Em and Remy woke up when the sun rose. They were sleeping under the bush, both naked of course, in a very close spoon. When they realized this, both almost jumped away from each other, their faces red as tomatoes.

“Uh, sorry,” Remy said very embarrassed.

“No problem,” Em replied equally embarrassed and looking at another direction. Her heart beat funnily again. “Uhh, where are we?” she asked then. This place didn’t look familiar at all. Remy looked around too for the first time.

“I have no idea,” he said.

“What?”

“Sorry, I don’t think I recognize this place.”

“Oh my god, are we lost?”

“I wouldn’t say lost… We just don’t know where we are.”

“We’re lost in the forest, without any clothes. What a wonderful start to a day,” Em mumbled.

“Hey, we’ll get back home, don’t worry. It just...might take a while,” Remy said, getting up.

“What are we even doing here? I have a feeling that we ran a lot, but I don’t remember much else.”

Remy tried to pick his memory. He remembered the running too and the need to protect. Then there was a flash of an image, red wolf standing in front of him. Remy swore out loud.

“What is it?” Em asked.

“I just remembered… We had company last night, other wolves.” As Remy said that Em had a faint image of that too.

“I think I remember it a bit,” she said wrinkling her eyebrows as she tried to remember more. “You bit me in the neck!”

“Yeah...sorry about that. But we better start walking back. It’s gonna take a while.”

“Why did we run from the other wolf?” Em asked as they started walking.

“Because…you can never be too sure about them. Some are aggressive,” Remy said, “and you can never be sure of how many there actually are...” He looked around a little and then said: “I think we came from that direction.” 

“I hope so.”

They walked for hours. Em was starting to get tired. All the running from the night and the transformations were weighing on her too. She hadn’t eaten much either in the past few days because it had been too painful. Remy didn’t seem to have much trouble, but he was very deep in thought as he almost walked into a tree a few times.

Remy was thinking about the wolf. He was worried that it hadn’t just been some random wolf passing by. There had been another one, he remembered it now, which confirmed his idea. Indeed, his initial though about the wolf looking familiar had been correct. What did they want from him? They knew where he lived now... Maybe he should take Em somewhere else. But where? Walk to the city was too long and they had no clothes. They had to go home and take the risk even though he didn’t like it. He didn’t care much about what would possibly happen to him, but he wouldn’t allow Em to get hurt.

He glanced towards Em who was walking several metres behind him, looking tired. Remy stopped right away.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just a bit tired,” she replied.

“We can take a break if you want.”

“Maybe a short one.”

They rested for a few minutes, ate some blueberries they found growing nearby and then continued their walk for at least an another hour. Finally, the area started to look more familiar and after another half an hour, they saw the silhouette of their cottage behind the trees.

“Finally! I was sure we’d walk forever.” Em said. Who would’ve though she was so happy to see this old run-down place. They walked closer but then Remy stopped again, listening.

“What are you doing?” Em asked but Remy motioned her to be silent.

“There’s a chance,” Remy whispered, “that the wolf from last night is still here.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

“I don’t know. But I don’t want to take any risks. Stay behind me, please.”

Em started to feel nervous. She looked around but didn’t see anything. They got at the porch where Remy’s clothes still were in a neat pile. He picked up his shirt.

“Put that on,” he said giving the shirt to Em. He put on his trousers. He then glanced at the window biting his teeth together. Em felt the tension in the air.

Remy opened the door and walked in.

Everything looked exactly the same, except someone was sitting on the bench at the table, flicking through the plant book. He turned his head towards the door when it creaked open. A wide smile appeared on the guy’s face.

“Remy!” he shouted, jumping up. This guy was around the same height as Remy but a bit sturdier. He had brown eyes, reddish brown hair and freckles all over his body he hadn’t bothered to cover with clothes. Bashfully Em turned to look away.

“What the hell are you doing here, Carter?” Remy said, sounding reserved and maybe a bit annoyed.

“I came to look for my old pal. Mikey and I miss you a lot you know, as do the others,” this guy called Carter said, now looking like a sad puppy who had been reprimanded.

“Well I don’t miss you guys,” Remy said.

“Ouch, I’m hurt,” Carter said. “Not even me? Your best friend? I tried to defend you, I hope you remember.”

“Of course, I remember, and I appreciate it. But if you know where I am, so do the others now. That’s what I don’t like.”

Carter smiled a bit apologetically. “Sorry. But I really wanted to see you. And I don’t think alpha has much interest in you.”

“You know alpha isn’t the one I worry about.”

“Well that guy’s busy with his girlfriend. They just got engaged recently.”

“Oh gods…”

“Sorry to interrupt,” said a quiet and confused voice, “but who’s this guy?”

Both Remy and Carter seemed to have forgotten that Em was with them. And when Carter noticed Em, even wider smile rose on his face, revealing a pair of sharp canines in his mouth.

“Oh my Remy, did you get yourself a mate? Such a beauty too. Way to go man!”

“Shut up, she’s not my mate,” Remy said sounding very tired and a bit embarrassed too.

“Em, this is Carter. He’s an…old friend of mine.”

“Old friend? Have I been demoted to an old friend? Don’t listen to him, I’m his best friend. I’m Carter Thrussel. Nice to meet you,” Carter said and jumped to hug Em. What a lively and positive person.

“I’m Em. Nice to meet you too…” Em said as Remy pulled Carter away from her.

“Have some manners. You’re not even wearing clothes,” he hissed.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I’m not a creep. I promise,” Carter said. He then noticed the scar on Em’s arm.

“Wait, are you serious?” he shouted and grabbed Em’s arm, looking at the scar and then Remy. “And you said she isn’t your mate? You even bit her.”

“For Christ’s sake, Carter leave her alone,” Remy said sounding annoyed. “She’s not my mate. I’m just taking my responsibility as her biter.”

“What’s a mate?” Em asked. Of course, she knew what the word meant but she felt like it had some kind of special meaning here. Or maybe Carter was just a serious shipper. Remy sighed.

“Mate is a wolf’s partner, like in the romantic sense,” he explained. “Usually everyone has just a one true mate, normally another wolf.”

“And if they aren’t a wolf already, they usually become one sooner or later,” Carter said, smiling. “On purpose or by accident.”

“Okay… Do you have a mate then?” Em asked Carter.

“I wish,” he laughed. “I think I’m destined to be a lone wolf forever. But... if you aren’t with Remy then maybe I can try my chances with you,” he said winking and then kissing the back of Em’s hand.

“Just stay away, Casanova,” Remy hurried to say. “As her…mentor I’ll also protect her from bad life choices.”

“You’re calling me a bad life choice? That hurts,” Carter said very dramatically. “Why do I feel like there’s another reason for this protectiveness?”

“S--shut up. Are here just to run your mouth or did you have a reason to come?” Remy said. Carter couldn’t help but smile smugly. He was definitely right, Remy just refused to admit it.

“I just thought I would finally check on you since I figured out where you lived,” Carter said. “But I guess I better get going since I’m such a bother. And Mikey is been waiting for hours, he's gonna leave me here soon. But honestly, we’d love to see you back. I’m sure alpha would let you visit at least.

“I have no interest in coming back when they’re there.”

Carter sighed. “Okay, I understand. But I’d really like to see you more. I go to the town on Tuesdays and Saturdays so come there if you want. I’m hanging around the usual places. And take your pretty friend with you as well,” he said winking at Em again.

“I’ll think about it,” Remy said.

“Okay, well I’ll let you two alone then, before Mikey completely kills me. See you guys later,” Carter said and headed outside. Em and Remy stood at the door looking him leave.

Carter walked few meters, then dropped to his knees and started growing fur. Soon in his place stood a wolf with red fur and a light mask on his face. He looked back at the cottage to Em and Remy and wagged his tail. Then he let out a howl and after a few minutes got a reply to it from what sounded like 500 meters away. After a one last bark Carter headed towards the howl.

Em and Remy went back in and Remy rubbed his face.

“Who was he? And how can he turn into a wolf just like that?” Em asked. She was full of questions.

“I’ll explain but lets have breakfast first. I’m starving.”

They put on their clothes properly and sat at the table with leftover rice from the previous day, accompanied by a collection of different leaves as a salad. Em was so hungry she gobbled up her food so fast it almost gave her a stomach ache.

“So…” Remy started, “I know you have a lot of questions and I’ll try to answer as many as I can. To start, that was my friend Carter. We’ve known each other for many years. He’s a werewolf just like us as you may have already guessed.”

“How can he turn without the moon? And didn’t you do that too after my first night?” Em asked.

“I did. I told you before that is normal for werewolves to live in packs just like normal wolves do, right?”

Em nodded.

“Living in a pack has many benefits for us. It gives protection and stability, other people who can relate to what you’re going through. It gives us…power as well. I used to live in a pack with Carter and a bunch of other wolves. My dad was the alpha. James was in the pack too before he…died.”

Em didn’t know what to say. Remy had told his father had another family. Had he meant the pack? It would make sense.

“So, when we live in a pack and follow our alpha it affects us. Nobody really knows why but it does. We can share our thoughts with the others when we’re wolves no matter how far away we are from each other. After a while we are able to turn when we want to without becoming beasts, we can keep the control. But once we leave, those things go away. First you lose the ability to share thoughts. Then, you can’t turn when you want. I’m struggling on that now. It lasted longer than I thought though, so I guess I should just be happy.”

“You said you used to live with them. What happened?”

Remy sighed. Em got a feeling this was another part of his history Remy didn’t really want to talk about.

“It happened pretty recently, six or so months ago. Two wolves come to our territory. They were brothers and straight up challenged my father for the position of alpha. I told you my dad was a very strong wolf. Most were afraid of him so not many challenged him, so I think he was happy to get someone to fight with. He accepted the challenge, but he lost. They beat him to a pulp, but he managed to run away. I don’t know what happened to him. He could be dead for all I know. So, these new guys were in the lead now. The older brother, Lance became the alpha and he positioned his brother as the beta. They’re both kind of douchebags, to be honest, but Tanner, the beta, was worse. Most of us were pretty young, in our late teens and early twenties. They were older, so he bossed us around.”

Em listened closely. Remy had an annoyed expression on his face, as if just thinking about these people made him angry.

“Did they kick you out?” Em asked a bit impatiently. She didn’t want to rush Remy, but she really wanted to know more.

“Yeah. It’s a really embarrassing story though,” Remy said. “After a short while Tanner brought his girlfriend to stay with the pack. She was pretty, kinda looked like a bikini model or something, long blonde hair and blue eyes. She seemed very nice too. Actually, very nice. She, umm, got really interested in me. She would come to talk with me when I was alone, ask how I was doing and all that. That went on for a while and then one day she says that she likes me. I was really surprised because she was with Tanner, but we had got kinda close, so I thought that maybe she was telling the truth. And then she kissed me, and we kept that going on for a while. She kept telling me that she was unhappy with Tanner and would dumb him as soon as possible but that she wanted me to turn her into a wolf first. I was in love, or at least crushing really hard so I believed her. I was actually going to do it, but we got caught before I could. Tanner saw us kissing one day. I was fully expecting her to tell him she was going to leave him, but she said I had forced her! That I had been the one to make the initiative! I tried to explain but got beat up instead. You know, there’s this rule that you don’t touch another wolf’s mate. I normally wouldn’t because that’s just scummy move, but she convinced me that she was unhappy. I tried to tell all that in the hearing, it's kinda like a trial, but the alpha wouldn’t believe me. The others defended me at first but soon they were against me too. I’m sure Tanner threatened or bribed them or something . Suddenly I was the bad guy and she was the victim. I was chased out and told to never come back. So here I am now.” Remy finished his story with a bitter smile.

“Wow. I don’t really know what to say,” Em said. That was a lot to take in. “But I’m really sorry for you. That really sucks. You were treated wrong and they should be ashamed.”

“And now Carter thinks that I want to go back,” Remy said laughing gloomily.

“Do you want to go back?” Em asked.

“Kind of. But not unless there’s a new alpha in the pack,” he said. “Which probably won’t happen in a good while.”

“Well, if it helps at all, I’m happy to be with you,” Em said then getting little embarrassed by her words. She though she sounded pretty dumb even though her words were true.

“It helps,” Remy said, smiling, “I’m happy that you’re here too.”

After the breakfast they proceeded to spend most of the day sleeping. Sharing the bed seemed to have become quite a normal thing already. There was just enough room for two when they slept very close to each other.