So, we’ve covered a lot. Now on to a bit of a no brainer chapter, but one that will almost surely be one of which those of you who only change on the full moon will be fully aware. I’ve lost too many mates to count because of this rule before and after the public knew we existed. This particular incident is actually five years after the death of James. I’m three years into a relationship with a werewolf. Yes I mean one of those wolves who can only change during the full moon. It was one thing that almost forced me to go lone wolf. My pack didn’t accept a Forbitten into its folds. I smoothed out the situation during the first full moon after I started dating this particular wolf. I told the werewolf what I was going to have to do in order to accept him into the pack. If you’re wondering what that particular thing was it involves unprotected anal sex and a particularly unpleasant bite. This is knowledge not usually shared with other lykos, If a lycan bites a were during the full moon, it creates a hybrid of sorts. When the bite occurs, though, it must be during a full tie with the werewolf and must be in the form of a ‘love bite’. This hybrid has full control over his wolf but still is only able to change during the full moon.

How about I give this fellow a name? Jeremy Patrón was his name and by Aphrodite’s locks was he beautiful. He’s the sole reason I got over James. Now I don’t mean that he was a rebound rather that his support helped me get out of the depressive spiral that I was going down due to his death. He was part of the reason I decided to write this book. I actually think that my human heart fell in love with him. So getting over him was a huge ordeal and it was only through Jeremy that I eventually did. So let’s see how I lost Jeremy…

***

It was the day before the full moon that his boss decided to take the entirety of the management on a camping trip. This was something Jeremy had been looking forward to since the day he was hired, so of course I wasn’t going to rain on his parade by telling him that that weekend was the weekend of the full moon. Ah hell, he knew but he trusted his new lybrid (yes that’s what we call them) wolf. It was really sweet watching him make his preparations. However, again I’m getting beside myself. My job is to tell you solely his story. So I shall.

The day before he was supposed to leave I found him sitting on the front steps of the apartment we had in Downtown Toronto. “¿Por qué estás todavía acá? Necesitas ir a tu trabajo, ¿no?” [Why are you still here? Don’t you need to go to work?] I asked him.

He looked at me with eyes filled with fear and…was it regret?...Yes I believe it was. “Sí, pero, ¿cómo puedo presentarme la cara a mi jefe cuando le mentí a él? No le dije que soy un Luco. Mi papá me haya matado. Para convertirme en un lobo y para mentir a mi jefe.”[Yes, but how can I show my face to my boss when I lied to him? I didn’t tell him that I’m a lyko. My dad would’ve killed me. For becoming a wolf. And for lying to my boss.]

“¡No te preocupas! Todo estará bien. Estoy seguro que ninguna cosa pasará cuando viajarás en el campo. Recuerde a los recuerdos con tu mamá. Tu papá era un toro de un hombre que no debió haber estado permitido a criar a los niños.”[ Do not worry! Everything will be fine. I'm sure nothing will happen when you travel in the countryside. Remember the memories with your mom. Your dad was a bull of a man who should not have been allowed to raise children.]

“¡Gracias! Mi amor, tú sabes siempre como darme tranquilo. Me encanta eso sobre ti. ¡Salud!” [Thank you! My love, you always know how to calm me down. I love that about you. Cheers!] He said as he left.

***

Jeremy entered his boss's office and looked at his boss. “¡Buenos días! Jefe. I have something that I need to tell you, sir.”

The man looked at up. “Yes, Jeremy? What is it that you need to tell me?”

Jeremy sniffed the air, trying to sniff out the boss’s emotional state, he was calm. That musk that typically hung in the air around every human was overpowered by a very powerful cologne. “I must tell you that—”

“—you’re a lyko? I know. I’ve known for a while Jeremy. I assumed you got bitten after applying and that’s why you didn’t explain this on your application.”

“R…ri…right, sir.” Jeremy was quite shocked.

“…Is there anything else, Jeremy?” The boss asked rather pointedly.

“No sir. I’ll leave you be.” Jeremy left the office and headed down to the busses waiting to take them to the retreat.

***

“So tha t concludes the actual business portion of this retreat. I will see you all tomorrow. Also Jeremy, there should be an unoccupied area of forest a mile in. Let us know if you need anything else tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Jefe. I should be fine.” Jeremy said before getting up to call it a night, saying as much to his fellow office mates.

They bade him good night before the boss said, “I think everyone should turn in for the night. We’ll need our rest for tomorrow.” And so everyone went to bed shortly after Jeremy hit the sack.

***

“Everyone, let’s go on our nature hike.” Everyone got up and grabbed their company-provided walking sticks. It was extremely tacky, if I remember correctly, every piece of clothing was emblazoned with the company logo: a red, gold and blue Phoenix with a scroll in one claw tied with gold ribbon and a tri-rule in the other. Underneath, it said “Amazonian Architects—Eugene, OR”. Jeremy never understood the connection the company had to the phoenix, but it was quite interesting, nonetheless.

It was the day of the full moon and Jeremy’s senses were heightened to an extreme. Every sound and every smell was a hundred times more intense than any other day of the month. He loved being in the country during this time of the month all of the smells were intoxicating. The only problem was that if he didn’t keep his heart rate down he would change and he was hiking with his co-workers and he really didn’t want to change around them. It wouldn’t be until around eight thirty where he was forced to change, but that still was in the fore of his mind.

“Hoy es muy bonito. Es un día para quedarse en el campo. Los olores del bosque atacan mi nariz en una manera que me encanta. Estoy en el cielo.” [Today is very beautiful. It is a day for me to stay in the countryside. The smells of the forest attack my nose in a way that I love. I’m in heaven.] Jeremy said to himself. His voice hushed, but still heard by one of his friends.

“Te encanta el bosque en una manera que no puedo entender, Jerry. Es porque tú eres un licántropo, ¿no?” [You love the forest in a way I cannot understand, Jerry. It’s because you are a lycanthrope, right?] His co-worker replied in a terrible accent. It was obvious to the lybrid that the man wasn’t speaking natively. However, it wasn’t terrible Spanish.

“No realicé que hablas castellano, Nico. Italiano es tu lengua nativa, ¿no? Creo que no sea tan difícil para aprender castellano cuando se conoce italiano. ¿Es la verdad?” [I didn’t realize that you spoke Spanish, Nico. Italian is your native tongue, right? I think it wouldn’t be that difficult to learn Spanish when one knows Italian. Is that true?]

“Sí. Creo que aprendo castellano hace tres semestres en la uní. Es el idioma más fácil cuando se conoce otro idioma romanzo. Regresamos a nuestra conversación previa. La razón que te encanta el bosque tan mucho como te encanta es que tú eres un licántropo, ¿no?” [Yes. I think I learned Spanish through three semesters in college. It’s the easiest language to learn when one knows another romance language. Let us return to our previous conversation. The reason that you love the forest as much as you do is that you are a lycanthrope, right?]

“Sí, los olores, los sonidos, y los colores en el bosque tienen más fuerza cuando se es un tipo de Luco. No soy un licántropo. Mi novio es un licántropo. Soy un hombre-lobo. Puedo cambiarme solo durante el día de la luna llena. Sin embargo, eso es la razón porque me encanta el campo.” [Yes. The smells, the sounds, and the colors in the forest have more forcé when one is a type of lyko. I’m not a lycanthrope. My boyfriend is a lycanthrope. I’m a werewolf. I can only change during the full moon. However, that is the reason that I love the countryside.]

The conversation stopped there and soon Jeremy’s boss was back with Jeremy and Nico. “How you holding up, Jer?”

“Fine, thanks, Jefe. I’m under control. How’s everyone else holding up? Anyone scared having a lyko in their midst?”

“Nah, we all understood the risks when we hired you. We also know that you are a lybrid. You have control of your wolf unlike other werewolves. We all signed up for this even after you signed up, Jer. We knew the risks, and we accepted them. We will live with the consequences should any arise. None will, though, right?”

“Of course, at 2000 hours I’m going to the designated change location that every National forest put in after we lykos made our presence known.”

“Seriously, did you do time in the military or something? I swear the way you talk you could have been.”

“No. I wasn’t.” Jeremy answered, slightly annoyed. He looked down at his heart rate monitor and sighed.

***

Jeremy trekked to the change location in silence. He was worried that he’d end up doing something stupid. He never did, especially after that night. His heart rate monitor started going off due to his heart rate increasing slightly. He sighed, while pinching the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long night. It didn’t help that he was there all alone. I’d offered to have him come with me during his change and he would have, but he had the camping trip that full moon.

This was life for the werewolves, though. Until they became comfortable changing with a pack they were fairly solitary creatures and would rarely have mates within the first five years of being ‘infected’. However, thanks to me, Jeremy had a pack, he had a mate, and he now had full control over his wolf.

This was all fine and dandy, it meant that he wouldn’t be that dangerous to any human that happened to mistakenly enter the change location. However, they didn’t know that. They would be just as afraid as if he were a normal werewolf. It would be a problem if he were to run into such a situation.

Jeremy just kept walking through the forest as the hour came closer. Just as his watch read 8:15 is when he happened upon the border to the change area. There was a large sign posted next to the trail on which he was walking which said “LYKO CHANGING AREA; AREA OFF LIMITS TO HUMANS.”

Jeremy stepped past the sign and his entire being vibrated from the force of an apparent binding spell cast over the area. Within the radius of the change area Jeremy would be able to roam unimpeded as a wolf but he wouldn’t be able to exit the area until the following morning.

***

So right now you’re probably thinking, “What the hell?!? He’s doing everything right so far.” Well he is and that’s part of the point of this chapter. Just wait, as Murphy’s Law will soon rear its ugly head.

***

So Jeremy put his pack in the crook of a tree near the edge of the change area. Then sat down and waited for the tingling feeling that he always got during a forced change. Every lyko was forced to change on the full moon. It was something to do with our wolves having an innate desire to be out and about during the full moon. Even those of us who communed with our wolves in the recesses of our minds were not able to stop them from coming out during a full moon.

This was the moment. He changed into his wolf and he looked at the moon, “Fucking hell…Why can’t I live a normal life. This is so annoying. Fuck you Zeus! Why did I get bit?”

“This isn’t something to lament over, young werewolf. You are here and you are a creature many envy.” Jeremy heard a growling voice say.

He scented the air, “Jefe? You’re a wolf? When?”

“I am your ‘Jefe’s’ wolf. This is his first full moon.”

“Um… If you are his wolf how can you converse in anything other than wolfyr?”

“I don’t know, you forget this is my first time actually expressing myself.”

“Where are our co-workers?” Jeremy looked down at the wolf’s distended belly. His eyes widened, “You didn’t…did you?”

“Those foul humans? Only one. Never again.” The werewolf chuckled.

“Goddamnit! I will call the Hunters on you…Nah, I’ll kill you myself!” Jeremy said and attacked the new wolf. The other wolf laughed and charged it wasn’t too long until Jeremy was on the ground.

The wolf looked down at Jeremy, head quirked, “You didn’t expect this. I am the wolf. I’m not some human’s consciousness trying to pass myself off as a wolf.” He looked disappointed that the fight was so quick; He raised his clawed hand and slashed, rending open the flesh of Jeremy’s neck. Blood splattered all over the ground. “Well, I guess that’s that.”

***

The wolf started running into the night. As he did there was the buzzing of an arrow and the thwack of it hitting a tree not three feet from the wolf. “Goddammit! This is Eagle; the mutt’s headed your way, Crow.” Said a hooded figure in the crook of the tree which Jeremy had put his bag.

“This is Crow; Mutt’s dead.” Came a voice over Eagle’s radio.

“Good Job, the damn Mutt ate a human. This is why we tell the Werewolves we know to stay within these areas when they change. I also need to report that one Jeremy Patrón has been killed in the process of handling the rogue werewolf.” Eagle said as he jumped down from the tree and headed toward the dying lybrid.

Jeremy looked at the Hunter as he approached he was barely conscious, he had lost a lot of blood and was not going to make it. He weakly lifted his arm and called the man to his side. In barely a whisper he uttered his last words, “Please tell Gabi I loved him and,” he paused as he coughed up a large amount of blood, “I’m sorry.”

With that the light faded from his eyes and he was claimed by the Fates at last. The Hunter called Eagle stood up and radioed, “Dispatch, this is Eagle. I need the coroner. Also look up anybody by the name ‘Gabi’ or ‘Gabriel’ in association with Jeremy Patrón.”

“Eagle, as an answer to your query, I have one Gabriel del Lobo. Do you want me to contact him?”

“Please. I’m in the LCA in Rocky Mountain National Forest.”

“Understood. Coroner’s on the way.”

***

I looked down at the body of my mate. His throat has been ripped open by a lyko that much I can tell without needing any help from the coroner. I looked over at his boss who had a silver-tipped arrow sticking out of his chest. As my eyes passed over the two bodies I couldn’t help but think that this was some cruel joke. I knew it wasn’t but that was the thought going through my head.

“Are you doing alright, sir?” Hunter Rodriguez asked me not fazed at all by the fact that I was a nine foot lycan who was without clothing.

“I’m just sad that my mate thought he could take on this wolf. He never was that good at fighting.”