"Samantha Jane Knox!" Mike's voice boomed through my apartment. My eyes snapped open and I scrambled out of bed, hastily pulling on a pair of sweatpants that were laying on the floor.

"What, what?!" I yelled back, throwing my hair up into a messy bun as I walked out of my room. Mike was sitting at my kitchen table, a newspaper clutched in his hand. He threw it down in front of me and I stepped forward to read it.

"Big Bad Wolf Takes a Bite out of Crime"

I gulped, looking up at Mike before continuing to read. Under the headline were two pictures of Nat next to a black and white picture of a bloody paw print. In the first picture, her teeth were bared, staring down at the dead man she had trapped beneath her, his face was blurred to protect his identity. The second, she stared directly at the camera, her head tilted to the side in confusion as she began to step over the lifeless body toward the cameraman. The last picture showed a measuring tape next to the paw print to show its enormous size.

"The streets of North Philadelphia have been labeled dangerous by many, but a new danger lies in wait for those who dare to walk them.

On June 10th, at the time of 1:15am, a group of men attempted to break into a neighborhood corner store. Both their attempt, and their lives, were stopped short as they were attacked by a wolf. Yes, you read that right, a wolf. We were able to speak to some witnesses who were at the scene.

'Oh, it was terrible!' says Naomi Lyons of Port Richmond, 'I'll never be able to get the sound of his scream out of my head as that beast killed him. I hope they can find it and shoot it before it hurts anyone else.'

Experts say the sighting of a wolf is extremely rare in urban areas, especially the size of this one.

'It was massive' says Ken Sommers, the man who was able to capture photos of the animal. 'I've never seen a wolf so big, it had to be the size of a bear. I'm just glad I was taking pictures for the club tonight. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. It almost looked like it was going to come after us before it changed its mind. As terrifying as it was, I can't deny it was a beautiful creature.'

If you see this wolf, you are advised to get inside, lock your doors, and call the police. Do not attempt to feed it and do not approach it....."

I put down the paper slowly and looked up at Mike. He lit a cigarette and ran a hand down his face. I scrunched up my nose as the smoke travelled through the air. He knew I had quit years ago, and the smell sickened me now.

"Oh, I don't want to hear it." He said, standing to flick his ash in the sink. "Do you mind explaining this to me?"

"They were going to attack me, Mike." I said, pushing the paper away from me.

"So you killed them?!" He yelled, I waved my hands at him to keep his voice down and walked over to my living room window to close it. "Not only did you kill them, there were witnesses Sam! I thought we were over this?" He said, exasperated.

I sighed, this wasn't my first time killing, when I was still young and not as in control of Nat as I was now, she had lost her temper a few times. Pent up from me not letting her run, or protecting me from a man who tried to assault me on an empty train.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I said, sitting down in the chair and putting my head in my hands. "I got carried away, and Nat's getting stronger."

I wasn't lying, I hadn't intended to kill those men when I shifted, only to defend myself, and to scare the shit out of them. Taking their lives took almost no exertion on Nat's part, it was nearly effortless.

"Maybe..." Mike started, taking a drag of his cigarette, "maybe the city's not the place for a wolf, Sam."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked defensively, Nat let out a low growl in my mind.

"I'm not saying anything. I'm just.... thinking." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is bad Sam, it's bad for business, and if anyone sees her, it's very bad for you and Nat."

"We'll be more careful." I said, walking forward to place a hand over his. "We'll only go out at night, and only in abandoned areas." Nat whined in my head, I knew she did not want to be restricted to dumps and train yards.

"I'm just worried about ya kid. I promised your father I'd take care of you." He said, pulling me into a hug.

"I know." I hugged him back.

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News fizzled out just as fast as it traveled in neighborhoods like this one. A week went by and no one saw the wolf. There was just a small blurb on the 4th page of the paper, warning residents to be on the look out.

It was Friday night, my birthday, and I sat in Anna's living room now, watching some cheesy movie with her. I had taken our trip to the Poconos that morning, leaving before the sun was up. It felt good to get out and really run, letting Nat be the wild animal that she is in a place where she belonged.

My phone rang, showing an unknown number. It was a Philly area code so I shrugged, guessing I must know them.

"Hello?" I said after picking up.

"Oh hey, wow, you actually answered!" An excited male voice said on the other end.

"Um, who is this?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders at Anna as she paused the movie and gave me a questioning look.

"It's Nick!" He said, "The cop from the crime scene last week."

"Oh.... hey Nick.." I said hesitantly, throwing a pillow at Anna as her eyes widened and she got out of her seat to come listen to our conversation. I rolled my eyes and put him on speakerphone.

"Hey, so listen, I know this is kinda bold but I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie with me this weekend. I actually have a friend who would like to tag along if you'd like to bring yours that was with you the other night." Anna nodded fervently and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yea, that would be ok... I guess."

"Really? Awesome! I'll text you with the details!"

"Sounds good." I said.

"Can't wait to see you again." He said excitedly.

"Yup, I'll see you then. Bye." I hit the end button.

"Dammit." I cursed, expelling a loud breath. Anna slapped my arm. "Ow!"

"Well if you didn't want guys to fall in love with you, you would stop playing your Jedi mind tricks on them!" I rolled my eyes before throwing another pillow at her. She blocked it and laughed. "C'mon, lets go pick out some outfits." She grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs to her room as my phone buzzed.

"Saturday, 8pm, A Dog's Way Home. We'll pick you up. :)"

I sighed as Anna threw a shirt at me out of her closet.

Well, at least he likes dogs.

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"How's this look?" I asked Anna as I stepped out of her bathroom the next night. She pursed her lips and looked me up and down.

"You should dress nice more often." She laughed.

I scoffed. "So good then?"

"Yes, very good."

I looked back in the mirror, patting down my hair. I had chosen a pair of light blue, ripped skinny jeans and borrowed one of Anna's gray half shoulder shirts. The shirt showed off a decent amount of the intricate wolf tattoo on my shoulder blade. My black ankle boots with a small heel finished off the outfit. My long dark hair was up in an artful messy bun with a few stray locks framing my face.

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this." I said as I applied some mascara.

"And this is why you don't get laid." She groaned, finishing her make up.

"You know that's not why." I growled with a little more menace in my voice than I meant to.

"Ok jeez, chill." She said, standing up. Of course she looked effortlessly amazing. Her light pink sundress hugged her in all the right places. Her blonde hair hung in beachy waves. She looked like one of those models you see in fragrance ads in magazines, just a little too beautiful to be doing whatever ordinary thing they were doing.

"They're gonna be here soon." She said excitedly.

We headed downstairs to wait for the guys.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"So what'd you think?" Nick asked as we left the movie theater.

"It was pretty good." I said with a smile that didn't feel authentic. He didn't notice and kept walking, chattering about the dog in the movie. I was just thankful there hadn't been any wolves in it, I didn't feel like touching that subject tonight. I kept my eyes on Anna and Nick's friend, Sean, who walked ahead of us. He had his hand on her back as he stared at her while she talked, obviously captivated by her.

"Hey!" Anna called back to us, "we should go to that new club that opened up on Girard Ave!" Sean nodded hastily, and Nick looked down at me.

"Sound good to you?" He asked. I nodded, at least there would be alcohol there. We walked the next couple blocks until we got to the door of the club. Sean and Nick paid our cover charges and led us inside.

"We're gonna go get drinks!" Anna yelled over the music to the guys. She linked her arm in mine and pulled me to the bar.

"One Mai Tai, two Coronas and..." she glanced at me before looking back to the bartender. "2 shots of tequila please!"

"Anna... I know what you're doing." I said in a wary tone as he got our drinks ready.

"You need to loosen up! And I know tequila has that affect on you." She smiled her dazzling smile at me as I sighed. "So, Nick is cute."

"Yea, I guess." I shrugged, watching the people around us drink and dance. He was a good looking guy; tall, fit. But like usual, the connection just wasn't there.

"Well he's staring at you right now." I knew that already. I had been able to sense his eyes on me the whole time we'd been standing at the bar. The bartender placed the drinks in front of us and I grabbed the shots, downing them quickly, one after the other.

"There, ya happy?" I asked her, pointing to the shot glass to signal I wanted another to the bartender. He raised his eyebrows at me and filled it again. I shot it quickly and grabbed one of the Coronas, shooting her a glare as I headed back to Nick, she smirked back cheekily.

"Well that was... interesting." He said, looking me up and down as I handed him the beer.

"Come on." I said, grabbing his hand. He smiled and let me pull him out onto the dance floor. My head started buzzing from the alcohol as I turned towards him, sliding my body up against his. I looked at Anna, smiling mischievously at me before I closed my eyes and started dancing to the music.

Soon more people filled the dark dance floor and I was flush up against Nick. His hands roamed over my body as the bass reverberated through my chest. Usually it would have bothered me, seeing as I didn't even really like the guy, but I was just letting the tequila do it's thing, leaning into his touch as the music flowed. I felt his lips caress my bare shoulder and leaned my head to the side, exposing my throat to him. He traced hot, wet kisses up my neck and along my jaw line, I let out a small moan, not denying in my intoxicated state that it did feel pretty good. He was holding my body tight against his and swaying us side to side. I could feel him becoming aroused as he wrapped his large hand around the nape of my neck. He pressed his lips against mine and I allowed him entry. His tongue shot forward and invaded my mouth, overpowering mine and exploring what felt like every crevice of my teeth. I held back from gagging as it nearly reached the back of my throat. I held back a grimace as Nat made a hacking sound in disgust.

He pulled back with a wet smack. I opened my eyes, he was smiling down at me with lust filling his.

He opened his mouth to say something, when a familiar scent invaded my nostrils.

Sickeningly sweet. Like cinnamon red hot candies but worse.

"He's here." Nat said.

I gasped, pulling away from Nick quickly. my eyes scanned the faces in the crowd, none of them stuck out. I turned away from Nick, ignoring whatever he was saying. I started pushing through the sweaty bodies when a hand grabbed my arm. My shout of surprise was drowned out by the music and I looked down at it. It was only Anna.

"Sam?!" She yelled over the music. I pulled my arm out of her grasp and started running to the door, ignoring the people calling my name. I followed the scent to a fire exit and pushed the metal door open, stumbling out into an empty alley way.

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