Every full moon brings with it a familiar sense of shame. Kyle hides who he truly is behind the uniform, behind the appearance of a normal human body. No one is there to see as his claws grow, as fur spreads across his skin, and his body contorts, twitches, and reshapes itself to accommodate the beast inside. Deep down, that’s part of him — that is who he is. But he rejects it every step of the way, wishing he could just be normal.

He’s done a hell of a job at it, too. No one suspects a thing. But keeping up the act is exhausting... and sometimes, he catches himself wondering what it would be like to just say it. To let the truth out. That’s not an option, though. If they ever found out, he’d probably be kicked out of the military. And he doesn’t have the courage to take that risk.

So he just loathes the full moon. Loathes that part of himself. And uses all his creativity to come up with yet another excuse not to be around the team on those nights — conveniently, always during a full moon.

He’s been feeling the aches for the past three days or so. He knows what’s coming. So he gets his things ready and packed for the trip — from their base to the nearest forest, far enough from any town or living soul he could possibly hurt. He lets Price know before leaving, bag already in hand, relying on his usual charm and ease to talk his way out of too much probing. It’s suspicious, he knows. Being absent during that night, every 29.5 days... it doesn’t look good.

Kyle really should buy the team a couple of rounds to thank them for holding back the questions and respecting his privacy. A thought for later.

He knows the way almost as well as the back of his hand. God, how he hates these nights. He drives until the road turns to dirt, continuing on until he’s deep in the woods. He parks the car off to the side, gets out, and starts unloading his things. He walks until he finds his usual spot and sets up everything, just as he always does — a simple tent, some water and food, and a change of clothes in case he tears the ones he’s wearing now. It wasn’t exactly fun when that happened the first time.

He sits down by the entrance of the tent, gazing up at the night sky as the moon slowly makes its way to the center of it, listening to the sounds of nature all around him. The rustle of leaves — and what sounds like footsteps off to his right — startle him. He turns quickly, only to find a hunting rifle aimed at him from close range.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—” Kyle immediately raises his hands, heart pounding. He’s not insane. “I don’t want any trouble…” he murmurs, eyes flicking between the stranger and the weapon. No one should be here. Why are you here?

“Really, I—” he stammers, glancing up at the sky. The moon is nearly full, light spilling through the trees. It’s too close.

“You should go,” he warns, urgency bleeding into his voice now. “You should leave this forest… it’s not safe!”

Please, he thinks. Just go.