A few hours earlier.
Julien trailed after the shady werewolf, the crunching of leaves underfoot doing little to quiet the questions still circling his mind.
"When will you know you've bonded?"
It had been on his mind ever since he'd heard about the concept, and something about this whole setup felt off—especially since he hadn't even known about the bond he had with Andrew until someone else pointed it out.
Was it something tangible like the threads Afenia had conjured? When had his own bond even been established? At what point would Remus's phenos replace Andrew's need for his entirely? And more importantly…
Would his bond break on its own?
Remus stopped walking and stared at Julien for an uncomfortably long time before a lazy smile crept across his face.
"Whenever he stops seein' me as a threat I guess."
You guess.
"Wouldn't it be easier without me then?"
Logically, if the end goal was to replace him and his mere presence made Andrew reject the bond Remus was trying to form with him, wouldn't that be the only way? Of course, he was willing to stick around until then if it meant everyone made it out the other end alive, but still…
Even the instructions he was given were made to keep him as close to Andrew as possible—his safety being the only reason he couldn't be closer during the full-moon itself.
So why did it feel like he was missing something?
Remus tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as if trying to figure something out.
"You're not gettin' second thoughts are ya poppet?"
Julien shook his head, sending a pointed look Remus's way to answer his question.
Remus crossed his arms, rolling his head around as if mulling over the answer before clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"There're two reasons gettin' rid of ya won't work."
He raised a finger.
"Numero uno, he's gonna be lookin' for ya whether you're 2 centimeters apart or the next world over."
He jabbed his finger into Julien's chest.
"So don't even think about gettin' out of it dollface."
I wasn't…
Pushing his hand away, Julien pressed.
"Then what's the other reason?"
Remus cracked his neck and began walking the path again—backwards this time.
"Did I say there was another reason?"
Julien furrowed his brows, following after him with a clear 'are you serious' expression on his face while avoiding the occasional root Remus himself had no issues with despite his laissez faire approach to walking.
Remus tilted his head with a hum, staring him down as if daring him to press the issue.
"Figure of speech."
Julien matched his gaze, unimpressed, his gaze lingering even as Remus turned back around to walk properly.
Even if he couldn't figure out what was being hidden now, just like with Andrew—
He'd wait until time revealed the answer.
—
A few hours had passed since the three of them settled into the room—with only a few close-calls disturbing the otherwise quiet sleeping nook.
With Remus holding onto Andrew's shoulder—preventing him from moving away from the bed and towards his target—Julien was mostly free to do whatever while they waited for the sun to rise.
Of course, that was within the bounds of the room.
And once Andrew succumbed to his fever, Julien had another role to play.
Shaking his head, Julien circled the room for the third time, ignoring the trailing gaze from the stubborn Andrew.
What an odd set up.
The room, a semicircle with trees for walls—bent and shaped into its own work of art—a canopy ceiling, and flowing vines for doorways—each leaf forming a soft curtain between themselves and the otherwise quiet dome—was cozy, given the circumstances.
And this was made all the more by the elephant in the room:
The bed.
A certifiable Alaska king, the perfect size for three grown men and then some.
Julien looked away from the bed, his eyes crossing paths with Andrew's drooping eyelids and then Remus's closed ones.
Given the room was meant for this exact purpose: establishing bonds in a 'safe' and comfortable environment, he couldn't really complain.
Though would it kill them to leave a connection down here?
That was the other odd thing. There was no TV, no internet, no Tith connection points, and no entertainment—at least not in the dome.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been circling the room all this time.
Yawning, Julien moved to stand in front of Andrew, letting whatever scent he was emitting take over the space. He wasn't worried about being chased anymore tonight anyway.
Andrew had finally succumbed to his fever.
Taking a deep breath, Julien held his arms out as Andrew slowly slumped forward, a pained breath escaping the man's lips as he became incapable of supporting his own weight anymore.
See, I can do it.
Julien caught the capsizing body against his stomach, the wind getting knocked out of him from the heavy impact.
This isn't any different than before.
Resisting the mental block telling him they weren't close enough to be hugging—let alone cuddling—Julien changed his position.
Soon, he was sitting at the edge of the bed with the older man's head in his lap—claws embedded into the fabric of his clothes.
Letting out a slow exhale from the exertion, Julien gave Remus an annoyed look.
"You could've at least helped me move him."
He's gotta weigh at least a hundred kilograms.
Remus's eyes fluttered open and seeing Andrew's unconscious body, he scoffed.
"I don't get how he walks around releasin' phenos all day."
Remus leaned back, wiping imaginary sweat off his brow and sending Julien a smarmy look.
"It's exhaustin' as a motherfucker I'll tell ya that poppet."
Sure, ignore me why don't you.
Julien could feel his eyelids growing heavy as well, but it wasn't a good time yet.
"Is it a tiring process?"
"Releasin' phenos?"
"That, and the bonding process in general."
Remus looked him over and crossed his legs.
"Wouldn't say it's all that tirin' if ya release a bit of it for a day or two."
He sniffed, tilting his head.
"Can't say the same if ya release it at full power for a month straight." He smirked. "Ya wouldn't happen to know an idjit like that would ya Princess? Tall, handsome, with a mean mug and big tits?"
Julien frowned. Meanwhile Remus leaned over, placing his chin on Julien's shoulder and sniffing around much closer than he would've liked.
"Don't worry that pretty little head of yours about nuthin' doll. Just sit pretty for a few months and I'll be outta your hair."
Julien pushed him off, sending him a harsh look.
"Don't patronize me."
Remus shrugged.
"Take it however ya want love."
Moving further into the bed, he dragged Andrew out of Julien's lap and towards the pile of pillows at the back end of the bed, then, he gestured for Julien to do the same. Patting the spot beside him with mischief clear on his face, Remus spoke with sing-song pleasantness.
"For now, it'd be good on ya to go to sleep poppet."
Sending him a disgruntled look of his own, Julien sighed and slid in beside Andrew instead, earning a guffaw from the grey-haired werewolf.
Grumbling, Julien laid his head down on the pillows.
"Good night."
—
Julien was floating in a dark space, aimless like a piece of grass caught in a storm. There were no walls, no sounds, no sights, no senses.
No, there was one.
The sound that always echoed in the back of his mind, the dull anxiety that never left no matter how he tried to cull it.
And tonight, it was whispering to him in a voice not unlike his own.
"You're always so careless."
—
Julien's eyes opened to the sound of raucous laughter ringing in his ears and boiling heat surrounding his body.
That was because he was enveloped in an embrace from the dog of hell himself, Andrew, whose body-heat might as well have been a swallowing inferno.
Crawling out of Andrew's crushing embrace like a pupating larva, Julien, with rusty locs of hair clinging to his forehead, swiveled his head to look at the howling coyote in the corner of the room.
Frowning, Julien calmly approached the little devil and kicked him in the shins, earning a howl of brief pain followed by more laughter from the other man.
Julien clutched his throbbing head, his attempts to recall what caused his headache proving fruitless.
Did I forget my medication?
"What's wrong with you?"
Remus's laughter slowly stuttered out into heavy wheezing as he put his hands on Julien's shoulders, leaning into him with his full body weight.
"You can't tell can ya? Haha! You've gotten a devil's luck in ya don'tcha poppet?"
Julien frowned. Pushing Remus's head back to meet the others glistening golden eyes—a chill not entirely unfamiliar rushed through him at the sight of the others' cooling amusement.
Something isn't right here.
He glanced behind him at Andrew's sleeping form—the sight of a budding tail peeking out from beneath his shirt and stubby ears atop his head throwing him more than he would've thought it would.
His heart began to race.
"Remus, what time is it?"
Remus shook his head, waggling his finger with mock disappointment.
"That's not the right question, dollface."
He passed a small bottle of what could only be described as scentless perfume in his direction, motioning for Julien to put it around his key pheno releasing areas.
Neck, armpits, genitals, feet.
Julien's palms began to sweat as he hurriedly applied the 'perfume' to his skin, but Remus continued on, unconcerned.
"Wasn't expectin' it to affect you too y'know? Since ya can't feel it, figured you'd be fine."
He grinned, nodding his head in Andrew's direction.
"Well, at least one of you is now."
Julien shook his head as he backed towards the doorway, throwing an anxious glance at the seemingly unconscious man on the bed whose hands slowly cracked until more than just the ends were bestial.
Lifting the leafy curtain out of the way and peeking towards the tip of the dome, Julien cursed under his breath and sent daggers Remus's way.
"Remus, you motherfucker."
Remus just chuckled, sauntering towards the bed while stretching his limbs one by one, the ends of his brown hands shifting into a faded grey version of Andrew's blackening claws.
He paused, sending Julien an innocent look.
"Oh by the way."
He suddenly pinned both of Andrew's arms against the bed, placing his knee into the other man's chest and earning a sharp snarl from the suddenly very lively half-wolf beneath him.
Remus laughed.
"I know you're awake."
Julien stood in the doorway and checked his upper arm—waiting for any one of them to make the first move.
This was not the original plan.
Thump thump.
Blood rushed through his body.
Thump thump.
His muscles began to tense.
Thump thump.
Julien's gaze crossed with Andrew's, the man unveiling sharp fangs as he started on a low growl.
He ran.
It didn't take long for blanket destruction to follow suit.
—
"What are the side effects..?"
Julien stared at the rather crappily drawn diagram of a pill bottle and three stick figures etched into the dirt, his gaze drifting to the unfortunate artist that made them.
He might even be worse than me.
Remus leaned back, stroking his chin with his free hand.
"Ya'ever seen one of 'em infomercials from the 1900s where they list about 600 side effects in 30 seconds?"
"2000s."
Remus rolled his eyes, looking Julien up and down.
"It's nothin' like that so don't worry 'bout it princess."
Then why bring it up at all?
"Why make it sound like I'll explode if I take them without you around then?"
Remus clicked his tongue, a mocking smirk gracing his lips.
"It's not good to be too appealin' princess."
He rolled his head to meet Julien's gaze. A daring look in his eye.
"'Sides, do ya really wanna know?"
Julien scanned Remus's face, then looked at the drawing on the ground once more.
Phenos expulsion…
He dragged his foot through the dirt, smearing the image to oblivion.
"Forget it."
—
Julien clutched his rapidly beating chest, trying his best to dampen the sound while fighting off his rapidly growing headache.
Remus, that fucking liar!
He could hear a faint sound in the distance, the tsk tsk tsk of a human coaxing a cat into submission as it wandered around the dark forest.
"Julien."
But it was no human.
"Julien."
And he was no cat.
Julien peeked around the edge of the building—the restroom area they'd been at before—then slowly inched his body along the wall as Andrew disappeared from view.
He hadn't managed to make it very far at all before the werewolf's sudden appearance drove him off course—and Remus was nowhere to be seen.
The door, I just need to make it to the door.
Julien felt under his sleeve once more—the bangle Remus passed him yesterday tight around his upper arm.
As long as he had this, he could leave.
Closing his eyes, he took one last breath before creeping away from the wall.
One step.
He cringed, the sound of crunching leaves excessively loud to his ears.
Two steps.
He picked up the pace, dangling vines snapping over his shoulders causing welts to form on pale skin.
Three steps…
Julien released the breath he was holding, breaking into a full-on sprint as he left the restrooms behind in favor of the next quadrant of the dome. Each step he took illuminated the path as blue-green moss spread and shrivelled beneath his feet.
And each step he took was emphasized by quiet footsteps illuminating that same path.
Julien's blood ran cold.
But not because of the predator behind him.
From the corner of his eye, a massive grey wolf stepped out from behind the trees ahead—its golden eyes burning with silent fury as it turned in his direction.
It was just a stroll at first.
Then a sprint.
But it was only getting faster.
Julien's stomach dropped.
Shit.
Stumbling over a root, Julien slammed into a nearby tree, bark scraping his palms as he pushed off it and continued running with barely a pause in his movements. Grabbing at his aching head, Julien grit his teeth.
Remus.
It had to be.
Changing directions, Julien aimed for the marble platform at the center of the dome instead—flooding streams of moonlight causing its surface to glisten like a deadly candle in the middle of a dark sea.
With the sun nearly gone and the full moon rising into its rightful place, Julien suddenly realized—
I never asked if he was affected by the full moon.