Chapter 10: Try Out Being a Wolf

Zack staggered out of the woods and made it to his house where his mother was horrified to see him in such horrendous shape. "Oh my god! What happened!? Who did this to you!?" she shrieked she rushed over wrapping her arms around him giving him a hug. "Aw, my poor baby boy!"

He stood still and rubbed his arm. "My head hurts"

"You probably have a concussion! We have to take you to the hospital!"

"No! I don't have a concussion...just leave me alone!" Zack raised his voice and stormed off into the bathroom. He grabbed his stomach in pain not sure if it was being kicked there repeatedly or the injection. He grabbed the sides of the sink hunched over feeling as if he were going to vomit. He looked up at the bruises and black eye.

He lifted up the toilet seat and began to urinate blood before he vomited up blood. "Oh god...maybe I need to go to the hospital..." he muttered starting to freak out. "Am I dying?" he muttered. He felt light headed seeing all the blood before he passed out on the floor.

When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed hooked up to IVs and getting a blood transfusion. His mother was at his side holding his hand. "What...what happened?" he asked.

"You almost died" she said simply.

Terry came into the room with his father in his Sheriff's uniform, which Zack gulped. "What are you doing here?"

"We're checking in on you. Terry has told me what happened. Your mother is pressing charges against Wes and his boys. I have enough grounds to charge them with a hate crime, first degree assault, and attempted murder. They can go to prison for two to thirty years" he said before he looked towards his mother giving a stern look. "He's lucky to be alive" he told her, which she nodded.

A nurse came in and started checking the machine and writing down the numbers of his vital signs. "You're running a high fever" she muttered before she touched his head to confirm. She immediately stopped the blood transfusion and gulped. "Miss, you said he was AB positive right?" she asked.

"Why?" his mother said slightly alarmed.

"A high fever is signs of a blood transfusion reaction...he's not a negative is he?" she asked going through his charts.

"I thought he was...he might be. Is this bad?"

"I'm going to get the doctor to check on him. Maybe it's just an infection from the surgery" she said before she walked off quickly.

"Get some rest kid...I'll check up on ya again in the morning" Bernie said before he walked off.

"Well, Get better bud!" Terry said before leaving.

"How are you feeling?" His mother asked softly.

"I hurt all over...and I'm really really hungry" he mumbled before he lifted up the blanket then his hospital gown revealing stitches on his stomach obvious signs that something really bad happened to him.

"Hungry is a good sign..." she said before she paged the nurse, which she immediately rushed in with the doctor. She walked up to them embarrassed then looked towards her son. "Oop, I'm sorry, he's just hungry"

The nurse stared at her then back over at Zack as the doctor examined him. "That's strange...after injuries like that, I'm amazed he could stomach anything right now" she mumbled to herself before she walked off briskly.

The short Vietnamese doctor was quite puzzled before she looked through his charts again. The nurse came back in with a tray of hospital food, and sat it on the table. The doctor glanced up watching in astonishment as he wolfed down the entire tray in mere seconds.

Zack could feel his meal hit the pit of his stomach, but he groaned. "I'm so hungry" he muttered.

The doctor looked over at the nurse and motioned for her to get more food. She started to reassess and log down his vital measurements then looked into Zack's eyes using a light muttering to herself, "Very peculiar"

"What's wrong, Dr. Nguyen?" His mother asked while the doctor started to listen to Zack's stomach and innards while noting the condition of his seal up incisions.

"Nothing is wrong...it's just...he's healing fast. Really fast" She said before she scratched her head. "He's organs sound to be functioning properly...and his appetite isn't suppressed. I don't know. It's very strange"

"What happened to me?" He asked about to run his hand over the stitches. His mother reached over and grabbed his arm pulling it away from it shaking her head at him.

"Well, you received a concussion from your fall, but you had a ruptured spleen, lacerated liver, perforated stomach, bruised kidney, and a tear in your intestine. You were given only less than 1% chance of survival, but after a week, you look like a different patient" Dr. Nguyen explained.

"A week!?" He shouted.

"You've been in a coma honey..." she said.

The nurse came back in with another tray and again, he scarfed it all down. "Why am I so hungry?" he asked.

"Dr. Nguyen...should I get him more?"

The doctor nodded. "Bring him two trays..."

After the nurse came back with additional trays of food, interns started to flock to the window watching him binge on the hospital food while jotting down observations and conversing. He could have sworn they were making outlandish diagnosis, but none could explain his abnormal healing rate. He felt like an animal on display with some of this noses literally pressed up against, which he did eat slower staring back at them awkwardly, but his mother took his ravenous appetite as a sign that he was going to live.

As he got to his last tray, he felt his stomach expanding and sending waves of satisfaction. He felt heaviness in his gut, but he was relieved of all the pains. He rested his hand over his stomach feeling how taught it was even surprised that he could fit so much in him. He was worried his stomach was going to explode, but he kept licking at his lips for some odd reason like was a dog or some sort of canine. It was not because there was anything tasty, but it was more of an instinct more than anything else.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Better...I'm just...tired" He mumbled turning to his side becoming very sluggish, and he murred into his pillow rubbing his cheek against it and closing his eyes.

He woke up later that night, and strangely everything was pitch black inside the hospital with a deathly silence. The only thing illuminating the way was the full moon and its reflection off the polished wax on the floors. A monstrous terrifying voice filled the room. "They tried to kill you, Zack! I wouldn't let them!"

Zack sat up in his bed and his heart began to race. "Who's there?"

There was an insidious laughter "I don't have a name"

"What do you want?" Zack asked.

"I want blood, Zack...their blood. I won't stop until I see their corpses!"

"What? What are you taking about? I'm not going to kill anyone!" Zack shouted.

"Kukuku, Isn't that why you asked for my help? To kill them?"

"Your help? I didn't ask anyone to kill them" Zack mumbled.

"Stupid boy! Don't you remember what you desired when you accepted me?"

"Accepted you? I don't even know who you are! Where are you!?" Zack shouted as he jumped out of the bed. He looked around the room and tried to open the door, but it would not budge. "Why is the door locked!?" he shouted.

"Heh heh, what's wrong boy? Do you feel trapped inside?"

"Let me out!" He shouted before he rushed to the emergency call button. He started shouting, "Help! Help!" he shouted, but there was no light indicating that the button worked. He backed up and tripped over a cord and fell back onto his butt. "Where the hell are you hiding!?" he shouted using the rails of the bed to help him onto his feet. He saw someone in his bed...himself.

His doppelganger peered at him and pressed his clawed fingers. "Inside you!" The beast said to Zack's horror before he felt a force hit him sending a great crippling pain that overcame his heart.

Zack screamed out, "Somebody help me!" he said collapsing to the ground. His doppelganger climbed out of the bed with his sharp teeth glowing white in the moonlight.

He saw his hands grow fur and claws, which he whimpered and looked at the pads on his fingers and hands. His doppelganger crouched down and placed his hand onto his shoulder slowly turning more human like as Zack was becoming more wolf like. "I am the help Zack! I'm taking over now! I'm going to see to it that they feel the same pain you felt with interest. Stop resisting! You know it has to be done! Maybe I won't lock you in a cage...I could always put you on a leash" he said mischievously.

"No! No! You can't!" Zack shouted grabbing him by the shirt collar.

His doppelganger tucked his arms over Zack's and threaded the needle grabbing his sides and pulling him towards him as he lifted his knee into Zack's gut causing him to yelp and gasp for breath. "I'm sorry Zack, but I cannot let them harm you...If you die, I die"

"Stop! Stop!"

The next morning while Bernie was having his coffee, his phone began to ring. His wife and four pups looked up at him from the table as he slowly walked into another room and listened closely. "What do you mean they're both dead!?" Bernie's voice boomed. "Animal attack?"

Terry and Zoe both looked at each other knowing that phrasing. Terry got up and rushed into the room and whispered, "I was in my room the whole time!"

Bernie quickly pointed towards the door using his authority. He turned towards a notepad and started to plot down the details. "Okay, thank you. I'll be on the lookout" he said before he hung the phone up.

He looked towards Terry and frowned. "This looks bad...are there anybody else who knew about what happened to Zack?" he asked.

"You think this was about Zack? Do you know what Wes and his boys do to the students?"

"How many students have supernatural powers?"

"I don't know...someone has been handing out needles filled with werewolf spit. Remember?"

"Have you spoken to Penny?"

"No...you don't think she did this do you?"

"You two are the only ones we know about capable of doing this who have the motive" Bernie raised his voice.

"Dad, you're not listening! I think this guy is preying on victims of bullying. Any one of the students would have the motive and the capability of doing this" Terry suggested.

"Why would they hand out werewolf powers to children?...They aren't exactly running a make a wish foundation!" He shouted before he had an epiphany almost borderline déjà vu. "Wait...I think I remember something like this happening before...back on Hayden Island. They would lure teens into the forest and turn them...then on the full moons they would trick popular kids into going behind the amusement park, and they would slaughter them" he said.

"Wait, do you think that's what's happening?" Terry raised his voice.

"I'm not saying that's exactly what's happening as this is dealing with Ian's strain, but this is indicative to what Amarok did" he said before Zoe poked her head in.

"Who's Amarok?" She asked.

Bernie looked up at her and Yvonne stepped in with a crying infant. She handed him the baby, and he cradled the pup up against his chest without a second thought. The little one stopped crying after a couple seconds, and Yvonne smiled wearily but glad her instincts were right. She looked towards Terry and Zoe shaking her head at them. "You really shouldn't ask questions about..." she said before Bernie glanced at her sternly.

"It's alright...I brought it up. It's important I tell them" Bernie spoke firmly although he seemed worried. Yvonne looked into his eyes and could see it, and she quietly left the room closing the door behind her and making sure that none of the pups would walk in. Bernie looked between the two of them intensely. "None of you speak about this with Steele...is that clear?"

"Why?" Zoe asked.

"Just!" His voice boomed before he caught himself and calmed down. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "It's just a lot of pain...just don't bring her name up around him. I believe it to be a coincidence, but with all the years on the force, I don't trust coincidences" he said lowly. He looked down at his pup clutching onto his chest, and he gritted his teeth trying to hold back some emotion.

"Since you two have been chosen to be Gamma wolves, you must know the historical context of our pack, and what the other side stands for...what motivates them. You may have heard bits and pieces here or there, but the truth is, in the recent years' political rhetoric they are echoing the years of a dark past, and after the assassination attempt on Steele, there aren't many wolves around here that like humans very much. This would be the perfect opportunity for an outsider to take advantage as it did so many years back"

"So Amarok came in to destabilize the packs?" Terry asked.

"No, she that's not why she came here...You see, Amarok was Steele's first wife. She is an Inuk from Baffin Island. She's a very loving and nurturing woman, but she did not like to be told what to do. Well, she fled from her village when she was forced to marry someone at age 12. She was intending on killing herself before she was found by Steele out in the Tundra. After he warmed her up and fed her, She joined him on his patrol and fell in love with him; even more so after finding out what he was"

"What was Steele doing in the arctic?" Terry asked.

"Well, they didn't call it the Cold War for nothing. Steele worked for the Supernatural Affairs Ministry. He was there to keep peace in the Arctic"

"Did she marry Steele at age 12?" Zoe asked.

"No...She was with him for a good four years before her people found her. They were quite surprised to see her alive and well. Though you can imagine what Steele did when they dragged her back to camp to punish her for leaving"

"He wolfed out?" Zoe asked.

"Oh, he went in full on Lykos form and scared the living shit out of them, and she came out announcing to them that her love has returned for her"

"Holy shit! Then what? Did they marry her then? Or was there some kind of death match to see who earned her"

"Hold on! Now you understand that a giant wolf just came in and threatened their settlement. There was some sort of match, but you can imagine how that turned out. Her fiancé was knocked down into submission trying to push him off with his spear, but Steele snapped it in half with his maw. He did not kill him, but they all knew that he could have. He reverted to his human form, and well, you can guess the kind of reaction they had from that"

"Gasps, ogling, and giggling?" Terry suggested.

"Ahem...after they had a good stare. I think the Shaman pointed out that Steele has proven to keep Amarok alive in the arctic for four years. Either that or they don't want to anger a god. Either way they married them. That was before she announced to her family that she was pregnant"

"Oh, jez...Getting a 16 year old pregnant? How old was he? Like 20?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know...he was really young. He was almost 16 when he was in Operation Hamburger Meat. He was only 14 when he dated Brigid. I think he might have been 18 or at most 19"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! Operation Hamburger Meat? What the fuck is that?" Zoe asked.

"You don't know about Hamburger Meat? That's like one of the things Steele's most famous for. He worked as a spy and sabotaged Nazi werewolf super soldier experiments. They used him because he inherited the most desirable traits as a result of decades of selective breeding...you know...the eugenics thing was quite popular back in that time. The experiments they did went from breeding to cloning to testing out drugs. He probably saved the world!" Terry told her.

"So I thought this was a bad story?" Zoe asked.

"Just bear with me...I'm giving you context here" Bernie said before he cleared his throat. "So as I was saying...Amarok had two pups during the next three years, but by then HQ found out. They reassigned him to do peace keeping in the Puget Sound Area...He had about seven more pups with her in the next ten years"

"Wow, 9 pups...Busy" Zoe remarked.

"She had 9 kids before she turned 30? What was she just kept constantly pregnant?" Terry asked.

"It was the 50's, Terry. It was common, and she was pregnant with her 10th and 11thbefore everything went to shit!" Bernie raised his voice before he sighed heavily. "Stop interrupting me!" he scolded them.

"Uh oh, what happened?" Zoe muttered.

He looked down at his precious pup and shook his head. "Three hunters came to his home while he was teaching his eldest son how to hunt. It was his fourteenth birthday. They found his eldest daughter shot in the back of the head trying to run away. Amarok was shot multiple times. She was barely alive. Another pup were trying to protect her, and bashed his head in with a lead pipe, they made off with the remaining pups on their boat stuffed them in burlap sacks and tied their feet to cider blocks. They made sure Steele watched them chuck his youngest ones into the sound"

"Oh my god! Why would they do that!?" Zoe shouted.

"It was because Steele and Amarok would register their Lycanthropy with the Supernatural Administration, so they retaliated and tipped off hunters. Before this all happened Ian and I met Steele in a tavern over in Tacoma. He told us about being harassed by SAD agents. We warned him about SAD doing shady stuff, but he believed he would be protected by SAM...well, he went AWOL after that. Ian and I found him in Camas. He looked like he was going to kill anyone who came near his three surviving children and his wife"

"His daughter lived after being shot in the head!?" Zoe shouted.

"Zoe...when a werewolf gets shot in the head...they are no longer the same person. Her body healed, but all those memories...they were erased. It's just like sticking a magnet next to a hard drive. Nothing put scattered fragments of corrupted data. It's a horrifying fate more than death"

"Then what happened?" Terry asked.

"Well, Steele and Amarok had a falling out. She wanted to try for more pups, but Steele was not wanting to have anymore. The pain was just too great, so Ian suggested that she adopt some children. I guess that was code because after that she used her son to invite bullied middle school and high school students. Most were the freaks and geeks, the disabled, LGBTQ, and ethnic minorities. Back then Portland was not as inclusive and integrated as it is now, in fact before the war, it were illegal for blacks to live here. During the war when the they allowed them in, there was a large amount of whites who enrolled in the KKK. There were plenty who would want to be able to fight back.

They were introduced to her while she would be in her lykos form, and her son would lure them close up to her claiming her to be good therapy and grant special powers to those she deems worthy. She would literally lick their wounds like a werewolf mother would do for her pups, and that's how she turned them...With her view of love all of them were worthy"

"Oh jez, this is really fucked up. So they saw her as a mother. Let me guess? Steele found out?"

"Steele was having his own problems. He was in a very deep depression...he drank and got into a lot of fights. With his level of close combat training, it would take five wolves to get him under control. He actually overpowered Ian several times. I would have to step in to at least get him the upper-hand. Jean was the one to find out. That was around the time we found out about the underground. After that Steele chose to fight on our side; Amarok was fighting on Ian's side. Then the battle of Vanport happened, and you all know how that turned out"

"Another City wiped off from the map? Why is it every time there's a werewolf battle around here it's during a flood?" Terry remarked.

"Simple...It washes the blood, the evidence, and the bodies away...but it did one positive thing, it brought everyone together after the dike gave way" Bernie said calmly.

"What happened to Amarok? Did she live?" Zoe asked

"Yea, Steele let her get away. He felt responsible for this. His children left with her, and I thought she went back to Baffin. I don't know why she would have a reason to come back?" Bernie muttered before he looked at the clock. "Oh shit...you're late!" he said shooting up out of his chair. He rushed out the door with baby in one arm, and he gave the sleeping infant to Yvonne before he planted a smooch on her lips.

"Love you, daddy wolf" Yvonne told him affectionately. He kissed her again, and the pup stirred realizing he was no longer basking in his father's heat crying out. "Aw, he doesn't want you to leave" she said before she walked over towards the laundry room and grabbed one of her husband's shirts and bundled the baby up with it. The pup relaxed and went back to sleep before she looked up at him happily. "Come back safe" she told him.

Bernie smiled and looked towards Terry. "Alright, I'll take you to school. I'm about to head into town anyway" he said before he looked towards Zoe. "Are you going to go to Football practice today?"

"Yea! Duh! Are you kidding? I'm going to make sure I embarrass that hick and his boy!"

"Atta girl! Show them no mercy!" Bernie said slapping her over the shoulder. He reached over grabbing his sheriff's hat and badge putting them on while making neat and presentable. "Let's go" he said firmly.

Terry gulped and rushed into the living room grabbing his backpack. He came back and ran out into the snow. Zoe stared outside and groaned. "Snow..." she muttered before she started to bundle up. Haley pulled up as Bernie left, which she had a Toby and the other already inside. She rolled down her window and looked at her strangely watching Zoe wrapping her socks in saran wrap.

"What are you doing?" she shouted.

"I hate soggy shoes!" Zoe shouted.

"So you're doing that?"

"Toby showed me it! You ask him!"

Toby had his earbuds in dozed off in the back seat. Haley looked back and growled. "Whatever, just get your damn shoes on and let's go!" she shouted.

Nate stepped out and shivered. "Hey! How am I going to fit if there's three seats!?"

"Looks like you're just going to have to squeeze in short stuff!" Zoe teased.

"This isn't fair! Why are they even in the car!?" He whined.

"Their mom just gave birth dude...you're just going to have to put up with it!" She said as she started tying her boots on.

"Man! Why do you get to sit in front?" Nate complained.

She got up and glared at him. "Just shut up already! Do you know how hard it is to fit two tall kids in a Prius?" She grumbled before she got into the car. "Get in!"

Nate groaned and squashed himself in. Toby was sitting in the middle with his legs spread to either side and his arms spread out leaning back with his backpack supporting his head. Phoebe and Tommy were snuggled up close with their brother using him as a pillow as they napped. Nate scooted in and closed the door. "Why are they asleep?"

"Their mom just gave birth at two in the morning at home. She was in labor for fifteen hours. They were worrying about her and the pup. We've all been up last night helping with delivery. It's a good thing she's used to birthing large pups" Haley explained before she took a gulp of coffee. "Just let 'em sleep...okay?"

"Fine..." he huffed.

As the school day went on, Toby and his siblings napped in the nurse's office, and Sasha joined providing Toby her companionship and some comfort by scratching, petting, and caressing him slowly. She was perfectly quiet, but she was conflicted in asking him to do their usual routine. He reached over and still fondled her breasts preventing her from having an unexpected transformation.

After school, Steele pulled up in his Green Suburban with snow tires. Toby, Sasha, and Zoe all climbed in, and Sasha cozied up against her boyfriend sprawled out in the very back. He both dozed off as she continued petting and scratching at him as before. She would occasionally look out the window at the snow falling imagining the future trips down the mountain with him when they started high school together. Zoe would look back occasionally amused, and Steele would look into the rear view mirror proudly.

Soon the temperatures warmed up farther down the mountain for it to just rain, but there was a patch were it was sleet before going back to rain. Sasha was amazed with how quickly the weather changed just driving down the road for five miles. "Whoa, does the weather always change this fast over here?"

"Yea, it's normal...if you go on the east side there's blue sky. It's just a testament to how unpredictable the weather is around here" Steele mentioned.

"I guess so...Y'all seem to be well adapted for this sort of environment, huh?" Sasha said removing her coat. The back windows were completely fogged up, so all she could look at was the slumbering giant. "Very well adapted" she mumbled poking at his armpit. He let off a deep low growl pushing her hand away. "Are you ticklish?"

"Meh! Stop!" Toby grumbled.

She giggled and exploited his vulnerable position. "Tickles for Toby!" she said wiggling her finger into his sensitive spots. Toby groaned kicking his feet while Zoe watched with glance back watching him squirm with glee.

"You better not be tickling his pickle" Zoe teased.

Steele started let out a deep belly laugh, and he looked at Sasha quickly retracting her hand away blushing bright red. "What pickle?" Toby muttered groggily. The laughter only grew louder, but Sasha ended up ceasing her tickle torture.

When they finally arrived, Bernie and Terry were waiting outside on the sidewalk with the principal looking out at the parking lot. As Zoe stepped out, and Toby climbed out from the back, the principal stared at them in shock then he saw Steele. "Holy moly! I guess you weren't pulling my leg after all...how many more are there like them on the mountain!?" he asked.

"There are enough, but they are only in elementary and just starting middle school. They will grow big enough...just you wait. By the time Toby and Zoe are seniors, Nate will be a freshman, and Tommy won't be that far behind. You have potential for a dynasty here if you allow Zoe to play" Bernie said.

"No, that won't be a problem. I want her to play for us; in fact there are recruiters here from U of O, OSU, PSU, UDub, Wassu, Nevada, and WOU. I told them about some new talent coming in, so I think you two will start getting their attention early" The principal said before Zoe grinned.

"Easy Scholarship money!" She muttered.

"Wait what?" Toby muttered. He looked back towards his father with uneasily.

Steele gazed at him and slapped him on the back reassuringly while laughing. "It's fine...this is a perfect way for us to get into college. Just...don't get too carried away" he said as Zoe went on and rushed the field with her brother.

Sasha looked up at Toby smiling happily not minding being towered over by such giants. "Break a leg! Knock 'em dead! Eat 'em up, Toby!" she said slapping him on the rear. He looked back at her not finding her jokes in good taste, but his Father and Bernie laughed at her.

"She's funny! I like her!" Steele said.

Toby rushed onto the field, and he looked over at a mass of adults in the bleachers. There were a lot with cameras filming them. "They couldn't be all recruiters could it?" he muttered. He rushed over to Terry and nudged him. "Hey! What's going on!? Who are these other people?"

Terry looked over and shrugged. "I don't know...It might be the news media covering those two players who died last night"

"What about Zack?"

"Oh shit! I didn't think about that! Wait...How do you know about him?" Terry asked.

"Penny told us"

"Why did you even ask me that question if you already knew the answer to it?" Terry asked.

"I wasn't one hundred percent sure. For all I know, this is normal"

Two coaches came out onto the field, which the Varsity coach looked over at Terry with contempt then at Toby and Zoe. The JV coach flagged Toby and Zoe over to one end of the field clearly excited. "Alright! Toby, Zoe! You're with me! Since Wes is out, I'm going to need a new Quarterback. How far can you throw?" he asked.

Zoe grinned and snicker nudging Toby. "Pretty far...Toby and I can throw it 100 yards easy" she said, which all of the players laughed at her. Zoe ripped the football from one of the players before she threw it low and far hitting her brother in the rear clear over on the opposite end of the field. There was a loud collective gasp mashed with awes from the crowd of spectators. Naturally their attention shifted from Terry to the group of JV players turning their cameras towards them.

The JV players all went quiet and gawked at her, and the Varsity players looked up confused as to wear the ball came from. "Damn it Zoe! What the hell did you have to go and do that for!?" Terry screamed.

"Wow, you have quite the arm there, Zoe!" The coach said impressed but also very confused.

"Want me to hit him too?" Toby asked.

"Fuck you Toby!" Terry shouted back at them. His teammates stared at him in confusion thinking Terry was going crazy with rage. He looked back at them and his hairs stood up growling at them. "What the hell are you looking at!?"

"Do it" The coach said handing him the ball.

Without a second thought, Toby cocked the ball back and threw it only this time the ball went a little higher and missed hitting Terry up the side of his head as he managed to dodge it at the last second. "God damn it, Toby!"

"Whoa ho ho! Looks like we have ourselves a couple of strong arms" The coach said before he looked towards the team. "Alright, we're going to do some stretches and then we're going to do a lap around the field" he announced loudly. He looked towards Wes on the side lines staring at the two newcomers very scared and insecure. "Hey! Are you going to lead stretches!?" he hollered.

Wes hesitated before he quickly rushed onto the field. Toby and Zoe both were more than a head taller than him and much more well-built than he was. His only saving grace was that he knows his team better than they do, and they are not as big as Terry was; however, after the stretches were finished, that was when the train derailed. Seeing those two take off like grand prix racecars, everyone on the team saw the train wreck coming, and they could do nothing to stop it.

The coach's judgement was clouded with pride and a drive to show up the varsity coach. The principal came out onto the field and flagged over the two coaches, and they all met in center field. "I've had a discussion with some of our boosters...since JV and Varsity are so close now; we thought it would be good to have a scrimmage game. This will be a good opportunity to move the roster around" he said.

The coach of the Varsity team looked towards his son on the JV team. Then he looked towards Toby and Zoe with contempt. "Tch, Fine" he muttered before he walked off with heavy feet. He then screamed at them to all go into the locker room to suit up.

The JV coach sent everyone into the locker room, which once inside,Toby looked around trying to find where he needed to be as he was separated from Zoe. He looked around at the jocks getting dressed up, and he scratched the back of his head. "Um...what the hell am I supposed to do?" he muttered.

"Toby suit up!" The coach yelled as he threw him a bag of pads and a jersey. Toby caught the bag before the coach smirked. "You'll do alright! You're lucky Terry is here or else we wouldn't have pads your size around here" he said.

"Uh, okay" Toby muttered looking down at the equipment.

As he quietly began to suit up, while he overheard a big discussion amongst the team mates. "Tucker got an academic suspension again?" one of them asked.

"Yea...They can't just give him an F before a big game...the season just started. I think those two are going to get put on the Varsity team" another said. Some of them looked towards him and gawked.

Toby glanced over at them and shot them menacing glare causing them to turn away.

"Holy fuck he is huge!!" one yelled.

"And hairy" Another added.

"You sure that he's a freshman?"

Toby tried his best to ignore the comments. This whole experience grew more awkward for him the more the comments piled up as he was being sized up for future competition or admiration. He finally was suited up in his Crimson and Black uniform, and he noted that he was number one. He frowned looking farther down at the revealing bulge in his crotch where his athletic cup was. "This is so degrading" He said as he shoved his regular clothes into the locker. The Jocks looked at Toby still in disbelief, but they tried to mask their glances.

"If you and that girl were able to chuck that ball all the way out to Terry...You guys must have superhuman strength just like him," One of the Jocks said.

Toby chuckled nervously. "Yea, we practice with him!" He said trying to calm down.

The team grinned at each other. "Hey with Toby and Zoe on our team we can screw around, and still win!" They said whispering to each other.

"Um, well you don't think the coach will take us off the field once we got to 70 points?" Toby asked.

The team looked at Toby oddly as he was too far for a normal person to hear their conversation. "He wouldn't do that would he?" One asked.

The coach came up to Toby and slapped him over the shoulder pads. "I'll keep it short and simple kid. I don't care how or what you and Zoe do. Just get the ball into the end zone!" He said calmly.

Toby nodded slowly. "That is all there is to it? No play calls or anything?" He asked.

The coach laughed. "Pretty much, we don't have enough time to go over the play calls. Just don't kill anyone in the process, alright?" he asked as he slapped Toby's back pads.

Toby smiled feeling the coach's confidence rub off onto him, and he put his helmet on. "I'll try not to hurt anybody" he said.

"Alright, lets head to the Tunnel!" the coach shouted.

As they rushed out of the locker room, Zoe waited outside impatiently. Zoe grinned at him as she put her mouth piece in and clapped her hands together. "Come on! What took ya?" she teased.

Terry watched the JV team closely before his eardrums nearly got blown out by the coach screaming at the defense unit. "Alright listen up! They got some new comers on their team...I want you to show them what Pioneer Football is all about! Don't hold back on them!"

"But Coach! She's a girl!" one of the tackles said.

"I don't give a damn that she's a girl! She knows what she's signing up for!" The coach roared.

On the other side, Wes was making the play calls, and he looked towards Toby and Zoe apprehensively. "Y-y-you guys can run fast right?"

"Uh yea! Duh!" Zoe shouted before she pointed towards Toby. "Just get us the ball. We'll do all the work. Got it?" she told him.

"Uh, kay...but this is going against what the coach has taught me to do" he muttered cautiously.

"Just do it!" she raised her voice at him. She then glared at him. "I'm doing my hardest not to knock you the fuck out for what you did! Just consider yourself lucky that I'm not on their defense, cuz I don't play nice to bigots!" she gave him an earful before she got lined up behind in a fullback position.

"You know Toby...if we fuck up a couple of the defensive players, they'll need some new ones" Zoe mention to Toby. Toby looked at her and nodded, but Terry overheard them looking at them from the sidelines with terror.

Wes looked towards Toby nervously. "She's not serious is she?"

Toby scowled at him and said nothing lining up on the end as a receiver. Everyone got lined up, and Zoe shouted, "Shovel it back to me!"

Wes gulped and nodded. When the center snapped the back, Wes tossed it back. Zoe caught the ball running back and towards sidelines looking down field at Toby heading towards the end zone. She hurled the ball eighty yards, but she caught the linebacker rushing at her at full speed. She stood her ground and lowered her shoulder. Pop! Her shoulder pads crashed into the Linebacker's chest snapping his head forward into her helmet before he went limp and fell awkwardly to the ground.

Toby caught her deep pass in stride and ran it into the end zone hearing the sound of the collision and everyone grimacing. He looked back seeing the unconscious boy lying on the ground wheezing in pain, and the varsity coach running over rudely pushing Zoe back. "Get back! You done enough, She-ra!" he shouted as he checked on the boy. "Oh god, call an ambulance!"

Zoe glared at him and started to walk off. Several of the defense players rushed over to check on their teammate. One of the bigger seniors rushed Zoe and gave her a shove. "What the fuck is wrong with you! Dumb bitch!"

Zoe glanced over at him and rolled her eyes at him. Toby rushed back and shoved him to the ground. "Fuck off!"

Terry ran over shouting, "Hey, Hey, Hey!" before he got himself between the senior and Toby. The rest of the team rushed in and started shouting and shoving at Toby and Zoe. One threw a punch at Toby, which Zoe grabbed the assailant by the back of the collar throwing him to the ground. Bernie and Steele both jumped off the bleachers and rushed in to help the coaching staff break up the fight.

Steele pulled Toby and Zoe away, and Terry went to Bernie telling him. "Hey, they were trying to injure her!"

"I know. I've already told your principal before it all happened" he said pulling Terry back.

The principal came over to Steele and Bernie holding the three gigantic teen wolves. "I think I've seen enough. I want to see them on the varsity team...come to think of it, are either of you two interested in a coaching job?"

Bernie looked towards Steele and smirked. "You wanna make a few extra bucks for your extra mouth to feed?"

Steele shrugged. "You know more about football than I do..." he said.

Bernie slapped Steele over the shoulder grinning. "We'll think about it!" he said continuing to pat him over the shoulder.

Sasha came over to Toby blushing bright red. "Oh my gosh Toby! You guys were amazing!" she shouted out jumping onto him. Her heart was beating faster than a race horse, and she mooed softly while wrapping her arms around him. A lot of his teammates looked at Sasha slack jawed.

"So are you going to keep playing? Or what?" she asked looking towards the principal getting into a heated argument with the head coach of the varsity team. Bernie smirked sadistically as the coach yanked his son off the field before he started to walk out on the field, and Steele followed behind.

Bernie looked back at them sternly. "Well? Let's go!"

"Looks like we're going to keep practicing" Toby muttered.

"Kay...have fun!" She shouted giving him a slap to his pads. She went back into the bleachers and watched her boyfriend show his stuff to the crowd. She took out her phone and started filming him to later show her grandparents and great-grandmother. She caught Penny walking back from the forest slowly, when she got up to the bleachers, she looked up at her worried.

Sasha noticed this and stopped filming before she lowered her phone and sat in down into her lap. "What's wrong?"

Penny pulled out a flyer and unfolded it. "I met that kid in the cloak again...he has a bunch of us passing out these to the football players and cheerleaders. Something doesn't feel right about this" she said before she rubbing her arm.

"Halloween Costume Party! Meet at the Warehouse for some music, food, and drinks. We promise there will be a bloody good show! So tell all the friends you know" the flyer said.

"The warehouse? Where's that?" Sasha asked.

"It's at that abandoned mill over in Boring"

"Boring? Oh, I've heard of that place before" Sasha pondered before she looked at the flyer again. "A good show? Hold on a second..." she muttered. She got up and started walking down the bleachers.

Penny gasped and shouted, "Hey!? Where are you going!?"

Sasha was too far gone to hear her, and she walked out onto the field finding Steele and Bernie. "Hey! Have you seen this?" she asked before she handed Bernie the flyer. He looked at it then at her collecting it calmly before he flipped it open. Steele looked over his shoulder and looked at the wording.

"It's a bloodbath party" Steele said with complete confidence.

"Yeah, looks like it" Bernie concurred.