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The night was dark and cool, lit only by a slither of the moon. Captain Zero walked hand in hand with his wife, Sylvia, as they walked home from their evening out.It had been a nice meal, especially now that poor Sylvia often did not have the energy to cook. The walk back was a little too much for her, and Zero scolded himself silently for forgetting that.He needed to become a better husband, ideally before the baby arrived.They moved slowly, Zero not wanting to push Sylvia more than he already had. She needed to rest. Even as she laughed and joked about names, he could see the exhaustion behind her eyes.But they would be home soon, everything was going to be fine. He worried too much.Out of the darkness a shape rushed past. It ripped Sylvia from Zero’s hand before he had any chance to react.She screamed. The sound was cut short as the thing clamping its jaw around her throat.Zero watched with horror. He was unable to move as the beast continued to feast upon Sylvia, burying it’s dark maw within her stomach, to where his child had been growing and nurtured.Now they were both gone.The creature pulled away from Sylvia’s body and Zero saw she was not moving. The monster then flung it’s head up and let out a blood-curdling howl.Then it turned its head, looking Zero in the eyes. The expression it wore was no longer that of pure hunger, but one that made the poor captain half-believe the creature might be capable of thought.It was not. It could not be. Not after what it had just done.The thing shrunk back, and then it changed. The black fur slowly vanished, the shape changing from that of a large dog to something more human.While Zero was now face to face with what looked like a man, though he knew it was still a beast in its heart. Its clothes were shabby and its hair unkempt. He could still see his wife’s blood over its face.The wolf-turned-man took a step forward, reaching out to Zero. “I know this looks bad,” it explained, “but you don’t understand…”Backing away, Zero shook his head. He didn’t understand. He didn’t want to. He wanted to go back to before all this had happened. To when he still had the promise and hope of a family.He crouched down, reaching at the floor for anything to fight back with. His hand found something, curling around a fallen branch from a nearby tree. He lifted it with difficulty, before charging at the monster.He hit it with force, the force of the branch against its head causing it to stagger.With a shake, the creature lost the illusion of humanity and took back its original form.Zero shivered as the wolf stalked toward him, and did the only thing he could. He swung the branch back around and into the beast’s face once again.It gave a yelp of pain and collapsed to the ground.The thing wasn’t dead. Its chest still rose and fell in slow breaths. But at least it was no longer a threat.Looking between the beast and the remains of his wife, Zero sunk to the floor, head in his hands. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to take his wife’s body home, to bury it decently.But he couldn’t leave that thing here. Not while it could still wake up.With a heavy heart, Zero turned from his wife and decided to do the best thing for all. He wasn’t going to let the creature terrorise the city any longer.Lift the branch again, his heart sank as he saw it was now snapped near in half. He didn’t know if he could kill the wolf-thing with it. He didn’t know it he could kill it at all.He’d have to find some other way to keep it from causing any harm… The next morning, Captain Zero paced around his apartment. The beast was now safely confined within an old dog cage, something that Zero had been planning to throw out long ago, but was glad he didn’t.He just hoped it was enough to keep the thing from breaking out.Once he’d secured the creature, he’d gone back to collect Sylvia. To bring her home.Her body had disappeared before he arrived.So now he was stuck with some monster and no wife. It was a terrible trade.The wolf stirred, and lifted its head as much as is could. The cage was a little small for something of its size. It looked around for a second or two before swearing loudly.Zero was shocked, both by the fact that what looked to be an animal was speaking, as well as by the vulgarity of its words.It looked at him, shook its head as if annoyed, then slowly began to change form.Once human again in appearance, it smiled weakly. “You’re the guy from last night, aren’t you?”Zero scowled. “Don’t talk to me about last night.”The creature’s face wore a look of guilt. “I’m sorry about your lady friend, but I was desperate and–”“She was my wife!”“Oh…”“She was my wife, she was carrying my child,” Zero breathed, fighting back tears, “and you killed her and… and you…”“Ate her?” it suggested.Zero couldn’t handle this any longer. “You destroyed my family!”“You want a new family?” it asked, “You can join my pack, if you want?”“There are more of you?”The thought was horrific. Zero had barely been able to stop this one. What was he supposed to do if there were more?“Well, it’s just me and Zeb for now, but you’d do great!” it grinned at him. “I mean, you swung that stick pretty well, my head hurts like I’ve been hit by a train.”“You are a monster.”It reached out and curled its fingers around the bars of the cage. “Look, mister…”“I know what you did.”The thing seethed through its teeth. “Would you just let that go already?” it looked down and shook its head, “Why don’t we started over?” It stuck an arm out of the cage in greeting, “I’m Zorran, Alpha werewolf.”Zero narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”The creature, Zorran it called itself, grinned. “Means I lead my little pack.”“You won’t be leading it much longer,” Zero mumbled, then raised his voice slightly to ask, “and didn’t you say there were only two of you?”Oh, how he was praying there were only two of them.“The moon is new in a couple of days, can’t be turning people now,” it laughed weakly.“Weren’t you just offering that to me?” Zero asked, beginning to piece everything together.Panic flickered in the thing’s eyes. “I’d hold a place for you, if you want it?”“I already said no.”“Then what do you want?” it smirked at him, “you can’t keep me here forever, as soon as the moon waxes again I’ll break out and be free again.”Zero shook his head and reached behind, to the pistol he’d gotten his hands on the previous night. “You won’t make it that long.”“Go on then, shoot me,” it said with a taunting grin, “see how much good that’ll do you.”Raising the weapon, Zero aimed at the creature’s head. He fought to stop his hand trembling. Despite how human the thing looked, he had to remind himself that it was all a trick. That killing it wouldn’t make him as much of a monster than it was. He was doing the world a favour.As he pulled the trigger, the beast in the cage flinched. The bullet found its mark, but hit the thing in the flank not the head.Zero dropped the gun, shaking too much to maintain his grip. The creature swore and curled around its new wound. He took some solace in the fact that it bled like any other animal would.“Please don’t kill me,” it begged, completely changing its tune, “Zebedee needs me, I can’t leave him alone!”“You should have thought about that before you murdered Sylvia.”It looked at him with wide eyes and laboured breaths. “We needed food, I’d been stuck as a wolf for days, Zeb for more than a week!”“Stuck?” Zero was confused, the creature’s words making little sense to him.“We wasted the moon, changing too often and having fun without doing anything productive,” it grumbled, “Zebedee got hit harder ‘cause he’s a sop who doesn’t want to hunt.”“Is that your job then?” Zero asked, a hand on his hip, “Hunting?”“Job?” the thing laughed, “It’s not work, not the sort you people do anyway.”Zero walked away, turning his back to the creature for the first time that morning. He sat down, in a seat with a good view of the cage and held his head with a hand. “I don’t understand.”“You wouldn’t,” it said, making some attempt to get comfortable in its confinement, “we don’t have jobs,” it paused, trying to stretch out as much as possible, before returning to its original position in defeat, “well, Zebedee does, did at least, before the whole being form trapped thing,” it grinned at Zero, “hope he has lost it, I want him focused on the pack.”“Some friend you are,” Zero muttered, “maybe he will be better off with you.”It scowled at him. “He’d die without me, werewolves need a pack.”Shaking his head, Zero smiled. “Then it’s a shame he’s going to lose his.”“Still think you can kill me? What, gonna try and shoot me again?”“No,” standing up, Zero slowly walked to the door of the apartment, “I’m going to find someone to put you down for me.”As he left he heard the wolf-man yelling at him. “You coward! Come back here and kill me yourself!”Zero ignored it. Slamming the door shut behind him, he took a deep breath, trying his best to be calm.It was a difficult task. How was he supposed to remain calm when the thing that killed and eaten Sylvia was still in his apartment? When it spoke to him like it was just as human as he was, seemingly ignorant of the horrors it had wrought?He should have tried harder to kill it. The world was no place for a beast like that.A long howl came from inside his apartment. Zero froze with fear. Had it gotten loose? Would he get torn apart when he returned inside?Another howl, even more drawn out than the first.Zero was determined not to let it get to him. He was going to get someone, anyone, who could help him be rid of the horrid creature. He was dealing with this.A third howl, louder this time, changed his mind.The mangy beast was going to bring attention to his apartment. All well and good while the thing was alive, but once Zero had finished with it? He didn’t want anyone finding what looked like a human corpse.Perhaps, he thought, he should force it to appear like the animal it was before he had it killed. Not that he knew how to do that. He didn’t know if he could make the damn thing do anything.But he was going to have to try. At the very least he needed it to shut up to allow him to think.Re-entering, Zero was shocked to see that the creature was not free. It was still safely confined within the dog cage, still not a threat to anyone.All that had changed was it had returned to its wolf-like appearance. That was a small blessing. Now all Zero had to do was keep it like that.“Would you stop with that noise!” Zero commanded, hoping that the beast could still understand him.It either didn’t, or it was actively choosing to ignore him, as the thing continued to howl.“Stop it!”It continued.Zero didn’t know what to do. He sank to the floor, head in his hands. “At least tell me why you’ve decided to make such a racket?”It stopped, and looked at him. “I want Zebedee.”“And you think being a nuisance is going to help you?”“He’ll hear me, he’ll come.”That wasn’t at all what Zero wanted. He couldn’t have two of the things in his apartment. Not with one of them loose.He was going to die. They were going to kill him. He should have just left this one and taken Sylvia and come home and pretended that none of last night had happened. He should have gone on and tried to live his life.Bringing it home hadn’t fixed anything! It had made it all worse, actually. No wonder he’d had his family ripped away from him, he was too incompetent to be a father. He shouldn’t have taken Sylvia anywhere at all. Why couldn’t he have just made her something? Why did everything have to be some big gesture?“Are you alright?” the creature asked, sounding a little concerned.“Why would you care?”“I’m not heartless,” it said softly, “I can tell you’re hurt.”Zero huffed. “Losing my wife might have something to do with that.”The wolf looked down, evoking guilt. It was an emotion that Zero knew it could not feel.“I said I was sorry?” it said, “I can’t bring her back, would have gone after someone else if I’d have known it would have led to this…”“You shouldn’t go after anyone at all!”The beast’s tail drooped. “What if I don’t? I don’t have to… I guess.”“As you said, it doesn’t bring her back.”Circling tightly within the cage, the wolf kept its head down. “Is there anything I can do?”“I want you gone,” Zero said, “I want you, and your friend, gone.”“We’ll go!” it pressed its head against the bars. “Let me talk to Zeb, and we can leave.”“He can go,” Zero said quietly, not looking at the captive creature, “but not you.”“Not me?”“No.”How was he supposed to tell this thing he wanted it dead? Why couldn’t he tell it that?“Why?” the wolf asked, sitting down, and licking at its paw, “you scared of me?”Zero swallowed, not wanting to admit the thing was right. He’d seen what it could do, and could imagine the horrors it inflict on the world. On his world.Because Zero’s world had changed when the beast had charged into his life. It wasn’t only that he’d lost Sylvia and their child. It wasn’t his future being irrevocably changed. It was how his world had been revealed to not be what he thought it was.There were monsters in the world. Real monsters.But was the creature in the cage any worse than some of the other monsters out there? The ones Zero had already known about? The wolf didn’t have the cunning of a man like Star, or the malice of Cuba and Davis.It had still murdered Sylvia. He couldn’t forgive it for that.But appearances could be deceiving. Zero had spent the whole morning assuming it was an animal wearing the skin of a man. He’d never considered how it could also be a man who simply looked like a wolf.The creature had a friend out there, lost and alone in Bigg City. A friend who had not killed Sylvia. One who Zero was punishing by holding the creature he had within his apartment.With a sigh, he turned to leave.“Where are you going?” the wolf growled, showing its teeth in some display of threat.“I’m getting something,” Zero replied, not turning back to the creature, “and then we’ll go and find your friend…”
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Captain Zero returned to the cage with a length of rope in his hands. He quickly made a loop and tied a knot, allowing him to change the size of the loop with ease.“What’s that?” the wolf asked, lifting its head with interest.“You want to see your friend, don’t you?” Zero asked in return, “Did you think I’d just let you go?”It tilted its head, “Kinda?”“You’re an idiot.”Making a shrugging motion the wolf looked away. “I don’t need a leash.”Zero moved closer, widening the loop so it would fit around the creature’s head. “I don’t want you pretending to be a man and slipping away.”“Loving the trust,” Zorran flashed his teeth, “I can’t shift form anyway, can’t believe I wasted everything again.”“It’s this or not seeing your friend again, which would you prefer?”“You think a little bit of rope will stop me?”Zero laughed, leaning on the top of the cage. “You want to live in there for the rest of your life?”The wolf looked up at him. “I’ll break out when the moon is full again, then you’ll be sorry.”“Who says you’ll live that long?”Zorran blinked, the creature’s expression not one Zero could read.“So?” Zero asked, tapping impatiently on the metal bars, “which is it?”Looking away but standing up, the wolf gave a hiss. “Fine, I’ll take the leash.”“Good dog.”A few minutes later, Zero had unlocked the cage, letting the beast inside pad out slowly. Zorran’s head hung low, letting Zero slip the rope around his neck with ease.With a sharp tug on the rope, Zero bought Zorran to heel. Now stood side by side, he could see just how big the wolf truly was, much larger than any dog he'd ever known.Zorran had been right. The rope wasn’t going to do anything.“So, I’m going to let you meet your friend,” Zero explained, pulling on the rope for emphasis, “then he’s going to go his own way and you’ll be back here, got that?”“You can’t leave him on his own!” Zorran growled back. “Zeb needs me!”“He needs you?” Zero’s mouth curled into a smile, “well, he’s simply going to have to learn to live without you.”“That’s not how it works!”Zero did not like how much the beast bared its teeth in its anger. He’d need to find a way to muzzle the thing. Letting Zorran have anything he could use as a weapon was asking for the wolf to use them against Zero later down the line.It was beyond foolish, and would need rectifying sooner rather than later.Zorran didn’t appear to be calming down. “Werewolves can’t just exist on our own, we need a pack, I told you this.”The creature sat itself down, and no matter how much he pulled on its rope leash, Zero couldn’t shift it from its spot.“Oh come on!” Zero hissed, continue to try his best to get the wolf moving. “Your friend isn’t really going to die!” The beast remained unmoved. Zero continued pulling at the rope. “Stop being so damn dramatic!”Without any effort on his part, Zorran remained sat where he was. “You don’t know anything, you have no idea what will happen.”“Then tell me!” Zero said, his voice strained with effort.The creature growled, revealing those long, sharp teeth once again. The teeth that had taken Sylvia so cruelly. That could oh so easily end Zero in an equally violent way.But Zorran mellowed, and lay down, his head resting upon his paws. A long, sorrowful sound came from the wolf, halfway between a sigh and howl.And then Zorran began to talk…Zero listened intently to the tale that was being woven. Apparently Zebedee, the other wolf, was different. He tended more to the human, a fact that Zorran gave with disdain. Zorran had ‘turned’ him, whatever that entailed, when Zebedee had only just started to make his life his own.Zebedee’s life had been stolen by Zorran too it seemed, even if it was a theft of a different form than that Sylvia had suffered.It was hard not to feel for the man. To be trapped as the same monstrous beast as Zorran, under the command of Zorran… It was a truly awful fate.Then Zorran explained how his absence would be detrimental to Zebedee. He spoke of how a single werewolf on its own was bound to become feral.Zero had laughed, retorting that Zorran was already feral. That got him another growl, but this time more light-hearted in nature, almost as if the wolf was laughing.Zorran wasn’t feral, at least not by his own judgement. Zero disagreed, but the wolf remained unwavering on his opinion.They had argued, neither backing down. Until Zorran had given a hiss, and brought the conversation back to Zebedee.“He wouldn’t survive a life like that, it’s not for him,” Zorran bemoaned, “he can’t be just a wolf, he’d hate it, probably throw himself in the sea or something stupid.”“I don’t think your friend would kill himself,” Zero said smugly, “surely he is too smart for that?“You don’t know him, you don’t know anything about him!”Zero sighed, knowing he wasn’t getting anywhere. “Let’s go find him then,” he pulled on the rope a final time, and Zorran stood. Zero breathed with relief, “good dog.”“I’m not a dog,” Zorran hissed, once again moving obediently to Zero’s side, “remember that!”“Dogs don’t tend to talk, if you want to keep a low profile then you should keep quite.”The wolf growled, but protested no further. Zero was thankful for that, he knew he couldn’t win an actual fight with the beast. He didn’t know what had caused it to listen to him, but that was something that could be worked out later.For now, he was focused on finding Zorran’s Zebedee. They’d been walking for several minutes, Zorran leading the way with determination. Zero did not want to know what others thought of them. Surely it was normal for a man to walk an enormous dog down the street using only a flimsy piece of rope?He only hoped that Zorran wouldn’t open his mouth and spoil the ruse.The wolf suddenly found a burst of strength, bounding off without any care to the man holding the rope around his neck. Zero was sprinting to keep up. The more sensible option would have been to let go, to watch the wolf-thing run off into the distance.Zero would have done it too, if not for Zorran’s nature. The inherent violence of the thing that only sometimes pretended to be human was too much, especially now he knew where Zero lived. The wolf’s vengeance was a very real threat that the captain did not want to deal with anytime soon.Zorran slowed, padding up to a large man, younger than Zorran but still fully grown in his own right. The two greeted each other wordlessly, and Zero knew they’d found their guy. He watched as the wolf licked at the face of who could only be Zebedee.By the looks of it, Zebedee had been through worse than Zorran had. The first wolf man had looked scruffy when he’d been found by Zero, but Zebedee’s clothes were bordering on rags. He was stained with mud, blood, and who knew what else. Zero could very much believe that under that human façade there was a creature just the same as Zorran.However, the type of anger Zero felt towards Zorran didn’t similarly manifest as he looked at the new wolf-man. He was a pitiful thing, no beast but a beaten and abused dog that followed its cruel master without ever knowing how to question its actions.The happy reunion ended, as Zebedee’s eyes left Zorran, turning to Zero and the rope leash he held.“What’s going on, Zorran?”Zorran spoke half a work before a sharp tug on the rope reminded him who was in charge. He growled at Zero, snapping his head around to turn those teeth on his keeper.No attack came, only the shadow of one. Even in its inexistence, it still sent Zero’s heart racing. He gathered himself, controlled his breathing and looked sternly at Zebedee. “I’m the one doing the talking here.”With a blink, Zebedee backed off, eyes fixed on the rope. “Who are you? What is that?”“Samuel Zero,” Zero held out his hand in greeting, “and this mangy beast mauled my wife to death, I can’t be letting it run loose, I need to deal with this!”“This?” Zebedee reached for the leash, not Zero's hand, “Zorran’s not a dog!”Zero moved the rope out of reach, pulling the wolf away from his friend in the process. “He looks like one to me.”“He’s… we’re…” Zebedee words failed him, and he addressed the creature directly. “Show him Zorran!”Sighing, Zero tightened his grip on the leash. “I’ve seen what he is, I know what you are.”“Zorran, please, show him that you’re a guy like me!”“He can’t,” Zero said matter-of-factly, “he’s stuck like this, that’s what he told me at least.”Zebedee let out a strew of curses and kicked at the ground, before looking back at Zero with a glare. “You can’t treat him like this, even if he can’t change back!”“Did you miss the part about him eating my wife?”“We’re sorry?” Zebedee offered.Shaking his head, Zero gave the other man a look. “You weren’t anything to do with this, this monster killed Sylvia!” He shortened the length of rope, keeping a firmer grip on Zorran.The wolf snapped around, almost catching Zero’s arm in its maw.Dropping the rope, Zero jumped back. He stared at the beast before him, nothing but fear running through his mind. He could see a reality that he had been but an instant slower, a reality in which his arm had become Zorran’s latest meal.A second passed, the three of them not realising what had happened.Zebedee moved first picking up the rope off the floor. He pulled it away from Zero. As it snapped taut, Zorran snapped round on his friend with a growl.“Let go!”Zebedee did as he was told, head hung low.Zero watched on as the man dropped to his knees before the now free wolf. He saw the tears in Zebedee’s eyes as he reached out towards Zorran, fingers almost brushing against the beast’s fur.But Zorran ignored the man, and turned to Zero.The captain froze, watching as the untethered wolf padded towards him, glaring at him with a predator’s eyes.Zero lifted his arms slowly, a feeble attempt to defend himself. He watched Zorran and his teeth getting closer.He should run. His only chance to live was if he ran.His legs wouldn’t move.Feeling Zorran’s fur under his hand, Zero relaxed. His hand rested on the wolf’s head. Then, without warning, he felt Zorran’s head resting against him. There were no teeth, only an odd softness.“So…” the wolf said softly, “you’ve met my idiot.”Zero looked to Zebedee, the man still on his knees. Their eyes met, and the captain saw a sadness and a jealousy in his eyes.Zorran pressed harder against Zero, curving around him to push his head against the captain’s other hand. “Please don’t kill him.”Nodding, Zero found himself agreeing with the wolf. Zebedee didn’t deserve to die, didn’t deserve to be left on his home in the world. The man had been dealt the worst hand, who was Zero to say he should suffer more.But Zorran still needed to die. It would be an insult to Sylvia’s memory to not see that through.“I’m not doing anything to him,” Zero reassured, fussing at the wolf’s head, “we… we need to talk about this.”Zorran finished his circling, now face to face with Zero. His head collided into the captain’s gut, pushing him to the ground.Now faced with those monstrous teeth, that maw of death… Zero cowered. He closed his eyes, and waited for death to come for him.Death did not. Instead, his face became wet as something ran up it.He opened his eyes to see Zorran’s mouth only inches from his face. But it was not filled with teeth and horrors. No, the wolf had simple approached the man and licked his face.Zero wiped the saliva away. As he did so, he saw that Zebedee was next to Zorran, picking up the rope and moving to removing it from around the wolf’s neck. Zorran noticed, and jumped away sideways, growling.“What?” Zebedee said with shock, “We need this off!”“I killed his wife Zeb,” Zorran said, slinking closer to Zero, “I deserve this…”Zero reached out carefully, and took the end of the rope. He expected some attacked, but none came. He pulled ever so slightly at the leash, and Zorran trotted over, and sat next to him, resting his head over Zero’s legs.“I’m sorry…”Zero looked into the wolf’s eyes. They were deep and sorrowful. They were not those of a creature he could take the life of…He put his hand around the creature’s ear, feeling around it. Zorran made a soft sound in response. He was no threat. He had never been a threat.“Zebedee’ll be fine,” Zero reassured, continuing to play with the softness around Zorran’s face, “so will you.”“But–”Zero grabbed the wolf’s head, staring down into its eyes. “I won’t hurt your friend, in any way…”Zorran blinked in answer.“…but we need to get off the street, a talking dog is only going to attract attention.”Zebedee gave a nod. “Got a place to stay?”“Yes,” Zero said, looking towards the second wolf-man, “we’ll head to my apartment, then we’ll make a plan.”Zorran stood up, and began walking away. Zero let the rope leash go, and watched as it trailed upon the floor.After a few steps, Zorran slowed. He turned, head still low and looked at the end of the rope on the ground, then at Zero.Noticing this, Zebedee ran to his friend. He had almost got within touching distance of the leash before another growl from the wolf made him stop in place.“Don’t you want–”“No!” Zorran snapped. “Leave it!” He looked back at Zero. “It’s yours.”Wide-eyed, Zero didn’t move. He knew it was a trap. The beast wanted him to get closer, wanted him within reaching distance of those terrible, terrible teeth.His fate lay within that monster’s maw. There was no escaping it.Zorran took half a step towards him. H The wolf loomed large in his vision, a true beast. This was the thing that had killed his wife. This was the thing that would soon take his life too. And Zebedee’s too.“Take it!” The wolf snapped his jaws.Meekly, Zero reached over and took the end of the rope.“We heading home then?” Zorran asked, padding playfully around.Zero looked to Zebedee. “You should come too, we have important matters to discuss.”With a nod, Zebedee headed over, and the three of them set off for home…