35In the morning Anna drove them through town, arriving at a large greenhouse in the woods on the other side. She pulled over and parked next to a battered Willys Jeep.
A lot of wolves called him the Moor — which he disliked, saying that it was a vampire kind of thing to do, take a part of who a person was and reduce him to it with a capital letter or two. His features and skin showed traces of Arabia by way of North Africa, but Anna agreed that certainly wasn't the sum total of who he was. He was very beautiful, very old, extremely deadly — and right now he was transplanting geraniums.
Anna armed Jack with a flower basket, Anna stood beside him picking dead heads off of a rose bush. Jack eyed the bush, then reached for a rose bud.
"Remember the story of Beauty and the Beast?" remarked Asil gently. "Go ahead. Take that little bloom. See what happens."
"'Beauty and the Beast' is a French fairy tale and you are a mere Spaniard," Anna told Asil when Jack blanked, but he took his fingers off the bud. "Beauty's father had stolen a flower at great cost. And in no way are you an enchanted prince."
He dusted off his hands and turned to her, smiling a little. "Actually I am. For some definitions of 'prince.' "
"Hah," said Anna. "Poor Belle would find herself kissing your handsome face and then, poof, there would be the frog."
"I think you are mixing your fairy tales," Asil told her. "But even as a frog I would not disappoint. You came to talk fairy tales, querida?"
"No." Anna said, "I wanted to introduce you to Jack, Charles's son by June Darby."
Asil focused on Jack. "Ah, I see. I remember June, sweet girl its a shame that she couldn't stay."
Jack picked another dead rose bud, "What was my mother like? Till a few days ago I never knew about any of this, she never mentioned it."
Asil smiled warmly and cupped a blooming rose. "Your mother was like a flower, it took her meeting Charles's to truly bloom. Her aunt was a wolf of this pack and June was permitted to visit her. She was a quiet woman, she came three times a week to help look after her aunt. One day she meet Charles's and that was that, they had a fairy tale love. She was happy to play house wife for Charles while he was away on Bran's business. It was only when she became pregnant with you that she really became a topic of interest to the rest of the pack. When your mother was almost to term, Leah Bran's mate grew." He paused and frowned. "Let us say jealous, she didn't have the opportunity to try anything, Bran had sensed it brewing and sent June away for her and your own safety."
"Why did Leah get jealous?" Jack asked.
"Werewolves can not have children with other werewolves. Werewolf females miscarriage all children when they change forms. Human woman only can carry human children to term, which is your case. Born human to a wolf father, you are not the only case of this happening but you were right under Leah nose. Frankly I don't know what Bran sees in that woman." Asil's lip curled.
"So Leah was jealous because my mother could have children?" Jack said.
"Yes, June would have probably been safe if she stayed, but sending her away was safer. You never know when things will get stressed around here."
"Okay." Jack said quietly.
Asil smile at him. "Don't worry pup, your mother is well loved here. She left for your sake, I hear she has made a good life for herself. With you in the loop and the general quiet of the last few decades, perhaps she can come visit or Charles and visit her."
Anna patted Jack's back. "I am looking forward to meeting your mother, Charles is my mate now but I hold no ill will to his previous mates."
Jack smiled. "I think you two would get along."
Jack helped with a few more flowers. "So does Charles being my father have anything to do with my lycanthropy?"
Anna shifted back and forth in place, glanced away and rubbed her stomach.
Asil spoke calmly and smoothly. "The only way to become a werewolf is to nearly be killed by one, one or two scratches or a bite won't do it. You must be on deaths door, you didn't know about any of this all werewolves are sworn to secrecy most all the supernatural community save the lowest level fae." He stroked a rose. "The only mortals that know about our kind are mates and sometimes there families. There has been issues in the past were individuals outside the Marroks control have been capture, experimented on and murdered. Keeping the circle as small as possible is very beneficial. That said Jack if anyone ever tries to inject you with something that you don't know. Don't let them, Mercy caught and killed the last people peddling the silver drug but no one is stupid enough to think that other won't someday figure it out."
The conversation ended on that solemn topic, Jack and Anna stayed with Asil till lunch before heading out again.
They came up to a white lavish house very large, Jack could tell from a mile away that the owner was very wealthy.
"Where are we going now?" He asked.
"Bran asked me to bring you by when we had a minute." Anna said very calmly, Jack felt himself calming down, he didn't realize how tense he had been till she spoke. What he didn't know was she was using her power to calm him. "I think he just wants to meet his sons son. Bran makes a habit of knowing his wolves."
Jack nodded, in a few minutes of watching the forest go by they pulled up at the house.
As they walked up they came to a deck, on it sitting in a deep brown straw chair sat Caucasian man with brown hair and hazel eyes. His skin was lighter and his features very fine and soft, he glanced up from his book as Anna and Jack walked up the steps.
"Hello Anna." His voice was warm on one level yet cold on another, like he was still mad at her for something.
"Bran." Anna titled her neck exposing it to him slightly. Bran visibly relaxed then looked over to Jack.
"So this is my son's offspring." He leveled his gaze with Jack, Jack looked into his eyes for the flash before averting his gaze. He didn't know why he did it but it was what his hind brain told him to do.
Bran smiled "Come sit." He waved his had to a pair of chairs across from him, the same make as his with white cushions to sit on, Jack followed Anna as she took a set.
Bran chuckled. "I see he's already taken well to you Anna."
Anna and Jack blushed.
"So Jack, tell me about yourself." Bran said leaning back in his chair, hazel eyes fixed on the youth in front of him.
"What do you want to know?" Jack asked.
"Tell me about your home town, what you do in your spare time." Bran's voice had a small hint of command.
So Jack did, he told him about his friends, school, Bran himself mentioned the Autobots, so Jack told him of some adventures he had with them. In turn Bran told him about the Werewolves structure in North America, once they got on that topic they stayed late into the night. For the rest of his life Jack would remember the day he meet the Marrok and the wonderful steak that he had for dinner.
"Ratchet, could you look at this for me please?" Raf flicked is pet project up to Ratchet monitor.
Ratchet faceplate transformed from a mild interest in what Raf was doing to having it absorb the entirety of his attention. He rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger a few times before addressing Raf.
"I take it you someday wish to have this be common day practice." Ratchets voice was slow as if he too was now realizing the medical potential of this equipment.
Raf nodded. "But I need help, I more a computer programmer then an engineer or a doctor. Plus I think everything would work better with Cybertronian tech to start till I can evolve human tech to the point where it is useful."
Ratchet tapped his chin. "June is off finishing her education, but I think I will send her a message about this perhaps she would like to help or shift her studies to complement this."
"I don't want Mrs. Darby to change her career for my sake." Raf shook his head mortified at the idea.
"I think Mrs. Darby would be a fool to not want to work on this, she is a Doctor already there is nothing saying that she can't specialize in Augmentation. I think Mrs. Darby would enjoy the challenge of it."
Ratchet popped off a message to June with some of Rafs notes, then the elder mech and teenage human child proceeded to have an impromptu engineering lesson.
"Miko." Optimus's voice had the slightest hint of scorn.
"I'm trying! I could do it yesterday!" Miko half shouted as she bent herself backwards her belly button pointed to the sky hands planted on the ground.
"You are already ten seconds past your two minute record of yesterday." Optimus kneeled mass shifted and had a servo under her back supporting her slightly, this was not a strength exercise but a flexibility one.
"Five more seconds!" She gasped out.
Optimus counted slowly. "One." Her arms trembled, "Two." He could feel the muscles in her back straining, "Three." He watched Miko take deep breaths. "Don't hold your breath, four." Miko squeezed her eyes shut. "Five." He lowered her slowly to the training mat.
Miko blew a raspberry at the mech huffed out and panted on the floor for a minute. "That is way harder then it looks."
Optimus merely smirked and helped Miko to her feet before retrieving her bamboo sword and shield.
Miko took then and held the shield flat against her left arm and dropped into a ready stance. Optimus picked up another bamboo sword and that he had shaped to his specifications.
"When your ready." He said he stepped so that his shield was the foremost thing forward.
Swinging from her shoulder keeping her arm extended she thwacked the shield with the length of her blade as hard as she could.
"Harder." Optimus said, the blow didn't even make the shield waver.
Again Miko swung the shield and sword clapped together, the muscle in her arm protested against the jarring force. She was endlessly thankful for her tree bashing time now, that was nothing compared to this.
"Again, go for other targets."
She aimed for his head, the shield rose to stop her and so they danced. Miko would aim all over his body the shield would move to intercept, eventually Miko started to circle look for new openings but that blasted shield always stood in her way.
Hours past before Miko finally gave up and pleaded exhaustion. The two migrated to the top of the silo to do stretchers in the light of dusk.
"You did well today Miko, past my expectations." Optimus said as they finished up and sat to meditate.
Miko beamed. "Thank you," she paused for a lengthly moment. "Optimus what would you say if someday I got some of Raf's Augs?" She two had been reading up on Rafs notes, when she expressed an interest to Raf and he promised to keep in her the loop.
"That is your chose Miko, no one can make it for you." Optimus said serenely.
"I know, but I'd like your opinion." She gazed at the bot, trying to read his expression.
Optimus sighed. "Raf's work has been intriguing to watch I could see many of his Augmentations simply improving human life if you decided to receive a few Augmentations I would not dissuade you."
Miko smiled. "Thank you Optimus its nice to know someone has faith in my decision making skills."
"Miko you are seventeen years of age, in other countries legal for a great many things already. At this point you should have the last say over any decisions made about you. If you wish to get Augmentations, become an artist or doctor or even go into the Army. It is up to you and what path you decide to take."
Miko got up and hugged him, her chest to his right shoulder and cuddled him briefly. Optimus place a had on her arm that lay across his chest and squeezed slightly in a small hug of his own. Miko returned to her spot and they meditated in silence till she had to go home.
Jack sat in a clearing with Charles, Anna and the Marrok, Bran. His skin itched the moon was just coming out and it called to him. As it peeked out into the sky the three other wolves started stripping down and stuffing there clothes into a duffel bag. Jack blushed he guessed that modesty wasn't a big thing with wolves. Following their lead he stripped and stuffed his clothes away, Jack basked in the moon light. A loud crack removed him from his delight.
Jack fell to the ground and almost screamed as his body changed, joints popped, bones regrew, his skin split apart as long black hair grew from his body. Everything hurt but all he could do was kneel in the ground and whipper as his body travel a new path. The whole process took almost ten minutes, ten minutes of agony.
When he was finished the creature that had once been back was about twice the size of a husky and carol black. His fur was long and shaggy, his eyes glowed cinnamon red like stale blood. He panted his long tongue drooping out of his mouth, long canines shown in the moonlight the looked a few centimeters longer then the average none werewolf wolf.
Anna had become a much small though still large wolf with a rich red and brown coat. She rubbed her cheek against him and Jack felt a wave of calm cascade over him. Charles had become a large dark gold wolf slightly larger then Jack and Bran stood almost as tall as Charles but with a dark brown coat.
Bran lead the way out of there small clearing, Jack half wobbled for his first few steps but his new instincts swiftly took over. His new pack picked up speed as he grew more familiar with this new sense of self.
Jack frequently found himself sniffing some log or moss, thankfully the others were amused by this so they let him play to his hearts content as they keep a look out for prey.
They roamed for a few hours and Jack's stomach growled loudly. Anna made a barking laugh and they set off again, Bran and Charles took lead as the moved out again.
As Jack smelled something wonderful, everyone fell into a low crawl. They walked for a few more minutes before the source of the scent came into view. Anna stood slightly enfront of Jack as Charles and Bran leaped onto a deer tearing it to the ground. Charles bounded off and took another deer down, Anna allowed Jack to approach the kill.
Charles and Bran took the lead and started devouring the deer, Anna swiftly moved up beside Charles and started her own feast.
Jack felt sick watching them, but he was so very hungry and it smelled so very good. He whined his new throat quivered as he fought his own mind.
Charles looked up from the kill, his golden eyes glinting in the moonlight, slowly he moved around Anna raising his head over her rump. He walked over and rubbed his check against Jacks, silent reassurance.
Reluctantly Jack walked up to the deer beside Anna opposite to Charles spot and took an experimentally bite. Blood gushed into his mouth and his wolf took over, it devoured with speed rivaling the larger wolves. When the deer was gone, blood coated his jaws and his human mind had departed.
Jack lunched into motion jumping over the deer and just running. Bran, Anna and Charles hot on his heels, not yet restraining but ready to pin him down if need be.
He growled at Bran as the elder wolf closed on his side and dived off to the side. Tree and bush flew past as he ate up the ground, his blood pounded in his ears as he ate up distance, lungs heaved for breath.
The black beast began to pull away from the others and began to transform again. His shoulders expanded outward sickening cracks filled the air as his shoulders realigned to a more human shape and his torso lengthened in the same manner. His arms grew longer and his paws turn back to gnarled hands. His new long fingers were thin and tipped with claws several centimeters long, his legs elongated and his back paws elongated to a more bipedal form. Lastly his neck and head grew and expanded. This new monsters roared a blood curdling sound that vibrated in the skulls of near by creatures.
The void wolf easily out stripped the pack, his longer limbs covering more ground his back arching like a cheetahs as he ran blindly. After perhaps ten long minutes of running it slowed and came to a stop, raised its nose to the air and breathed deeply. The werewolf growled deeply almost a purr at the scent in the air, humans. Its tongue rolled out of it's mouth as it panted for another long minute before it pulled its tongue back into its mouth its grotesquely long teeth glinted in the moonlight. It prowled forward, the grass brushed its belly as it moved toward the sent.
The forest was unnaturally quiet as if, it and all its inhabits held their breath as they waited for the blood bath.
Jack came upon the human camp, the fire the humans had lit made it stand out like a beacon in the night. He hovered just out of sight, skirting around the end of the light.
A woman came out from the tent and Jack launched into the camp . . .
When Charles, Anna and Bran found Jack he was stretched out in his werewolf form, sleeping not fair from bodies which would have to be identified by their dental records. The sad thing was that they were only ten minutes behind Jack, they assumed he gorged himself then fell asleep. Jacks furless snout was coated in blood that would takes some serious effort to clean off. They had all remained in the wolf form, because taking that half form, werewolf form was something that none not even Bran dare to on a full moon.
That half form was unofficially outlawed, wolves that took it on a full moon almost always lost control. It was the embodiment of the beast they all tried to keep in check, old wolf, young wolf it didn't matter. Many went Feral, though Jack hadn't been informed of it yet part of Charles's job was to hunt down and kill Feral wolves. This was honestly what they had hoped to avoid when they brought Jack here, feeding him the deer was supposed to quell the bloodlust. It worked with most wolves, it was very rare that a wolf managed to be faster then the three of them. It was times like this that Bran wished Mercy was here, that little coyote was one fast creature. She could have at least slowed him down.
Anna shifted back to human form and went and pulled two blankets from the tent and put them over the bodies.
Charles and Bran took a few minutes longer to shift.
"I'll head back to our clothes and call a cleaning crew." Bran ran a hand through his short brown hair and sighed before setting off in the way that they had come.
Charles walked carefully over to Jack and rest a hand between his large furry ears, stroking very gently.
"Poor boy." Anna said and started working her Omega magic, Charles felt its effect instantly as a wave of calm cascaded over him. "This so rarely happens now a days."
Charles let Anna watch over Jack as he gathered up a split pot and poured some fresh water into the pot and set it on the stone next to the dwindling fire. He picked up a mostly clean rag and scrubbed it in the water till it could be passed off as clean then went about cleaning Jacks nuzzles and gently as he could. They less blood on Jack would hopefully lessen the trauma he was going to feel when he woke up.
Jack's form would have made Charles a bit concerned had Bran reacted more. Jacks arms were about a meter and a half long including hands and claws. His black fur coated there exterior but left the inner side of his arms a dark ashen colour. His chest spanned like a humans with his shoulder blades sticking up at slightly more of a wolfish angle. It flowed back into narrow hips to long bipedal legs and a long tail. Thick, shaggy black fur covered his back ranging up to part way down his nose before that too changed into more grey skin. Charles guessed Jacks front followed a similar flow of fur, as he cleaned Jack's nose he pulled back a lip gently and took note of almost invisible serrations on Jacks teeth.
"Those are nasty." Anna commented, not in a disgusted fashion but a factual one.
"Agreed, not something I would want to face. Though I have not heard of serrations before, though its possible that they are a resent addition to the virus." He cleaned off Jacks teeth and let the lip sit normally.
Anna stroked behind one of Jacks ears. "Should we tell Bran? I've only been a werewolf for about a decade and I don't have serrations. Whoever attacked him must have either been one of those Changers or a victim of them."
Charles nodded solemnly. "Changers, I hate those monsters. Murders." Charles growled.
Anna let her power wash over him a little more forcibly. "Agreed, there like those vampire Sabbat as much as I don't see eye to eye with the Camarilla they at least keep the monsters from making a mess."
"You forget the Tremere or Followers of Set, their Camarilla and still making a mess." Charles let Anna work her magic, he need to be calm for Jack.
"True." Anna stroked Jacks cheek. "But unless your vampire or someone of your position you wouldn't know about it."
"No we just have to warn all the new blood to thoroughly check any brothels they go to before visiting." Charles exhaled with a great huff.
"Just think of it like this, vampires under the Camarilla make less of a mess then vampires without it like the Sabbat and Black Witches."
"Thank the Spirits for the Masquarde, or the humans would have been looking for new ways to kill us long ago."
"If only everyone could be so quiet as the fae and aboriginals."
Jack whimpered quietly as the sun peaked over the horizon as it forced his body back to his human form. Limbs shrinking, crunching, twisting and snapping back into place.
He groaned and looked up at his Dad, he stared for a long moment then it all snapped back into his mind.
There is an uncensored version of this chapter available on Archive of our own for those who are interested. For those wondering about pairs, that would be spoilers. The only other thing to say is that it will not be as per normal with other fanficitions. All the reviews greatly help with both motivation and the chapter itself, and the author extends her thanks and had a very good day as a result, so you all get a chapter early! No month long wait! We hope this chapter explains many of your questions and for the younger viewers, this story is crossed over with the Mercy Thompson Series and the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs, Deux Ex Human Revoluation (more on that later) and Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines (Again more on that later). Its the people that leave reviews (out of the 2235 that view, yeah you 2220 feel guilty) for this that make it possible! You have the author's and my own heart felt thanks!