Chapter 4

　　A trail of wolf footprints led all the way to Jeremy's tightly closed door. There were even two leaves resting on the floor.

　　"Finally!" Celeste whooped, a thrill burning in her eyes. She already formed an interrogation plan while Jeremy was gone. Now, the only thing she needed was to get her hands on the man and squeeze the answers out of him. She made a beeline to Jeremy's door and held her breath, a smile on her face. She knocked.

　　One second… Two seconds… Three seconds… Ten seconds…

　　"Have you shifted back?" she tried the doorknob. It was locked. He must have shifted back.

　　Silence was the only answer she received. The smile vanished from her face, replaced by a frown. She leaned closer to the door and listened carefully. It was suspiciously quiet.

　　"Stop pretending you're not there!" She banged on the door. This time, she detected a small hiss from the room. "Ah ha! I heard you!"

　　She waited for a few seconds, and the door remained closed.

　　"Open the door, puppy! Or I'll bust the door down!" She added when the man on the other side still pretended he was not there.

　　"I'm not a puppy! And you wouldn't dare! Dad will kill you!"

　　Celeste gasped, "Oh! He talks! Holy! It's a miracle! By the way, Dad will only be happy at the news since he's still mad you broke his favorite car."

　　"He's still mad? Crap…"

　　Celeste shook her head in glee.

　　"Put away that smirk on your face."

　　Celeste felt busted. "I do not smirk!"

　　"Yeah, yeah… Just leave me alone." Jeremy heaved a long sigh.

　　"Come on! Don't be an asshole. I won't pet you like a puppy this time, I promise! I'm just curious about your transformation!"

　　"What do you want to know?" He sounded beaten.

　　"I … actually got a question list for you. Hey, let me finish!" She already saw her twin brother's protest coming. As expected, a sigh came from the door. Celeste giggled and continued, "It won't take long! Just feed me some info so I'll be better prepared when my wolf sur…"

　　"No!" Jeremy cut her off.

　　"Why not? Come on! That's the only thing I ask! You've got your wolf today, and my wolf would probably jump out tonight! I just need to be prepared. You'll help me, right? We can even go hunting together after I transformed."

　　She thought Jeremy would be touched by her speech and yanked the door open immediately for a friendly Q&A, so she stared at the door in anticipation. She heard the rustle from the room, and then Jeremy sighed again.

　　"Can we do this later? I don't want to talk about it now. And I got this dirt all over me. Leave me for a shower, okay? You… If you transform tonight," he paused because his voice was somehow hoarse, "you will… you will know everything. And I don't think you'll go hunt with me after that." The last sentence was almost too low for her to hear.

　　Celeste wanted to protest, but the man did sound exhausted.

　　"Fine…" she breathed. Deep down, she was a little annoyed and even hurt when Jeremy decided just to shut her out, but the exhaustion in his voice worried her even more. "Are you okay, Jer? Do you have something on your mind? You can tell me, you know. I'm your twin sister! We shared a womb!"

　　"I know very well that we shared a womb," he gritted that out from his teeth. "Thanks, by the way." Then he fell into dead silence again.

　　Celeste was bewildered. This was not the Jeremy she knew.

　　"You are not abducted by the aliens, are you? Speak the code if you're not." Since werewolves were real, why wouldn't the aliens be? Celeste was in no position to question the existence of other mysterious creatures.

　　Jeremy cackled. "I'm fine, Cel. Just leave me for the shower. And to address your concerns, WOOFWOOF."

　　"Copy that. See you at dinner, Woof Jeremy!" Celeste giggled.

　　***

　　But Celeste didn't see Jeremy at dinner because he didn't even leave his room for a second. He said his wolf had hunted and he was not hungry. Celeste gritted her teeth. Curiosity was eating her alive now.

　　After dinner, Celeste brought the cookies she had made to Jeremy's door. "I got you cookies, Jeremy. Would you at least open the door and take them?"

　　She was welcomed by the familiar silence again. She had no idea what was troubling her twin brother, but after a long day, her patience was shot.

　　She snorted, "Okay. I respect your request for some contactless delivery. I'll put the plate on the floor. You can collect it while I'm gone, shy puppy."

　　When there was still no answer, Celeste grumbled in a low voice. "Asshole."

　　"I'm leaving!" she raised her voice and closed her door loudly in case Jeremy didn't hear her. Then she quietly opened her door a little so she could bust Jeremy once he came out. She suddenly felt like she was trapping a stray puppy.

　　About one hour later, when Jeremy still didn't get out of his room, Celeste snapped. Her patience had burnt out. She jumped to her feet, wrenched her door open, rushed to Jeremy's door, and snatched the plate of cookies from the floor.

　　"You asshole!" she barked. In a heartbeat, she fled to her room. Her hand grabbed a cookie and automatically sent it to her mouth. After an angry bite, her face crumpled. Not sweet at all! She slammed her face into her pillow and screamed at it like a dramatic teenager.