Jack stayed snuggled against Mark to get as close to him as he could without hurting him. His adrenaline was wearing off. Leaving him sore and tired. He did his best to stay awake, but his new body had been exposed to so much that he just wanted to lay down and calm down. Mark's padded hand pet his back, helping his body to relax. It was almost painful to feel his every muscle loosen up. He hadn't released how tense he was. When his whole body finally eased up, he whimpered a little as he realized he was trembling. Mark adjusted to lay on his back, his head resting along his shoulders. Closing his eyes, Jack tried to force himself to nap, but couldn't. His silky ears were the only thing that gave away the fact that he was still awake. They flicked and moved to listen to every sound. He heard it all so clearly that it was distracting him. The smallest creak of a floorboard was enough to make him restless. Even the new smells that filled his nose was a bit overwhelming. He didn't understand how Mark could act so natural in this form. It was so much to process in any given moment. Mark licked one of his silky ears again, rubbing his muzzle against him. For a short time, it got his ears to stop moving, but before long they were back to twitching.
He could hear his grandmother talking to people and wanted to speak to her himself but couldn't bring himself to ask the millions of questions rushing through him. When she moved closer to prepare the stew, Jack opened his eyes and peeked at her over his arms that he was resting on. His Granny moved slowly and carefully as she put ingredients in a boiling pot of water over the fire. When she finally glanced at him, she asked nicely. "You've gotten so big. I've missed you." Lifting his head, he asked her tentatively. "What's happened to me? To you? I... I was so worried about you..." Granny reached out to put a padded hand on his head, sweetly telling him. "There is so much I wanted to tell you... but you were so young." Sitting like a large dog beside the fireplace, she straightened up and regaled clearly. "We come from a long line of witches known as Moonchildren. Most of us live ordinary human lives. However, during a Hunter's Moon that only comes around once in the fall. A Moonchild can become something more. On any other night, your blood would cure a werewolf of their gift. However, on a Hunter's Moon, one bite and you become a special kind of werewolf."
Mark sat up a bit stiffly and Jack sat up with him to see her better. His Granny sighed, informing him with loving eyes. "There are very few White Werewolves left. My husband was once the Alpha of Lupine... but when we moved to the city, we left Mark's grandfather in charge here and broke off to start anew. Things did not go as planned. My coven... My Pack... was slaughtered when Darcy sought us out. He was very territorial and being a Hunter... he took pleasure in hunting others of his own kind. Your father blindly helped them... until only I was left, and he saw for himself what we were." Jack shrugged, asking softly. "Didn't dad know? Isn't he a... moonchild?" Shaking her head, Granny reluctantly answered. "Not since he was a young boy. Your father... was attacked by a werewolf. Left scars on him. He lost a lot of blood. The strange pale doctor there replaced his blood with blood from another. It saved his life... but he lost his gift. The saddest moment in my life was telling him that he couldn't be life us. I tried to make him a werewolf at the very least... but it seems the incident he suffered as boy has made him immune." Hanging his head, she exhaled heavily, her ears falling down across her head as she sadly added. "In my grief, I sought to kill Hunters and only made things worse for your father. It was a low point in my life..."
Her ears slowly perked up though as she looked up at him and sweetly said in a hopeful voice. "Until you were born. You are very special, and you will change our kind forever. Once you were born, I had to bring you here. Bring you home where our Pack was. But Darcy followed. Joined a rogue Pack and plotted to get you. To kill you. To keep his own lover from using you against him... against our kind. When the Hunter's Moon rose, I came to get you. To take you here and explain before... biting you to save you." Jack flinched, whining out. "But dad... almost shot you." She nodded, lifting a padded hand to show how her hand shook now and the joints popped softly from age. Putting her padded hand down, she grimly informed him. "It took everything I had to sneak in with Arlynn to get you and their children... but I failed. I saw how scared you were, and I couldn't force you. I couldn't put you in danger of getting hurt. So, I left... and unfortunately age is slowing me down. It's harder for me to hunt... It's harder to evade capture... As every Hunter's Moon came and went... I felt more and more like... staying safe at home. Afraid to be put down like a dog and expose our family to the village... I'm sorry..."
Whining, Jack scooted across the floor to snuggle up against her. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close and rubbed her head along his. Hugging her in return, he sniffled as his tail dusted the floor in his joy. Patting his back, she chuckled out. "Oh, my little Jack... I'm just so glad that you are safe." Leaning back from her, Jack blushed out to her. "I wouldn't be here without Mark." Granny's eyes went to Mark, who cringed and looked away timidly. While by the door to the porch, Arlynn snorted out honestly. "He's not lying. I had everything set up to trap Jack. Fake ribbons. Scouts along the path. I would have killed him at the cave if Mark and Geralf hadn't interfered." Granny moved closer to Mark, causing Mark to scoot back from her until he bumped into the broken bed. Jack tensed, watching his Granny reach out toward Mark. Mark flinched, huddling up against the broken bed as he whined out. "It's not what you think. I genuinely care about him... I... I love him." Granny's hand stopped short of Mark briefly to wink at Jack over her shoulder, before placing her hand on his shoulder. Mark jerked from the contact, then slowly met her eyes.
Giving him a warm wolfy smile, she told him lovingly. "Thank you. I always knew you'd grow up to be a good boy. Sorry about the shotgun... but your aunt is stubborn." Arlynn snorted, pushing off the frame to walk off the porch, but growled out. "Howl when dinners ready. I need to go for a walk." Granny removed her hand from Mark, chuckling out to herself as he tended the stew. "If you're grandparents could see this. Alpha and Beta descendants to lead the future. Not even I saw that coming..." Mark straightened himself up, asking curiously. "You said Jack was special. How so? What makes him any different from you?" Looking over her shoulder, she flashed him a wolfish grin, before answering coolly. "I wasn't born on a lunar eclipse. Every special moon grants a different gift to the Moonchild. It has been many centuries since a moonchild has ever been born on a lunar eclipse... she died very young... but it is foretold that she had the ability to turn at will as long as it was nighttime. If it is true. Then every child you bite will be granted that same gift. It could save many of our kind." Jack blinked, then glanced down at his padded hands and tried to change.
He tried to force himself to change, until Granny chuckled out. "I don't expect you to know how to do it right off. You body is still... adjusting to this new form. You need practice to get used to it first. Crawl before you learn to walk, dear." Jack heaved a sigh, then looked at Mark who smiled at him. Pulling the pot from the fireplace, Granny almost playfully cooed out. "I'm sure Mark will be able to teach you how to change. Once he's mastered it." All eyes went to Granny, causing her to stop what she was doing to shrug out. "What? He bit you, didn't he? Didn't I mention that if a werewolf that wasn't born a moonchild ends up biting you that they inherit your gift too? It's technically why I was going to shoot him... I didn't want him going around with that, but you jumped on him, and I know love when I see it." Jack's jaw dropped, before uttering out nervously. "No... You left that part out." Giving a little shrug, she huffed out casually. "Ah... Well, I'm getting old... Now you know." Jack shared a long look with Mark, unable to stop his tail from wagging at the thought of sharing something with him. Mark smiled, leaning closer to rest his head on his shoulder.
The next morning, Jack woke up back in his human form under a blanket by the fireplace with Mark. Granny slept on her mattress that sat on the floor thanks to her broken bedframe. While the other werewolves ventured off to lay low for a while. It was all part of Granny's plan to make the Hunters leave. After a light breakfast, Granny went over the plan one more time, before handing out clothes to them. Jack took Granny's dress from when she was younger and grimaced. All his clothes had gotten torn up during his transformation. Which meant that just like Mark... He'd have to wear Granny's clothes temporary. Only at the last minute, Granny found some clothes she still had from her husband for Mark to wear. Leaving Jack to dress like a girl alone. Mark wore a smug grin the whole morning over it. He looked like a lumberjack as he helped Granny hook up Geralf's horse to the cart and talked about building her new stuff to replace what had broken. Leaving him to stand by the front door in a red dress that barely went down past his knees. Pulling his red hood up over his head, he tried to hide his embarrassment as he fought off the cold. He felt silly, but he had clothes at home that he couldn't wait to get into.
It upset him more that the outfit had fit him. Tapping the toe of his brown boot adjust the porch, he bit his lip and waited to leave. When Granny was finished, she climbed into the cart and called out to him. "Jack! Grab my basket and let's go. I made snacks for the trip." Picking up the basket, Jack trudged through the snow toward the cart. Mark tapped the silver edged ax against his boot, teasing out to him playfully. "Hey there, little red riding hood. You sure look good. Need a ride?" Getting within range Jack hit him in the gut with the basket, growling out under his breath. "Don't call me that or I'll skin you alive." Laughing softly, Mark wrapped an arm around his waist to stop him, whispering close to his ear in a deep lusty tone. "I guess we'll have to take my short cut. Otherwise, I'll have to ax the competition." Snorting, Jack pushed Mark back enough to see his eyes glint from wolf to human. Hefting the ax over his shoulder, he helped Jack up into the cart and then climbed up behind him to drive back to Lupine. Once they got close to the village, they ran into the patrols that were out looking for Geralf, and Granny began her rehearsed story to inform the Hunters to what had happened.
She told them about how she was traveling through the woods to get to Lupine and came upon the two fighting. The werewolf tried to attack her, but the Geralf stepped in to save them. Even as the other werewolves descended upon him. She expressed in great detail the battle and ended with Geralf killing Darcy. A man she claimed was the Alpha and by doing so... all the werewolves turned back into humans and fled. Freed from their 'curse.' Jack thought for sure that they wouldn't buy it, but since the bodies were there for them to see. They believed it. Without a reason to remain, they packed up and within a few days. They were gone and the people of Lupine celebrated before life returned to normal. Only a few things changed. Jack moved out of his parents' place and into his Granny's attic in the barn. With Mark's help the attic quickly became their home away from the noisy people in Lupine. Allowing them to live together without judgement and take care of Granny through the rough winters. That wasn't all though. As Jack's passion for baking returned, he reopened the bakery with a few changes of its own.
Jack finished taking orders from the people of Lupine for pastry deliveries. As he took the orders to the kitchen, he watched other customers venture to the tables that were set in an enclosed outdoor seating area. Quickly setting the pastry orders down in a bin, he picked up and notepad and rushed out to greet them and their lunch order. Taking their order, he ventured back into the expanded kitchen and set the slip down by Mark. Mark stirred the chili in the pot, barely glancing at the slip before he reached out to wrap an arm around his waist. Pulling him close, he excitedly asked him. "Wait, come here. Taste this." Jack rolled his eyes but tasted it off the spoon he held out. Humming softly at the taste, he kissed Mark's cheek and told him sweetly. "It's good. Serve it." Mark set down the spoon, wrapping his arms around him to hug him close for a minute. Jack giggled, leaning back into him. After kissing his neck, Mark whispered to him hopefully. "It's a full moon tonight... you still wanna take the Pack exploring up in the mountains?" Locking eyes with Mark, Jack nodded and told him excitedly. "Of course. Wherever you go, I'll follow." The End.