Something Wicked This Way Comes Ch3

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***

In hindsight, Koz should’ve made Jack climb a tree as soon as he felt the familiar prickling along the back of his neck, signifying the moon rising, but the druid circle would have been much safer than a flimsy tree branch. He’d resolved that if push came to shove he’d stop and fight the wolf and let Jack keep going.

When he heard the wolf’s breath growing close behind him and he realized that now might be a good time to implement that plan.

“Keep going.” He squeezed Jack’s hand and let go. “Look for a circle of trees.” They’d yet to reach the top of the hill, the circle was just beyond the rise.

“What?” Jack gasped. “There’s a million trees!” The scent of fear filled Koz’s senses.

“These will be in a perfect circle!” Koz said, “It’s straight ahead, if you don’t find it immediately, climb a tree and go as high as you can!” Koz pulled his gun. “No matter what you hear, stay where it’s safe. Claussen is north of here, wait until morning before moving.”

“Koz—” Jack gasped through his words. “Don’t die!”

“I won’t!”

“I mean, don’t let it kill you!”

“I promise I’ll get you home!” Koz stopped suddenly and pivoted on his heel. The wolf charged towards him, nothing more than a blur of movement, glowing teeth, and shining fangs.

Instantly, the uncertainty of Koz’s condition, his fear for Jack’s safety, the ache of homesickness that had grown in him steadily since yesterday - they all slipped away, replaced by the cold, professionalism he’d honed over years of seeing and doing things others only saw and did in their nightmares. He was a hunter and the hunt was on.

The wolf skidded to a halt, not expecting his prey to try facing him. Two unnaturally green eyes landed on Koz’s gun and the beast jerked to the side as he pulled the trigger and fired.

The wolf yelped and blood spattered across the forest’s lush greenery. The beast disappeared into the brush. Koz cursed and turned around to run after Jack. The shot was good, but not good enough. He’d definitely missed a kill shot, but Jack’s safety took priority over finishing the hunt.

Jack hadn’t gotten too far ahead. Koz followed the lingering scent-trail of fear until he heard movement behind him. Damn. He must’ve only grazed the wolf. With the wind blowing towards him, he couldn’t catch its scent and tell where it was or how much it was bleeding.

He could feel that familiar ache at the base of his neck urging him to change. He clenched his gun in his hand and urged the feeling away. He didn’t need to turn - he had a weapon. He whirled around and took aim – he only had so many bullets after all – but before he could get off a shot, a two-hundred pound wolf barreled into his chest.

All the wind was knocked out of him as the beast tackled him to the ground. Koz’s pack was trapped beneath him and his back bent uncomfortably around the bag amongst a torrent of confused panic.

‘Can’tbreatheWOLFdanger.’

Without realizing, the ache in his neck burst into a burning pain and then all Koz could think was: ‘Pinned. Vulnerable. Bad. Bad. BAD.’

He flailed, gasped for breath, and snarled on the exhale. He planted one hand into the dirt and braced himself as he grabbed the wolf’s neck in a clawed hand and squeezed, claws sinking into its pelt. The wolf lunged forward to strike at his throat, spittle flying as its jaws snapped just above Koz’s face. He grabbed for the loose skin beneath its jaw and forced its head back. Before the wolf could pull free, he kicked upward into its stomach hard, forcing the beast over his head. The werewolf let out a surprised yelp as it was thrown into the bushes behind them.

Koz growled, fangs bared as he rose into a crouch.

The werewolf wheezed and pulled away from the brambles, startled by the turn of events. Koz braced himself, close to the ground with claws exposed, his body trembling with the desire to let loose and change – but he couldn’t – not enough time – danger! Fight! He charged, shoes slipping off as his feet warped into paws.

He tackled the beast, arms wrapping around its neck and squeezing as his teeth found flesh and clamped down. It wasn’t enough - he hadn’t changed enough! He needed his snout, his powerful jaws, his long fangs! Every instinct screamed at him: Fight! Kill! Fight! Protect Jack! Protect—

Jack!

His eyes widened as human consciousness returned. Instantly he felt his clothes – which had seemed so constricting a moment ago – begin to loosen. His teeth shrank and he pulled his mouth away from the beast’s neck and spat out fur. The wolf struggled against him and he adjusted his hold from a simple grip to a pressure hold.

Instantly the wolf’s flailing increased. Koz just squeezed harder and ignored the claws scraping his front and the click of teeth by his ear as the wolf tried to twist and bite him.

In a detached sort of way, he counted to seven, waiting as his hold cut off the wolf’s blood-flow and the beast slowly fell unconscious.

He waited an extra moment, just to make sure it wasn’t playing possum, then he let go. The wolf fell to the ground heavily and lay still. Koz’s arms ached and he stretched as he went to retrieve his shoes.

He was shaking as he slipped his shoes back on his – thankfully human – feet. It wasn’t his first time bodily attacking a monster – not by a long shot – but it was the first time he’d done it while changing.

He spat on the ground and pulled a few stray hairs from his mouth, grimacing in disgust. At least, he thought, at least he hadn’t changed all the way. If he had, he was sure he would’ve broken skin – he might’ve even been able to break the wolf’s neck with only his teeth. He’d never tried it before – he’d never killed anything while he was changed, thank God – but with the change came a certain knowledge, a surety that he was a powerful killer. Koz looked back at the wolf on the ground. It hadn’t even been much of a fighter.

Koz let out a heavy breath and ran a shaky hand through his hair. He thought bemusedly that if he’d changed all the way, he’d have torn through his clothes. What a sight for poor Jack to see tomorrow morning – him covered in blood and stark naked!

He took a moment to search for his gun. He didn’t even remember dropping it.

He walked back towards the wolf’s unconscious form and with a practiced stoicism, shot it through the head.

He was about to turn around to go find Jack when he realized that something was off. He knelt and shifted the wolf’s body. Nothing. He reached beneath and flipped the whole thing over. Still nothing. Except for the hole in either side of the beast’s head, there wasn’t a mark on the thing. He’d definitely shot a wolf though. He’d seen the blood. He’d smelled it!

“Shit.” There was a second wolf. Koz looked around and sniffed the air, hoping maybe it would be close by and downwind, but nothing could be that easy. At least he’d wounded it. He sighed. He should’ve considered the likelihood of a pack – werewolves, like real wolves, were social creatures. Not to mention this wolf had been going after hunters and hunters usually worked in twos or threes. It would be better to attack them in groups.

He frowned and pushed his musings aside. There was another wolf out there and Jack was all alone.

He hurried towards the druid circle, hoping Jack had found it. He kept his eyes peeled for the second wolf as he went. Night-vision was almost definitely the greatest benefit to being a werewolf, he thought as he made his way through the gloomy forest.

He found the circle easily. There was a lingering scent of fear and something else – something that he’d come to know as Jack’s scent. The young man had been there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Jack?” He called. Just as Koz started to worry he heard a quiet voice call down from up in the trees.

“Koz?”

Koz turned around and saw just one pale foot between the branches above him.

“Jack,” he called softly. “You can come down, this is the circle.”

The branches rustled as Jack began his descent. “I thought it was,” he said, “but I thought, y’know, just in case—”

There was a snap and Jack yelped as he plummeted downward, bouncing off lower branches painfully. Koz darted forward and caught him easily. There was a quiet moment where Koz realized with a jolt just how thin Jack really was, then Jack spoke.

“So, is there any chance you’re related to Superman?”

Koz forced out a chuckle as he gently tipped Jack onto his feet. “Not that I’m aware of.”

Jack shoved his hands in his center pocket and took a few nervous steps back, biting his lip. He glanced down at Koz’s gun – still in his hand. “Did you…” He trailed off.

Koz frowned and holstered his weapon. “That’s sort of a good news, bad news situation.”

Jack groaned. “What’s the good news?”

“We’re down one werewolf.”

“I don’t like the way you phrased that.”

“That’ll be because of the bad news: there’s definitely at least one more out there.”

“At least one!” Jack let out a slightly hysterical laugh then glanced around at the circle. “You’re sure we’ll be safe here?”

“Yes. Nothing may enter a druid circle so long as it intends harm towards one already in the circle.”

“Oh, well.” Jack’s shoulders sagged. “That’s good.”

“Yes, it is.” Koz sat down heavily and leaned against the tree with a groan. Now the adrenaline was wearing off, he was beginning to feel the affects of changing and fighting a werewolf.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. Hungry though.” Koz shrugged off his pack. He was not fine, he was exhausted and sore and absolutely famished. He pulled a smashed up package of poptarts from his bag. He could’ve eaten the foil; he was so hungry. He always got hungry after changing, even if he only changed a little bit. Apparently switching species built up quite the appetite.

‘Although,’ he mused as he wolfed down the crumbled contents of the package, another benefit to changing was the healing factor. His arms were sore but his chest didn’t hurt – despite the fact that a large animal had tackled and pinned him down. By all rights he should have had at least bruised – if not broken – ribs, but he felt fine.

The incessant hunger he could do without. It took an enormous amount of self-control not to tear through their supplies and eat all of them. He settled for drinking some water and then snuggled in against the tree. It wasn’t particularly warm, but it made for better shelter against the rapidly cooling night air.

Beside him, Jack slowly picked at his own dinner. It was a good thing it was so dark, Koz thought, or Jack would be able to see him watching him eat with all the pathetic attentiveness of a hungry dog.

Jack finished his meal and leaned against the tree as well, settling against Koz’s side. Koz wrapped his arm around him. “Cold?”

Jack shivered and pressed closer. “I’m ready to sleep in a bed again,” he said.

“Good news then: we should reach Claussen before sundown tomorrow.”

“And I can take a shower.” Jack winced. “Sorry if I smell bad.”

“I just wrestled a werewolf,” Koz said sleepily. “You smell fine.”

Jack pulled away and stared at him, mouth open. “You wrestled with it?”

“I dropped my gun.” Kozmotis yawned.

Jack stared at him. “How are you not dead?”

“Apparently I must be related to Superman.”

Jack let out an incredulous laugh. “You’re kind of amazing,” he said.

“You’re nothing to sniff at either.” Koz deflected. “You’re handling yourself remarkably well.”

“Come say that to me again after we get home and I’m in therapy,” Jack said as he settled back against Koz’s side.

“I’ve been to therapy, it does not diminish your bravery to spend time healing after something traumatic.” Koz wrapped his arm around Jack, mostly to warm up the starving child, but a little to reassure him as well.

Jack was quiet a moment. “Um…” Koz could smell his anxiety growing. “Have you been recently?”

For a moment Koz was confused. What did he mean? Then he remembered. ‘Right,’ he thought, ‘I tried to kill myself.’ Koz sighed. “I told you my problems can’t be solved by talking it out.”

“But could your problems be… um… less awful if you talked about them? Like when I was freaking out about the – the bones. You helped me – even though they were still there, I wasn’t freaking out about them.”

Koz frowned. “I’m glad that I helped you, but my problem isn’t so simple.”

Jack let out shaky breath. “I wish I could convince you not to go through with it…”

“You hardly know me,” Koz said quietly.

“I know you’re helping me when you don’t need to so you’re at least a good person. And you took your daughter to a Twilight movie so you’ve gotta be a really awesome dad.” There was a quiet pause. “What’s going to happen to her?”

“She’s going to stay with my friend,” Koz said sharply. Jack didn’t sound judgmental – but he was certainly trying to guilt him into not carrying through with his plan. “I’d appreciate it if you stopped asking me about it. I haven’t been asking your reasons for being out here.”

Jack let out another shaky sigh. “That’s… that’s another problem that can’t be solved by talking about it.”

Koz would be lying if he said his curiosity wasn’t piqued, but he really didn’t want Jack to ask him about his own situation, so he might as well lead by example.

Jack shivered and moved to cover his feet with his hands. Koz frowned and shifted, slipping off his shoes.

“Here.” He pushed them towards Jack.

“You sure?”

“Go on.”

“Thanks.” Jack slipped on the shoes and Koz almost smiled; his shoes looked like clown shoes on Jack’s small feet. Jack sighed in contentment. “Warm toes…” he murmured blissfully.

Koz did smile then. “You’re welcome, Jack.”

Jack snuggled against him. “You’re a really awesome werewolf adventure partner,” he said sleepily. “Sorry for um… for being nosy.”

“I’d do the same in your position,” Koz said. “Just… stop trying to help me. Chances are good it’ll end badly for you.”

Jack sighed unhappily. “You’re just making me more curious.”

“Good night, Jack.”

“Good night, Koz.”

*
Koz woke up hungrier than he was when he went to sleep. He used the can-opener he’d taken from the cabin and opened one of the cans of chilly while Jack came around.

Jack rubbed his eyes sleepily. “Do you need a spoon?” He yawned.

“We don’t have any.”

“We have pocket knife spoon!” Jack proudly produced the pocket-knife he’d taken from the cabin and flipped out a tiny spoon.

“Handy,” Koz said, accepting the utensil. “Did you want any?” He sincerely hoped not. He was ready to eat the tin can.

“I think I’ll eat the last poptart.”

Good. Koz scarfed down the entire can (and managed to avoid eating the tin) and felt a little bit better.

“Alright,” he said once Jack had finished his breakfast. “Ready to go home?”

Jack smiled and Koz was surprised to see that it was slightly strained. “Of course!” Jack slipped off Koz’s shoes. “Thanks for these.”

“You can keep them if you like,” Koz said.

“After all this time, my feet are basically two big callouses,” Jack said. “Don’t worry about it. Besides…” he looked down at Koz’s socked feet. “You might step in something wet and wet socks are a fate worse than death.”

Koz let out wry snort and let Jack return the shoes. At least the kid hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

They set out again, heading ever northward towards Claussen. They spent a good portion of the morning moving steadily, then the wind shifted and Koz caught a scent on the breeze; thankfully it was a smell he knew well from even before the bite.

It isn’t long until they arrive at the source. A small, clear grove of trees, each with its trunk covered in purple-blue bottle-rocket flowers. Wolfsbane. A lot of wolfsbane. ‘Well,’ Koz thought, ‘this is near a hunter’s cabin.’ He was almost surprised they didn’t have a wolfsbane garden – North did, which was why Koz was so familiar with the scent.

“What’s up?” Jack asked, seeing Koz’s focus.

“That’s wolfsbane.” Koz pointed.

Jack whirled. “Really?” He said, “no way!” He stepped towards the plant and Koz remembered his companion’s bare feet.

“Stay back,” he said. “It’s poisonous, even to touch.”

Jack looked up at him sharply. “Isn’t it only poisonous to werewolves?”

“It has magic properties which make it especially poisonous to werewolves, but it’s still extremely poisonous to humans too.”

“What?” Jack frowned. “You got to be kidding me, I feel so betrayed!”

“Is it not poisonous in Teen Wolf?”

“It isn’t!” Jack either didn’t detect Koz’s sarcasm or didn’t bother to address it. “My life is a lie!”

“Just watch where you step,” Koz said, turning his head as the wind blew another familiar scent towards him. “The roots are especially poisonous – you don’t want to be sick all day.” His thoughts trailed away from Jack as the new scent picked up. Smoke. And food.

Suddenly it felt as if he hadn’t eaten anything that morning. He sniffed the air. He knew this smell.

North had a fire-pit in his backyard. The original intent behind it was for burning items (or other things) for hunting purposes – whether it was a witch spell or a possessed object, it was good to have an inconspicuous way to destroy them. But then Koz had introduced North to Seraphina and suddenly the fire-pit became a place for s’mores and roasting sausages.

So of course, Koz recognized the smell of hot dogs cooking over an open flame immediately and felt his stomach growl in response.

He could see a feint trail of black smoke just over the next hill.

“Jack, we may have caught some good luck,” he announced.

“What?”

“There might be a campsite down there. We can borrow a phone or ask for a ride.” ‘Or lunch,’ Koz thought as he turned towards his companion just in time to see him shove his hands in his center pocket, face far too innocent to be trusted. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you touch any of the flowers?”

“Nope.” Jack smiled and it was so impossibly innocent there was no way he wasn’t up to something.

Koz sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll know soon enough if you did. When you start throwing up, don’t come crying to me.”

“Deal. Now what’s this about a campsite?”

*

Shortly after they set out for the camp, Koz realized that it might be a trap – but then he started feeling shaky with hunger and decided that the potential benefits outweighed the risk.

And there was at least one risk that soon became apparent. The closer they got, the stronger the smell of smoke became. What had previously been an obnoxious odor soon overpowered his sense of smell entirely. It felt similar to the numb-but-still-aching sensation from burning the roof of your mouth, but it was inside Koz’s nose. Each inhale brought a soft flicker of pain until Koz was finally reduced to mouth-breathing.

They made their way up the hill towards the camp, close enough that even Jack was catching the scent of food and smoke on the wind.

The pair broke through the tree line and found themselves in a clearing at the summit. A battered old pick-up truck with a blue tarp tied over the back sputtered noisily, the engine still running. Two tents framed a patch of cleared earth where a fire pit had been dug and a fire cracked merrily.

A man crouched next to the flames, adjusting one of several spits around the fire, each holding a sizzling hot dog. The man wore a camouflage jacket and pants and an orange cap. Everything screamed hunter – deer, not demon – and Koz relaxed a fraction.

It was all Koz could do to resist running over and digging in – but if the man wasn’t the second wolf, he’d probably be terrified if two raggedy strangers suddenly appeared in the middle of the woods.

“Dad?”

Koz jerked out of his musings as a boy – eighteen or so, not much younger than Jack – walked out from behind the man’s pick-up truck, wearing an over-sized orange hunting vest and carrying a bag of hot-dog buns. He’d spotted Jack and Koz before his father did and judging by the frightened look on his face, Koz was right in assuming their sudden appearance would be treated with fear.

“Hello,” he said, turning on the charm and making his accent as posh as he could manage – he’d found that somehow it was very disarming. “So sorry to intrude, but I’m afraid we’ve got ourselves a bit turned around. Could you perhaps loan us your cell for a moment?”

The man looked towards his son and back to Koz, concern and confusion etched on his face.

Koz glanced towards Jack. Barefoot, dirty, and thin, he must’ve looked quite the sight. Then Koz looked down at himself. He hadn’t realized how dirty he’d gotten when he tussled with the wolf- and there was a sizeable rip in his shirt where the beast had clawed him – how had he not noticed that? They both looked awful.

The father frowned at them for a moment. “How about some lunch?” He said finally, eyeing Jack. “You look like you need it.”

“Oh, yes,” Koz said in a sickeningly chipper voice. “That would be splendid, thank you.”

“Jamie,” the man said. “Grab us some more dogs, alright?”

The boy, Jamie, nodded and hoped back into the back seat of the truck. After a moment the windows rolled down and the engine cut off. Jamie emerged with a cooler under one arm and the bag of buns in the other. He kicked the door shut behind him just as the man stepped forward and took Koz’s hand. “Aaron Bennet,” he introduced himself. “And this is my son, Jamie.”

Jamie looked up with a weak smile and offered a little wave, then returned to his work, pulling the cooked hotdogs onto the buns and putting the fresh ones on to cook.

For a moment the other three could only stand and watch in silent, hungry fascination while Jamie divided the food onto four paper plates.

Koz remembered his manners suddenly. “Sorry,” he said.

Aaron just smiled. “It’s alright. Let’s eat, then we can talk.”

Koz couldn’t agree more. They all sat in the dirt and ate. Koz had never been a big fan of hotdogs, but this particular meal – eaten with his hands off paper plates while sitting in the dirt – was quite possibly one of the best he’d ever eaten. He scarfed down two and then two more once the second batch was done. Then he ate another one when Jack got full and offered him his. Koz could’ve kissed him.

Aaron wiped his mouth with his sleeve and sighed in content. “Hits the spot, huh Jamie?”

“Yup!” Jamie smiled, folding up his plate. He spotted Jack looking for a place to put his own plate and held out his hand. “We’ve got a trash bag in the car,” he said.

They all turned over their plates and Jamie took them and the cooler back to the truck.

There was an awkward moment where the three sat in silence and then Aaron spoke. “So, what brings you out into the woods, mister…?”

“Kozmotis. And this is my—” No one would believe Jack was his son, he didn’t want to deal with any hassle that may arise if he said they were boyfriends (especially since they weren’t), and anything else he could think of seemed too suspicious. “—step-son. Jack.”

Aaron nodded and seemed to search for something to say. “Interesting name.”

“It’s Norwegian,” Koz said mechanically.

“Interesting.” Aaron replied with equal obligatory politeness.

Jamie reappeared from the truck, a bag in his hand. He smiled a soft, hopeful smile and held up the bag. “Any one want s’mores?”

Jack’s hand shot up in the air.

“I thought you were full,” Koz said.

“But s’mores!”

Aaron smiled, but it seemed strained. “I think s’mores will have to wait, buddy,” he said. “Why don’t you go get us some firewood while Mr. Cosmo here—” There was a snort next to Koz, but when he turned to look, Jack’s face was completely neutral. “—makes a phone call.”

“Oh.” Jamie’s face fell. “Okay.” He returned the bag to the car and headed towards the tree line.

“Let’s do s’mores when you get back!” Jack called after him.

Jamie gave him a strained smile and waved before he disappeared into the woods.

Aaron clapped his hands on his knees. “Well,” he said, “let’s see about that phone, hm?”

He stood and headed towards the truck. As he bent over the front seat, the wind shifted and blew just hard enough to clear the smoke from the campsite. For a moment, Koz had some sweet relief from the oppressive scent.

In that moment, as the smell of smoke and food was blown away, the stench of wolf flashed through Koz’s senses like a knife. He stood up so quickly, Jack jumped.

“Koz?”

“Jack, run!”

“What?” Jack hesitated.

Aaron ran around the truck door, rifle cocked. Koz whipped out his own weapon – too late.

“Don’t move!” Aaron said. “No running and no guns.” He pointed squarely at Koz’s chest. Koz doubted the weapon was loaded with silver bullets - they were too expensive and hard to come by if you were only hunting human prey. But still, getting shot by anything would hurt like hell, and while he was incapacitated, Jack would be in danger.

Aaron slowly stepped forward.

"Holy shit," Jack said, "he's the werewolf?"

"Not too bright are you, boy?" Aaron said humorlessly.

"Well, you could just be some human psycho, how would I know?" Jack took a hesitant step back and Aaron snarled at him.

"Don't move!" He adjusts his grip on his gun and swallowed. "I'll shoot your old man if you run."

Jack froze and looked towards Koz, eyes wide.

"It'll be fine, Jack," Koz said. Aaron edged ever closer. Koz was quite sure he intended to disarm him - otherwise he'd have shot from a distance - and if he intended to disarm him, then he wasn't planning on killing him right away. Aaron adjust his grip again and as he stepped forward, Koz realized he could smell the man's fear. He smiled. "You're not going to shoot us," he said.

"Don't bet on that!" Aaron said.

"You would have done it already."

"I still might!"

"No, you won't. You're not a killer, I can tell."

"I killed that other hunter!" Aaron snarled, his eyes wide and wild.

"As a wolf. I saw the bite marks." Koz sneered. "You could only kill him as a wolf - that's why you've never attacked in daylight. When you're human, suddenly you have a conscience again and you remember that it's wrong to hurt people. It's so much easier to kill when you're an animal."

"As far as I'm concerned, humans are the animals!" Aaron snarled. "My wife tried to take my children away from me when I got the bite! Just because I was different! And last night you killed my brother for no reason!"

"Your brother?” Koz quirked an eyebrow, tone changing completely from the polite, disarming act he’d put on before. “You mean that wolf that tried to kill me last night?"

"Don't act innocent. You're a hunter! You would have killed him anyway!"

"I wouldn't have known he existed if he weren't running around the woods, trying to hurt people."

Aaron took another step forward. Clearly he wasn't much of a tactician. Just a little closer and Koz would be able to disarm him,

Aaron growled. "Shut up! I don't care why. He's dead and it's your fault!" His whole body tense suddenly and Koz knew he was about to be shot.

A lot happened in that next moment.

Koz jerked back while Jack darted forward. There was a scream of pain and the gun went off, buck shot whizzing past Koz's shoulder as Aaron fell to the ground.

Koz stared in shock at Jack, still holding his pocket-knife - now stained with blood. His blue eyes were wide as he looked down at Aaron.

Aaron writhed on the ground, mouth foaming as blood fizzled from a wound in his side. The way the blood bubbled was not unfamiliar to Koz.

"I thought you said you didn't touch any of the wolfsbane?" Koz said.

"Technically I didn't." Jack looked at him, then jerked his head back down to watch Aaron squirm. "I just..." He muttered. "Jammed the knife into one of the roots." He swallowed hard and fell silent.

Aaron let out a pained whine and Jack stumbled back, dropping his knife.

"Jack," Koz said gently, "it's alright Jack, he was going to kill us. You just saved my life."

“But— but what about Jamie?”

Koz frowned. “Chances are good he’s a wolf too. Werewolves often target their own kin when they lose control. It’s a pack-forming instinct; they go for those most familiar to them first.”

Jack looked queasy.

“I… I want to go home.”

“We’ll take the car,” Koz said, drawing his weapon.

Jack started. “Wait, no! You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

“Honestly, I can’t think of a reason not to.”

“Please, Koz he’s already down. He’s not even all wolfy now!”

“I shot him last night Jack and he’s already better. He’ll probably recover from this soon enough and then he’ll be after us again. He’s not limited to the forest, Jack. He can track you all the way to your house and…” Koz swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “You don’t want a werewolf coming to your house, Jack. I can’t always be around to protect you.”

Jack sucked in a sharp breath of air and ran his hands through his hair. He took a step back. “This is so messed up,” he moaned.

“Get in the car, Jack,” Koz said. “Cover your ears and close your eyes.”

“That won’t make it better!” Jack shouted.

“I’m sorry,” Koz said – and he meant it. He’d always tried to keep Seraphina away from his hunting life because of this very reason. Hunting was an awful, messy job. There was a reason Koz had gone to a therapist. Maybe he’d give Jack her phone number. Lord knew, Jack would probably need it after this ordeal.

Jack was staring down at Aaron again, his face paler than usual. Koz holstered his gun and walked towards him. He put an arm around the boy’s shoulder, ignoring when Jack jumped at his touch.

“Come on,” he murmured as he led Jack to the truck and helped him into the seat. He reached across Jack’s lap and turned the key in the ignition. Instantly, the AC blasted to life. Koz left it on; it would help drown out any outside noises.

“Cover your ears and don’t watch.” He instructed.

Jack clamped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body shaking.

Koz reached over and turned the radio on as loud as it would go. He closed the door and approached Aaron’s heaving body.

He’d have to do something about Jamie. It was looking like his suicide plan was scrubbed. After he got Jack home, he’d have to call in North and Bunny to help him scour the woods. At least he had a legitimate excuse for why he’d been gone for so long. Of course that wouldn’t stop North from being angry with him.

Koz sighed and found himself standing before Aaron’s shaking form. ‘End this,’ he told himself, ‘end this hunt as quickly as you can and then end yourself.’

Koz took a deep breath, raised his gun, and fired. Instantly, Aaron’s writhing stopped.

Koz turned around just in time to see Jack throw himself out of the car onto the ground, where he proceeded to vomit up the entirety of his lunch. He was still heaving when Koz came up behind him, laying a gentle hand on the young man’s back and rubbing soft circles.

Jack wiped tears from his eyes. “I-I thought you said…” He swallowed hard. “…Not to come crying to you if I started throwing up?”

“I lied,” Koz said. “You can cry to me all you like.”

He helped Jack stand and get back in the car. He walked around the front and entered the driver’s seat, slinging his pack into the back seat. He was glad to see that Jack’s eyes had remained fixated on his hands in his lap instead of on Aaron’s body.

Koz turned down the music and AC, put the truck in gear, and drove away.