Adding the two companies, New Shadow and Lightning, there were 1200 active employees in total. It was impossible not to have something to advertise in that place, and it was impossible for the two companies not to be known throughout the city. Cassie was one of the people that everyone tried to recruit, and she refused everyone because she didn't have time to deal with many problems, and the work she had was already taking up too much of her time.
The theme of the party was still open. There was a poll among the employees to decide what would be the best theme.While arranging his work material in his briefcase, Kurt was talking to his partner, Jack. "Which option and theme did you vote for?" he asked."I didn't vote, we won't, you know that you know why," Jack replied, also tidying up his material. "I know we should participate, it's important and all, but we can't," he commented, as he closed his work case. "We're not in the condition to break the camera or anything else that can be broken, like anything in the building.""Can't we even stay for a while? I know it's risky, but we work here," Kurt rebutted."Kurt, you know we can't. Stop talking about it, before we...", Jack didn't finish his sentence, he stopped for a moment and his breathing gradually quickened, Kurt watched him for a few seconds. "What time is it?", Jack asked slowly, keeping eye contact with his friend, who seemed as restless as he was."Holy shit, Jack. You always get an early start, let's go!", Kurt shouted, pulling his friend along and starting a race towards the nearest elevator to get down to the parking lot. Using the stairs would take too long. "Come on, I'll drive, get in the back seat," he ordered, already pushing his colleague through the car door, looking around to make sure no one was seeing anything. Kurt didn't have a car yet, so he often used Jack's. Sharing the driving of the vehicle was very common between the two of them, especially in this situation. Jack rebuffed his friend for a few seconds because he wanted to get in the front seat, but Kurt ignored him and kept pushing him out the back door until he finally made sure he was sitting in the seat. Then he ran and got into the driver's seat, starting the car almost immediately. The car still smelled as strongly as it used to. Their smell, the smell of wolf."Are you feeling anything yet?" asked Jack as he staggered around sitting in the back seat, quite breathless and struggling to speak. "My vision is pretty blurry.""Don't you dare surrender now. Hold on, it's your fault, we should have left earlier, asshole," protested Kurt, behind the wheel, looking impatient and slowly demonstrating he wasn't as sure of himself as he would have liked, since his move wasn't starting that late.A few minutes passed, and they were already halfway there when Jack simply threw up on the floor of the car and collapsed on the seat. Kurt made eye contact in the rearview mirror, and at that moment he knew he had to stop the car right there. There wasn't enough time to get to the usual spot. "Get out of the car, Jack," Kurt ordered, having already parked in the middle of a half-open thicket. Jack replied that he couldn't get out on his own, as his vision was even more blurred, and he felt that his body already had some internal modifications that made it impossible for him to walk without having problems. The friend then pulled him out of the car, with some difficulty, Jack was bewildered enough that anyone who saw him would ask if he needed help. Fortunately, on that late afternoon, on that avenue, there wasn't much traffic, also it wasn't the first time they had passed that way, nor that situation."It's going to be here today, Jack. I'm sorry, but in these conditions, you can't go on, and you're probably already losing all consciousness, I can already see some changes in you." Kurt supported Jack on his shoulder as he walked with him into the thicket that lay on the side of the Avenue. The city was full of woods, and most of them were so dense that almost all of them had prohibition notices. People even respected it, normal people at least."Kurt, here, leave me here, go!" gasped Jack once again. Now it's for real, you must be hearing the sound of bones breaking, right?" asked Jack, already trying to get loose from his friend. Kurt finally left him there and prepared to walk away, as he already felt his change. "I hate this part," Jack said to himself, before giving the first cry of pain from the change. The first stage was the breaking of the spine. Then the rest of the body, the feeling of the blood rushing through the veins at high speed, the heart racing, the heavy breathing, the pain of the bones breaking and coming together in different ways, the pain of the change of body and mind as he screamed.Exactly ten minutes later, Kurt walked past where Jack had been before, at least when he was still Jack, in human form. Kurt was no longer human at that point either, and he didn't like to be too far away from his friend in that condition, he was terrible when he had to fend for himself. His animal side didn't know how to hunt well, and they were new at this yet, very new, it had only been a few months since they had started to transform.When he assumed the form of a wolf, Jack had a ritual, first to find the nearest safe place, then to meet Kurt, and finally to hunt something. There wasn't much to do while transformed, so he let his instincts guide him, after all, he had almost no consciousness in the process, often waking up without remembering anything.When they finally met, both wolves began the hunt. Jack had already learned to track his prey, probably his habit of observing everything around him at work had given him a certain experience with this, even as a wolf. Kurt, as a wolf, had an excellent memory, a fact that matched his human personality, since he had a shrewd and reasonably vivid memory than the others.It was almost dawn when they lay exhausted and bloodstained after their meal of the day, an adult deer. They used to split the hunt every time, after all, it was not worth the waste. Whenever they fed, they needed to lie down for a while, to process the information a little. It was always interesting to realize that they were not humans at that stage, that they were animals, and that no matter how hard they tried, they would remain so, at least for a few hours, for a few days, or nights, sometimes afternoons. They were figuring out how to deal with it because they didn't have much basis for it, the truth is that they knew almost nothing about that condition and avoided having to deal with it, they just hadn't been able to process the stages yet. Jack used to turn first than Kurt; it had always been that way. If Jack felt strange, he knew what it was, and Kurt knew that it would soon be his turn. Because of this, Kurt often ended up seeing the beginning of the process, which always hau
Cassie looked stunning, wearing a slightly tight white dress. Her blonde hair was loose and flowing, she looked beautiful. Whenever he could, Jack looked at her, but even though she was coveted by everyone, he didn't want them to know that he included himself in that. He thought that Kurt suspected it, but he had never told them or mentioned it yet. It was like a secret he could possess just for himself, although he really wanted her to know because he just couldn't stop thinking about her.Cassie's perfume was strong. Both partners had a keen sense of smell even as humans, so they couldn't disguise the sweet smell they smelled coming from her. Kurt, unlike Jack, felt no walk for the woman, as he felt there was something more exciting in the future in store for him.Finally, a while later, more and more people were arriving. With this, the time for the constant transformations was getting closer and closer.Music was already starting to play to cheer everyone up. The Lightning employe
Kurt was kissing Kaya when he noticed a sudden movement near him. As he turned around, he noticed a tired Jack after running over. “We need to talk,” he said, forcing his friend away from the confused girl. Kurt didn't like being interrupted, after all, it had been a while since he had had any kind of fun. “I saw the twelve of them planning to throw smoke at the party, set it on fire I don't know where, and they drank. I don't know what to do, but I think some shit will happen,” he told.“Leave it to the security guys, tell someone, I don't know. Let me enjoy my moment, okay? This doesn't always happen,” Kurt said, already getting ready to return to the girl. Jack informed him that he hadn't found anyone to warn, but thought maybe they could do something.Kurt made eye contact, still angry, and continued to deny it, returning to Kaya's side. Frustrated, Jack decided to go back to the room, hoping that the men were still there, a good portion of them were, and apparently all the danger
Before long, the three wolves were attacking each other. Gradually, the boys got up from the ground, staggering, but they couldn't stand up for long because the black wolf attacked with such violence that it scratched them irreversibly. The young man fainted, and that situation aroused an adrenaline rush that made the others try to run away. Kurt was the first wolf to run ahead and stare into the CHAPTER 6: UNINTENTIONAL ASSAULTS faces of the boys, Jack did the same from across the room, staring at Brian. It was a split second before all the bodies fell lifeless to the floor. Filled with blood, the three wolves faced each other and intended to start a new confrontation, but the black wolf didn't seem interested; he seemed to be aware enough to do whatever he did and hurt everyone he had hurt. This was the first time Jack and Kurt had hurt a human, not only hurt but killed, and more than once, although they didn't know it, they had no conscience.The door suddenly opened, and a female
“I never imagined something like this could happen here, horrible, so horrible I can barely talk about it,” he blurted out. Jack asked what had happened. “They didn't say much, they just said they were really hurt, a lot, no one could see much, thank goodness,” he recounted. Kurt asked what he was talking about. “The twelve of Lightning. Brian and his whole gang were killed,” he finished, walking away, leaving the boys completely upset about the situation.“What did we do?” asked Jack, rhetorically.“We didn't do anything, Jack,” Kurt said firmly. “Let's go see Cassie. She's over there,” and made his way toward her, still standing in the same position as before.“Cassie, are you okay?”, Jack questioned, noticing the state the woman was in. Pale and frightened, something he had never seen before.“Wolves,” she said, not making eye contact, still shaken by everything.“What?” asked Jack, startled, wide-eyed.“I saw wolves. I saw gray wolves,” she said, static. Now both boys were amazed,
PRESENTThat night, Jack could do nothing but stay locked in his room, trying to distract himself and thinking about the possibility that he was a murderer. No one could know about his involvement in the case, or about Kurt. He didn't have to deal with it, they were wolves after all. Werewolves didn't exist and all of humanity knew that, there was no way to find out anything. Unless one day he was captured as a wolf and magically woke up as a human, his life would end there. He tried not to rush. He got into his notebook and looked at some news already published by the company about what had happened. On the home page, a wall had been created, but it was anonymous. The whole company began to share their grief, lamenting the death of the boys.Logged into his account, Jack tried to leave the most sincere comment he could, even though he hated them, but the guilt was too consuming for him to do anything about it. A few minutes later, he saw that Kurt had left a short text as well. Final
It was on a night that Kurt transformed in the middle of nowhere that he met Jack for real. Jack was already transformed when he found Kurt too close to the street in the changing phase and pushed him into the woods, after the transformation was over, he approached him again and the two ran together, and hunted together. The next morning, Jack had put on his spare clothes and stood watching Kurt still unconscious, he thought that maybe it wouldn't be a problem if he knew he was a wolf too, and so he stood there, waiting for him to wake up. When he did, he just threw him some clothes and said, “I'll take you home”. After that, they started a friendship, they shared the same secret, the same mysteries, and they were no longer alone, they had to deal with it, and it was hard. When the new term started, and they were in separate rooms, they didn't think they could handle it, as they noticed a certain worsening in their condition. Now they were worried about her.A short time later, Kurt l
As planned, Cassie waited for Jack, and he soon showed up. She had to let Kurt go since they used to have lunch together. His friend didn't ask much, but he was intrigued. Cassie had a car, but Jack considered it a kind of date, so he felt obliged to take her in his car. As they drove down to the parking lot, Jack was so nervous that his sense of smell sharpened, and he could smell the sweet aroma of her car from yards away. At least he could be sure that he wasn't stinking. It was a good day after all.Jack tried to be polite and opened the car door for Cassie. She seemed happier than in the company. She hoped he was the reason to cheer her up because that would mean he would have a chance. Close, it was as if he didn't have his problems.Sitting at a table near the window that gave a good view of the street, they placed their order. Jack ordered a hamburger with fries and Cassie ordered a portion of noodles, garlic, and oil. Jack felt a little embarrassed but remembered that men ten
The truck had arrived in a sort of warehouse. There were a few gray, empty rooms. The place was quiet and there were some men already waiting for the truck. The rangers were present, the same ones who had taken care of the incidents involving wolves. This was not a good sign. When the truck arrived, one of the guys got down and went to meet the rangers.“How many did you guys get?” one of the guards asked. “Hopefully more than the other times.”“We found three gray wolves, boss,” he replied, showing respect to the man in front of him. “They're back there, sedated. Would you like to see them?” he asked. Two guards then approached the truck, where the other boys got off and opened the back, revealing the wolves, unconscious.“Do you think they're too wild?” the guard asked, taking a closer look.“This one here seemed more aggressive than the others,” the boy replied, pointing at Jack. “That one seems more docile. That other one showed up later,” he continued saying, pointing to Evan and
CASSIE'S POVFelice had more stamina than I did. We ran through the woods for so long that we reached an area that had no signal. I was thinking that maybe this was not such a good idea, but my thoughts were on Jack, and I was certain that Felice's were on Kurt.We didn't know what we were looking for, we just knew that we were. I didn't know that area, and neither did Felice. We just kept walking for a while longer, eating the foods that we knew were not harmful to our health. We spotted some wild animals, but still harmless. In the background, we were waiting for Susan, so we could know where to go, although Susan didn't have a clear view of where they should be.“Do you think we'll be able to save them?”, Felice asked me, while we were still walking.“I hope there's still time to do that, to be honest. I feel like something is wrong, I can't explain it very well, but I feel like something is happening,” I replied to her.“So you feel it too?” she told me. “I was worried that I was
JACK'S POVKurt still hadn't returned. It had been a while, so I began to think that he wouldn't show up anymore. At least that's what I assumed. Although he disappeared that night, sometimes I would wake up again and regain control. It only lasted for a very short time. I didn't have that much control. I was always well-fed. At least I made sure I at least had a sense of where I was. Still far from humans, I mean, far enough.I used to show up only in the morning. During the night, I didn't come back. My fears were still about killing someone. As I already knew, my wolf was quite capable of this, I didn't doubt anything.Once I smelled a wolf approaching. I was invisible inside my wolf, feeling and observing everything, but not making any decisions. The smell came closer and closer to me, until finally, it appeared in front of me. Evan was in front of me. I watched the gray wolf take Evan's human form. His hair had grown long and his physique remained the same. He didn't look so happ
CASSIE'S POVFelice was still processing the information when I told her about Kurt. I didn't expect her to believe or accept it right away. I expected her to believe me because I needed her, as did Kurt.“Are you saying that Kurt is a wolf? That doesn't make sense,” she said. “Are you okay? Don't get me wrong, I want to believe you, Cassie,” she told me. I felt the sincerity in her words.“I can't prove it to you yet, Felice. I doubt what I know and what I've seen, but I can't deny it anymore. There is a witch in the story, and she came to see me and showed me some things that confirmed this,” I told her. “Yes, there is a witch too, excuse the confusion. I've been dreaming too, and all this has not let me live in a vacuum anymore. I want to go after Jack.”“He's an outlaw, Cassie,” she told me. “I understand you're worried, but he's a wanted man, and he's missing, no one knows where he is.”“Kurt is missing, Felice. Don't you want to know where he is?”, I asked her, trying to convinc
JACK'S POVWolves communicate through images. As wolves, Kurt and I would just show images to each other, and most of the time we could only do this with what was around or near us. In the beginning, we were even able to share thoughts of humans, like memories. Kurt had already shown me things about Felice, and I had shown him things about Cassie. As the days went by, the tendency of human thoughts faded away. Like the rest of the situation, I didn't know if Kurt was going through the same changes. I was worried by the day.When Evan's visits stopped, Kurt and I began to migrate more territory. We even crossed a few avenues into other woods. When we realized that we were close to places we knew, we moved away. We had to forget our past. Cassie had never left my mind. Whatever happened, she always appeared again. I knew that even in that animal form, I would still remember her. I had forgotten the flavors of everything I consumed, like pizza and coffee, but her, I couldn't forget. Occa
CASSIE'S POVI received an alert from the nurse minutes before Felice arrived at the clinic. Knowing that she was coming made me very anxious, as I knew that the officers would soon be there as well. I still didn't have a concrete plan, if I had a plan at all.No one knew about my current condition except the nurse. I didn't even know his name, but I was truly grateful for what little he did for me. With each minute of waiting, I became even more anxious. It had been a long time since I had spoken to her, I just listened. I wondered why I had never dared to talk to her during all the visits I made. Maybe I was the problem. Maybe I didn't trust people the way I should have. Both Jack and Felice deserved my trust. If I were Jack, I would have kept a secret like that too, for that, I couldn't blame him, although every time I remembered the dialogues with Susan I felt more and more that there was nothing to forgive in Jack. He was a good person.Felice opened my bedroom door in the most d
JACK'S POVThe night Kurt and I switched to wolves for good, we didn't know where to go. The forest we were in seemed to be the best option. By the time everything occurred, and we moved, I felt that for the first time, I was controlling everything. I think that feeling anger was the purpose of having control over me, but if that were true, it would mean that all the times that I had lost consciousness as a wolf, it was because my wolf itself was angry. In a way, when I turned into a wolf that time, I didn't even think about it. I could feel such a strong connection with the connection between my mind, and that four-legged animal, that I didn't even think about anything else. I had total control of that body. Likewise, I wasn't a human who changed into a wolf, that day I had become a wolf that possessed the mind of a human.Kurt and I were still hunting together. In three days we had hunted so much that we already had a supply. The area was cozy and away from humans. This allowed me t
CASSIE'S POVI had decided Jack. I didn't want his evilness, definitely not. What the witch (who I later found out was named Susan), showed me about Jack made me rethink attitudes. I wanted to confess everything to Felice. If she showed up to see me, I would tell her everything. Even if she didn't believe me, I would believe Jack. I had to believe in something, and at that moment the only chance to get out of that place was this way.I wasn't convinced why I had said those words to the officer, but I had. Likewise, I wondered if I had done something wrong, but what was done. I didn't like them. Nobody believed me. The incident of the twelve was too specific for them to accept my account. Only those who live through the trauma understand. Over time, one of the officers seemed more empathetic but was still only interested in the job. The impression I got from all this was that the police wanted to close the case as soon as possible. Of course, they tried to shelve the case, but the rela
JACK'S POVWhen I ran in the skin of a wolf, I would get stuck. Part of my body seemed to have control over things, but the other part seemed completely independent. Sometimes I thought that the wolf was not me. Maybe it was something living inside me or using me. My biggest fear was losing control completely. Each time I changed, I felt as if I was losing myself. There was too much wildness in me in that form. As much as I told Evan about my strength and aggressiveness as a consequence of the smoke on the day of the incident, I wasn't being completely honest with him.When I first changed, I could already feel the aura of the body being different. I thought that my lack of body control was because it was the first time, but for the other changes, I realized that it was not. I had no control over everything I did.Before I met Kurt, I had already had some blackouts. Several times I would change and just blink my eyes, and it would be another day. I could feel my body aching, so I knew