Brother

Smiling nicely at customers is part of my job. In fact, the customer service aspect of my day is something I actually enjoy. That was until Mrs Johns nudges me with her plump arm, and points at the door where the last person I wanted to see has walked in.

“He’s such a nice young man, don’t you think?” She gushes, sharing a knowing smile with the grey haired lady in front of me.

“No.” I mumble, still able to smile and hand the customer the brown paper bag with an over priced scarf in. “Have a great day!”

“You too-” She pauses to read my name badge. “Sarah!”

“He’s not a nice young man?” Mrs Johns whispers to me frowning. “But I saw your brother with, oh!”

She puts two and two together. I don’t like him. Danny hangs around his family and so that must mean he is bad news too. For once I don’t care about my siblings reputation as it’s working in my favour. Hopefully now I won’t have to listen to her carry on about how I need a ’nice young man’ and how my pretty face won’t last forever. I’m seventeen; not twenty-seven or even thirty-seven, though as she reminds me constantly, my birthday is quickly approaching.

Her eyes narrow at him from behind purple framed glasses, before watching him walk around her store like he’s about to try shoplifting. If he fancies anything relating to womens apparel, then she might be justified, but Michael looks out of place surrounded by shoes of varying styles and colours. It’s been a week, and apart from his nightly visits, the Blakes have kept their distance and left us, well Danny alone.

As he picks up a pair of sunglasses that would make even his big head look small, Mrs Johns huffs in building anger. It’s amazing how quickly someone’s opinion can change due to others. “He has no reason to be in here, I’m going to-”

“I got this.” I assure her, patting her arm gently.

I leave the counter and approach him, void of my welcoming smile. “Lost?”

“Just browsing.” He answers casually.

“For ladies sunglasses?”

Michael half smiles, hanging up the eyewear on the stand before turning to face me. “That’s why I’m just browsing.”

His arms lazily fold across his chest, and he rocks back on his heels, unbothered by the glare I’m sending his way. Even Mrs Johns mumbling her disapproval doesn’t phase him.

“What do you want Michael?” I sigh, wanting him gone as soon as possible.

“Hows Danny?”

“He’s fine.”

He drops his voice, glancing over my shoulder to the counter before I get his full attention. “No, changing?”

“No.”

“No, urges?”

“No. He’s fine. Perfectly normal in fact!” I lie.

Danny was far from normal. He was always hungry, paranoid and only slept when I could keep watch over him. His moods were up and down, plus the whole hearing and smelling things wasn’t so easy to control like he first thought.

When I worked, he was at Jake’s place and seemed okay there. He could fake the good son act around our parents long enough to make them think his change in behaviour was permanent. The reality was, it had been a week from hell, and I think Jake was going to break from the stress of it all before Danny. I wasn’t going to tell Michael any of that though.

“Right,” Michael agreed, “I’d believe you if it wasn’t for this uncanny ability I have, for smelling lies.”

I instantly frowned and he laughed, looking at his watch. “Do you get a lunch break? I think we need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Another lie. “Get out!”

“Sarah, is everything okay?” Mrs Johns called out, leaving her stool behind the counter, prepared to come over.

“It’s great, Michael was just leaving!” He could answer all my questions, and I didn’t want to admit it, but he’d be able to help Danny too. “Aren’t you?”

I’d promised Danny I’d stay away from them and to let him know if I saw them. I wasn’t going to risk upsetting him by going back on that, no matter how much I wanted to.

“As the lady wishes!” He said a little too sweetly.

Michaels eyes met mine and I felt about two inches tall as he took a step closer to me. His chest brushed against my arm, and I’d see him shirtless enough times o know why he felt like a wall against me. Coffee lingered on his breath and the summer scent of the beach and sunscreen took over from the vanilla air freshener Mrs Johns constantly sprayed around the shop. My eys drifted to the scar I had noticed the first time I met him. It looked like it had faded even more now and since he was missing his beard, it went beyond his cheek to curve over his jaw and down his neck.

I didn’t flinch as his body vibrated with a growl, and as my eyes left the silver line to go back to his, I was unable to look away this time. Golden flecks seemed to glow in the hazel hue of his eyes; it was beautiful. Danny’s eyes went like that, usually when he was eating or just waking up, so pretty much when ever he was alert and ready to attack; when I was being reminded he wasn’t as human as he appeared.

I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat and not for the first, I startied to think about why he went to jail. Not the best idea considering my current situation and clearly it showed. “You scared of me Sarah?”

“Should I be?” I snapped with fake bravery.

He held his hands up innocently, stepping back and finally I felt like I could breath again. “Never.”

The strange thing was, I believed him.

-x-

Rachelle pounced on me the second I finished work. At four most of the shops started to close up and already the sidewalks were getting crowded. The first week of December was not only the start of summer, but of peak season too and the early arrivals were a good indication of how busy we were going to be in the coming weeks.

“So, spill!” She demanded as we walked down towards the beach.

“What?” I played dumb.

“You’ve been avoiding me all week. You and Danny are practically joined at the hip like someone hit the rewind button and you’re suddenly ten again. What is going on?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“That’s not answering the question.” Damn, she had me there.

“Danny, just needs some help at the moment.”

“Danny always needs help, and you’re always the person who suffers the most. What has he done?”

“I don’t suffer. He’s my brother, I’m always going to be there when he needs me!” I can’t stop myself from getting defensive.

“I know. I didn’t mean it like that, but come on. He uses you a lot and I think he needs to start acting like a grown up. Otherwise he’ll suddenly be, thirty and unable to function without you thinking for him. We’re graduating on Monday. He can’t keep acting like a kid.” Rachelle began to lecture, sounding almost like my Mum when she goes into one of her, ‘where did I go wrong’ rants about my twin. “Stop being his doormat!”

“Rachelle-”

“Don’t make excuses for him. I’ve heard it all before Sar! And don’t forget we’re going up to the city tomorrow to do our Christmas shopping! We’ve planned this for months and I need something new to wear to graduation!”

I had forgot.

Jake had watched Danny today, I knew he couldn’t do it again tomorrow.

“You did forget, didn’t you?” She sighs.

“I’ve had a crazy week.” I tell her. “What if I bring-”

“No. Girls trip and that means girls only! Peta has her Mum’s Patrol and he won’t fit and he makes Helena uncomfortable. Not to mention that thing he had with Becky last summer, it’ll just be awkward.”

She starts to ramble out all the cons of Danny coming along and as we stop at her work, I can’t stop myself from blurting it out. “Danny is a werewolf.”

“What?” She stops walking and talking to stare at me.

“Last week, at the party, that’s what was going on.”

“You been watching too much TV. Werewolves don’t exist and that’s the lamest excuse ever!” She frowns.

“I’m serious!” Then I burst into tears.

She sits me down at a table away from everyone else and I tell her, everything. I start with the wolves Peta and I saw, and about how weird the Blakes are. I tell her what really happened Friday night and end with Michaels’ visit today. I nearly use a canister of napkins as I can’t get a grip of my emotions, and I was wrong about Jake breaking before Danny.

I did.

“You’re not making any of this up, are you?” Rachelle asks softly, rubbing my back as she hugs me. “Sarah, this is huge!”

“I know and I don’t want to cancel our shopping trip, but I really can’t leave him right now!”

“You’re forgiven. This time. But. A werewolf?” She lets me go and looks completely bewildered.

“Don’t say a word to anyone. I’m so sorry, but it’s meant to be a secret and, they threatened to kill us-”

“Woah! What?” She sat upright, her surprise turning to fear. “The Blakes? Go to the police!”

“No. I can’t. I just, oh I don’t know. I shouldn’t have told you.” The second of relief I had at being able to talk to someone left me as guilt took over instead. The sun was starting to drop, and looking at my phone, Jake had called me twice and it was nearly six o’clock. “Rach, please don’t say anything to anyone. I gotta go get Danny.”

“I promise. I won’t. Call me later okay?”

We hugged and after dropping that bombshell on her, I ran back up to the carpark and went to get Danny.

“You’re late!” Jake yelled at me as I pulled up on his driveway. He looked beyond stressed.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, freezing as Danny came out from the shed. “Hey!”

“I’m sick of this. He’s scared of me and you look like shit Sarah. Have you been crying?” He growled, standing between me and Jake. “Did you upset her?”

“No mate, no! I’m not scared of you, I just, I don’t know what to do alright!” Jake defended, throwing his arms up in frustration. “This isn’t normal and I’m trying to deal with it, but then you get all superstrong and angry and fuck man. Come on!”

“Danny, I’m fine. Jake didn’t do anything, lets just go-” I reached out to turn him away from Jake and direct him towards the car, “home okay? Mum and Dad are out tonight, so we can-”

“What is that?” Danny stopped, looking me over before leaning in closer and grabbing my arm, he sniffed it. “Did he make you cry?”

“Who?” Jake asked, looking at me for a clue as to what was going on.

“No! No one made me cry! Get in the car and-”

“I smell him on you Sarah. What happened?” His grip tightened around my arm, and trying to pull away did nothing other than make him hold on more.

As I stepped back, he dragged me closer to him and as his eyes narrowed, I saw the way they dilated. His nostrils flared as he stood taller, almost how Michael had got in my face and I knew it was to intimidate me. Just like when dogs fight they puff up, raise hackles and do that tail curling thing. Had he been a monkey, he’d be banging his fists on his chest.

That wasn’t the worst part.

His hands shook, the trembling moving up his arm and into his whole body, which had Jake stepping away from us instead of closer - killing any intentions he had to help me. Danny breathed out of his mouth and I saw the change to his teeth. His canines were longer, while the other teeth were shortening and with a growl he shook my arm.

“Answer me!” He yelled, as my knees felt too weak to keep me upright.

“Danny, calm down.” I tell him softly. “You’re hurting me.”

“No! I’m not! Why do you smell like him!”

“He was in the grocery store, when I went to get my lunch. In front of me at the checkout, I didn’t even notice him until he turned and bumped into me.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue and I wondered if Michael really could smell lies. If he did, could Danny?

“That’s all, I promise, I haven’t seen him otherwise. He ignored me and just drove off and I went back to work.”

“You’re hurting her Danny, stop it!” Jake finally decided to add something to the situation and I couldn’t stop the tears from running down my cheeks.

If he didn’t let me go, I was positive I was about to have a broken wrist and fighting him only made it worse. The tension left Danny and his eyes darted up and down my face, taking in the fear I couldn’t hide. Instantly he dropped my arm, stepping back from me as he ran his hands through his hair.

“FUCK!” He yelled, dropping to his knees, his fists were slammed repeatedly against the concrete driveway. “Sarah, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. I couldn’t let go, and his scent, and fuck!”

I wiped my eyes, refusing to look at Jake because what I had already seen was bad enough. It’s not Danny’s fault, but he really needed help. He was losing control, and I moved beside him, trying to stop him from hurting himself as he kept hitting the ground.

“Danny, it’s okay. You didn’t mean it. I know you didn’t. Get in the car, we’ll go home, I’ll shower, you can have something to eat and we’ll talk.”

Reluctantly he nodded, going quiet as I got him in the car and closing the door I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

“Thanks for today Jake.” I mumbled, moving around the front of the car to get in.

“Want me to come with? Are you going to be okay, alone, with him?” His eyes fell to my wrist, which was white and red with Danny’s hand print. It hurt too, but i wasn’t going to let him know that.

“Yeah. Don’t worry.” I smile, “I’ll call you if I need you.”

He surprised me by hugging me, and it lasted a few more seconds than I was comfortable with. “Is that what really happened today?”

“Yes.” Another lie. I was getting good at this.

“Stay safe Sarah. I, well, I really care about you and if anything happened, I’d blame myself and I don’t want to see you hurt.” I froze in shock as he leaned closer and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you.”

Jake headed inside and it took a few more breaths until I could make myself move again.

“He likes you.” Danny mumbled as I started the car.

“Thank you Captain Obvious.” I glanced at him nervously, wondering if I’d have to stop him from chasing down Jake now. I always suspected he had more than friendly feelings, but he flirts with anything that has boobs so I didn’t think too much about it.

“He has forever. The first time he told me, I pushed him off the monkey bars.” He admitted; sounding a little guilty.

“That was like, year seven. You had detention for a week!” And I never knew why Danny had been so mad at Jake to do that and then threaten to ‘bash him’. It didn’t stop them from staying best friends though, Jake even sat outside the classroom waiting for Danny to be let out.

“Stay away from him, Sarah. He’s my best mate, but you deserve better. You’re going to uni next year, you’re smart and you don’t need to be tied down here.”

“One, Jake is like a brother to me anyway, it would be too weird. Two, you don’t get a say in who I date, but thanks for sharing your opinion.”

He made a grunt like sound and we didn’t talk for the rest of the ride home or even when we got there as Danny went up to his room. Mum and Dad shared a look. It some convincing, and even more lying to make sure they still went to their party. The second the front door closed I went and got an ice pack out of the freezer and put it on my wrist. I kept it there even when I went and had a bath, trying to relax I lit some candles and put on some music.

I must’ve fallen asleep because when Danny knocked on the door, the water was cold and my play-list had finished.

“You okay in there?” He called out.

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“I’m going to get dinner ready.”

“Great!” I shivered and emptied the water, opting to take a quick shower.

I felt better by the time I went downstairs, and my wrist wasn’t as sore either. The sounds from the kitchen made me stop though and hesitantly I peered around the corner, scared of what I would find. I covered my mouth with my hands to stop myself from crying out as Danny tore into the hunk of beef that was supposed to be tomorrows dinner.

Bloody juices dripped down his chin, and over his hands while the plastic it had been wrapped in from the store was shredded on the floor around him. Not only that, but the tray the sausages had come on was beside him, and the bag of steaks. The fridge door had been left open, and the tray where the salad and veggies were kept was tipped upside down.

Danny hadn’t noticed me, still ripping into the raw meat. The more I looked, the more I realised he’d taken out the frozen meat too, and bits of it sat amongst the rubbish as half gnawed on frozen chunks. The floor was streaked with bits of meaty juices as well as his leftovers, making it look like a crime scene.

I didn’t know what to do.

“Dan, Danny?” I whispered, earning his attention as he stopped mid bite.

“Mine!” He snarled as he got up, moving to the other side of the kitchen.

“Okay. That’s yours.”

How was I going to explain that to Mum?

Looking at him, I tried to stay calm. It was just meat. It wasn’t people or anything, bad. We had a barbecue, the girls came over and Danny’s friends. I’d give them what money I had saved up already to do more shopping. That was an easy fix.

Danny? Not so much.

He tore off another strip, watching me as he chewed it, slowly, purposefully, as if he was trying to work out if I meant it and I wasn’t a threat to his meal. I was in over my head, and once again the weight of the week pushed against my eyes and a few tears leaked out before I could try and hide them.

“You, stay here and eat okay?” I told him.

He grunted, and did just that as I tried to find my phone. It was in my bag in the lounge room and calling Jake, he didn’t answer. Great. I thought about calling Rachelle, but she wasn’t even meant to know and besides, what could they even do?

Going back into the kitchen, Danny sorted through the rubbish and found the frozen bits to continue his dinner. I waited for him to finish, not brave enough to interrupt and once it was all gone, he sat down and looked at me.

“I was going to cook, sausages, and then I saw the ham and cold meats. I smelt, blood, and I couldn’t-” He stopped, resting his head on his knees as he hugged himself. His shoulders shook with his sobs, and my heart felt like it was breaking.

Confusion.

Danny and I had a knack of working out what the other was thinking, or feeling. Rachelle teased us for it growing up and always tried to do things to test out what she thought was a psychic twin link. Right now, it was working in overdrive as I felt so lost and scared, different to my own emotions, because now it was all Danny’s.

I can’t help him or fix this.

Carefully stepping around the mess I knelt beside him and he instantly leaned against me, but didn’t look my way.

“Don’t get mad, but, Danny, I think, I think you need to see the Blakes.”

“I know.” Came his mumbled reply. “Not now. I don’t want to.”

“Okay, tomorrow then?”

“No!” He growled.

He stopped shaking, growing tense as he finally lifted his head.

“I don’t need them. I won’t be like them!” Danny yelled.

I swallowed nervously, nodding. “Okay. Calm down. You don’t have to see them now.”

We fell into a staring contest, and every instinct I have was telling me to run. Danny looked away first, turning to see the mess he made. “I’m so hungry.”

“Let me see if we have anything else?” I left him sitting there and sure enough, there happened to be a missed tray of lamb chops and some bacon in the freezer. “Want it cooked?”

He looked ashamed as he shook his head, and as I went to pass it to him, he snatched it from my hands instead and turning away from me, I don’t think he even chewed any of it as he gulped it down. I started to clean up, and after a few minutes, Danny helped me. He got the mop ready and once I picked up the rubbish he cleaned. Once that was done, he disappeared into the bathroom and as I heard the shower turn on, Jake called me.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just calling to let you know, in case you were worried.”

“Okay, good, great.” He sighed, obviously relieved.

“Thanks again, for everything.” I hesitated, tempted to still tell him, but didn’t. “Night Jake.”

“Anytime. Night Sar.”

Looking at the clock, it was nearly nine and if Michael stuck his routine, he’d be outside soon. I stood staring at the clock, lost in thought until Danny came in and grabbed a glass of water. He looked at me frowning, before hugging me.

“I’m sorry, for everything. I can deal with this. Please don’t give up on me!” Danny begged.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked, deciding not to try bringing up the Blakes just yet.

“Tired. Do you mind if I sleep now?”

“No. Go. I’ll be up for a while yet.”

He went upstairs and I went and turned on the TV. After sitting through an episode of some new drama that I knew nothing about, I went to check on him. Curled up in a ball, he was softly snoring, and seeing the chest of drawers in front of the window he must’ve just moved them. I knew he had done it - to try and stop anything from coming in that way. Even though we were on the second story.

I closed the door and kept quiet as I went back down stairs. I turned the TV volume down and going to the front window, I couldn’t see any wolves standing guard. Getting the rubbish bag from the kitchen, I went outside, praying I was doing the right thing and put out the trash. Looking around, the street was as it always was.

Silent.

Empty.

Resident guard dog standing at the end of our driveway.

This was it and I couldn’t deny how relieved I suddenly felt at seeing him. As if sensing this, Michael moved swiftly towards me stopping beside the fence. He frowned, and his eyes stopped on my wrist. “What happened?”

I opened my mouth, but what do I say?

“I know something has, because this morning you couldn’t get rid of me quick enough and now you’re actually happy to see me.” He paused, “plus you’ve got a bruise you didn’t have before.”

“You need to leave.” I turned to go inside and as Michael went to stop me, I managed to avoid him even brushing against me. A couple of more days. Danny asked me not to give up on him and I couldn’t, not yet.

“Don’t!. Don’t touch me!” I kept my voice low, not sure how good Danny’s hearing was when he was asleep.

“Stop, Sarah, talk to me!” He begged, shadowing me towards the house.

“I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Tell me what’s going on. You know I can help!”

“Today, when I got him from Jake’s. Well, at the store you touched me.” It sounded stupid now, and I stumbled on my words, not sure what to say. Luckily he worked it out.

“He caught my scent and what, hurt you because of it?”

“No, not really. He didn’t mean to do it and he let go.” Now I was rambling, slowly growing angry with myself because I couldn’t shut up and I didn’t want him to know everything. It didn’t matter, because I offloaded all of it, right up until I came outside. “We graduate high school on Monday. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”

I didn’t cry now. No, I was just mad.

“You! You ruined it! You ruined everything. Our lives are never going to be the same now. How does it even happen? Oh hey, I just moved here, I’m a werewolf, wanna be one too?” I went past rambling into full on hysterics and I couldn’t stop. “And him. How stupid is he? Typical Danny, works out it’s a bad idea after it’s too late and our parents can’t help him. I can’t help him. Just you and we don’t even like you!”

Michael just took it and when I finally stopped, I needed a second to get my breath back. “Feel better?”

Yes. “No!”

He raised an eyebrow and I caved. “Yes.”

“He has to change into a wolf again. It will help, a lot.” He tells me.

“He won’t. He doesn’t want to be one anymore.”

“Too late. He started the ritual and the only way for it to end was with him changing.”

“How do you even let people do that?” I snap.

“Justin.” Michael sighed, throwing the blame to his sibling. “Your little friend Jake, got them all high one night and when I picked them up, he let it slip. Your brother didn’t believe him, so he had to show him and it went from there. Danny will be fine as one of us. I wouldn’t have agreed to him turning otherwise. He needs to stop fighting it, change into the wolf and deal with it.”

“He won’t listen to you.” I point out.

“Obviously otherwise he’d still be at my house and I’d be helping him deal with all of this!” Finally there was a crack in his cool, calm and collected facade. “He will listen to you. He has been listening to you, but that’s not going to last for long. The sooner he does it, the better. Danny is only going to get worse, and if it gets to that point, I’ll have to put him down.”

“Put him down? You mean, kill him?”

“He won’t be Danny anymore Sarah. Already he’s losing control and it won’t matter who you are or where he is, he’ll kill you before you can even regret not listening to me.” I knew he wasn’t joking. “Why do you think I’ve been here every god damn night? I know what he is capable of, and I think you do too now he’s scared some common fucking sense into your brain!”

I was speechless.

“Sorry.” Michael said after a minute, softening his tone. “Do the right thing. I know you want to help your brother, and if you can get him to shift, it will.”

“It hurt him so much last time.” I cringed just thinking about it.

“The more he does it, the less it will hurt. You saw how quickly and painlessly I changed that night, right?”

“What if I can’t make him do it?” I didn’t miss the way he hesitated.

“Worry about it later.” He looked up to the roof, before back to me. “He’s waking up. Try now. I’ll stay out here incase you need me okay?”

“I. Um. Okay.”

Danny might hate me, but I had no choice other than believing Michael. He had no reason to lie to me and if he went to the effort of, changing Danny, surely he wouldn’t do anything to hurt or kill him. I also believed that Danny was losing control.

His temper was unreadable and I rolled my wrist stiffly; another reminder of how - violent, he had become. It wasn’t intentional. Danny wasn’t this person and if getting him to turn into a wolf stopped him from becoming someone else, something else, I’d do it.

He was on the stairs when I went through the front door and I didnt hide my surprise at seeing him there. His eyes seemed to reflect the light, more like a cat than human as his head raised slightly, using the sea breeze that came in with me to his advantage.

A predator assessing his prey.

“What were you doing out there?” He didn’t sound like Danny now.

“Putting out the garbage. You know how shitty Mum gets when we leave it full.” I don’t lock the door, hoping he doesn’t notice and move into the living room.

He is beside me so silently, I jump as he sits on the sofa. “You’re acting weird.”

“You startled me.”

“More than that.” His eyes fall to my wrist as I rest it on my lap and frowning, he picks it up carefully. “This was me.”

Before I can answer, he licks me. My mouth drops in shock as I just stare for a second, before I shriek and pull away. He looks hurt above all else and rather than sit on the lounge, he is kind of crouched there.

“Yuck! Danny, you licked me!” It wasn’t the first time, but normally it’s him being gross on purpose and doing it to freak me out.

“I know.” He frowned, looking confused for a moment and his voice was rough when he answered, like I offended him. “I thought that, licking your sore would help?”

“Have you, thought about changing into the wolf?” I suggested.

“What?”

“Maybe, it was a sign you should? Like eating the raw meat and stuff?”

“No.” His tone was void of any emotion and he stood to glare down at me.

“Danny, you ate raw meat. All of it. Even the frozen stuff!”

“So?”

“So that’s not normal!” I yelled at him, standing up to poke him in the chest. “I’m trying to help you. You are what you are now, you did that. So, deal with it!”

He tried to stare me down, and I didn’t back off. Not this time and it worked as he sighed and dropped onto the sofa.

“What if I hurt you?”

“You won’t.”

“How are you so sure?” He looked at me for answers I didn’t have.

“You’re my brother. You’re not going to hurt me.”

“I almost did before?”

“Almost, but you stopped before you did. I trust you, you can do this.” I took a deep breath, and held his hand. “I believe you can.”

Danny nodded, standing up and taking of his shirt he headed for the backdoor. “What are you doing?”

“Not here. I have to be outside.” He answered.

I followed, running after him as he took off his track pants. I stood on the veranda as he started to pace back and forth on the lawn. Each step had him breathing harder and his gait lost the stomping human to a more fluid, motion.

“Wolf. Be a wolf. Wolf.” Danny started to mutter under his breath. I looked inside to see Michael coming into the kitchen and he held up his finger to his lips.

My brother kept pacing and I slowly stepped back to the door where Michael now stood just behind the curtain.

“He needs to stop, and focus. Meditate is good, and it will start to come to him naturally.” He whispered.

How do I tell Danny that?

“Nothing is happening!” Danny roared, his frustration growing.

Turning to look at me, I could something was happening as just like at Jake’s, he started to tremble and he was breathing like he’d just ran a marathon. Slowly I approached him, repeating my own mantra of not freaking out over and over in my mind. I took his hands in mine, and it was like trying to move concrete, but eventually he bent his knees and sat in front of me.

“You need to calm down.” I spoke slowly, with a calm I didn’t know I had right now.

I got a grunt in response.

“Seriously, close your eyes. Deep breaths.”

Looking back towards the door, Michael was no where to be seen and I took exaggerated deep breaths in time to Danny’s. His shoulders slumped and his head dropped, so with that over, he started to mutter the word wolf again. I didn’t think it was working until he let go of my hands and fell onto his back.

It was just like the first time.

Slow, painful; how the neighbours didn’t call the cops due to the sounds coming from our yard, I’ll never know. Fear held me in place, even as he finished shifting I couldn’t move. He could have jumped me, tore me apart and I’d have just let him. Whatever I remembered from last week, didn’t prepare me from seeing it again and my mind shut down in an effort to stop me from being the one to totally lose it.

My brother is a werewolf.

His ears were flat against his head, and his tongue hung out of his mouth like it was a meter long as he stood there panting. Slowly he began to look around, surveying the fences, memorising the smells until he finally stepped towards me. The big, dark head pushed against my chest like an overly affectionate dog and as he licked at my chin, I snapped out of my daydream.

“You did it.” I couldn’t sound enthusiastic. He was lucky I made words at all.

The black wolf whined, head-butting my arm as he circled around me. He was bigger than any dog I’d seen before, bigger than our old golden retriever who passed away a couple of years ago. His head went against my side, lifting my arm so it fell over his neck and I realised he was trying to make me stand up. I used him for support and did just that, trying to stay calm.

There was a wolf doing circles around me.

He yapped, or howled, I’m not sure what the noise was exactly and as he looked around, I sensed his fear. Taking a few steps towards the shed in the back corner, he shadowed me, creeping low as his tail was tucked between his legs. Danny was panting, stressed out and as a car went down the street, he froze. His ears went up as he listened, assessing the information he was able to receive now and then kept following me. After two laps of the yard, he wandered ahead, like a nervous new pet discovering their new surroundings.

“Danny?” I called, and his head snapped to me. “You okay?”

His tail soon hung out behind him, daring to wag a little. I took that as a yes.

Nose to the ground, he was soon doing laps of his own. Stopping every now and then to sniff the wind as it came into the yard. I’d almost forgot about Michael being here until he came out the back door and walked over. Danny didn’t notice since he’d half disappeared in some of the bushes near the shed.

“What now?” I asked him, feeling exhausted.

“Now you can stop worrying.” Michael assured me.

Then I really woke up. “You can’t be here! He’s going to freak when he-”

Right on cue Danny began to stalk towards us. His lips parted to reveal his pearly whites and the growl that left him had goosebumps breaking out all over my skin. Michael wasn’t phased.

“Danny’s problems with me, is purely human. While he is still Danny now, he has a few new, instincts, too. Wolves are pack animals. There is a pack leader, and the pack. Now he is changed, he won’t fight my authority. That night he changed, he knew to follow me, and I rewarded that by taking him hunting. Fear clouds his mind and judgment when he is on two legs. Now, he knows his mistakes and-”

Danny snapped at his hand and in with the strangness of the moment, I laughed. “Pack leader hey?”

Michael didn’t look impressed and turning to Danny shook his head. “Wait.”

The wolf didn’t look like he understood, but he didn’t attack him either.

“The more he accepts this, the less human and animal will be in conflict. It’s why I can hide what I am so well, I am in control. Now he isn’t fighting it, Danny understands, but when he’s human, he is torn and wants to stay ‘normal’. Do you understand Bright Eyes?” Michael smirked, knowing I hated him calling me that.

“Yeah, I do, but you control him now?” That I didn’t like.

“Not so much control, but guide. You listen to your parents, to teachers and authority. For Danny, I am that authority. I don’t tell him to jump and he’ll ask me how high, yet he will listen to me. If I tell him it will be okay, he will believe that. I’m going to take him out, he needs to run and hunt, and I’ll return him in the morning as good as new.”

Danny didn’t do well with authority, of any kind. “You think he’ll follow you?”

“He will submit and learn how to be one us, yes.” Michael confirmed. The wolf started to growl again, head down as he stalked closer to his ‘pack leader’. “I have my ways, just like every other top dog.”

I didn’t like how that sounded.

“I promise you, Danny will come back tomorrow and he will be feeling much better.” He tells me. “Get some sleep, because you look like shit and I know this week has been hard on you.”

Moving past him, I went to Danny and the click of velcro sound of Michael taking off his board shorts stopped me from turning around. “I love you Danny. I’m sorry about tonight, but I was scared and I think this is the right thing for you to do.”

I put my arms around his neck and hugged him, smiling as his head pushed against my shoulder - almost knocking me over.

“Be safe.” I whispered into his ear as Michael came beside us in his own wolf form.

Danny leapt away from me, turning to face him. He wedged himself between us, sizing up Michael who reacted the same way. If I didn’t know better, this was looking like the start of a dogfight and Danny wasn’t backing down. It happened in seconds; Danny lunged at him, and Michael swiftly pinned him. He moved so quickly and perfectly, I barely saw him even do it and with his jaws on Danny’s neck, he was right. Danny did submit to him, because right now he didn’t have a choice.

The pair calmed down and Michael nipped Danny’s shoulder, bounding away, he made it over the side gate easily enough and Danny looked at me once before following. I ran after them, but by the time I got to the end of the driveway, they were gone.

I went and folded Michaels clothes, putting them in Danny’s room before giving the house a once over so my parents wouldn’t get any surprises when they got home. Doing as Michael suggested, I got ready for bed. I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep the second I laid down, andw ith the house quiet and empty, I’d never felt so scared or alone.