve lost the life you built. You have no family, no home, no freedom. You either run, or show them why they must listen to you.’

Lupus fought to grapple onto the threads of himself. “I…I promised,” he tried to whisper, but his voice came out thin, choked, and strangled by the tightening grip of the pain within. Pain that paved the way for an icy tide to wash across his mind.

Anger. Anger that birthed a crackling surge that pulsed through his body. It raced through his limbs, slipping into every nook and cranny of his anatomy, until he swelled.

This was it, he realised. Growing. Becoming something he’d spent years admiring but on the other side.

Lupus clenched his jaw, his expanding, releasing another deep, trembling breath. ‘All my hard work to build a life in London–’ he grunted to himself and allowed the electrical surge to course through him, dismissing the moss log that crunched underneath his enlarging paws. ‘—for nothing!’

Beneath the grief, the anger, something steadier rose—acceptance. As he let the surge course through him unhindered, his form answered with a resonant swell. A chain reaction that rolled through bone and tendon like a rising tide.

Lupus did not surrender himself to a monster. He accepted a lineage that had been unbeknownst to him.

On a cellular level, his body split and knitted itself back together on a cycle. It coursed through him similar to an electric shock that tickled every corner of his anatomy.

He did not slow, nor did he look away from London. Instead, a beastly growl built in his chest as he shot up. Twenty-five feet, thirty, forty, fifty-five, eighty…

To the Earth’s relief, Lupus stopped just north of eighty feet in a set of boxers. Though Liam was a tiny speck between his two foot paws, he nonetheless tried to keep himself still to avoid waking up.

A smug grin spread across his muzzle as he looked toward the London skyline. Lupus balled two car-sized fists. His focus had narrowed to the city where people like Douglas and Thomas gaslit people against his kind. Containing the whirlwind of suppressed thoughts became history. He needed to feel something, anything, other than this overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

Rather than waking up the jaguar to say goodbye, Lupus peeled his padded sole off the ground, and took an enormous step away, and triggered another groan from Liam, who raised his head up to hear the rhythmic thunder of a Vastelerian.

…of his best friend.