Hunter awoke the next morning uncertain. A hot shower did not clear his head, nor did mulling over his breakfast of off-brand flakes of corn. The wolf, his other self, edged him on to attack the staff and steal a plate of real food or run off into the forest and eat a small animal.

Just as he began to wonder what rabbits tasted like, Malcolm plopped down across from him with a larger plate than usual.

"Hey Reeds."

Hunter flicked his eyes upward and back down at his cereal. "Hey yourself."

"I'm sorry about the other night man. Then I forgot my charger, and my phone died.I was a county away for the whole weekend, so I wouldn'tve been much help anyhow."

Hunter shrugged. "Ish no b-big deal." Except I might get arrested.

"I heard about Ashley. They're callin' it a wolf attack."

"Mmm." Hunter slurped down a soggy spoonful. If Malcolm was off campus, that ruled him out. He decided to test the waters. "A wolf attack, huh? Did Mr. Garou say anything?"

"Just that she's in a hospital somewhere. God bless."

"Good. But where's the nearest Lycandoc near here? I know I should've looked it up before startin' school but it slipped my mind."

"Right in town. Ask for Dr.Mahmoud. But you know the deal, make sure to show them your health card before you start talkin' about shifts and stuff."

"Good to know." He dropped the spoon. The cereal was a lost cause, so he concentrated on the conversation. "So, what did you do off campus?"

Malcolm presented Hunter with his phone and slowly swiped through a set of photos.

"Went with some classmates to the Harvest festival in Lyndendale. It was crazy man. Tons of food, no IDs for the drinks, nonstop party. A buncha people from Redwood were there, even Serena. I'm surprised Ashley didn't go. She seems like the type that likes to party, hittin' our phones up with ideas all the time."

"Yeah. But wait, how did you bind up?"

"Ha! Real simple. Kept my inner wolf back with a buzz. Got to the hotel room before I was too hammered. I do it all the time.That way I'm too tired to move after the shift. It's like gettin' the itis. Get too full, go out like a light."

Hunter said nothing. He had seen other werewolves use the same method, getting drunk to slow down the shift. While it proved useful to others, it was a dangerous practice as far as Hunter was concerned.

Malcolm proceeded to eat his breakfast while Hunter drank his soggy cereal. If Serena was at the festival too, that meant she wasn't involved as well. So that was two people he could ignore out of who knew how many. Hurray.

With breakfast behind him he went to his lecture. In class he felt several pairs of eyes watching him. He could only assume that word about his breakdown had spread. He knew three students from his Monday night class with Lugosi were also in his Tuesday morning lecture, but he believed they had better things to gossip about besides the weird crippled kid. When the class ended he went to the freshly cleaned bathroom and sat in a stall. He pulled the evidence bag out of his backpack. It reminded him of days long since past, when his father was still around.

While other Father-Son duos played catch or cards, Hunter's father hid objects around the house for Hunter to find. He would either give Hunter clues or let him sniff things blindfolded, and then set a time limit. It wasn't the most exciting activity, but having a similar trait to his father gave Hunter a sense of pride. As a child he considered becoming a tracker one day.

As a teenager with a single parent, he had different plans.

The air of the bathroom was filled with the scent of pine, easy to distinguish from whatever was in the evidence bag. He opened it and inhaled deeply. Various scents and smells entered his nostrils in a rush. He tried to separate them and place them as quickly as possible. The first ones he identified were the smell of the forest, grass, and dirt. There were several things he couldn't place, and something oddly chemical. He smelled numerous things, but none matched Malcolm's scent, so he was definitely out. He wasn't sure about Tom, however. They would have to meet again for him to be certain.

Hunter headed for the library after class. Investigation aside, he still had exams to study for.

Currently he was on the course track for a Bachelor's in Education. From the few courses he was already taking it became clear quite quickly that teaching was more than making students read aloud from a textbook and passing out handouts. There were courses for everything from cultivating learning environments and perspectives on adolescent learning, to structuring lessons and balancing coursework.

Studying turned out to be as relaxing as it was informative. Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. With daylight hours dwindling, he knew it was time to get to work. He tapped his pencil against his notebook. The easiest way to find the attacker would be to discern their scent from Ashley's. But with Ashley's whereabouts unknown, that would be hard. Trying to asking her questions at this point seemed selfish to him. While the capture of her attacker helped them both, he thought it was best to leave her alone. For all he knew the attack had left her traumatized, and recalling it would make things worse. He would have to approach this from a different angle.

Garou's suspicions annoyed him, but the older man was basing his conclusion on facts and unbeknownst to him, one piece of fiction--Tom's testimony. For whatever reason Tom had decided to lie about his involvement with Hunter's binding, making him suspect number one.

Tom Martinez didn't seem like a bad person. There had been nothing about his behavior up to that point to suggest otherwise. Still he had lied. Why? Perhaps to protect his other half, the Lycan side. This Tom seemed nice, but what if that Tom was an angry beast?

He closed his notebook. Finding Tom would be the first step.

Hunter walked down to the school bookstore, located in the green building. For some reason the cider was a dollar cheaper there, and he was craving something warm. He stood in line, rubbing his hands and looking around. Something bumped against his back but he ignored it. It was an accident, no big deal.

"So, how's it going?"

Hunter looked up. He didn't know how he had missed that familiar scent. "Grayson?"

He didn't think that the taller teen would be willing to talk to him so soon.

"Did you find out anything new--"

"I'm sorry I kicked you out--"

They both stopped talking.

Grayson shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I know this whole thing has you stressed."

Something about the way Grayson was brushing the matter off worried him. "Okay, but it is a big deal. I shouldn't have kicked you out, or hung up the day before."

Grayson rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay...." He smiled. "You're forgiven."

Hunter sighed and turned back around. "Great."

"So, what's the plan?"

"The guy you got my room key from? He said he never stopped by my room at all. He's hiding something. I'm going to figure out what."

"You're gonna go interrogate him?"

"Yeah." Hunter looked back, nodding.

"Like, a cop?" Grayson raised an eyebrow,

"Yeah...What?"

Grayson tried to suppress a smile. "It's just, I can't see you doing something like that."

"Why not!? I can be intimidating if I want, you know."

"Ha, okay. You're too cute to be scary."

"...!" Hunter felt his face burning. He didn't have a comeback for that. Luckily it was his turn at the register.

With hot cups of cider acquired, they walked down the hallway, towards the mess hall.

"So where is this guy?"

"I dunno." Hunter sniffed the drink. The cinnamon had a sharp smell. "I think I know his scent because he went in my room, but that's it."

"You sure there's nothing else?"

"Well, I know he's studying art or design."

"A guy in my history class is in Graphic Design. He said all his classes are in the Garcia Wing of the Kahlo building."
"The Garcia wing? Why does that sound so familiar?"

Grayson stopped walking. "That's where they're having that VR haunted house. I told you about it awhile back."

"Oh...If it was around the moon I probably wasn't listening. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize when you do stuff like that." Grayson took a sip from his cup. "It's not like you can control it, right?"

"No, but I can do better."

Grayson finished his cup of cider. "How are you going to do it?"

"Huh?"

"How are you going to get the truth out of him?"

"Oh, well you know. Demand the truth or whatever."

"How?"

Hunter looked up at him. "You know...Push him against a wall or something."

Grayson stopped again. "Show me."

"Uh..." Hunter looked around. The hallway was empty. Hunter blinked. He pressed his hand against Grayson's chest. "Push him like this."

"But what if he tries to push you back? Or maybe..." He grabbed Hunter's wrist and turned quickly, until they had changed places. Hunter was taken by surprise, as Grayson pushed him back until he was touching the wall. " He does this, and the tables are turned." While Hunter had been pinned quickly, there had been no real force or resulting pain.

He blinked up at Grayson."Okay." Hunter smirked. "But I'm pretty strong you know. I seem to recall shoving you pretty hard the other day."

"I'm still recovering from that you know," Grayson replied, letting go of Hunter's wrist. "The only way you can make it up to me is by coming with me to the haunted house."

"Oh really?" Hunter crossed his arms. "Luckily for you, I wanted to see it anyway."

"But you didn't let me finish." Grayson shook his head. "If you wear a costume entry is free. And we're definitely going in costume."

"Oh no. What kind of outfits did you have in mind?"

"In an ideal world, we'd be Power Rangers, but those only look cool if you have a full team. We'll just have to go to that pop-up Halloween store at the strip mall and find something."

"Pfft. Okay." He adjusted his sunglasses. "Anyway, I appreciate your concern, but I've got this. What I lack in size, I make up for in hidden muscle. I just gotta hang around the Kahlo building, track his scent, and get to business."

Grayson looked at his phone. "Something I'd love to see. I have to go to class now, but text me before you do it okay? I wanna see how this pans out."

Hunter leaned back against the wall and pulled his sunglasses down slightly so Grayson could see the look on his face. "Hoping to see a werewolf fight?"

"Hoping to prevent one, actually. Don't get mad, but if this guy does have something to do with what happened to Ashley Smith he might attack you too."

Hunter tensed up. Grayson was right of course, but now he wondered if it was okay to keep him around. Hunter had his fair share of unnatural talents, but Grayson was still a normal human being. If Grayson were attacked like Ashley was--

Hunter shook his head. No, one attack was bad enough. If Grayson was going to be a part of this, he would have to take precautions. "If we go at it Lobo-a-Lobo, there's a chance we'll both be okay, but you, not so much. If things get out of hand, I need you to promise me you'll get out of the way as fast as you can. Just because there's no moon doesn't mean things can't get crazy."

"And what? Leave you behind?"

"Yes." Hunter growled. He inhaled and exhaled. "Call SPOIPA or try to get Garou. Cops are a last resort. Do whatever you have to do, and put your needs first. I'll be okay, trust me."

"Fine." Grayson replied, despite his reservations. This was the same Hunter Reeds who had been confined to his bed Post-Shift and could hardly get around without help. He wasn't buying Hunter's bravado, but he played along. "Your phone is still messed up, right? Let me take that SPOIPA guy's number."

Hunter took out the card and entered the number into Grayson's phone.

"Okay. I gotta go. Make sure you come find me before you do anything reckless. I'll be in the Spade building, in 606E. My lab lets out at 8."

"Okay Dad. I'll swing by at 8."

"Good." Grayson slipped his phone into his back pocket. "If we can't find him, we can have dinner instead." He gave Hunter a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you later."

"Wh-Wh-..." Hunter was left dumbfounded as Grayson walked through the mess hall and off to class. He shook his head, his face was hot. What was this state of limbo they were in? They were definitely more than friends, but what was this called? 

For a moment he allowed himself to imagine what things would have been like without any werewolf-related trouble. Would they be dating? Would Grayson have lost interest by now? He finished his cider. It was much cooler than before. Past the fangs there isn't much to me. I guess I should be glad I've got something extra going on. He could feel the negative thoughts starting up. Grayson liked things that were unusual. Did Grayson only like him because he was unusual?

He shook his head. Don't do this to yourself, Reeds. Find Martinez. Be the tracker.

He headed for the Kahlo building. It was only a ten minute walk from the Spade, so getting Grayson wouldn't be a problem. The Kahlo building was a massive structure that housed classes for all the art-related majors, art elective classes, and the school's theater. Stepping through the double doors, he found himself in the middle of a whirlwind of activity. Two students were trying their best to spray mount poster designs onto thin black board pieces, another was pushing a sculpture made of wire, feather and felt down one of two hallways that branched off from the entrance. Four students walked passed him carrying large sketchbooks, deep in conversation. Two more in costume were ushering a group of high school students down the hall towards the amphitheater.

"Hey." A third student in costume appeared behind him. "You almost missed the show."

"Wha?" Was Hunter's eloquent reply. The taller individual put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, the show is about to start."