Ben wondered where he could have possibly gone wrong. It should have been so simple, really: just a quick stroll around his house so he could get his mind off of things. Yes, it should have been like that...except that now there was a monstrous wolf growling and snarling, circling him and on the verge of tearing him to pieces.

--

His thoughts had been lost in a thousand places, as he was busy making his way through the woods, hands in his pockets. That's when he began to hear noises. It was quite subtle at first. The rustling of a few leaves, the chilling sound of the wind ruffling the dark leaves...originally the blond had shrugged it off as the usual sounds of mother nature. The only thing that had hit him at the time had been the otherwise heavy silence. It was never this quiet at night. Usually there'd always be a few frogs croaking, or perhaps the sound of owls, echoing throughout the woods and into the night. However, this time, it had been mostly quiet. Then the growling started.

Ben's heart skipped a beat and he felt his throat tighten, worried.

"Okay, okay calm down. It's a dog, it's probably a dog. There are no wolves around here as far as I know..."

Briefly the legend of the beast that supposedly crouched in the bushes and murdered people at night returned to him. He remembered what he had heard on the news-- the man who got mauled alive by an unknown force. The police had multiple theories about it, but ultimately they were unsure of who had committed the crime. The violence of the attack suggested either a very powerful, psychotic killer, or (and this is where panic came in) the work of an animal, possibly a big dog. Investigation had begun in all the houses of people with big pets, such as Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and any other animal big enough to possibly inflict the damage. However, considering how destroyed the body had been when the man's family had found him, many believed that not even a big dog could have caused such damage. In a small town like this one, the possibility of it being a serial killer was exceedingly slim, and the man did not have any enemies at the time of his death, as far as the family knew. Therefore, many elders accused the beast of being the one committing the murders.

Ben thought nothing of it, of course. He wasn't superstitious, and had never bought any of it...well...until now anyway. At present, he was seriously concerned about the possible veracity of the rumor. The blond slowly took a few steps back. Already he was looking in all directions, partly trying to identify the source of the growls, while the rest of him was quickly searching for the closest path to his house.

The sound of rustling leaves snapped him out of his trance, and he instinctively turned in its direction. At this point, he almost died of fear. The growl was now louder than ever before, and there was no mistaking it: it was coming from the bush at the far left, the one right next to the path leading towards his house. For a brief moment, other thoughts buzzed and conflicted within his head, about how he was going to go home, if he had better stay still, or run as fast as he could. Then the thing in the bushes let out a loud snarl, and Ben went running for his life, closely followed by the sound of whatever was behind him.

The blond's survival instincts had kicked in long ago, and he was now sprinting for his life, fear filling every part of his body. Briefly glancing atop his shoulder, the boy finally got a glimpse of his aggressor. It was indeed what seemed to be a gigantic wolf. Its light gray fur was shinning dimly in the light, mostly tarnished by the sparkling white of its razor sharp teeth. Ben wondered whether the resonating sound he kept hearing was part of nature, or whether it was his own heart, pumping madly, perhaps for the last time. The blond almost tripped on the roots of an imposing tree, but thankfully regained his balance at the last moment and managed to keep on running.

"OhGodOhGodOhGod!" This recessing thought only increased as panic and the dark made him unable to distinguish right from left, and to know whether he was going deeper into the woods still, or getting closer to escaping the beast living within them. The tension in his body briefly dropped, a burst of hope piercing through his fear. It seemed as though the direction he was heading for was less dark, meaning he had perhaps finally reached the outskirts of the forest. However, his joy was soon extinguish: he hadn't reached the end of the woods at all; instead he found himself in a clearing, a place that made it all the more easy for the thing behind him to spot and kill him. Cramps started attacking his stomach, as Ben's breath began to draw short. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. This didn't end up being much of a problem, however. The wolf suddenly leaped forward, blocking the way. Ben stopped short, just a few meters away from it. From up close it was truly monstrous, and any doubts that he had been chased by a normal wolf suddenly vanished. For one thing, the thing was disproportionate to the wolves he'd occasionally seen on television. Its arms were much too muscular, its head too imposing; but most of all, its glare was too malevolent, vicious dark eyes glaring at him, wishing nothing more but to rip him into pieces and tear his flesh apart. Ben slowly backed away, almost paralyzed by the creature's deadly leer, as it began to circle him, teeth bared and ready to strike.

"I'm going to die...This is it, I'm gonna die." He thought this with surprising calm, despite the trembles agitating his body. The boy briefly wondered just how intensely painful this was going to be, and how long it would take before he lost consciousness and embraced the eternal ending. His last thought was that hopefully he'd die quickly, and wouldn't suffer too much.

Then the beast attacked him.

--

"I am bringing you home whether you like it or not!"

"Danaaaaa!" Ernest groaned, before rolling his eyes. However, he no longer objected to the redhead following him.

"You kids be safe! And Dana?" Mrs. Byrne called.

"Yeah?"

"Call me if anything goes wrong alright?" The woman fidgeted at the doorstep. She wasn't generally worried for her daughter, especially concerning her whereabouts, but tonight seemed...different. She felt the common frustration of her human ears not twitching with every sound as they did during her transformations. And yet, she could sense it all over. There was something going on, something lurking in the woods, and it wasn't human. Maylin Byrne's arms made a cross before her chest, as she tried to hide her worry behind a trusting grin. Dana, understanding how her mother felt, simply nodded.

"I will, no worries. Besides," she added, squeezing Ernest's shoulder with one hand. "I've got Ern here to protect me, right?" She winked at her skeptic best friend, who looked back at her not without a certain amusement.

Dana's mother nodded, before finally heading back inside. After a while, Ernest and Dana headed in the opposite direction, entering the woods which terrified so many.

For some reason the two remained oddly quiet. Ernest stole a glance at Dana; the redhead was still smiling, her eyes exploring the many trees and bushes. Another person might have felt frightened by the woods's oppressing and quiet atmosphere, but not Dana. It seemed as if nothing could deter her good mood and optimism, and naturally, her being

(a werecat)

...different helped in making her feel at ease in what would otherwise be perceived as a hostile and menacing environment.

For Ernest, the matter was quite different. As they continued walking, he felt small knots in his throat and stomach. His skin began to crawl, and the boy suddenly felt that something simply wasn't right. As if on cue, he detected a smell, one which would have passed unnoticed by the average person, but was the equivalent of a horrid stench for his superior senses. It smelled like aggressiveness, like a predator, like fear, like...

"Ben!" The thought struck him before he could even reason it. He supposed had he been in another state, he would have found the fact that he could recognize the blond in the middle of such stench, even with his acute sense of smell, to be a bit weird and disturbing, but as it was the thought didn't even cross his mind. The boy immediately turned his head around, in direction of the deeper part of the woods.

"Dana..." he began.

"I heard it." The redhead's smile had disappeared, being instead replaced with a frown and a look of grave focus. As opposed to Ernest, she had heard more than she had smelled the growls of a beast located far from here. Plaintive squeals of fear had also made it from the woods' deep ends all the way to her ears. However, knowing Ben only from sight, she hadn't made the connection between the two. All she knew was that somewhere not too far from here, someone was in serious trouble, a trouble which could probably equate to death.

Not thinking it over, Ernest had begun to take his clothes off. The boy hesitated for a split second when it came to the jeans, but then took those off as well. A brief look in Dana's direction showed him that the girl was doing the same. Trying to overcome the embarrassment caused by their mutual nudity, he instead decided to focus on what he was doing, and on transforming, for the first time, outside of a full moon.

More growls from the beast, which he finally (but dimly) heard were enough to get him going, and to his surprise his transformation was rapid, and soon he and a creature just as big and impressive as he was started sprinting, dodging the trees, roots and bushes with agility, accelerating their pace as the sounds and smells of the environment became more intense, beginning to snarl in response to nature's call.

Although his thinking was muddier, compared to full moons, Ernest still had the capacity to control himself, and to think and reason. As the smell of the enemy began to infiltrate his thoughts and nostrils, and the desire to kill it rose to a point of climax, what was left of the shy boy hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

--

"This is it, I'm gonna die." These were Ben's last thoughts as he shut his eyes tightly, flesh crawling in terror at the thought of being torn to pieces. Despite his wish not to see, instinct was stronger, and his eyes opened just as the beast launched at him. A scream escaped his lips, but seconds before the animal reached its pray, it was thrown back under the impact of...

"Another one?!" Ben staggered, before the shock of it all finally became too much to take, and his trembling knees abandoned the rest of his body, causing him to fall back down. The blond watched in frozen terror as the two gigantic wolves before him fought mercilessly, teeth and claws viciously tearing through flesh. Drops of blood flew here and there, and snarls and gnarls intertwined with squeals of agony filled the air. Suddenly, a shape dashed past Ben's left side. The blond looked up, and this time thought that he was going to faint. There was no conceivable way that the creature he saw before him was real. Vaguely, it bore resemblance with a humongous tiger standing on its hind paws. Its paws and claws also bore resemblance to that of a bear's. The monstrous feline let out a tremendous roar, at which point the wolf which had originally attacked Ben began to draw back, gnarling in hatred at the intruders which had gotten in the way of its meal. Ben watched as the giant tiger and the other, bigger wolf-like creature began closing up on his attacker. Just then, however, the two perked up, as the beast that had attacked Ben turned its head in the direction of the newly found sound of rustling leaves. It then turned back to face them, and although Ben was certainly not one for imagining things, he could have sworn that the thing was smirking. Almost instantaneously, another form leaped from the middle of the night and tackled the other wolf. Ben vainly tried to crawl further away from them and isolate himself in some corner.

The newcomer was a wolf quite similar to the other two...except that it was huge. It was even slightly taller than the gigantic feline, and as it stood on its hind paws before striking a tremendous blow at the wolf that had saved Ben's life, the blond finally came to terms with what he was seeing. A werewolf, it was a fucking werewolf. The mere size of its insanely muscular arms was just as thick as the teenage blond's waist. As it was, he and the other wolf were engaged in a terrible battle, one which left no doubt as to what the potential outcome would be. The werewolf on the ground (Ben assumed all three of the canines were werewolves, even if the two others were much smaller) let out a shockingly human wail of pain just as the other one tore open its shoulder.

"ERNEST!" And if that wasn't human, may he be damned. Ben's attention immediately went in direction of the scream. It had been the tiger.

"Ernest?! Did it just call Ernest's name?" The feline had instantaneously leaped in the direction of the scene, most likely hoping to come to the help of the other wolf. However, Ben's attacker thought nothing of it, and made sure to stand between the gigantic cat and the battle scene. After that, it let out a few sounds between a snarl and a bark.

--

"What's wrong, werecat? Scared for your boyfriend? Interspecies friendship is frowned upon you know, no werewolf wants a filthy thing like you. He's better off dying in dignity." The petite gray werewolf snickered. She was small, yet her aggressiveness and vivacity made her a challenging opponent. Dana instantly knew this, and in no way underestimated the enemy. The werecat let out a mixture between a roar and a hiss.

"Let me pass!"

"Try me." It didn't take long before the two females were at each others' throats, Dana making her best to seize the uncatchable, irritating werewolf who, for her part, tried sneaking in a few vicious bites at strategic areas on her opponent's body. In reality, she perfectly knew that she didn't stand a chance alone against the werecat's superior strength, but the beast wasn't worried. She could smell her clan. They had arrived and were now surrounding them, silently observing, awaiting the first order from their leader to attack and rip the enemy into pieces. As always, Caynal would lead them to victory. He always did.

--

"Now now, young werewolf, why so much irritation? My little one only wanted the boy here. We're not interested in you or your feline friend, so why so much hatred? He was in our territory, a member of my clan claimed ownership, therefore he's ours. All we're doing is defending our property."

"Doesn't work that way as far as I'm concerned," Ernest panted, his saliva now turned red with the flow of his own blood trickled to the floor in occasionally thick, occasionally thin cascades. The other werewolf's ears twitched, amused. It had never seen the pup in the woods before, and truly was rather entertained and admirative at how tenacious he seemed to be, especially considering that he didn't seem to have a clan.

Ernest, for his part, was exhausted. So many parts of the teen werewolf's body were in pain that he even wondered how he was still standing. His left shoulder, particularly, was making him suffer. However, there was no way he'd turn back. He wasn't stupid, and he knew that it was hopeless. Not only was his opponent much stronger, but the teen had also smelled and could now see the other members of his opponent's clan showing up, all of them werewolves. Never had he known that there were other people like him in these woods, let alone so many. He supposed that, in reality, none of it mattered, considering that he was most likely going to die any moment now, but at least he wouldn't have abandoned Ben. The blond had stood up for him, and now it was his turn to do the same, regardless of the cost. Ernest felt horribly guilty for bringing Dana into a battle that he considered his own (after all, the girl didn't even know who Ben was), but as it was, escape was impossible. They were surrounded.

"You're not giving up?" The bigger werewolf inquired. Ernest growled ferociously before charging him as an answer. His intent was to reach his foe's neck. He vaguely assumed that werewolf clan rules were quite similar to wolves', and it was obvious that the beast he was fighting against was the chief of the clan. Perhaps killing him would disrupt the pack's organization and give Dana and himself an opportunity to escape.

Unfortunately, it was much easier said than done. The other werewolf seemed to have anticipated where Ernest planned on attacking, and dodged the move successfully. The bloody battle resumed its course, with teeth and claws sinking deep in flesh, causing more wounds and injuries as the fight went on. However, Ernest soon found himself overpowered by his opponent. The leading werewolf threw him mercilessly to the ground before completely blocking the boy's body. Its powerful, muscular arms had Ernest in an iron-grip, preventing any chance for the latter to fight back. Ernest snarled and growled more than ever, trying to bite and to wriggle out of the other's grip, but was unsuccessful.

"I lost..." All Ernest could think about at that moment was Dana and Ben.

"They're gonna die because of me. It's all my fault." A triumphant smirk painted itself all across the other werewolf's face, as he approached his muzzle, ears twitching in amusement. Once again fueled by the power of hatred, Ernest struggled to fight back and push him away, but to no avail. For a few seconds both of the werewolves froze, staring into each other's eyes. Ernest noticed what strange color his enemy's eyes were: crystal blue, so light as to almost become borderline gray. In them he saw power, smugness, and...contentment?

"He's literally so happy that I'm about to die, that it fucking shines through."

Then something peculiar happened. The werewolf's clutch on him seemed to relax for a bit, as the beast's joy and amusement only seemed to further increase with each passing second.

"Hello...Cromul," it mused. Ernest seized the opportunity, somehow even more angered. Using his hind paws, he managed to propel his opponent at a safer distance. The teen werewolf immediately went back to attack mode, crouched to the ground, all four paws firmly groping at the floor, ready to fight. What happened next surprised him, however. The pack leader seemed to be...laughing.

"Fiesty, aren't you?" Ernest growled so loudly that Ben actually jumped. Everyone's focus was on the two werewolves now. Even Dana and her opponent had ceased to fight to merely observe what was going on.

"My name is Ernest," he hissed in return, teeth barred and shining dimly into the night. The other's grin only further increased.

"So I see. But sometimes, one can have multiple names. Like my pet here..." And at that mention, the female werewolf returned to his side, occasionally glancing at her leader with adoration. "her night name is Celcra. Isn't it, my love?" Ernest decided to ignore the other werewolf's obvious attempt at distracting them from the subject at hand, and so decided to get back on topic.

"Why didn't you kill me?" He asked. His opponent licked its muzzle, seeming more wild and animal-like than ever, making it harder for Ernest to read him. Either he succumbed more to his animal side, and he became in complete osmosis with nature and its subjects, or he remained on the rational, human side, and had a bigger difficulty with reading animal emotions and behaviors.

The young female looked inquisitorially at her leader, as she too didn't understand why he had chosen not to simply destroy the enemy, as he should have done, considering that the other and that filthy werecat had intruded on their clan's territory, and tried to steal their pray away from them.

"For now, I don't have to answer you. I'd be thankful of this act of generosity if I were you, instead of being so suspicious."

"I think I have rather good reasons not to trust you."

"And I currently have a good one not to kill you. I suppose this little blond fellow is a friend of you and your werecat. I guess it's only fair that you were trying to defend him so, this time, I believe you only deserve a warning." The two males exchanged defiant glances, before the pack leader began to turn away, urging his clan to leave with a mixture of low growls and barks.

"See you next time, werecat!" the female werewolf taunted, before vanishing after her clan.

"Nice meeting you too," Dana replied in the same undertones. The pack leader was the last one to leave. Before doing so, however, he paused before turning around and taking a good, last look at Ernest.

"Farewell, Cromul. We'll probably meet again soon. However, I'd urge you and your friends to be wary of the young Celcra. I cannot guarantee for what she—or any other pack member for that matter, might do on her own. And Cromul?"

Ernest almost snapped back that this was not his name, but instead chose to remain silent, his gaze steadily watching the other werewolf.

"For a pup, you're actually a pretty decent fighter." After that he left bolting between the trees and bushes, soon disappearing. It took a while for Ernest to realize that Ben was still with them, almost lying on his back, eyes darting back from him to Dana. The poor guy was probably wondering whether he could trust the two monstrous beasts that had showed up out of nowhere to save his life, or whether they would decide to eat him after all.

"I guess Ben's lucky that tonight I'm not on a killing spree, or else I'd have been the one Dana would have needed to protect him from." Ernest was about to give a small nod to the werecat before disappearing in the night, when he found that she had vanished. It took him a while to realize that she was in fact still there but...smaller, and back in human form.

"He-llo! What's your name?" Dana asked with way too much excitement. "I've seen you a few times but I don't think we've ever met!"

"My name's...Ben?" The blond's right eye was twitching and he seemed on the verge of hysteria. The gigantic, tiger-like beast that had been dominating him with its imposing height up to a few seconds ago had before his very eyes transformed into Dana Byrne, a redhead he had vaguely seen a few times at school. Not only that, but the girl was entirely naked, talking to him, and acting like this was perfectly normal. Seemed legit.

"I'm Dana. And this over there is Ernest! I think you guys know each other..."

Although he was inwardly mortified by his friend's actions, Ernest knew that he had no choice now but to turn back to human form. The boy had made sure beforehand to hide his most intimate part behind a tree. However, he found that he was far from being as embarrassed as he would have imagined.

"Er...Ernest!?" Ben's half choked, shocked voice easily reached his ears, even from where he was.

"Hey," he muttered quietly, eyes stuck to the floor, his dark hair obscuring his eyes.

"You...I...this can't be happening...I did NOT just see that. There is no fucking way that this...that you..."

"Okay, I know it seems completely illogical, impossible, irrational, insane, and even mildly creepy but yes," Dana interrupted. "werewolves exist, so do werecats. I'm the werecat in case you haven't guessed, Ernest's the werewolf, and we both just transformed and saved your life from a pack of other werewolves. I know how that sounds but, really, at this point, there's really nothing more rational for you to hold unto, so you might as well just accept it."

Gaping, Ben slowly began to nod, eventually closing his mouth once he realized how ridiculous he must have looked. The blond suddenly took full awareness of the fact that Dana was completely naked and blushed, trying to look to the side as he did so, and hide his embarrassment. As he did, his eyes focused on Ernest, whose head was gravely stuck to the ground, in a similar fashion to the way he behaved at school. But...if Ernest was a werewolf, if this was truly real, and what the blond had seen was an actual manifestation of what the timid teenager could do, then....

"Why does he let himself get bullied when he could rip all these guys apart if he wanted to?" As if he had heard the thought, Ernest's head perked up and he began to talk.

"Come on Dana, we have to go."

"Are you crazy? We can't just leave Ben alone here, in the woods..."

"It's alright Dana, I don't live that far, really—" the handsome teen began, at which point Ernest mentally thanked him...only to end up wishing for Dana's immediate murder.

"I don't care! I swear, you almost just got killed by a pack of werewolves, and you just want to leave home like nothing's happened?! Hell no, you two are coming to my house, and Ern and I will explain everything to you." Ernest glared at Dana in an attempt to make her understand just how much he didn't want that to happen.

"Dana, Ben's got parents I'm sure he needs to reassure, and I was supposed to go home—"

"What part about 'getting almost killed' and 'needing contact comfort and group therapy' do you guys not understand? My house. Now. Ern, you know your mom won't mind, and Ben can text his and explain he decided to spend the night at a friend's house. Right Ben?"

Ernest held his breath and begged with all of his being that Ben would refuse and explain that no, his parents were both very strict, and would probably worry if he did not head home now.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem."

No such luck.

"Fine," the teen muttered under his breath. Although it was harder for them to see in the dark, Dana's beaming expression did not pass unnoticed.

"Then let's go!"

"Naked?" Ernest viciously pointed out, sneering. Dana glared at him before rolling her eyes.

"We've been like that for a while now. I think Ben's gotten used to it."

"Actually, not to vex you or anything—but I'd be much, much more comfortable if you did put some clothes on."

"What about Ernest?" The girl retorted, at which point the other boy blushed furiously. Ben actually looked in his direction, slightly smiling.

"Meh, he's a guy, it's different. I mean—"

"Oh, I see how this is. Fine, once we're out of the woods, I'll go get my mom and explain to her everything first. I'll get dressed, then I'll bring Ern back something to cover himself with and you guys can both come in. Deal?"

Ernest sighed, dejected.

"Sure. Whatever." Dana nodded contentedly before transforming back into wereform. A few groans of pain escaped her as fur grew all over her rapidly changing body, and suddenly, the monstrous tiger-like beast that had saved Ben's life was back. The blond actually jumped and gasped, startled. No matter how much he kept telling himself that this was Dana, that what he was seeing was real, and that the girl meant him no harm, he still had a lot of trouble accepting it.

"She figures you'll be more comfortable seeing her like that rather than if she walked naked," the boy explained.

"Ernest," Dana called in her perfectly normal, human voice, and this time Ben's eyes widened in such a comical fashion that even Ernest became amused. "Transform." Her jaw was opening and closing at a regular rate, as her oval, yellow-green feline eyes remained focused on her best friend.

"No," the boy replied instantly.

"You must. What if someone else tries to attack Ben before we get back? Plus, we'll find a way out ten times more quickly if we're in Were form." She explained the latter in a mixture of low groans and guttural sounds which left Ben completely confused...and slightly worried. Ernest had understood everything, however. He frowned, disgusted at the idea that he'd have to turn back into a werewolf, hating every second he spent in the dreadful state. Then again, Dana was right; if they were attacked again, he might not have the time to transform quickly enough to prevent a tragedy, and Ben needed all the protection he could get. Plus, it was or that or walking through the forest bare feet, naked, and in the blond's company, so in retrospect, her idea really wasn't such a bad bargain.

"Fine." Ben's eyes didn't leave him as he felt the familiar pain course through his body, his muscles pulling; fur began sprouting out of him like a fast-forwarding movie. His face morphed into an elongated muzzle, his teeth sharpening considerably as well. Soon enough, he also dominated Ben with his new height. A dim part of the beast couldn't help but notice how delicious the blond smelled, and wonder what sinking his teeth inside his flesh would feel like. However, it was quickly extinguished, as Ernest decided to bury it as deeply as possible.

"Let's go." It didn't take long for Ernest to detect the smell of Dana's house, and where the latter was located. What had seemed to take forever when they had been running to the blond's rescue took in fact no more than five minutes, and soon they were out of the forest's oppressive quality, and faced with the welcoming, yellow household of the Byrnes.

Without any type of warning whatsoever, Dana turned back to human form, once again completely naked. Ben immediately went back to blushing, awkwardly trying to look away as he did so. Ernest, for his part, simply tried to focus on her face. He was sort of getting used to seeing Dana without her clothes on, even if it was still awkward. The boy couldn't help but pity Ben a little as he returned to human form. He knew that, were he in the blond's situation, his embarrassment would know no bounds.

"Dana!" He reprimanded.

"Well so-rry! In case you haven't noticed, I wouldn't have fit through the doorway. Now you guys wait here, I'll be right back with some clothes on, and something to cover Ernest in. In the meantime, you guys can talk and stuff. Did you know each other before this? You did, didn't you?"

Ernest's heart skipped a beat, and his gaze once more returned to the floor.

"Uh...yes actually," Ben responded, still a bit astounded by his unusual evening.

"Perfect. Then I'll take it you'll have plenty of stuff to share while I explain to my mom what happened and cover my sexy body." Ernest couldn't help it and snorted at that last mention, as Ben chuckled a bit.

"Did you say something, McClain?"

"Nothing," the boy responded, a small smile dawning on his face.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now you two wait here." And following that she left in what appeared to be a cross between running and skipping. Ben laughed uneasily, rubbing one of his arms. The young man then turned towards Ernest, whose hands were wrapped around his chest, as if that was what he had to hide.

"Do her parents...uhm...know? About her being—"

"Yeah, they know she's a werecat. Her mom is one too, actually," Ernest responded in such a low, quiet voice that Ben had a hard time making out his words. In fact, he realized at that moment that the only times he'd heard Ernest speak at an actually normal voice volume were tonight, when he'd responded to Dana.

"What about you?"

"Mine knows too." Apparently Ernest was still just as timid and unresponsive as ever. Ben felt a bit awkward around him, as images of the day of the nursery came back to haunt him in flashes. Never could he have imagined that the boy who everyone mistreated at school, the shy, constantly mute Ernest McClain, was the same gigantic, powerful creature that had saved his life barely a few minutes ago. As he pondered this, Ben's eyes rested on Ernest's shoulder...which is when he understood why the boy had wrapped his arms around himself: to cover up some of the bleeding. His shoulder was soaked in blood, and despite the boy's attempts at hiding it, Ben could still see part of the wound from which the vermillion liquid was still pouring. It wasn't anything too serious, but it was bleeding, and would still need to be cleaned.

"Ernest, your shoulder..." He felt a bit stupid pointing out the obvious, but found no other way to make note of what he saw. Ernest shrugged dismissively, not even bothering to answer. Once again, his eyes avoided Ben's own. The blond, awkwardly trying to break the tension, began taking a few steps towards him, at which point Ernest's eyes widened considerably.

"You're hurt..." He was stunned to find Ernest's expression harden, as the boy turned his head around not to look at him.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Blood was now trickling between the bashful teen's fingers.

"No, you're not." Ben stopped once he was one or two feet away from him.

"Let me take a look," He began, approaching his arm. Ernest pretty much jerked away from him, in an extremely defensive—

( wolf like )

...fashion, still avoiding his gaze.

"I'm fine," He repeated, this time even more coldly. His head lowered some more, dark brown hair now almost entirely obscuring his eyes. Ben felt a bit dismayed by his schoolmate's behavior. For a moment he hesitated, thinking that since this so obviously made Ernest uncomfortable, perhaps he shouldn't insist. One glance at the grey-eyed boy's bloody shoulder was enough to convince him otherwise, however.

"I just want to take a look. It's probably not so bad. With a bit of alcohol and a bandage—"

"Ben, why do you care?" The thought resonated so loudly in Ernest's mind that he wondered how it was possible not to hear it...or at least, not to feel it.

Ben gently grabbed Ernest's arm, the one holding the wound. At that moment the other froze completely.

"I just want to see. We'll fix it at Dana's," Ben said in what he hoped sounded like an encouraging voice. Ernest's stubbornness was leaving him a bit confused. The teen werewolf didn't respond, and Ben was then able to pull his arm down gently, revealing the wound. Although it was dark, the lights from Dana's house permitted him to take a fair look at it.

"Fuck, that bastard got you pretty good," he grimaced. "But it shouldn't leave any permanent damage, if we do what I said it should be okay...." For some reason the rest of the sentence died out as he glanced up at Ernest, who was still looking in every direction but his own. "At least, that's what I think." He then smiled a bit, hoping to make Ernest more comfortable that way. "Seems like you're bleeding somewhere every time I see you."

Ernest gently pulled back, not responding. Not only had Ben utterly destroyed his comfort zone (except when he was bullied, people never came that close to him and even less touched him, Dana taken aside) but he had done so while he was completely naked, too. Apparently, that didn't seem to bother him, but for Ernest the matter was very different. Never had he felt like crawling into a hole more than at that moment. He knew that Ben meant well...

"But I wish he'd stop trying."

There was something else, too. Something that left him confused, and which he tried not to think about. Like how his breath had drawn short when he'd gotten closer—

"Stop."

...Or how his pulse had accelerated when he'd touched him—

"Where the fuck is Dana? I'm so tired. And why, why did she invite him? Why?"

An awkward silence began to install itself between the two teenagers, but was thankfully quickly extinguished at Dana's return. The redhead had a big smile plastered all over her face. She was huffing and holding a dark blue bathrobe.

"Hi guys. Sorry I took a while. Mom freaked out a bit, but all is good."

"Are you sure she's okay with—" Ben started, before she cut him off hastily.

"She says it's fine and that you two can totally come over, and even stay and sleep at my house if you'd like. She's just glad we're all okay." The redhead began leading the way. The boys noticed that she was now wearing a pair of gray shorts with a large, green t-shirt covered in polka dots.

"So...shall we?"

--

Ernest distractedly caressed his bandaged shoulder from under his night robe, staring at nothing and everything at once. Part of him was aware of the dim, relaxing glow brought on by Dana's desk lamp; he saw the redhead, with her face buried inside one of her pillows, cuddling and sighing contentedly against the comfortable surface. Ben had his fingers joined together and was resting his chin over them, lost in thought as well. Snapping out of his reverie, the shy boy wondered what the blond was thinking, and whether or not he was pondering on the night's events.

"SO," Ben exclaimed, standing a bit more upright. "let me get this straight: you're a werewolf, and you're a werecat?" He inquired, pointing in turn at both Ernest and Dana.

"Yup!" Dana confirmed cheerfully, now hugging her pillow tightly. Ernest nodded wordlessly. Ben began to laugh, shaking his head in dismay.

"Wow. And the things that attacked me, those were werewolves too, am I right?"

"Seems like it. Ernest and I had never seen them before, right Ern?" The gray-eyed boy whispered affirmatively.

"Okay then." For a few moments the three merely observed each other, until eventually Dana decided to break the tension.

"So how did you and Ernest meet?" For a brief instant, panic flashed through the teen werewolf's eyes, only to be extinguished as soon as Ben simply responded that they knew each other from casual encounters at school.

"What about you guys?"

"Well, see, it's kind of a funny story..." With that Dana summed up how she had immediately felt sympathy for Ernest, and how she planned a meeting between them in their were forms to get him to open up. Ben was smiling during the entire tale.

"How did you know, though? I mean, it's not like him being a werewolf was written on his face..."

"I kind of felt it. Plus, when you're like us, certain signs don't fail. Had Ernest been aware that there were others like him and creatures like me, he'd have probably understood too. Instead he just felt that I was somehow...different."

"How'd you guys know I needed help? I mean, not that I regret you saving me or anything, but—"

"Actually," Dana interrupted, Ernest is the one who heard you first." The shy boy didn't correct her by saying that he'd in fact smelled Ben, not heard him, that only came later.

"Ernest?" The boy's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the familiar voice speaking his name. Carefully he looked up, his eyes skimming over Ben, going back and forth between him and Dana's wall, so as not to look at him for too long.

"Yes?" Ben smiled gently, his eyes full of both kindness and gratitude.

"Thanks for saving me." Gray eyes looked up for just an instant as Ernest answered.

"It was nothing."

"It was, though," Ben retorted, before turning towards Dana. "And you too, Dana. Thanks for saving me...and inviting me here." The girl laughed gaily.

"Anytime!" After that, she looked in Ernest's direction before adding. "See Ern? I told you he looked like a nice guy!" At that moment the boy's eyes widened and his focus switched from Dana to Ben. He felt absolutely mortified.

"Wait, what?" Ben asked confusedly.

"Well you see—"

"It's getting late," Ernest interrupted before standing up. "I think I should go home."

"Ern, no..." Dana looked at him with a mixture of childish sorrow and disappointment in her eyes.

"I should probably head home too, actually. It's getting pretty late," Ben added while putting on his beige leather jacket. Dana watched the boys head towards the door with regret, before getting up herself.

"Well, I'll bring you guys to the door at least." The three teens made their way downstairs then through Dana's spacious, dimly lit living room. The redhead then opened the door for them.

"Alas, you desert me so soon!"

"Unfortunately, we must!" Ben responded in the same tone. Casting a sideway glance at Ernest, the blond thought he saw the shadow of a smile on his classmate's face.

"Night Benben! Can I call you Benben?"

"Sure!" He laughed.

"Ernie Bear, bonsoir!" For a few seconds the boy internally struggled, however, he found that he could contain himself no longer, despite Ben's presence, and actually responded.

"You did not just call me Ernie Bear." Ben started giggling before coughing inside his fist to cover it up.

"Oh I did. That's your new name. You are now officially known as Ernie Bear."

"Fuck no." This time Ernest actually grinned, while Ben downright began to laugh.

"Do you have another suggestion for a name or a nickname then?"

"How about simply Ernest?"

"A name or nickname that isn't boring," Dana specified.

"I thought Ern was fine," Ben said, jumping to Ernest's defense. The gray-eye boy's grin increased as he began to feel increasingly relaxed and comfortable.

"Listen to Ben, Dana. He's wise beyond his years." At that moment the blond's eyes widened in shock. Had Ernest McClain just cracked a joke? Wow, talk about positive change. The blonde couldn't help but feel a wave of compassion for the poor boy. After all, considering the way Ernest was treated at school, it was no wonder that he behaved in such a reserved and borderline antisocial fashion. However it seemed that, once surrounded by kind and patient individuals, the teen werewolf actually had another side to him, a side that was pretty nice to see.

"Oh that's for sure. I'm going to spread the word about Ben's life. The first initiation step to Benism will be "walking alone in the woods in the middle of the night to get your ass saved by a werecat and a werewolf.'"

"'Benism', I like the sound of that," the actual Ben remarked with amusement.

"Anyways go, both of you. I'm cooling down my house by just standing here with the door open. My parents will kill me if they know I'm letting the heat out."

"Alright. Well, see you Dana. It was nice meeting you. And thanks again for everything." To Ernest's surprise, Dana went up to give Ben a hug. The girl barely reached his shoulders in terms of height, and the sight was actually rather cute.

"See you. And be careful. In fact, Ernest should walk you home, just in case." The gray-eyed boy rolled his eyes.

"I don't exactly think this happens often. Besides, I wouldn't be of much help alone," he sarcastically pointed out. He then glanced at Ben, and the smile on his face almost instantly faded away. His eyes returned to the floor and he said, a lot more softly this time "not that I wouldn't want to help." The boy turned to Ben at that moment, yet the blond noticed that Ernest was still not looking directly at him. "I mean if you don't feel safe and everything it doesn't bother me at all, really. It's just I thought it might bother you if I did go with you—" By this point Ernest began to stutter, blushing furiously, confusedly trying to make sense of what he was saying. "I mean...sorry, I didn't phrase that right it's just..."

"It's fine. I can go home by myself, don't worry. Plus it's not because I got attacked once that you should both become my bodyguards," Ben joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "Thanks for offering though, guys. And don't worry Ernest, I know what you meant," he finished, smiling kindly. The teen werewolf felt like he could just about die of embarrassment and shame right now. He felt disgusted with his last words, as they made it sound like helping the blond out was a burden to him.

"After what he's done for me, I made it sound like a mere walk was a bother, like I couldn't even do that." He thought, full of self-loathing.

"Alright, well..." Dana then tightly hugged her best friend. "'Night Ernie Bear!"

"Bye Dana Banana!" The latter replied, making Ben chuckle. The blond then burst out laughing at Dana's utterly disgusted expression.

"Okay, I'm sorry but that's too fucking cheesy to happen, even for me."

"I'll stop if you don't call me Ernie Bear."

"But that's impossible!"

"Okay, Dana Banana it is!"

"OKAY we'll settle this some other time, now both of you get the fuck off of my property, NIGHT!" The two boys laughed as the redheaded girl hastily shut the door. Eventually their chortling ceased, and they turned to each other. Ben noticed that Ernest seemed a little more confident than before in his presence, something which pleased him greatly.

"Did we just get kicked out?" The grey-eyed boy asked with amusement.

"It would seem like it," Ben responded, grinning all the while.

"Well, uhm..." Ernest suddenly found that he once again had trouble looking up. The boy was about to say goodbye, when he changed his mind and instead once again asked Ben if he'd feel safer were he to be escorted. The blond reassured him that it was fine and that he'd go home on his own.

"Oh. Alright then..." For some reason, Ernest felt just a tad disappointed knowing that he wouldn't get to see Ben's house again.

"Well, I better get going." Ben grabbed Ernest's uninjured shoulder before lightly squeezing it. "Thanks again for everything."

"No, it's nothing, really."

"You deserve it."

"I mean, it was just the right thing to do." Ben's expression seemed to darken at that remark.

"Doesn't mean anyone would have done it. In fact, most people turn away whenever they see someone in need, and that's disgusting." Ernest felt startled at the anger he detected in Ben's voice. The blond's eyes were blazing; he seemed to have forgotten that Ernest was there, something which let the latter take a better, less reserved look at him for once. A lock of Ben's curly, blond hair was partly obscuring the left side of his face. In the dark his caramel eyes looked almost black, making his entire demeanor even more intimidating. Ernest was instantly reminded of the day he' been attacked by Eric and his gang. Although he had for the most part been too busy trying to cover himself and forget about the world around him to notice much, he had heard the fury in Ben's voice when he stood up for him. He'd even caught a glimpse of how outraged he had looked.

"Is he referring to me?" In a second, however, the blond reverted to his usual smiling, pleasant self.

"Well, I better get going. See you at school, Ern." He then waved, before walking away, going in the exact opposite direction Ernest was going to take. At that moment the shy boy realized something.

Ben had called him "Ern". He had nicknamed him.

"BEN!" He blurted out. The other teen froze in his tracks before glimpsing atop his shoulder.

"Yeah?" At this point Ernest actually smiled.

"Try not to get killed." A laugh resonated through the silence of the night, and Ernest made sure to recapture it in his memory as accurately as possible, so that he'd be reminded of it when he'd return home, in the darkness, with his pretty much non-existent, unloving mother.

"I'll try. You take care!"

"Thanks, you too. 'Night!"

"'Night." And with that he walked away. Ernest watched him until he vanished into the darkness, before deciding to head home, despite how much he didn't want to. At least, this time, he'd have something pleasant to think about: Ben and Dana.

He grinned all the way back home, even if most of his good mood faded away the closer he got to home—

No, not "home", his "house". Home was when he was at Dana's. The thought briefly made his smile resurface. Searching through his jeans' pocket, he eventually seized the old fashion, rusty, elongated key which opened his front door. Like almost every night, he looked up before entering. His house was more like a manor to the average person. It was definitely an ideal place to shoot a horror movie, at least. Huge, dark, and built with old, dirty bricks covered by snails and through which plants had managed to grow, it didn't exactly convey a heart-warming aura. And at the very top, standing in the far background, right beside his chimney was the moon. It was only half there tonight, thankfully. For a few seconds Ernest gazed at it with fascination, as he often did at night. It was so beautiful, and yet because of it he was doomed to a fate of misery intertwined with violence, something which ultimately meant that he would have to spend the rest of his life alone. The realization significantly darkened his mood. He couldn't be around Ben, it was too dangerous. Then again, it wasn't because he and Dana had saved the blond that he necessarily was going to spend his time with them. After all, Ben was pretty popular; he had many friends, while Dana and himself were still considered freaks and outcasts by the majority of the school. Strangely enough, this reassured him somewhat. At least this meant that Ben wouldn't be around them. He'd be safe, and that was all that mattered.

Trying to ignore his conflicting thoughts and emotions, the boy eventually entered as the cold wind began to creep its way under his jacket, making him shiver. Then again, it wasn't much warmer inside.

Slowly and as silently as possible, the teen closed the huge wooden entrance behind him. Although he was hungry, he didn't even bother going to the fridge, for he knew that it'd be completely empty. His mother rarely went shopping, nowadays. Often she'd go to the restaurant and leave some money on the counter for Ernest to order something or go do the groceries himself. Mostly he fed on junk food such as chips and cookies, with the occasional omelet and pasta every now and then.

His shoes creaked on the pavement as he walked to the stairs. They were also made of wood, and in the shape of a spiral. The boy was puffing when he finally reached the top. He then turned right, passing the security room where he had been locked during every single full moon since the age of six. He opened the door at the end of the hallway. His room was currently bathed by the light of the moon, giving the bed and desk a certain glow and what was, to Ernest at least, a bit of a magical, yet melancholic atmosphere. He left the blinds open until he got home every night for that exact purpose. The boy shut the door behind him before promptly undressing. Briefly he pondered whether or not to take a shower, then he remembered that his shoulder was bandaged. Besides, he was too exhausted for one. He did, however, go to the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face and other such things. After that he promptly changed into his pajamas before pretty much collapsing on the bed.

--

That night, he dreamed of Ben. Dana was there too. She was smiling, and as he wriggled a bit inside his covers, lightly shivering due to the cold, Ernest also grinned.