(Will be putting ‘ instead of italic since the places I upload apparently don’t support italic”)

‘We, werewolves, just like our cousins, the wolves, live in packs and have our hierarchy, each one with their function and, I dare say, just as important as the other.’

‘The omegas are usually the weaker ones; and as so they are always alert and usually are the first to notice danger, they are good scouts, though unfortunately they are mostly abused, to the point of being commonly mistaken as the ones responsible for having babies. Even though most of them are usually very kind and good with kids.’

‘To keep it simple there are the Deltas, third in command, and Betas, second in command, and they are responsible for many things, including hunting and protecting.’

‘As for the Alpha… they are the ones at the top, responsible for everything in the pack, including having pups; as the father and mother of the pack, they are, like in any other family, the ones in command.’

‘The pack normally is made by family members, like the wolves, the difference from werewolves being that we have a lot more freedom to have pups because we are more capable of finding food and keeping a bigger pack than normal wolves.’

There was a lot of information to keep up, but so far so good, all rather simple indeed.

‘Ok, so, like, as a werewolf we have that too? An…classification? What is the mutt’s rank?’

‘Oh, he is quite a… peculiar case.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Uhum. Have you realized that, when the others change, they became wolves?’

‘Of course I have.’ Especially when they were right up at my face.

‘Then have you notice some differences, right? How some walk on four, and very few on two legs, resembling their humanoid form…’

Now that I think about it, indeed there was that difference; only the mutt and the one that assaulted me had a humanoid body, the rest had a complete wolf form.

‘That’s right, that are not actually werewolves, they are Lycans, or a pure-blood breed you may say. It usually happens only when two Lycans are together, but sometimes a werewolf and a Lycan, when strong enough, can have a Lycan too, though two werewolves is impossible.’

‘Ok, so you said before that you appearing before me is a sign of strength? So if I lay with a female Lycan that can happen?’

‘Well… I… hm…’

I can feel her distress, almost like a fiddling, as she keeps trying to avoid the subject; and that only makes things worse to me.

‘Speak. You told me that you wouldn’t keep anything away from me anymore.’

‘Y-yes, of course darling, you…you have the right to know, is just… please don’t get mad ok?’

I have a really, really bad feeling about this.

‘In some rare cases, even more rare than having a Lycan, some werewolves have… wolves from the opposite sex. And as you can see… I’m a female. And you are male…’

‘Wait… what? What’s that supposed to mean? Wha-how does it affect me-us?’

She sighs. ‘It means that, when we change, our wolf form is female. It means you cannot impregnate someone anymore. It… it means ‘you’ can get pregnant.’

…

I stop walking.

The snow around me felt rather warm compared to the freezing sensation raising inside me from my core.

‘WHAT THE FUCK?!’

‘I’m really, really sorry, but that’s not something I, we, can control, is just that… well, remember the pressure you felt back then?’

‘Well, how could I forget?’ Even more when the snout and tongue responsible for the disgusting yet warm sensation keeps being so close to me, reminding of the sensations that they could bring at the right spots.

‘So… that was our body getting rid of your last sperm. From now own you won’t be able to cum because you won’t produce it anymore.’

Well, that part wasn’t so bad, I have never wanted kids anyway; or rather, sex even, contact, humans, germs.

Wikes.

‘But that doesn’t mean you are sterile, is just that… you are the one getting impregnated now, I mean, you can have the pups…’ She completes, making me chocked my the news.

I mean, is not like I’ll be getting pregnant… but the mere thought of having a-a round belly sends shivers down my spine, so odd and weird and unimaginable, I mean, as a man I never thought to ‘have’ the kids; and no kids in general in my case.

‘W-well, we can easily avoid that, we just don’t have sex with males, easy peasy.’

‘…O-of course.’ She says, hesitating, which makes me very uneasy and ready to question her again; but I decided that it was enough for today and that I was starting to not feel my toes.

And even though I had a lot to think about all vanish when I hear see the fur I had used to wrap around my beloved dog on the side with a new smear of blood in it.

"Kira!"

I totally forgot about her! Well, no one could blame me after these very odd news; and from my wolf spirit even.

Well I guess it can’t get weirder at least...

I climbed the slump quicker, and as I feel that my limbs are not responding as they should I start to get a little worried; all that talk distracted me from the main problem, that I can still freeze to death.

No wolves to talk to anymore if I'm dead.

I encounter my clothes piece by piece over the snow, probably being left behind by my running wolf, dirty and with some new scratches, but wearable and vital at the moment.

As I was looking for the last part, my boots and socks, a sound catches my attention, making me stop mid-motion as I reach out for the last boot.

Breathing…? And this smell… I could almost ‘feel’ it. And I recognized it, somehow I…

I knew.

I knew how to find them, Kira and the mutt!

Weirdly enough I took a whiff of the air, and instead of the dump winter smell, there was so much more now…

I close my eyes, as if receiving too much light all at once, and put a hand on a tree to steady myself, overwhelmed by the amount of foreigner information coming at once.

But of course, closing my eyes helped very little when what assaulted me where sounds, noises, smells, traces of blood, fur, damp soil, the snow, the trees, even the small animals under the snow where pinpointed to me, their shuffling sounds resonating like someone chewing right beside me.

It was… disconcerting to say the least.

As if guided by an invisible force I let this… instincts guide me towards the sound, following the smell and trying to not think of how I was so close to being…

No, that I already am a werewolf.

How someone copy with that?

But no matter, there is no time to waste thinking anymore, there never was; to morn, nor to feel pity about myself.

Once I put myself as the victim than everything will be over, I need to keep fighting, I think, sneering ironically, fighting like an animal to survive.

Maybe these instincts of mine wouldn’t be too bad after all… I could use some sharper senses for sure.

With a final whiff I find them hiding in a curve of the frozen river, where the earth had been molded by the water, leaving a curve where they could hide in.

“Mutt, are you there?” I say before getting closer, knowing that he was but wanting to warn him of my presence beforehand.

Kira was with him, hiding in the dark; yet somewhat visible to me; laying with a heavy breathing as the mutt was sitting on the side, licking a wound on his arm.

We had survived an attack… alive and mostly intact, that was a miracle on itself, and maybe this… change could become the weapon I needed to fight back.

I will ask Luna how to use it once she wakes up once more, but for now, we had a bigger problem.

That is… to escape from this place.