When Jack woke up, the first thing that he became aware of was that he had a splitting headache.

No, that wasn't right. Calling this just a "headache" didn't do it justice. It was more like someone had taken a jackhammer to his skull. His head throbbed, and he wondered if his brain was trying to escape through his ears.

This was not a surprise. He barely remembered any details of the party last night, but he had definitely been drinking far too much, even for someone of his size.

The second thing he became aware of was that he had something stuck in his teeth. It was large, and had a fuzzy texture. It felt like it had been wedged there a while.

He groaned, brought one hand up, and picked the offending item from his jaws. He lifted it over his head, squinting his eyes so he could get a look at it.

It was a piece of cloth, part of it soaking wet from his saliva. It hung limp from his fingers, swaying slightly.

Jack stared at it for a good few seconds before his brain woke up enough to make the connection.

He swore, then sat up quickly -- too quickly, it made his head spin -- and looked around.

His bedroom was in disarray. Clothes were strewn about, hanging over side of the bed and piled on the floor. He recognized his own clothes, as well as a t-shirt and jeans made to fit someone about half his size. The covers of his bed were messy, too, piled and bunched over his thick, broad-shouldered body.

He grasped the covers with one hand, tore them off, and saw exactly what he feared.

Below his ribcage, his furry gut curved outward. On his frame, it didn't look like much more than a beer belly, but he knew better: though he wasn't exactly "ripped," under ordinary circumstances his stomach would not be nearly this large. He pressed a hand against it; it was mostly soft, with a few solid lumps here and there. One lump broke in half beneath his fingers. All the signs pointed to a meal already mostly melted down into chyme.

His stomach rumbled, and he felt something coming up. He opened his mouth and released a belch.

With a groan, he reached for the phone on his nightstand, groping for it twice before finally snatching the rectangle between his large fingers. He fumbled with it until he had it right-side up, turned on the screen, and flicked through the contacts list. Once he found what he was looking for, he punched the button with a finger and brought the phone to his ear.

He listened to the phone ring once, twice, three times. His ears perked up, and his entire body was tense. The entire world seemed to have gone completely silent except for the sound of those rings.

Click. "Hello?"

Jack let out a long breath. "Thank goodness. Good morning, Sam."

"Hey, Jack!" The male feline's voice sounded jovial. "Man, you were great at that party last night. I loved your howling demonstration! You really shook the whole room. I'm always surprised at how loud you wolves can be."

"Ugh, speaking of loud, can you keep it down?" Jack pressing the palm of his hand into his forehead.

He heard Sam laugh on the other end of the line. "Hah, yeah, you were pretty wasted. Guess a hangover isn't a surprise."

"Look, I need to ask you something." Jack hesitated, then sighed. "Did I... go home with anyone last night?"

A long pause hung between them as the implication set in. Sam's tone turned sober. "Jack... you ate someone, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "And I don't recognize the clothes."

"Damn. It could have been any of us. Everyone was at that party last night."

"I know." Jack heard his voice crack. "I... I'm sorry about this, okay? I really don't remember... I didn't mean to..."

"Jack, it's okay," Sam said. "I mean, we were hanging out with a wolf last night. You're twice as tall as the next largest of us. You're a pred. We all... know the risks we're taking by being your friend."

"I'm not sure that's very comforting," Jack said.

"It's all I got. So what now?"

"Now? I make some more calls."

"Alright. I'll do the same. I'll let you know if I find out anything."

"Thanks, Sam. And I am sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to me. We'll find out who took a trip down your throat last night, and then we'll figure out who you need to apologize to."

"Right. Talk to you soon." Jack tapped the End Call button on the phone.

Jack stared at his phone for a good minute or two, his other hand resting on his belly. He felt it gurgle, vibrating slightly beneath his fingers. Finally, he took a deep breath, swiped to the next person on his contact list, and put the phone to his ear.

And he hoped against hope that he wouldn't hear the responding ring come from within his stomach.

((Idea came from fattyatomicmutant of Tumblr.))