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Jack hated the myth that werewolves turned into huge ferocious beasts with horrifying teeth and an ache to rip everything around them to pieces.
When Jack morphed, he simply turned into a normal sized, ashen grey wolf with a conscious thought process. He in no way had to spend any amount of time in this form. In fact, some of his cousins went their entire lives without shifting once. It was almost normal in modern society.
Jack DID feel the need to unleash himself and let his paws thump through the forest and feel the chilled wind tangle his fur.
He would almost always be back in a few hours and hardly ever stayed out all out. The only nights he didn’t come back until morning were nights in which he hadn’t wanted to abandon the tickle of the moon’s rays.
His boyfriend was very aware of all of this.
As a human, Mark never understood what it meant to be like Jack, though neither of them minded this fact very much. They simply worked around and through each other’s strengths and weaknesses and slowly fell for each other in a way that was completely natural.
On truly cold days, their little cabin would nearly freeze and Jack would shift into his wolf form to curl around Mark, protecting him.
Mark did an amazing job of cooking to Jack’s diet and cleaning the house with animal-sensitive and environmentally safe products.
Jack would sometimes accompany Mark into town as a dog as some of the more greedy assholes in town liked to grope at his boyfriend and Jack’s animal presence kept them at bay. Not that Mark couldn’t handle it himself, he just felt a bit more secure with claws and fangs marching beside him.
On beautiful nights, Mark would trek through the glimmering forest with Jack, admiring the beauty that was nature in its rarest form and laughing softy as Jack played and pranced around at Mark’s feet.
It was a peaceful existence, and one that he was happy that he brought Mark into.
But there was a special night in which all of that changed dramatically and they no longer held their harmonious dance.
“Jack?”
Mark’s baritone voice was something that soothed Jack, especially if he was in a rage, but the tone in which he used it caused Jack’s head to snap to Mark. They were curled together on their small bed with a fire roaring in the fireplace in the corner of the room. It was one of the coldest nights of the year and they were trying to keep as warm as possible.
Mark’s glasses sat beside them on the table, his hair was all tangled and knotted together, and there were bite marks forming on his shoulders and upper back from Jack’s teeth. He was gorgeous and him looking up at Jack with so much love and adoration nearly made his heart stop.
“Yeah?” It took Jack a few moments to remember that Mark had called his name for something.
Curling closer and propping his chin up on Jack’s peck, he softly sighed and his eyebrows screwed up in worry, “I’m kind of anxious to ask you this, if I’m honest.”
His words made Jack prop his head on a pillow to better see Mark, “Baby, don’t be afraid to ask me anything.”
“Will-“Mark hesitated, his muscles tensing and his whole body twitching a bit, “Will you turn me?”
Jack’s world tilted, his brain stopped functioning, and his blood turned to syrup in his veins.
“Let me explain!” Mark rushed, pushing himself up and lying half on to of Jack now, resting his chin on the center of Jack’s chest, right over his heart, which was pumping so fast that it might just give out.
“Jack, I want to stay with you forever. We’ve been together for ten years now and I turn 28 tomorrow.” Mark shifted to rest his cheek on Jack’s chest, “I know you asked me years ago and I said no, but I’ve been thinking it over ever since. Every time you disappear into the great unknown, I’m terrified that you’ll never come back. I’m always terrified that you’ll find someone of your own kind and stop loving me. But here’s the thing, I can live with that. Even if you changed me and found someone else, if you didn’t want me anymore, I’d let you go.”
Jack pulled Mark so close he might crush him, not that Mark cared.
“It’s not just that though. You’re going to be alive for a very long time, Jack. Hundreds of years. I know you love me and you’ve told me so many times that you don’t want to live that long without me. I don’t want you to see me grow old while you stay young and vibrant. I want us to grow old together. I don’t want to wait in whatever afterlife there is, if there is one, for someone who won’t join me for so long. I want to be with you in every way. I want to experience what you do. Jack, please, share your soul with me.”
Jack placed the palm of his right hand against the small of Mark’s back and slid his hand to the back of Mark’s neck, pulling him as close as he could. He, the normally loud and boisterous one, was shocked and moved to silence. Finally. Finally after all these years, Mark actually wanted this with him.
He sniffed and let the tears fall as he buried his face into Mark’s hair, inhaling his scent and cherishing it for the last time. He slipped his fingers underneath Mark’s chin and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
“Are you sure? No going back.”
“I’ve been thinking about this for years, Jack. Just. Please.”
Jack stared into Mark’s completely human eyes for what felt like eternity, trying to memorize the scent of the human before he became his mate.
Mark knew how this was to be done. Jack explained the process to him before, it was like sharing a disease, it had to be spread through blood.
Jack nicked the skin covering Mark’s left collarbone, lapping at the wound for a second to apologize, before pulling back and slicing a wound into his palm, pressing it to the small incision he made on Mark’s flesh.