The infinite growlers

Chapter 5

Thrain looked at Mark, realizing he was already lost in Alex's appearance.

"Aren't you the one always watching me?" Thrain asked.

"What!" Mark was astonished. An alpha was known to be stronger than anyone other than the zeta in a pack, but my research never stated them to be this stunning, he thought as blushes began to form on his cute face.

"Well, now that you know, I'll get straight to the point. The full moon..." Alex said, looking straight into Thrain's eyes, "is in two days' time."

"Yeah, I know about that. Mark told me already," Thrain replied.

"You... you aren't a werewolf," Alex said, getting closer, barely an inch away from Mark.

Mark could no longer think of anything apart from Alex's scent. It was arousing.

"Yeah, I'm human, and I promise to keep it safe until I die. No amount of torture will coerce me into speaking a word," Mark replied, barely holding himself. "Damn! His lips are goddamn close to me," he thought.

Alex smiled, knowing Mark was nervous since he could hear Mark's heartbeat racing faster than a metronome.

"Come to the woods, the same location you picked your friend up. I'll be waiting for you," Alex said as he began walking away.

"And what if I don't?" Thrain asked.

Alex made a halt, looked back, and said, "That's up to you. Just don't be around Mark." He winked and vanished out of their sight.

Mark's heart, which was gradually pacing down, regained its original tempo with his eyes almost popping out.

"Mark! Are you okay? What does he mean by that?" Thrain asked, both worried and confused.

Mark cleared his throat before finally speaking. "Well, during the full moon, all were-creatures lose their sense of rationality. They become bloodthirsty creatures, and I believe he's the best shot you've got to learn to control it."

"Hmm, the full moon doesn't sound fun at all."

Friday came really fast for Thrain. He splashed cold water on his face, feeling like it wanted to watch every part of his existence drown in the abyss of regret. He wiped his face dry when he heard the distinctive sound of a lamp switching off.

"I'm beginning to have an eerie feeling," he whispered softly, exiting the bathroom.

All his senses heightened. This was the first time he had ever experienced this. He could barely concentrate as he was dead nervous.

"It seems I don't have a choice. Off to the woods," he uttered as he checked his wristwatch. It was past eleven, five minutes past eleven to be precise.

Thrain dressed up, got out of his room, and carefully descended the staircase so as not to disturb his mother. Finally, he was out of the house. As he walked down the road, he caught sight of a middle-aged woman, a lady who was barely forty. He ignored her presence, but it was eleven. What was a grown lady with a suitcase doing out here all by herself?

"Hey you! Don't you have parents at home? It's gonna be pretty dangerous out here till dawn, so you should go home," the lady said.

Thrain still ignored her progressively, but it seemed she was one of the nosy types.

"Just leave me be!" Thrain blurted out as a snarl was heard, baring his teeth.

The lady was stunned and felt excited momentarily. "My name is Lisa, and seeing we have a symbiotic relationship... let's get along so well," she said, her eyes brightened up and a smile creased open at the corner of her mouth.

Thrain was clueless regarding what the lady had just said, but one thing was certain: he felt in danger due to his intuition. His heart began pounding in his chest as he dashed through the dense woods, his eyes darting back and forth searching for all possible ways to escape the middle-aged woman.

He frantically dug his hands into his pocket trouser. "My phone! Yeah, the back pocket."

Thrain dialed Mark's number without much thought, but it went straight to voicemail. After several attempts, it finally rang, unfortunately, Mark did not pick up. "Damn! He was the best shot I've got, and he wouldn't pick up?"

He glanced around, looking for any sort of escape route. But the woods were so dense and offered no help. The only thing he could do now was keep running and hope that somehow fate would intervene.

On the other hand, Lisa rummaged through her suitcase in search of a silver bullet. She really didn't want this one to let loose. Finally, she got her hand on something that could end up much more interesting...

The full moon was only a few minutes away, and Thrain knew that if he didn't find a safe place to hide, the lady would catch him and probably end his life.

"Damn! Am I this dumb or did I lose concentration? Alex asked me to meet him at the location we picked for Ethan," he thought.

Immediately, he changed course and put all he had into getting to where Alex would most likely be. Thrain panted heavily, whispering to himself, "Now it's only about twenty meters left."

Suddenly, he felt a stinging pain in his leg and realized he had been hit by something. Checking, he found a dart stuck in his left leg muscles. His vision started to blur, and he began to slow down.

Lisa was now a few meters away, and he knew he was running out of time. He tried to push himself harder, but his legs now felt like lead.

Lisa stopped running and slowly walked toward Thrain's position. "That was a tranquilizer dart, you know," she said, "and it's used for immobilizing animals...like you."

Thrain could hardly move as he gritted his teeth, but he managed to lift his head and look into Lisa's eyes. He found zero mercy, only triumph.

Thrain braced himself for the end, but Lisa didn't attack him. Instead, she knelt down beside him and whispered into his ear.

"You are very lucky," she said.

"Why am I lucky? How am I lucky?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"...that's because there won't be a reason to hunt you again."

He was confused at that moment. Was that the answer he was supposed to hear? He panickedly glared at Lisa as he heard.

"I found my silver bullet."

"Hey man! If you see me trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's because Friday is a full moon," he remembered what Mark said to him.

Momentarily, as if it were his last breath, the clueless Thrain (omega) let out a howl—a mournful cry that echoed through the woods.

...

"Hey young miss, would you please stop playing with that big black cat? Doesn't it creep you out?" Mark blurted.

"Douchebag! Leave me and my cat alone. What's that got to do with you?" Charlotte spurted.

"Mark, don't you dare quarrel with your little sister," their mother interfered while setting up the table for dinner. "Charlotte is a great example of all my teachings: helping people when they are in need, and that doesn't only apply to humans."

"Fuck! If it weren't for that weird aunt, I wouldn't be starving for not eating dinner even when it's fifteen minutes to midnight," Mark said.

"Hey son, you and Charlotte should be on your best behavior when your aunt arrives, and please be nice to her, Mark. That's for you," their father said.

Mark went blank after what he had just said. "Fifteen minutes to midnight," he thought. "Thrain! My phone," he cried out suddenly.

Mother, father, and even Charlotte gazed at him as he ran up the stairs. "And now what's wrong with him?" Charlotte muttered.

Mark hurriedly kicked his door open and went straight for his cell phone. "What the fuck was I doing without my cell phone this whole time? I can't believe I forgot about Thrain, and it's almost time for the blue moon," he whispered to himself.

"Dear, why don't you check on your sister?" Mark's mother, Mrs. Harrison, asked.

"She will find her way. This isn't her first time coming to Sunnydale," Mr. Harrison stated.

Mrs. Harrison scoffed as she finally set the table up. Mr. Harrison sat on the sofa, continuing to read his newspaper, while Charlotte played with the black, mysterious cat without regard to what was going on.

The entire family was relieved with what they had engaged in, except Mark, who was dead worried about Thrain. He continuously dialed Thrain's number after seeing so many missed calls, but Thrain wouldn't pick up.

"What's going on with him? Is he okay?" Mark worried until a call came in from Ethan.

"Ethan? Why is he calling this late at night?" he wondered as he picked up the call.

Then he heard, "Mark, is Ethan with you?