Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ike, Andy, Granny, and Lucy decided to go on vacation. Eddie and Terry were gone too on their own trip. They picked Stoneybridge, a village in Northumberland. They had hiking, sailing, horse back riding, and nature reserves. The trip went well, except for a horse freaking out at Ike, until their flight was delayed due to severe storms over the course of the next week. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, but the full moon was just a few days away.

“This is fine,” Ike said. “Right guys?” They were all sitting in Ike’s room.

“You could just go to the nature reserve,” Lucy suggested.

“We could go out on the moors,” Granny said. “If anyone asks, we could say we were stargazing.”

“In the rain?” Andy said.

“We’ll bring an umbrella,” Granny said. “It’s not supposed to be cloudy that night.”

“Okay,” Ike said. “The moors. That’ll work. Totally.”

They left just after dinner and drove out to a secluded spot at a trailhead. They trekked out towards the moors, all of them shivering in the wind but Ike whose skin prickled with electricity and heart raced. He always felt more alive on these nights. His eyes were better, the others were using flashlights they brought with them, and his hearing was sharper.

They stood on a hill as the moon finally peaked, wind ruffling their hair.  

Ike felt the familiar ache in his joints and spine and then he was a wolf. He howled and raced in a circle. There were places in Tacoma he could go on full nights but nowhere with this much space. He howled again and ran, stretching his legs and body with his strides.   

He ran back to Andy, Granny, and Lucy, just to check on them, before he was off again. They followed after him but at a much slower pace.

He reached them a second time and turned back sharply in the direction he came from, claws sliding in the dirt and spraying everyone with mud, who immediately protested it, when he heard more howling. He skidded to a stop and Lucy slammed into him.  

There was another howl then a third. They were three distinct howls. Then two more, also different from the previous three. Ike pricked his ears, straining to hear more. Something in him told him that these weren’t normal wolves. That and there were no wild wolves in the UK.  He didn’t think they were werewolves either though.

“Ike?” Andy said.

They heard the first three howls again, but they were closer. And they sounded… different. More like a warning. Ike lifted his head and the smell of five not wolf-not werewolf smells drifted on the wind. And three of them were getting closer. They howled again and the hair on Ike’s back lifted.

“Who are they?” Lucy asked.

Ike only shook his head and kept his eyes focused on the darkness in front of them.

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It was just a minute later when three young not wolf-not werewolves charged up to him, growling low and deep in their throats. Ike lowered his head and tail but refused to roll on his back. Not until he knew more about them. They were fanned out, the wolf in front was the smallest and brown furred. One behind her was red, a shade Ike had never seen in wild wolves, and the other was a lighter tan color.

They circled him, sniffing him. Ike stood still, letting them. Once they were satisfied the brown one broke away and the other two followed. They stood tall and stiff, tails and heads raised.

Ike was getting the feeling this was their land. Or territory. Now that he had their scent he could smell them everywhere on the moors.

He left at a much slower space then he was just running around with. He was going slow enough that Andy, Granny, and Lucy were able to keep up with him.

The four ended up at the car where Lucy took the lead and led them onto the trail. It winded through the moors but quickly ended up in a forest where it broke off into several other trails.

“Which way should we go?” Lucy asked.

Ike went left. The further away from the moors, the better he decided. They walked about an hour before coming to a stop in a clearing. Ike scratched at the ground before laying down. Andy, Granny, and Lucy said goodbye before going back to the car. They’d get back early in the morning, before dusk. Ike curled his tail around him and laid his head on his paws before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Ike woke up, still a wolf. He stretched and yawned before looking at the sky. He didn’t see the sun but the sky was light grey so he figured he had a few minutes before he shifted back.  

Just as he shifted back the three not wolf-not werewolves from the night ran up to him. The one in front shifted while the two behind her stayed the same. Ike wondered if they were just shape shifters. Or if shape shifters were even a thing. They didn’t smell like werewolves though.

“Who are you?” she demanded. She was a lot younger than Ike thought. She looked like she was a teenager. “What are you? You stink. And why were you in our pack’s territory?”

“Ike,” Ike said. “I’m a werewolf. And I didn’t know, I’m just visiting.”

“Werewolves aren’t a thing.”

“Yes, they are. What are you?”

“We’re wolfbloods,” she said tilting her chin up. “Werewolves aren’t a thing, they’re a myth based off us.”

“I’m a werewolf,” Ike said. “Don’t you only shift at the full moon? That’s a werewolf.”

“Yeah,” the girl said. “And whenever we want.”

“You can?” Ike said.

The girl nodded. The two people behind her shifted then, as if to demonstrate. A blond boy and a red-haired girl stood behind her now. “We can,” she said. “We’re born this way. Can’t you?”

Ike shook his head. “No, only on full moons. I was bit by another werewolf.”

“So, werewolves are real?” the boy asked.

“They must be,” the first girl said. “I’ll ask my parents about it. Maybe they know something. Do you know anything Jana?”

The red-haired girl, Jana, shook her head. “No. I haven’t heard of any actual werewolves. Where were you bit?” she asked Ike.

“In Tacoma Washington. In America.”

“You’re pretty far from home,” the first girl said. “And you decided to stay for the full moon?”

“Our flight was cancelled. Because of the storms. We definitely didn’t want to be here this long.”

“Our?” the first girl said.

Ike nodded. “I didn’t come alone.” His phone buzzed then. Lucy, Granny, and Andy were on their way with the car. Then they’d be getting breakfast. “That’s them now.” Ike made his way back to the trailhead. The three wolfbloods followed along. The other two still stayed slightly behind the first girl.

He learned the first girl was Maddy and the boy was Rhydian. He also learned about wolfbloods and that some were tame, that would be Maddy, and some were wild, and that would be Jana. The boy, Rhydian, came from a wild pack but was raised human.  He stayed with them for a while with Jana before he moved back to Stoneybridge and Jana came with him.

They asked him not to tell Lucy, Granny, and Andy about them being wolfbloods. The more humans who knew the more dangerous it was for them, they said. They did invite him to Maddy’s home though, under the guise of meeting more werewolves and learning about them.  Really, he’d be talking to Maddy’s parents to see if they knew anything.

The wolfbloods left after he got to the trailhead and headed back to the moors.

They got breakfast in a place called “Bernie’s Café” before going back to their hotel for Ike to change and shower after spending the night in the woods. They spent the rest of their time until lunch relaxing. Then, around noon, they headed toward the Smith’s farm for lunch and to talk.