2 Chapter 2: Wolfblood

[June 18th, 1992: New York]

"A-Am I going to die Mom? Dad?"

Inside a bedroom that had a bunk bed and two desks, lied a sick 10 year old kid who was currently fighting for his life with a fever that went through the roof instead of celebrating his birthday with his family. His parents and twin brother looked at him from the side of his bed, worry and concern etched on to their faces. His mother, Kelly Burkhardt, just gave an encouraging smile as she stroked her son's head.

"No honey, everything will be just fine, just focus on getting some rest, ok?" Kelly told her son before giving a kiss on his forehead. Zane just smiled before closing his eyes, drifting off to sleep. Kelly then turned towards her other son, who was clearly in worry for his twin.

"Nicky honey, could you leave the room for a while, your brother needs his rest, and it looks like you need yours too." Kelly gently told her son while still continuing to stroke Zane's head.

"Will Zane be fine Mom? He looks really sick." Nick asked his mother in worry as both Kelly and Reed looked at their son with a sad look. Forcing a smile, Kelly replied to her son.

"Zane will be ok Nick, it's just a little flu, that's all. How about you go to bed and get some sleep. I bet Zane will be better tomorrow morning." Kelly reassured Nick before he nodded and exited the room. Now that their son was out of the room, Kelly turned to Reed, the previous smile gone, replaced with a face that was about to shed tears.

"Reed, what's happening to our son, why is his fever only going up and not reducing? I knew I shouldn't have gone on that trip, what if he has some sort of disease?" Kelly sobbed as Reed held his wife and tried to console her, telling her it's not her fault. He then took the thermometer and measured Zane's temperature again. The number that it gave out startled him greatly.

"It's already at 110 ℉, This is no normal fever." Reed said gravely as he handed the thermometer to his wife for her to see.

Kelly gasped as she saw the temperature.

"We need to send him to a hospital, Reed! This is way beyond just a normal fever!" Kelly said frantically as Reed just stood there in silence.

Looking at his son, a determined look appeared on his face before he turned to his wife, a little hope lacing his voice.

"I think I know someone who might be able to help, he's a sort of family friend of ours that might know what's going on with Zane."

Kelly looked at him in hope as she asked who he was.

"Is he some sort of doctor or something, how do you know for sure he can be of help?"

"I don't know for sure, but he's the best shot we got before going to the doctor and putting him on meds." Reed told her as Kelly looked at him before she sighed and agreed for him to call him.

Reed nodded before he stepped out of the room and headed towards the guest bedroom. There, he opened one of the drawers and pulled out a phone that looked more high tech than his current flip phone. After typing the access password, he dialed a number that he thought he would never have dialed if it weren't for the current situation.

Hearing the phone ringing on the other side, Reed didn't think anyone would pick up until the ringing stopped and he heard a voice that he hadn't heard since his childhood.

[Is something the matter Reed? You know you aren't supposed to call me unless it's an emergency?] the voice said as it questioned Reed, who had a complicated look on his face.

"I know Uncle Sirius, but something is wrong with my son…I think he is Phasing." Reed said with a conflicted tone as Sirius on the other side went silent.

After a couple seconds of silence, Sirius finally spoke on the other end of the phone.

[I'll be there as soon as possible, try to keep him as cool as possible before I arrive. But Reed, you must be ready for the changes that will come after the Phasing. The boy will never have a normal life and he will need a lot of training. Are you ready to handle that?] Sirius asked Reed and awaited his answer, though he knew it already considering he even made the effort to call him.

Reed took a deep breath in before giving his answer.

"Yes I understand, but I don't care as long as it saves my son. I don't care if he becomes a Wolfblood" he answered as he clenched his fists, thinking of the fate that his son must face in the future.

[Good, then see you soon Reed.] Sirius ended before he cut the call. Staring at his phone for a while, Reed just sighed as he muttered something with his face held in his hands.

"I hope I made the right decision."

With that, he put the phone back into the drawer and excited the room, ready to tell his wife about what happened

***

[September 10th, 2011: Portland]

As Zane rode through the streets of Portland, he thought about the second mission that HW gave him, the mission about finding out if his brother was a Grimm.

Though he said there was no way he would bring Nick to this side of the world, he couldn't help but think how he was doing. If he had awakened, how was he coping and handling what he was seeing.

He then thought of the possibility of him awakening as a Wolfblood, but as the thought went through his mind, he shook his head and chuckled to himself at the absurd thought.

"Yeah, there's no way." he muttered to himself as he pressed the gas a little harder and surged the motorcycle faster.

Wolfblood. A term that would describe his lifestyle, his identity, as well as his fears. Something that truly became a part of him after he phased for the first time on the day after his birthday. Before that, he was like any other kid, full of dreams, a playful nature, and most importantly, normal. After he became a Wolfblood however, everything about his life changed.

The first time he learned about what he truly was, was when his uncle somehow cured him from his intense fever. Though he couldn't remember the exact details that day, he remembered one crucial detail that would continue to stick with him till this day. It was that he somehow turned into a wolf the size of a bear.

When he found out from Sirius, he didn't believe it at first. Who would believe that a fever caused him to turn into some monster? It was only until he saw his uncle transform that he had to believe it was real, and it scared him deeply.

He found out that he came from a long line of Shape-shifters, ones that dated back to almost 1000 AD, when his Native American ancestor from his father's side did it for the first time to protect their tribes from the monsters that came upon their shores. The story sounded so ridiculous that it sounded like some fairy tale, but the proof that it was real was that he was still alive from a fever that was supposed to kill him.

His ancestor had the ability to walk the spirit plane, an ability that one would see in myths and legends. He could communicate with the animals and see things that others couldn't see. When his human flesh died, instead of going back to the earth, he took over a wolf and continued to live on, protecting the tribe from the shadows. It was only when the monsters that Zane would later know as Wesen attacked the tribes for the first time, his ancestor was the one to protect them as well as revert back to human form. From then on, when any of the tribe's people are faced with danger from the Wesen, giant wolves would come and protect the tribes. Since then, the Wesen have referred to them as warriors who had the blood of wolves, Wolfbloods.

But because of their special power, they were met with fear and skepticism from people outside the tribe's, especially from the Grimms who made it their priority to hunt the Wesen that terrorized humanity themselves.

Due to the tribe's wolf forms resembling the very monsters the Grimms hunted, they also faced their wrath and were hunted to extinction. Even with their superior physique and numbers, they couldn't face the one thing they were not prepared for, modern weaponry.

Many died because of their indiscriminate hunts and they were rooted out from this world, despite both of them having the same enemy. Since then, nobody from the tribes were able to exhibit the same power as their ancestors, except now.

But Zane wasn't concerned with his people's history, he had other things to worry about after his first phasing. Scents that no-one else could smell, strength that deviated from what a normal human was, the fact that he would outlive most of his friends because he was a Wolfblood, he felt like a monster that was wearing human skin. His powers came with side effects that took him a long time to get over, even now he was still learning to control his increased temper when it came to dealing with the various Wesen species.

If it wasn't for his uncle guiding and teaching him what it meant to be a Wolfblood, he would have self-destructed and probably have lost control of his powers. So he couldn't imagine the struggle his brother would have to go through if he awakened as a Wolfblood, but he still found that very unlikely.

Because the Grimms had eradicated many of the Wolfbloods in the tribes, it was almost impossible for a person with Native American ancestry to carry the Wolfblood gene today. The fact that Zane even awakened one was a miracle, as the only person who was a possible carrier of the gene was his Great Grandmother, who despite not being a Wolfblood herself, was the sister to Sirius who was one himself and was almost 120 years old due to his Wolfblood vitality. So, he was probably only 1 of 2 Wolfbloods still remaining on this earth.

As Zane thought about all this, he suddenly picked up a scent that while he was familiar with, didn't expect to find near the middle of Portland of all places.

'That smells like a dead body, but what is it doing out there?' He thought as he glanced at the direction the smell was coming from. From what he could see, it was some type of forest.

'I'll just leave it alone, I'll let the cops handle that.' He thought as he continued to focus on the road he was driving on. But the curiosity of why there was a dead body kept on surfacing in his mind.

"Ah fuck it, I'll just see what caused it and leave right after." He muttered as he took the next exit that he thought would lead him towards the forest, and by sheer luck, he managed to get close enough where he could park his bike and go the remaining distance on foot.

While trudging through the forest, he followed the scent until he found something that could be far from a normal dead body. The body looked like it was mauled to death by some animal as he saw what seemed like the victim's hand a couple feet away from the body. And what disturbed him most of all was that the faint scent of a Blutbad was lingering in the air. It was too faint now to find out where he went, but he could tell for sure that this Blutbad knew what it was doing.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He sighed as he rubbed his forehead in annoyance. He just got here and already some Wesen was causing trouble, worst of all, he was already at a crime scene and it could cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Guess I gotta call the cops." He sighed as he took out his phone and dialed 911. After a ring, the phone answered and a female voice came through.

[Hello, this is 911, what is the emergency?]

"Yeah hi, I think I may have found a dead body."

What Zane didn't know however, was that this was the precursor to a reunion he didn't even expect.