Nick shook his head, answering Mary in a clipped voice: "No. No, we can't tell her, are you out of your mind?"

Looking at Kate, he added: "There's nothing to tell, I don't know what she's talking about."

Oh, he had some nerve. Kate scoffed, shaking her head.

Mary kept her gaze fixed on Nick.

"This is bigger than the two of us. We need more people on our side," she said and turned to face Kate before Nick could protest.

Smiling, Mary added: "Don't be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you."

Almost unconsciously, Kate's hand wandered to her waist, checking to see if her gun was still safely tucked away in her belt, hidden from view by her jacket.

It was.

"Mary, you can't do this." Clearly uneasy, Nick stepped forward.

"Stop." Mary's voice held a warning. "I've been a werewolf far longer than you. That makes me not only stronger, but more experienced, so you really should trust me on this. I don't want to resort to drastic measures, but if you keep putting your personal feelings above the interests of our kind, you're forcing my hand."

Nick's jaw tightened. Desperation shone in his eyes.

"She'll hate me," he whispered so quietly Kate wasn't even sure she'd heard him correctly.

Why would she hate him? And, more importantly, did he really believe Mary's deranged werewolf fantasies or was he just playing along here?

Her hand felt warm.

She glanced down to find Nick holding it.

Kate was about to yank it out of his grip, because she didn't need his protection, even if it was a cute gesture, when Mary's voice drew her attention away from Nick.

"Don't be frightened," she was saying.

Then Mary closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her irises had changed colour, from brown to an icy light-blue.

Mary dropped to the ground. A wave of white fur covered her skin in less than a second. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but no sound was coming out.

Her sharp canines were glinting in the sunlight, two on the upper jaw and two on the lower.

Suddenly, Mary was gone and in her place stood a beautiful, white wolf.

Kate's breath hitched. She didn't even really notice, but she was squeezing Nick's hand tightly, now.

"You drugged me." She turned to face Nick, who was still holding her hand.

"You drugged me," she said again, a little more desperately.

Nick didn't answer, just looked at her with an expression she couldn't decipher.

"Detective."

Mary's voice caused her to jerk her head back around to where the white wolf had been seconds ago. Now, the wolf was gone and Mary, the human, was back.

"He hasn't drugged you. He couldn't have, and you know it."

Kate shook her head vigorously. She looked to Nick for some support, but he stayed silent.

"Say something, for god's sake!" she snapped. "This is a stupid joke! Werewolves don't exist!"

She must've been dreaming. So why did this all feel so real?

Nick intensified the grip he had on her hand gently, just to get her attention.

His voice was soft and a bit strained, the words chosen carefully: "Kate. I know this is hard to believe, but.. if you really want the truth, then your only choice is to believe Mary right now."

Kate didn't reply. Her mind was spinning.

She had just witnessed Mary change into a wolf. Assuming she wasn't going crazy, that was pretty definitive proof.

Plus, the murders had definitely been conducted by a wild animal - it could have very well been a wolf.

A werewolf. Mary?

"Did you ki-"

"No, I did not. Kate, you have to understand that there are very few of us left. Even fewer people who know about us. I- Nick and I made the decision to bring you in so we can catch the killer, the real killer. Together."

Kate bit her lip anxiously. She didn't know whether to trust Mary or not.

Nick seemed to believe her.

Nick.

The wolf in the kitchen.

Oh, she couldn't believe it had taken her this long to figure it out!

When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Kate wriggled her hand out of Nick's grip.

"Are you a werewolf?" She felt so silly saying it out loud.

Nick hesitated for a moment.

"Yes," he finally whispered, sadness and shame in his gaze.

Kate swallowed. She noticed her hands were shaking.

The only thing she was certain of was that she needed some time alone right now.

"I-" Nick began, but Kate interrupted him.

"I have to go," she whispered.

Leaving the two werewolves behind, Kate stormed out of the house, only slightly slowing down in the hallway because she almost tripped over a damn ping-pong racket.

...

Nick ran his hand through his hair, something he always did when he was nervous or frustrated and those little adjectives didn't even begin to cover how he felt right now.

The minute Kate had run out of the room, he hadn't been able to hold his wolf back anymore.

He felt razor-sharp teeth poking his lips, his field of vision becoming clearer and his sense of smell heightening.

The desire to change completely and escape into the woods somewhere, escape the mess his life had become, was overwhelming.

Mary put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. This is good. She believes us. It'll only be a matter of time until she comes around. We need her on our side."

"I get it!" Nick let out a frustrated growl. "What I think you DON'T get is that we almost scared her to death!"

Mary drew her hand away from his shoulder. "She's a brave woman. She'll come around, I know it."

"What if she doesn't, huh? How can you be sure, Mary? Oh, that's right, you can't! And you still showed her!"
Another growl escaped his lips.

Mary deliberately let her eyes change colour, in complete control of her wolf.

In addition to his anger, another emotion welled up inside of him: jealousy. Everyone had a grip on their animalistic side but him, it seemed.

Mary's mouth was set in a thin line. "You can calm down somewhere else. I want you out of my house."

Nick's amber gaze turned desperate.

As much as he hated admitting it, Mary was right, there was something more important than his stupid crush on Kate at stake here.

Mumbling an apology to Mary, he trotted out of the house.

When he got to his car, Nick didn't even try to get his eyes and teeth under control again, because he knew the effort would be in vain and instead rested his head on the steering wheel, suddenly feeling exhausted.

His world had just been shattered. Things would never be the same again.

Without Nick's permission, his mind re-played the events of today.

[author's note: okay so this is kind of like Nick's view of today and it explains why he was in Mary's house in the first place]

He had remembered Mary's name from Stevens's file.

When you had a name and access to the police database, it wasn't hard to find the corresponding address.

He didn't really know what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this sweet mother of three and her eccentric aunt with red and green hair.

Mary had already known about the murders.

She told him that, because she worked as a journalist, she'd managed to get close enough to the crime scene and, even though it looked like a werewolf had done this, no supernatural forces were involved - she could have smelled it.

Nick realized she was right, he hadn't smelled anything out of the ordinary either.

He told her about the new chief of police, Peter Stevens, and Mary said that he was part of a small group of self-proclaimed werewolf hunters. They'd been harmless up until this point.

Mary was sure that the killer was trying to start a fight between them and the werewolves left in this city by framing them for the murder.

Then Kate had walked in, and.. well.

Nick lifted his head up from the steering wheel.

He knew his eyes were still yellow and that wasn't something he could do a whole lot about right now, so he searched his storage compartment for some sunglasses.

After having found a pair, he put them on and drove home, his fingers trembling.

****

Kate will come around, right?

She wouldn't do something drastic.. not Kate pshh that's ridiculous ;)

A hugeee thank you to gaillsss  for the overwhelming support!!

Also tysmmm to lilacwriterr and to gimmesomemilk6 <3

And AmongMillions, Ridiculousmoutains, amhill and ShortyWolf20 - you already know ;))❤️