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Even though Tommy had promised to stand up for Ryan the next time he saw his friends, coming through on that promise proved to be tougher than he had expected. When Tommy walked out the front door for school the next day, his friends were all standing outside, waiting for him. As soon as he joined the other boys, they walked briskly to the campus, not even giving Ryan a chance to see them all before Tommy and his friends were already halfway down the block. When they were confident that the younger boy was out of earshot, Justin chimed in.

"So you took care of the other kid?" Justin asked, clearly looking more for confirmation of his directions being fulfilled than anything else.

Tommy hesitated before answering. "Uh... yeah, I told him that we shouldn't hang out anymore." Obviously, Tommy omitted the part where Ryan came over soon afterward and the two of them professed their love for one another, but he figured that what he said was technically true.

"Good. Thanks for doing that, man."

"Can you tell me now why he's such a bad kid?"

"What, you don't know?" Andy retorted.

"Yeah, seriously," Jose added. "Just looking at him gives me the creeps."

"Guys, knock it off," Justin said sternly. "Tommy's an FP. He doesn't know."

"FP?" Tommy asked. "What's an FP?"

"I'll tell you later," Justin replied. "Not out in public."

"Dude, what is everyone's problem?" Tommy said, exasperated. "Why all the secret codes and everything all of a sudden?"

"If you can wait until after school," Justin explained, "I'll tell you what's going on, OK?"

"Is that a good idea, Justin?" asked Travis. "If he doesn't know, do we really need to tell him?"

"Tell me what??" Tommy interjected, getting more annoyed by the second. "What the hell is going on?"

"After school, Tommy," Justin repeated. "Guys, Tommy's deep enough as it is. We can't let him twist in the wind forever. We can trust him." Justin looked right into Tommy's eyes as he said that, and the made Tommy feel like it was piercing into his soul. "Right, Tommy Boy?"

A silent nod was Tommy's response, and the conversation stopped there.

Tommy was in no condition to pay attention to his classes. And surprisingly, it wasn't his wolf side that was the source of all the distractions. Instead, the mysterious clash between Ryan and his other friends was at issue. Tommy couldn't wrap his head around why Ryan was so intensely disliked by them, but even more than that he couldn't figure out what the others were being so cryptic about. Even though Justin had promised to explain everything after school, Tommy didn't think he could stand to wait that long.

And as it turned out, he wouldn't.

When the lunch break came around once again, the five boys decided - at Justin's behest - to eat in one of the open-air corridors far away from most of the other students, who usually hung out in the open-air courtyard in the center of campus. As sandwiches, potato chips and juice boxes were consumed, the discussions between them gravitated towards the usual subjects. Sports teams, video games, which girl in class looked the hottest, and so on. As Tommy often did, he chimed in with a remark from time to time, even though it was growing increasingly clear that his friends were harboring a secret from him. As the talk moved on from topic to topic, a familiar voice rang in Tommy's ears.

"Hi Tommy!"

Tommy looked behind him to see Ryan waving at him cheerfully, smiling as though nothing had taken place between them after school the previous day. Even though Tommy could feel the looks of consternation drilling holes in the back of his skull, Tommy replied with a bright smile of his own. "Hey, Ryan! What's up?"

"Oh, not much," Ryan replied. "Just looking for a place to hang out. Can I eat lunch with you guys?"

Tommy looked forward again, and now saw just how furious the others were - not just that Tommy hadn't broken things off with Ryan after all, but that the younger boy wanted to enter their circle. He could practically hear Justin's command of Don't you fucking dare echo in his mind, but all the secrecy and unexplained animosity towards Ryan had reached a tipping point with Tommy. Instead of blowing Ryan off like he was told to do, Tommy instead scooted over to the side to make room for his other friend. "Sure, have a seat."

"Yaaaay!!" Ryan cheered, clearly keeping up his act of being a little ditzier than he actually was, as he plopped himself next to Tommy and got out the remnants of his lunch.

The silence that hung around the six boys was only broken by the chewing and slurping of their food and drinks. It lasted for several minutes, as everyone finished up their meals, until Justin finally decided that something needed to be said.

"Tommy," he said a cold anger in his voice, "I need to talk to you."

"All right," Tommy replied, sensing the confrontation that was brewing between them. "Let's talk."

"Privately."

"Actually, I'd rather have it out in the open. Anything you say to me you can say to my friend."

"Ryan is not a part of this discussion," Justin growled, clearly put off by the other boy's presence.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"You sound like my dad," Tommy said flippantly, trying and succeeding in getting under Justin's skin. "I just wanna know what it is about Ryan that you guys hate so much."

"Yeah, I wanna know too," Ryan piped up.

"I am not asking you again, Tommy," warned Justin. "Either you take your friend out of here, or we're going to have problems."

Tommy's blood was boiling. All of the protective instincts of the wolf were kicking in at full force, and he was barely aware of how quickly he had gotten to his feet, allowing him to tower over Justin and look down at him. "Oh, really?" Tommy said defiantly. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Justin responded by rising to his feet just as fast, getting his face so close to Tommy's that their noses almost touched. "You don't want to see what I'm gonna do about it. Get him out of here. Now."

Tommy never broke his gaze from Justin's eyes. Even with the other boy standing a couple inches taller than him, his lupine side refused to back down to his friend. "Make me."

Justin's body relaxed as he sighed in frustration. He shook his head as he muttered under his breath, "This is for your own good." Then as quick as a lightning bolt, Justin's right fist swung forward, connecting into Tommy's jaw with enough force to make his entire head swivel back like a cartoon character.

The flash of pain that Tommy felt from the impact bloomed across his face for a split second, but it took a few extra moments for Tommy to realize what had happened. He felt around the affected area with his hand, checking to make sure nothing was broken, but felt a burning sensation when the inside of his index finger brushed up against his lower lip. Pulling it back for inspection, he saw a red stripe of blood painting the edge of his finger, then wagged his tongue around the cut to confirm the damage. He looked back at Justin with a rage that grew by the second. Looking back to see Justin's satisfied face was enough to push his anger over the edge.

"You son of a bitch!" Tommy snarled as he tackled Justin, his momentum sending both boys to the ground.

"Tommy!!" Ryan shouted, attempting to get close to the fight and maybe try to break it up, but he was held up by Travis.

"Don't get involved," Travis said with a voice that sounded almost clinical.

Tommy and Justin continued to wrestle on the ground. For the most part, Justin wasn't trying to fight back more than he was just trying to defend himself and thwart Tommy's attempts to attack. The wolf inside of Tommy was enraged like it had never been, and even though Tommy was still of his own mind as the two boys struggled, it became harder and harder for him to contain the fury that boiled within him. In an act of frustration at being unable to land a punch, he opened his left hand and made a quick swipe at Justin's face. The wince and the sudden yelp from Justin made it clear that the move was successful.

"Argh!! Shit!!" Justin screamed, finally managing enough leverage to toss Tommy's body off of him. As Justin scrambled back onto his feet, it was now his turn to put his hand to his cheek and check for injuries. Justin's right cheek was now graced with three scratch marks, a few drops of blood rolling down from the wounds. "Jesus Christ, Tommy, what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Still laying on the ground, Tommy saw the cuts on Justin's cheek and put two and two together. He looked at his left hand in horror, seeing a set of sharp, brown claws where his fingernails had been. Black fur was already starting to grow on the back of his hand, down his wrists, and across his arm - not much, but enough to be conspicuous. The sight of his arm beginning to shift sent him into a panic, and that only made the situation worse. It was too late to stop the rest of the change from happening - all he could hope for was that he could find a place to hide before the changes got too pronounced. He could vaguely hear the voices of the other boys, shouting things like "What are you doing, Tommy?" and "What's happening to you?", but drowning all of that out was one single thought that repeated in his mind over and over: Get Away. Now.

He frantically scanned his surroundings, as he felt his tailbone slowly jutting out below his spine and the hair growth sweeping across his chest. Finally, he spotted a bathroom about 50 yards away, and made a mad dash for it. Not even bothering to check to see if anyone was inside, he rammed the door wide open with his shoulder. With just seconds to spare, he found an open stall, slammed and locked the door behind him, undid his jeans to drop them around his knees, and pulled off his shoes and socks, just in time for the transformation to spread across the rest of his body like an out-of-control brushfire.

He had experienced the change while in the throes of esctasy, and in a state of shock, but it was a completely new experience to feel his body contort and flex while his mind was still swimming in anger. His clawed hands flailed at the wooden walls that surrounded him, leaving obvious slash marks behind. He subliminally hoped nobody else was in the room as he snarled, baring fangs that were getting lengthier and sharper by the moment. Power and fury surged through his musculature, and even though he was never terribly massive in his wolf form, the reconfiguration of his biceps, triceps, thighs and quads gave his furry body a sleek, athletic look that clearly illustrated its predatory nature. With his muzzle finally snapping into place with one last crunch, Tommy surveyed the bathroom stall with red-tinted vision that was a symptom of his barely-containable rage. He had just enough lucidity to scoop up his shoes and socks, crouching upon the toilet seat to hide his changed footpaws, where he remained for a few minutes until the bathroom door swung open.

Amidst all of the smells that one normally associates the bathroom, the smell of the boy who just entered was hard to place at first. But as Justin stepped closer to the stall where Tommy was hiding - there were only two to pick from, after all - Tommy instinctively let out a low, threatening growl.

"Tommy," Justin said softly. "Tommy, listen to me. I know you're raging right now, but you need to calm your wolf down so you can change back, OK?"

Even with his anger still brewing at the other boy, Tommy's brow relaxed as his mind calculated what Justin was saying. He knows?

"I'm sorry for what happened out there," Justin explained. "I mean, I thought you were one of us all this time. But when you didn't seem to understand anything I was talking about, I thought you might be a human who had the aura. That happens sometimes. But I shouldn't have hit you if it was going to cause you to rage. Especially if it meant you might transform in public. Luckily, I don't think anyone else saw it, so we're safe."

Tommy was paralyzed as he heard the words from the other side of the stall. Ever since he had started changing, the one hope he had was that he would find another werewolf. He just didn't expect it to be one of his childhood friends. His anger ebbed, the crimson tint in his vision subsiding. With a clawed finger, he unlatched the door and opened it, and found Justin standing before him, now sporting a rather nasty trio of scratches on his cheek. They had already started to scab over, but it showed Tommy for the first time just how powerful he could be in his feral form.

Justin smiled for a moment. Even after seeing Tommy in his wolf form, even after their fight, Justin still seemed just as accepting and open as he'd ever been. "Welcome to the pack, Tommy."

Tommy blinked a couple times in disbelief. "The pack?"

Justin laughed. "You don't think we're the only ones do you? What about the other guys?"

"You mean... Travis? Jose? Andy?"

Justin nodded in confirmation. "Look, there's no time to get into all of this right now. I know you've got a lot of questions, but lunch will be over in a few minutes. You need to change back so you can get to class."

Tommy turned his head, looking away in embarrassment. Even with all the practice he had with his father over the summer, reversing the change willfully wasn't something he was ever able to figure out.

"Come on, the bell's gonna ring any minute. You've gotta change back or you'll be late."

"I..." Tommy stammered. "I can't."

"You can't?? What do you mean?"

Tommy looked back into Justin's eyes. "I don't know how."

Justin sighed. "You really don't know any of the lore, do you?" Tommy timidly shook his head. "All right. Look at me. Now close your eyes, take a deep breath, relax, and then let it out as slowly as you can."

Tommy did as he was told, sucking in a huge breath of air, then exhaling through a pursed muzzle. Amazingly, he felt his body reshaping itself the instant he began to release his breath. He felt the tension and anger that was coursing through him dissipate entirely, his lupine instincts easing up and fading into the background once again. He marveled at the ticklish sensations of the fur shrinking back into his skin, his tail slipping out of his existence, his face pressing back into position, just as automatic as the transformation itself but in a soothing way rather than the hyperenergetic feelings that accompanied the change. When he finally opened his eyes again, he looked down to see the familiar pink skin on his arms, feet, and groin. He heaved a sigh of relief, just in time for the bell to ring inside the bathroom, signifying the end of the break.

"You OK?" Justin asked.

"I think so..." Tommy said softly. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. You'd better get to class, all right? I'm gonna talk to my dad about all of this and see if he can help."

"Your dad? You mean he's a we-"

"Don't say it. Not around here, it's not safe. But yes."

Tommy stared at Justin for a moment, until he remembered about his other friend. "Wait... where's Ryan?"

"Forget about Ryan right now," Justin said sternly. "You need to learn the lore if you wanna have any chance of keeping this under control. We'll talk later tonight, OK?"

"OK," Tommy replied. "And... uh... sorry about scratching you."

"It'll heal," Justin said dismissively. "Not the first time someone's challenged my dominance. Just don't do it again."

Tommy quietly gathered himself and exited the bathroom, making his way to his next class as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

The rest of the school day went by in a fog for Tommy. Instead of paying attention to the lessons his teachers were giving, all Tommy could think about was how he would finally get some answers to all of the questions that had been plaguing him ever since he discovered his other side. As Tommy walked home with the other boys - his fellow packmates, as Tommy now knew them - he eagerly looked forward to meeting Justin's father and learning more about himself.

Tommy walked through his front door, dropped his backpack off in his room, and quickly made his way to the phone in the living room. When his father picked up the line from work, Tommy's words were excited but measured.

"Hey Dad... I'm not the only one anymore."