John pov~

I waited outside school, the Schuylers and Maria beside me.

"How did last night go for you Ria?" Peggy asked. Maria was also a werewolf.

"It was fine, I guess. I stayed in my room and closed the blinds. I told my dad to lock me in and lock the windows." She shrugged and toyed with a loose string of her blood red sweater.

"Hey John did you hear from Alex?" Eliza asked me.

"Yeah, I did. Lafayette caved." I sighed. "I guess we won't see him today."

Maria winced and hugged herself just because of the thought of the transition. I can't imagine what it must be like to go through that every time the moon is full.

"I hope he's ok." Angie shook her head. "It seems like the whole turning-into-a-wolf thing sucks."

"It really does." Maria nodded.

Maria hugged Peggy, shivering slightly and I got the feeling that Peggy liked the young werewolf as more then a friend.

"You should head in." I told my friends. "I'll wait and see if Alex shows up, but there's no reason for you to be late."

Everyone nodded and headed inside, clearly worried. I sat down next to the school and waited for my boyfriend to show up.

After a while, I decided he wasn't coming and stood up, ready to he'd inside. Until I felt someone grip my hand.

I turned around and saw Alex smiling up at me, dark bags under his eyes. He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"Hey Lex." I smiled.

"Hey!" His voice was too happy. It didn't match the personality of the werewolf I loved.

"Oh Alex..." I pulled back and looked at him carefully. His smile seemed really fake and almost painful, and his eyes were slightly unfocused. "Why?"

"What? I feel great, let's get to class!"

"Of course you feel great. You're on damah aren't you?"

"I drank a little bit last night." He admitted, smiling and hopping up and down excitedly.

"Alex..."

"John. I'm fine. I'm great! I feel amazing! Now let's go!" He tried to drag me into the school but I shook my head, standing my ground.

"Alex. You're not ok. Face it, you have damah running through your system and it's messing you up."

"What? No! Now c'mon, I wanna go see my friends!" Alex tugged at my sleeve playfully.

"Alexander."

He kept pulling, a smile that didn't seem natural in the slightest still plastered on his face.

"Alexander."

He looked at me, confused.

You see, the thing with werewolves isn't that damah leaves them very sensitive to mood swings. The effects last longer on them but once they wear off, literally anything could trigger an emotion. Even commands like 'feel sad' or 'be happy'. They were like puppets.

And I can't have my boyfriend going to school as an emotional rag doll, especially with all the people there who didn't like his kind.

I pulled out my phone, making sure to keep one hand in Alex's, so he wouldn't run off.

Me: Hey everyone

Peggy: Hey! Did you find Alex?

Eliza: Is he ok?

Me: Yeah he's here, and he's on damah

Maria: Ouch. All good?

Me: So far... kind of

Me: I'm taking him home, he can't go to school like this, and it'll get worse

Maria: Give him a hug from me, ok?

Angelica: Poor thing, send him our love

Eliza: See you tomorrow?

Me: Probably

Peggy: Tell Alex to get better and come back once he's done that

Me: I will

Me: Well, I need to go, Alex is slowing down

Angelica: Uh oh

Peggy: Bye!

Maria: C u

Eliza: Bye bye

Angelica: Good luck

Alex was, indeed, slowing down. He'd released his grip and the smile was slipping rapidly. His eyes blurred and focused, like he was trying to regain control.

But the damah won over and Alex was left looking at me with a completely emotionless stare. It's freaky.

I clenched my grip on his hand and he stared at it, as if processing what to feel. He beamed.

I took a step closer and his eyes flashed with fear at the movement.

I hated doing this but I opened my mouth. "Alex, relax. Now."

His body immediately relaxed and he smiled calmly. I sighed and picked him up, heart aching for the poor werewolf.