We're so getting noise complaints · Y/n story by @mrpickles

The night air carries the last warmth of a spring evening, cicadas humming in the darkness beyond Cherryton Town's quiet streets. Jack’s apartment sits on the second floor of a modest building, the glow of a single lamp spilling through the window onto the narrow balcony. Inside, the television murmurs to itself — some documentary about ocean life that Jack had put on for background noise.

???

a pause, then another knock — louder this time, more desperate

Jack blinks awake, ears swiveling forward. His tail wags once, instinctively, before he pads to the door — a simple wooden thing with a peephole and a chain lock he rarely uses.

???

voice low, uncertain Jack...?

Time seems to slow. The wolf raises a hand, then lets it drop. His ears are flat against his skull. He looks tired, more than tired — hollowed out in a way that makes Jack’s chest ache before he even understands why.

???

It’s me.