This Is How Werewoof Undies Came To Be

This is how Werewoof Undies came to be

Losing the Love:

The evolution of stoic men, from Big John to Alpha Males

Toxic masculinity encompasses a lot of things, but one of the things it holds up as an ideal is Stoicism, defined as "the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint". This has been an accepted aspected of masculinity for generations, though of course there are exceptions, and we are in the process, societally, of deconstructing toxic masculinity. But Stoicism, I think, has an interesting trajectory when you consider how it has changed. It has gotten MORE toxic over time.

I don't know when Stoicism became the accepted norm for all men. What I do know is that there are a lot of older country songs that showcase stoic men. Sad ballads, mostly. Often featuring a Mysterious Stranger archetype, which is a rather stoic archetype by nature. Songs like Mr. Shorty, Tall Handsome Stranger, and Big John all feature these. Their portrayal, however, is noteworthy.

Take Big John as an example. Big John is a large, strong, silent, stoic man. And he's not from around here, he's a bit of a mysterious stranger. People only know rumors about him. And people are intimidated by him - "Everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John". It's implied he doesn't care about these people he works with - "And if you spoke at all, he just said, "Hi"" - people don't know him and he hasn't tried to get to know them. And the rumor, the one thing people know about him? He killed a man with one blow. But what's interesting is that even though he doesn't say much and doesn't show much emotion, he does actually care. He was fighting over a "Cajun Queen", but when he killed a man, he must have left because he might have faced charges for murder otherwise. And then, of course, he holds up a collapsing mine to save his fellow miners, to their surprise. They thought they were dead, until John solo lifts the collapsed beam to let them out. Now, they got out, and John didn't. He LITERALLY shouldered a burden without complaint to save them. This shows that he cared enough to save them. But he died himself. What a good stoic man, never showing any emotion. Other features of John are that he cared about others, and was stoic for their sake, and that this Stoicism is viewed as a sad thing. When they put a marker for John's grave, all they put is "Here lies a big, big man: Big John". The only other things they knew about him were rumors. They didn't know him personally except to recognize that he was strong. And his death is a tragedy, obviously. So it's this unfortunate stoicism. He doesn't get the girl, doesn't have friends, dies alone. It's a romanticization of stoicism, because he is a good guy for saving everyone, but it's sad because it destroyed him. It's not viewed as healthy for John at any point. And the other people in the song, who show emotion, are not demonized for it. Big John isn't better because he's stoic. He is a hero because he could and did save people. The stoicism is set dressing for a sad story to make it sadder.

Eventually, though, it became less about being stoic FOR other people, and more being stoic because it's bad to be emotional, then bad to have emotions. The difference? "I will shoulder your burdens, even if it kills me" is like a tragic heroicism, as in Big John's case. "I will make sure to shoulder everything so that you don't think I'm weak and deny me masculinity and a place in this society that prizes a certain kind of masculine person above all other people" has no love in it. It has no purpose. "Boys don't cry", in theory, should be about being the strong, stable influence in a situation where someone needs to be that. In practice, it became about being an emotionless gargoyle so that you don't lose status. Big John shouldered a burden so that everyone else could live - that is noble, heroic. If overapplied, it is harmful to the individual, but sometimes someone needs to be practical, stoic. Anne from Persuasion fills this role after Louisa hits her head. Despite this being an entirely appropriate time to be emotional, someone had to be practical and set their emotions aside to properly handle the situation. Anne fills this role, showing less emotion about her sister in law but making sure she was able to receive medical attention. In modern toxic masculinity, this purpose-driven stoicism is not what is held up as ideal. Instead, emotions are put down as weak and unrespectable. This helps no one, and instead harms the individual for no reason. This is more the Alpha Male version of stoicism.

Alpha Males (and Sigma males, their emo cousin) are somewhat of a pinnacle of toxic masculinity. For them, stoicism is fundamental to manhood, and means not only not showing emotions, but not having them. They shoulder burdens, not to lift them off of others, but to prove they can. For them, stoicism is a matter of pride. It means they're better than everyone else, because they aren't infected with a feminine trait: being emotional. Yep, there's the sexism. Being feminine? Bad. Because men are better than women, of course. So they manage to avoid all POSITIVE feminine traits and make themselves worse in the process. Emotions, falsely labeled feminine, are among these. This still harms the Alpha Male, even as it harms others. So rather than dying to save twenty men, they harm themselves so they can put down and demean others.

So stoicism isn't a bad thing in every situation. Constant stoicism is unhealthy, stoicism shouldn't be enforced with social punishment, and emotions aren't bad. However, saving others or helping others out is a good thing. Big John should probably have been less stoic most of his life, but he was a tragic hero for saving those men in a stoic way. Alpha Males have the worst possible version of stoicism. And the main difference, in my opinion?

The love has left stoicism. It used to be that the stoic man would save others, cared about people. Now caring about people is viewed as a bad thing. It used to be that you couldn't show emotions. Now you can't have them. It used to be a sacrifice, now it's a point of pride.

Counterpoint: Joel and Ellie, the Stoic Accidental Dad archetype. This is a modern thing that goes back to the older version of stoicism in some ways. The Stoic man, probably morally grey or an antihero in some way, accidentally becomes a foster parent to a child. Accidentally starts caring. At its best, this gives the stoicism its love back. Now they shoulder burdens for this child. Now they don't show fear or sadness so that the child can believe everything will be okay. Still, perhaps, not healthy for the individual, but it has a purpose. It shows the love of the stoic.

Normalize super close friendships instead of assuming there must be a romantic and/or sexual factor—friends are a wonderful treasure

The Government (Part 4)

Ethan, Jake, and Max all had to continue their normal routines to avoid suspicion, but that only meant that they had to spend the rest of their time wisely. They had noticed that the two agents outside never stopped watching, and with the full moon approaching, they had to find a way to be anywhere else while Max was changed. That was something that Ethan was trying to tackle.

Each night, he researched square mileage, traffic, and searchability of all kinds of different outdoor spaces in the area. He evaluated them based on how close they were to one of their normal routes, also. His hope was that they would be able to make as if they were going out as normal and evade the two agents in the process, who had thus far stayed with the house.

Of course, on Saturday, that might change. Assuming they knew the correct start date for the transformation, which seemed likely, they might abandon the house that day. So Ethan also evaluated the routes for the ability to throw off anyone following. The routes that were too straightforward would make it easier to be followed.

They also checked in on Adrian during that time, keeping him up to date on the goings-on and receiving updates from him as well. While his apartment was not being surveilled, he had been asked several questions by a ‘bouncer-looking man’ about what sorts of weird things he had seen in the area. He hadn’t given anything away, of course, and it sounded like there was a good possibility that they didn’t have any specific leads on his identity, only that the werewolf that bit Max might be in the area.

As the days rolled around and everyone hoped the agents would leave, they settled into the understanding that the full moon was going to bring about a bit of a hunt no matter what. They couldn’t stay, and leaving would ultimately confirm that Max was a werewolf after all, so they’d have to be prepared to evade the government for all three days, and then figure out what their next steps might be if they managed that.

In the few days before the full moon, while Ethan had narrowed down two spots that would make good options to hide, Andrew was trying to figure out what might be allowing the two agents to stay awake so long. He was still researching the shape-shifter, as well, but neither gave any solid leads. The only thing he knew was that they were likely some kind of supernatural creatures, themselves, and a kind that the public didn’t know about. Whatever they were, they clearly had a knowledge advantage in the situation.

-:-

Carla was careful in selecting what she would bring on the hunt. Sometimes, she would have to rely on some limited options, but with Victor and Olivia, she would be able to include silver netting and some other special items she wasn’t able to touch, herself. For her own use, she still equipped silver, but in such a way that she would never have to make contact with it. This was standard practice for her, so she already had her ammunition box full of silver bullets for her pistol. The gun wasn’t her first choice for handling the situation, but it was in her back pocket just in case.

She made sure to include some ritual supplies, as well, though there were so few situations where they might be usable. More than one of them also required the use of silver, so she wouldn’t be able to perform them unless Victor or Olivia were helping. Their ability to touch silver was the only thing she envied about them.

She packed up each of the items in a case that would be unassuming in public, one for each of the three of them, with the items they would each find most useful. She left the office to join Victor and Olivia, then, not worried about being noticed. After all, she had references for several of the neighbors in the area, and this close to the full moon, she could use their shape nearly as long as she wanted.

-:-

Eventually, despite all efforts to stop it from happening, Saturday came. They each went through their normal morning routines, which gave Ethan a chance to test if the agents would follow him early in the morning – they didn't. It was entirely possible that they would ignore anyone but Max, meaning that there would be no benefit to splitting up, at that point.

Jake kept a careful watch of the agents, trying to see if there was anything different about how they were acting that day. He noted nothing different in the morning, but just past noon, he noticed that one now held a tote bag and the other a briefcase that they hadn't had before. Jake hadn't seen where they had come from, and he didn’t get a chance to see what was inside them, either; the agents never opened them, as far as Jake could tell.

As the day stretched on, they debated the specifics of their plan once more, watching the clock as it marched its way towards sunset. If they waited too long, they would risk not getting into a place where they'd be able to hide before Max transformed. If they went too early, they would be adding time for the agents to discover their location. Their compromise, based on the option they agreed would be best, was a little after 3 pm. When that time rolled around, they found out about some slight oversights in the plan.

“I'll go out and start the car, and then you two will join,” Ethan said. “That way they won't be as prepared to follow, since they might think I'm leaving on my own until we're already driving away.”

“Wait, no way you're driving. We might have to shake these guys off, if they do follow us,” Jake said. “I should drive.”

“You're a bit erratic. We wouldn't want to attract extra attention.”

“You would follow all the laws even if there weren't cops around. Shaking a tail might involve breaking the speed limit.”

“We don't exactly want to add a tail by breaking the speed limit, either."

“Guys, quit arguing about it. It's a waste of time,” Max cut in.

“You are somewhat of an expert on shaking a tail, Max,” Jake joked. “Who do you think should drive?”

“Oh, man, don't make me pick between you two. Whoever I pick the other one will get mad.”

“Well, the alternative is arguing it out,” Ethan said. “And it's you who would get the consequences of a wrong choice, so it's only fair that you should get to decide. We won't hold it against you.”

“Fine,” Max sighed. “Ethan, you're a better driver for the most part, but Jake is willing to do crazy stuff, which normally would be a problem, yeah, but in this situation I think it really might be better to have someone who's a little more unpredictable because I don't know if we'd ever get clear of those agents, otherwise. I'm picking Jake. Sorry, Ethan, I really do think most of the time you'd be the better pick. It's just this time.”

“No, it's fine. I’ll be the navigator, then. I know the route, but I can tell Jake how to get there,” Ethan said.

“Alright, this is going to be the fun part,” Jake said, seemingly causing Ethan physical pain. “No grandma driving today.”

“I do not drive like a grandmother,” Ethan said, offended even though he knew Jake was just trying to get this rise out of him. “Men are more likely to be given a ticket for the same driving offense, especially younger men, so if anything, grandmothers have more leeway to drive however they want.”

“That makes sense. In that case, I'll be your grandma for this evening. See you in a moment.”

Jake left and got in his car, starting it up and waiting for the others to join him. He was watching the two agents as he did, and they were watching him, the pretense of going unnoticed apparently abandoned entirely by that point. He pulled his car out a bit, as if he were leaving by himself, and he saw their notice wane a bit. And then, the other two came out the front door, Ethan initially going to his own car before switching to Jake's and getting in. Jake paused a moment to let them in before whipping out of the driveway just a little faster than he normally would have.

“That was good thinking, acting like you were about to get in your car,” Jake said.

“I thought we would be taking my car. I didn't notice you had grabbed your keys instead of mine,” Ethan replied.

“No, mine's better anyway. Actually, I think I forgot to renew the registration, so maybe we're home free on being tracked that way.”

“That's not likely, and that's illegal. Now we have an even better chance of getting pulled over,” Ethan said.

“They won't check between here and where we're going. Right or left?” Jake asked.

“Left,” Ethan said.

“They following yet?” Jake asked.

“I don't see them,” Max said, twisting around in his seat to look behind them.

“Good start, then. Now what's next?”

“Go straight at this light, then left at the next one,” Ethan said.

Jake did so, following instructions and getting updates from Max, who hadn't yet spotted the agents. Everything was going well, until Jake saw them. The man had pulled in front of them from a side street, and the woman was coming up behind them. Jake pulled off without Ethan's instructions.

“Hey, that isn't the route. Are you just trying to be unpredictable?” Ethan said, confused.

“I don't know how, but they managed to sandwich us in, just there. One in front, even, like he knew we would be on this road. Max, is the other still behind us?”

“Yeah, I just saw her turn,” Max said, watching.

“Maybe she told him where we were so he could come around,” Ethan suggested.

“She wasn’t behind us until really recently,” Max said.

“Did you consider any factors that someone else wouldn't have access to?” Jake asked.

“I guess not. So you think they did the same thing I did, and narrowed down our options? In other words, they predicted where we would go?”

“Yeah. Which means it's time for a plan change,” Jake said.

“Any of the other options would have the same problem. All the good places to go would,” Ethan said.

“Then we'll go to somewhere that isn't a good option,” Jake said.

“There are some obvious problems with that,” Ethan said. “Did you have something in mind?”

“Yes, I do,” Jake said.

-:-

Carla was impressed with the group's ability to evade their agents. At first, their efforts seemed to be unhelpful, since they really couldn't have shaken off the agents from the start. But once Victor and Olivia were visible, they managed to lose them both.

That was fine, as far as Carla was concerned, because they might take any number of routes, but they were likely to end up in a very finite number of places. And since at least two of the group still needed sleep, unlike Victor and Olivia, they would be hard pressed to hide even in the two best locations she had marked. That's why she told Victor and Olivia to give up tracking them and split up, one in each of the two places, and start searching.

If they were there, then it was almost guaranteed that they'd be found while Max was still an obvious werewolf. That meant that the worst case scenario had now shifted. Now, the worst case was that they had gone somewhere that wasn't a very good place to be.

The hard limitations still applied. They still wouldn’t be able to go anywhere that they would run into other people. They could only go so far before they would have a fully transformed werewolf with them, likely to be spotted if they stayed on the road. And they would have to stay there for three nights and two days.

The benefit of checking the worse hiding places, Carla thought, was that each one would be fairly easy to rule out. The problem was that there were more of the mediocre hiding places than the good ones. She made her list, and she determined all the possibilities, but that list might take her more time than she had, if she wasn't careful. They'd have to be very smart or very lucky, but there was still a small chance that they could avoid her.

-:-

“So, why are we here?” Max asked. “It doesn't look large enough. Couldn't they search the whole thing?”

“Yeah, they could. But we'd have to be out here, rather than in there,” Jake pointed to a large building adjacent to the moderately sized open space park.

“An event center? The lights are on right now,” Ethan said.

“Yeah, and the moon is about to come up,” Max said, worried.

“In this one specific context, that is going to help us blend in,” Jake said. “For now, just go somewhere that's not out in the open so no one sees you change.”

“Okay, but I don't like the idea of shoving my tail in my pants and going into a crowded building covered in fur,” Max said.

“No, don't hide your tail. Let it hang over the waistband,” Jake said.

“Jake, what are you doing?” Ethan asked. “How is this going to help us evade those agents?”

“Just wait a second, you'll see. This place has a little bit of room for us to try and avoid people, but it also is going to give us until about ten tonight and most of the day tomorrow that we'll be impossible to find. After that, the building should be empty, so we could always break in as a last resort.”

“An absolute last resort,” Ethan emphasized.

They both waited as Max went into a poorly maintained bathroom, watching the moon just start to crest over the horizon. No one else was visible on this side of the park, which was good, Jake thought. It would be bad if they were even followed here, though there was still a possibility that the event would allow them to go unnoticed.

Soo enough, Max came out of the bathroom, wolf head, fluffy tail, and clawed hands the only real indications he was a werewolf. If they had any time, Jake might have tried to make it look like the wolf head was a latex prosthetic or something, but honestly, people would probably doubt that it was real even more if they were jealous at how good it looked.

“Perfect. Now to go inside,” Jake said, leading them across the small section of the park that separated the dirt parking lot they had parked in from the event center. As they approached, Max and Ethan were nervous about whatever Jake's plan might be, but Jake was confident as he approached the door and paid an entrance fee for three. He brushed off concerns that they had already missed most of the day, and led the other two inside.

It was a furry convention. As soon as they were inside the doors, they saw all manner of people trying to emulate what Max had naturally, though some of them in less-than-natural colors. Jake would have to remember to get some temporary hair dye for Max if they ever did this again. Not that it was likely. But even with the blond fur, Max was a hit.

“Really good commitment on the costume, that makeup must have taken all day. Where'd you get the claws, man? They look really natural,” said a man wearing less-than-natural wolf paw gloves. He also had a tail on, which happened to look fairly similar to Max's, with the way Max had his positioned.

“Oh, hi,” Max said. “Yeah, I'm late because of it, right? Always too much to get done, not enough time.” Max was obviously nervous at the attention, but he didn't seem to hate it.

“Yeah, definitely. I think the wolf fursonas are maybe a little overdone, but I have to admit, with the full moon coming up and everything, it's pretty thematic. And you did a nice job on it. There's a booth here somewhere that has a lot of wolf stuff, you should check it out. Even if you don't want anything they've got, I know they'd love to see your costume.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” Max said. “I’ll make sure to check it out.”

“I think this was one of my better ideas,” Jake whispered to Ethan.

“I don't think I could bring myself to confirm that, but I haven't found a way to deny it yet,” Ethan said. “Still, I have never been to anything like this before, so I am out of my depth.”

“Well, I’ve been to other conventions,” Jake said. “For other things. This is probably about the same. They have panels and activities and you can buy stuff. I am not entirely sure what you can buy here, but if you really want to get into the spirit, I’m seeing enough tails they must be selling them somewhere around here.”

“I don’t think I will get into the spirit,” Ethan said.

“Well, we really are here for Max, so if anyone thinks asks if you’re having a good time, just tell them you’re only here because of your friend. And make sure to be super defensive about it, that’ll sell the whole thing.”

“How did you know about this, anyway?” Ethan asked, giving Jake a dirty look.

“Well, someone mentioned it offhand a while back, and I thought it would be super funny to put a werewolf in a fursuit contest at a furry con. So I researched if there were any furry conventions around the full moon, and I found this one. I was going to suggest it before we found out agents were casing the house, and I figured it wasn’t appropriate anymore, but it turns out it actually was very appropriate.”

“So do they have a fursuit contest?” Ethan asked.

“I think it’s tomorrow. But we’ll be here tomorrow, so he might as well enter,” Jake said.

“That would draw a lot of attention,” Ethan said.

“I mean, it would, but having a hyper realistic costume and not entering a costume competition would raise a lot of questions. But if he enters, then at least he would be attracting the right kind of attention. Either way, people can’t just go to a convention and not participate in anything. You either have to show off your costume, buy stuff, go to panels, or play some of the games. Which reminds me, there is a game of Ultimate Werewolf tonight, and we should all join in.”

“Once again, a werewolf at a game of Ultimate Werewolf?” Ethan said, his concern not dropping at all.

“Yeah, obviously. It’s super fun to have a real werewolf, but also, you really think someone would dress as a werewolf and avoid werewolf-themed events?”

“So you know about what kind of events there are here. What are some that are lower effort?” Ethan said.

“For you, there’s a panel on doing your taxes. For me, I’m going to see about some of the music, maybe see about a comedy show, Max is going to Zoology 101 if I have anything to say about it, and then after that we are all going to play Ultimate Werewolf. Remember, we blend in the more we participate,” Jake said.

“How would I even know where any of this stuff is?” Ethan asked, desperately trying to get out of having to actively participate.

“Ask around. There’s probably also like a pamphlet or something somewhere. In any case, I’m going to get Max on the same page, and then we’ll meet back up for Ultimate Werewolf. Sound good?”

“Fine. The panel had better actually be about taxes, though,” Ethan said, splitting off into the crowd.

Jake had to wait a moment to get access to Max again, since plenty of people were giving him compliments on his costume. He seemed to be getting into the role well, responding as if he had really spent a lot of time and effort on the thing. Jake didn’t hear everything, but just as he got close enough to hear the conversation through the crowd, he found his opportunity to drag Max out of a conversation for a second.

“Dude, I just really appreciate the body type you went for in the costume. You could have done the whole muscle thing and all like most of the more masculine wolf ‘sonas, but I think it’s good to have some representation for the skinny wolves and the twink wolves, too, so I’m glad to see you went for that,” a man was saying. He himself was not skinny, and certainly not a twink. He was likely a little older than Max, too, and a bit taller. This man’s compliment was less than well-received.

“Well, you know, I’ve got a friend who did the whole muscle wolf thing, but that’s extra work, you know? But I don’t know that I’d say I’m a twink,” Max said.

“Hey, Max, you’re gonna miss the presentation,” Jake said, pulling Max away from the man before the situation could get worse. “You really will if you don’t hurry a bit.”

“What? What presentation?” Max asked, confused. “Where’s Ethan?”

“We’re blending in, so we’re participating. There’s a game of Ultimate Werewolf later tonight, so we’re all meeting up then, but I think you should go to Zoology 101,” Jake urged.

“What? Why?” Max said, confused.

“Well, if anyone’s trying to find us, they’re more likely to spot us if we’re out in the open, but also I think you’d like the Zoology panel,” Jake explained.

“Alright, where is it, then?” Max asked.

“No idea. Ask around, someone’s bound to know,” Jake said. “Just don’t get stuck talking to everyone.”

After that, Jake took his own advice, asking around for any live music or comedy shows and finding the room just in time for the start of the performance. He was a little worried about Max, but if someone did come looking for them, being split up might be better. They might not know who Max was immediately if he wasn’t near one of them. That assumed anyone would look for them here, which he hoped was unlikely.

He asked around for the game once the performance was over, finding out that it was further down a hallway, where things were quieter. He met up with Max in the hallway.

“Did you know what that was?” Max asked. Jake thought he might have been blushing under the fur.

“It was zoology, wasn’t it?” Jake asked.

“I mean, it was, but it sure wasn’t limited to what you learn in middle school biology,” Max said.

“Didn’t they ask for your ID? Didn’t that tip you off that it wouldn’t be a middle school situation?” Jake asked.

“Oh. I guess it should have. I didn’t know why they wanted my ID, honestly.”

At that point, Ethan rejoined them.

“Was your thing a little, um…” Max asked.

“No,” Ethan said, guessing what Max meant since it was what he had been afraid of. “It was just a lecture about how you can do your own taxes. I didn’t learn much, but it wasn’t all that weird, either. Except someone that I think was supposed to be a marmot, or something? And a bunch of tails, but I’m getting used to them.”

“Now will you admit that this was one of my better ideas?” Jake asked.

“No. I don’t think I ever will, at least not officially. It’s not very based in sound reasoning. Or maybe it is, but there are some leaps in logic to get there, so I won’t count it,” Ethan said.

“I guess I can accept an unofficial one. Now for a game,” Jake said, leading them all into the room.

The Government (Part 5)

Carla was tired from searching some of the lower-grade options for the group to have hidden in. She would have loved to have reduced fatigue like Victor and Olivia, though her shapeshifting was possibly more useful for the situation she was in. And yet, she had to stop at some point in the night, unable to continue through her sleepiness. At least, she knew it wasn’t wise. She couldn’t stay sharp for the three nights and two days Max would be stuck in hiding if she didn’t sleep.

Her searches inevitably brought back memories. The hunt always did, for her. She had learned to embrace them. Being the hunter could only be made easier with the memories of being hunted. Twice, really. Carla was very good at being on this end, though. She was in charge of her region for a reason. She intended, eventually, to rise even further in the ranks. She was unique, she was good at her job, and she would put in the work to deserve it.

Even if she was limited by sleep, she would make quick work of this case. She was good at her job.

-:-

After the game, they mingled for a bit longer, and then attended a dance. Unfortunately, after the dance, the event was over for the night, and everyone had to leave. There were places in nearby hotels blocked out for the convention-goers, but they were too late to manage to get in one of those, so they had to make their way out into the open-space park again.

They went towards the far end of the park, away from the parking lot with Jake’s car. That way, if his car was found, they wouldn’t be immediately found. There weren’t many areas to sleep, and it wasn’t exactly like camping, but they found a space between some trees and a short rock outcropping. They were hidden from sight, and would be protected from any wind, but it was still cold outside. They had jackets, but they didn’t have anything like a tent.

“Are you guys going to be warm enough?” Max asked.

“You’re not worried about yourself?” Ethan asked.

“No, I’ve got a fur coat on. And then another coat. I feel fine. But I don’t know about you two.”

“I bought something as we were leaving,” Jake said. He unrolled a blanket which had a picture of a cartoon wolf face on it. Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s not like they were selling many plaid blankets,” Jake said. Ethan seemed to accept that. When Jake unfurled it, it was large enough for the three of them, and once they were all under it, they were much warmer.

“One of us has to keep watch,” Ethan said.

“I’ll do that, since I don’t really have to sleep much,” Max said.

“You need at least a little sleep,” Jake said. “Wake up Ethan once it gets close to morning, then get a bit of rest.”

“Alright, I will,” Max relented.

Jake and Ethan managed to fall asleep despite the somewhat uncomfortable ground. The night still wasn’t exactly warm, but it was bearable in the circumstances. When Jake woke up, Max had just woken up also, and Ethan pointed out that the sun was starting to lighten the sky. They dusted themselves off as well as they could and made their way back to the convention.

The morning started off much less busy than the evenings were, which felt like a mixed bag. Without as much of a crowd, they would be more visible, but there were also fewer people to worry about. There were still panels and events and games throughout the day, and they each went to some of them, with varying degrees of enjoyment. As the day went on, though, their enjoyment waned as a group. Jake did his best to mitigate it, but he was also seeing the end of the safety period that he had found for Max. After the conference ended, they still had most of two nights and one day that they would have to remain hidden. If someone were to investigate the small park while they were safely in the convention, perhaps they would have been safely passed over. But if not, the park was small enough that it would be relatively quick to search, and offered few solid hiding places.

In an effort to keep their mind off of it, Jake did enter Max in the contest, which meant that the judges spent some time evaluating him as he went across a stage in a sequence with many others. Of the costumes, Max’s was the most realistic, to be sure, but not the most creative or impressive, depending on the criteria. As such, Max only won second place. Jake was still satisfied with that, though he did have to wonder whether Adrian might have gotten first with his slightly more classic werewolf build.

Thinking of Adrian, Jake texted him to make sure he wasn’t being swarmed by agents himself. In response, Adrian explained that, though he couldn’t really leave his house, he wasn’t being singled out at all. The same agents that had been asking questions occasionally popped in to ask the neighbors other questions or just to take a look, but he had been lucky enough to avoid them.

The knowledge that Adrian was doing better than they were was heartening, and Jake got a second wind, dragging the others around to events with renewed energy. The final event of the convention was a dance called the Dead Dog Dance, and though that was a horrible vibe in the context, it eventually included a lowering of the lights. Better yet, it went until midnight, so they would have a decent chunk of the night spent safely inside. It was the last moments of the full moon that they wouldn’t need to be constantly on guard.

-:-

Carla was hoping that her target was in one of the original two locations she had found. After all, she was having no luck with any of the areas she’d searched, and she knew by then that she wouldn’t be able to get to them all. They might have evaded Victor and Olivia so far, but if they were in either of the areas with one of them, they would be found, Carla had every confidence. But she was limited in manpower and options by the secretive nature of her organization, and the trio seemed to have outthought her, somehow.

It didn’t make any sense to her. The city had more and more large swaths of nearly- unoccupied land further out, but they would only have been able to get so far in the time they had allotted themselves, and they hadn’t been seen anywhere. Further into the city made no sense. More people, smaller parks, and to top it all off, a wall keeping them in – or a giant lake, really, but in the circumstances, it was acting like a wall. No rational person would go further into the city, and yet she’d been having no luck outside it.

She remembered being hunted again, what it felt like to prepare for every scenario, to try to think through every way that something could go wrong and mitigate every danger. And then, in both cases, to fail. She was, after all, much better at this than she had been.

But then she remembered the feeling just when you’ve spotted your hunter. The moment you try to shake them off. The moment these three did manage to shake off the agents tailing them, setting everything backwards and threatening to bring the hunt into a second month. That moment when fear took over and propelled you forward, towards something that didn’t always make sense.

A moment when you weren’t really all that rational, after all.

Of course, she had been assuming they had stuck to preparations, done things the way they ought to be done. In that case, they were less and less likely to be successful the better their attempt. So, really, the best case scenario for them was some degree of randomness, or perhaps something that wasn’t a good idea at all. Like going towards a wall.

This was a great moment for the hunter. When the prey, in trying to evade the hunter, makes a trap for themselves.

Carla began tracing the basic direction Olivia had been following them before they had lost her, which trended somewhat North. Not only did that align with her theory about where they might have gone, but it also restricted the possibilities even further, had they continued the trend. She checked all of the possibilities, figuring that they wouldn’t have chosen any tiny park that wouldn’t offer any options to escape. That left several options.

However, they had spent enough time on their original route, in nearly the opposite direction, that they would have had to backtrack significantly, leaving little time for them to get further from their starting point. Based on the time they had last been seen, even taking the most direct route, they would have had only one option, if they were to have enough time to comfortably get away from the eyes of the public. Ironically, right next to a method of escape they would be incapable of using until the moon waned: an airport.

Carla was very good at her job.

-:-

After the dance ended, they stayed as long as they could before they were politely asked to leave so they could clean up. Even then, it was significantly in to the night, to the point that the full moon was almost directly overhead. That marked about the halfway point in the danger zone.

They made their way back into the park, trying to get as far as possible from paths and roads to minimize their chances of being spotted by random civilians. They expected none, this late into the night, so they were perhaps a bit more lax in their observation than they could have been. Still, they could only prepare so much for what happened – which was, almost not at all.

“Ethan?” came a voice off to the side of the path they were on. It seemed slightly faint, perhaps far enough off that the person hadn’t seen them all, or might decide they hadn’t seen what they did, but Ethan hadn’t been expecting to hear his name.

“That sounded like Andrew,” Ethan whispered, standing still.

“Did you tell Andrew where we are?” Jake asked, similarly quiet.

“No, I didn’t,” Ethan said.

“Then let’s move away from the false-Andrew,” Jake suggested, altering course.

They didn’t hear the voice again for nearly fifteen minutes, giving them ample time to calm themselves and to think they might have lost the false-Andrew. However, just as they had fallen into a false sense of security, they heard it again, coming from a different direction.

“I need to talk to you,” false-Andrew said. It sounded almost sincere, which made Jake even more wary. They altered course again, trying to speed up a bit without making too much noise. They could see well enough with the full moon, but that also allowed them little opportunity to hide at any point, so they kept moving.

This time around, they kept moving for half an hour. Jake knew that the park went north to south for some distance, but wasn’t very wide, so he was wary of hitting one of the edges and being trapped, but he couldn’t tell where they were, exactly, and with the moon so directly overhead, he also couldn’t tell what direction was what.

Even with the disorientated half hour of silence, they couldn’t get comfortable the same way they had the first time, so they kept on. They listened hard for any indication of the false-Andrew as they moved, and they heard him again.

“There you are,” the false-Andrew said, only about a hundred feet away. “I need to talk to you, Ethan, and I guess you couldn’t hear me, but I didn’t want to be too loud.” False-Andrew moved closer to them, being rather careful not to make too much noise. Though there was no way for Andrew to know where they had gone, the false-Andrew was good enough that it otherwise could have fooled Jake. Even the mannerisms seemed to be similar. However, rather than being comforting, the similarities raised their hackles – somewhat literally, for Max.

“Talk about what?” Ethan said cautiously, standing still as the false-Andrew got close enough to be within comfortable speaking distance.

“I needed to warn you about some people who found out where you are. It’s not safe here,” he said.

“I just have to say, Andrew,” Ethan said, getting a good look at the false-Andrew for the first time, “What big teeth you have.”

Even Jake had to cringe at the delivery of the line, though he was proud of the effort. Indeed, false-Andrew had teeth that were somewhat too large and sharp to be natural. That fact was only intensified when false-Andrew smiled, showing off more of those sharp teeth.

“The better to eat you with, I suppose,” false-Andrew said. “Better run.”

They did. Of course they did. Jake thought they might have some small hope of making their way back to his car, or else back to the event center and breaking in, or finding some other place to escape. Max likely would be able to outpace them, Jake supposed, given his wolf form, but before he could tell Max not to stop on their account, he realized that it wouldn’t matter. They found themselves trapped on one side by a pond of unknown depth. It shined brightly in the moonlight, almost threateningly. A glance back showed another glint, silver like the moon, though it wasn’t really silver. It was steel, the steel of a pistol.

They stopped where they were, turning to face the false-Andrew.

“I want to talk, Ethan,” said false-Andrew as his face and body morphed into a woman, taller, stronger, and more threatening. Less skinny, though still holding the gun. “Actually, Ethan, I want to talk to Max. If I had my other agents, we would trap him and talk in private, but I can’t touch silver, so my only options – and yours – are the gun or talking. I assume we’d both prefer talking, yes?”

Max nodded, rightfully afraid of the woman.

“Good. Well, since I already know your name and what you are, I’ll put us on the same level, though any of this conversation the other two leak will be silenced. Perhaps along with them. Now, My name is Carla. I am referred to as a false-changeling.”

“Not a real changeling?” Max asked.

“No. See, werewolves always get hunted, and then they have two options. The same as you. One, you are taken in, willingly, to be experimented on. A werewolf is never allowed to remain that way due to the danger of transmission, so you have to be something else if you want to live. Typically, that means that one aspect of werewolf-ism is strengthened to the exclusion of all others. Many agents need no sleep, or retain extreme strength, or other traits, some rare ones even retain the wolf form but can change any time, though they require sleep and aren’t much stronger. I am a one-of-a-kind case. For me, they played with the ability to change shape to recreate a version of an extinct supernatural creature.

“There are a few differences. A changeling changes at will, for however long they wish to. They often had no true form. I am limited in how long I can retain any form by the phase of the moon. I have this true form. And, as you may have noticed, the teeth ritual is permanent. And it only affects werewolves, so a changeling would never have had this problem.”

“So you don’t kill them, you experiment on them and let them go?” Max said.

“Not quite. You only get to take that option if you decide to join my organization. After the rituals and science-y stuff has concluded, and you are no longer a proper werewolf, you must work with us to capture the rest. That lasts the rest of your life.”

“What if someone doesn’t want to be an agent?”

“Then they find out what it feels like to be shot with a silver bullet. Often metaphorically, but for you, it’s literal.”

“So you were captured, too?”

“Yes. I managed to evade it for six years, but I was captured. And then I joined the cause. Never looked back.”

“But why do you hunt werewolves?”

“Because they’re dangerous, and they can infect others. It’s a combination that can’t be ignored. Just because they don’t go mindless, doesn’t mean they can’t be malicious.”

“Well then, why don’t you only go after the malicious ones?”

“As if we could predict that. Any that aren’t malicious may as well join the cause of hunting the others, so we do provide a way to prove your intentions, more or less.”

“It’s not much of a choice. I take it you didn’t choose to become a werewolf in the first place?”

“Of course not. I was essentially hunted by one, turned intentionally, and given no help in figuring it all out. So the choice to hunt werewolves was obvious, for me.”

“It sounds like you didn’t get much of a choice in any of it. You were forced to be a werewolf, which forced you to hide that, and then when you were finally captured, your only choices were death or being a slave to a cause? It didn’t have to be like that. Not everyone is turned by some malicious awful werewolf, not everyone has to go it alone afterwards. And if it weren’t for your organization, not everyone would be constantly on the run after they turned. Wouldn’t you have preferred being able to talk about what happened? Wouldn’t you have liked to navigate being a werewolf without a constant threat of being hunted?”

“I’m not a slave to a cause. I chose this, like I said.”

“It’s not a choice if it was that or death. You can never leave?”

“Of course not. Post-werewolves are still dangerous. Can you imagine someone like me, someone who can look like anyone on earth, being left alone, without being monitored? That’s why the original changelings went extinct. They bred so much fear and distrust by their existence that they couldn’t make any place their home. If people like me aren’t turned to some good cause, then who knows what kind of mess we could make?”

“None of us are any more dangerous than we were before. People who want to do awful things shouldn’t have all that extra power, but people who just want to live their life will still just live their life if they can. You could have just kept on living your life if it weren’t for your organization.”

“I couldn’t have just ignored the werewolf that turned me.”

“If you hadn’t been worried about being hunted, maybe you would have reported them. That’s kind of a problem with the system, don’t you think? If someone does get turned, they are very unlikely to report it because they’d also be reporting themselves. Either way, if I know there’s even one decent werewolf around, I can’t join an organization that’s hunting them.”

“You understand that I have silver bullets, right? They are designed to stay inside your body. For either of us, whose bodies are supernatural on a very basic level to facilitate shifting forms, silver is like poison. Being restrained by silver saps supernatural strength, things like that, but for us, it’s attacking the nature of our bodies. The bullet will destroy your body from the inside out.”

“I know what silver feels like, but I can’t hunt decent people just to save myself.”

Ethan and Jake were quiet through the whole exchange. There seemed to be nothing they could do, no way they could improve the situation. They just watched her resolve, steady until partway through the conversation with Max, when it flagged. She had her gun in hand the whole time, and at Max’s decision, she replaced the magazine, switching out the ammunition.

“I have silver bullets for werewolves, and I have copper bullets for the rest of you, to save on the silver. If I were to shoot you with a copper bullet, Max, it would hurt, but you’d be fine. Especially in wolf form, you would heal very quickly. But if it were silver, you would have to get immediate medical attention even to try and survive it.”

“I understand. I have a choice, and I made it. You have a choice, too. So make it.”

“I already have,” Carla said. She raised the gun, pointed it at Max. “This will hurt. Don’t scream. It will complicate the paperwork.”

Carla shot, and Max fell. Max did, in fact, scream.

Sanc and Rowan